Birthday of the Best of Creation

Heartiest congratulations to you all on one of the most blessed days of the year. Today is the 17th of Rabi al-Awwal, the grand day in the history of mankind, when the Almighty Creator of the universe decided to bring into the world His Last and Greatest Messenger – Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

Now we have a special programme on this auspicious occasion, before start of which we present you ayah 15 of Surah Ma’edah, where God Almighty informs mankind:

“O People of the Book! Certainly Our Prophet has come to you, clarifying for you much of what you used to hide of the Book, and excusing many [an offense of yours]. Certainly there has come to you a light from Allah, and a Manifest Book.”

We are celebrating that blessed day. In fact, a glorious Eid of Islam, when the Messenger with the universal mission, foretold by all prophets of the past in different eras and in different areas of the world, was born in Mecca exactly 1493 lunar years ago.

As the holy Qur’an would later testify, after the formal proclamation of his mission as the Last and Greatest of God’s Messengers, in ayah 107 of Surah Anbiya, he was “not sent, but as Mercy unto the [entire] creation”.

The sceptics, both among the followers of other creeds and those who claim to be Muslims, might raise eyebrows or might object to our use of the word “Eid of Islam” for his auspicious birthday, because their hearts have yet to be enlightened by the Celestial Light that Prophet of the Islam was, as he himself says in a famous hadith: “The first thing God created was my Light.”

Those still in doubt are advised to refer to the authentic books of hadith and history, which testify that on his birth, a dazzling light appeared on the horizon of Mecca, and the idols installed by the pagan Arabs in Adam’s monotheistic edifice, the Holy Ka’ba, fell headlong. In Ctesiphon or Mada’en in Iraq, a crack suddenly appeared in the great arch of the palace of the Sassanid King of Kings, Anushirvan, while in Iran the sacred fire in the Zoroastrian temple that had been kept burning for centuries, abruptly died down. Similar miraculous occurrences were witnessed in far off China, as well as in India and in the Roman Empire spread across Europe and North Africa – heralding the birth of the deliverer of mankind.

This is something logical and among the divine portents accompanying the birth of the chosen of God who do not come unannounced as ordinary mortals.

All those following any of the Abrahamic creeds, will vouch that the birth of Prophet Abraham (peace upon him) was something awaited and expected, whether by the virtuous Mesopotamians, who looked for salvation or whether by the vicious like Nimrod, who out of fear tried in vain to prevent his birth.

The same are the circumstances leading to the birth of Prophet Moses (peace upon him), whose mission was foretold, both by the Israelites looking forward to deliverance and by the soothsayers of the terrified tyrant Pharaoh, who launched a massacre of the newborns in a bid to avert the inevitable.

No Islamic scholar will deny these facts, and neither the divine signs that accompanied the birth of Prophet Jesus (peace upon him). Regarding the birth of the Virgin-born Messiah, the Gospels of the Christians say that a bright star appeared on the horizon, and was followed by a group of wise men from the east (that is, Persia or Iran), who followed it to Palestine to pay homage to the brilliant baby. This is the same infant in the cradle, who according to the holy Qur’an in ayah 30 of Surah Maryam stupefied the doubting Israelites by saying in clear words: “‘Indeed I am the servant of Allah! He has given me the Book and made me a prophet.”

Anyone denying these miraculous words of the Son of Mary, is undoubtedly a disbeliever, and outside the pale of Islam, as all denominations of Islam unanimously opine.

So how come, certain groups like the takfiri/salafi cultists, think that the Seal of Divine Messengers, the Excellent Exemplar to mankind, the Most Perfect Ever Person created by God, the only Prophet invited to the highest point in the ethereal heavens, was born in obscurity without any heavenly signs accompanying his birth! What makes them deride the celebration of the Prophet’s birthday, which is certainly an Islamic Eid, as “haraam” and “bad’a”.

Fie on such faithless persons. This is ample proof of their lack of true belief. It means that in contrast to the Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, the takfiris/salafis know little about the Prophet and nothing about the dynamism of Islam.

The Salafis’ and the Takfiris’ emphasis on the ways and days of the “Salaf” (or predecessors), rather than on the Prophet’s pure and pristine Sunnah and Seerah or practice and behaviour, means that the Islam they claim to follow is akin to Christianity, which is the creed of Paul the Hellenized Jew, and not the purely monotheistic message of Jesus the Prophet of God.

Just like Paul, who was a bitter opponent of Jesus as long as the Messiah was on earth, everyone knows that the Salaf who were originally idol-worshippers till their middle age, compared to the monotheistic Bani Hashem clan, were archenemies of the Prophet before reluctantly accepting Islam – and after him they mercilessly persecuted his blessed progeny.

That was the reason, God commanded the spotlessly pure Prophet to bequeath for the guidance of the Ummah, the holy Qur’an and his Ahl al-Bayt or unsullied progeny, as the Thaqalayn, which means the Two Weighty Things, without whom faith is incomplete.

Perhaps that is the reason God decreed that the 17th of Rabi al-Awwal, the day of Prophet of Islam’s birth, should also be the birthday of his 6th Infallible Successor, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS), exactly 136 lunar years later.

Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS), so thoroughly revived the Sunnah and Seerah of his ancestor in those days of the false Omayyad and Abbasid caliphs that till this day the genuine Fiqh or jurisprudence of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) is known as “Fiqh al-Ja’faria”.

In view of these undeniable facts, we now better understand the passages in the Torah, the Evangel, and even in the books of the Hindus, the Zoroastrians, and other religions, of the coming of the Last and Greatest Prophets, who would be born among the Arabs, and will be entrusted by God with a universal mission, that is, Islam.

Thus, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) did not speak or advocate the cause of some particular race or ethnic group, but stood up for all humanity irrespective of race, colour, class, language or geographical barriers. He preached the universal message transgressing all obstacles whether artificial or otherwise. A Message so complete and comprehensive that it not only revolutionized the era in which it was proclaimed, but even today its timeless beauty has lost none of the original charm and continues its profound appeal to the human intellect.

The Prophet set a worthy example by practicing what he preached. This means that if the principles of his immortal message are sincerely observed, and if we are ready to tread the footsteps of that fantastic man, not only does it guarantee us a harmonious co-existence on this earth but also a blissful life in the hereafter. The moment modern man is ready to cast aside his bunkered lenses of prejudice and vain pride, he will understand that the eternal truth called 'ISLAM' and the final Prophet named ‘MOHAMMAD’ were not something special or essential to the Arabia of 14 centuries ago, but are capable of remarkably solving the complex issues of our era, the Space Age.

The Prophet of Islam was punctual, active and energetic, and led an orderly life in the strict sense of the word. His day was divided into four periods:

1. A time for worship. 2. A time for his household, during which he behaved like any ordinary family-man giving the finest example of social behaviour. 3. A time for rest and contemplation. 4. A time for public affairs such as receiving Muslims, looking into their needs and requirements, answering their questions, teaching them the tenets of Islam and expounding to them the glorious ayahs of the Holy Qur'an.

Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) was the supreme example of a family man. He was a loving husband, an affectionate father to his only surviving child Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon her), whom he married to his dear cousin, ward and divinely-designated vicegerent, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). He was also a loving grandfather to Imam Hasan and Imam Husain (peace upon them). As long as his faithful wife Hazrat Khadija (peace upon her) was alive, he spent 25 years of marital bliss and never took another spouse. Even later on in life, when he had married several women, he used to cherish the loving memory of the faithful Khadija. His marriages were not for pleasure, but were a humanitarian means to further the cause of Islam, other, and also to safeguard the internal political status of the new-found Islamic State. In short, the philosophy behind his marriages was entirely revolutionary and ushered in positive changes in ignorant Arabia.

Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) knew what will befall the Ummah and so he stressed to his companions on several occasions, as confirmed by our Sunni brothers, the prime position of his progeny as the divinely-decreed guides:

“The likeness of my Ahl al-Bayt is like that of the Ark of Noah. Those who boarded it were saved and those who lagged behind were drowned.”

“The stars are a security for the people of the earth against drowning (when at sea), and my Ahl al-Bayt are a security to the people of the earth against discord.”

“Let my Ahl al-Bayt be to you as the head to the body and the eyes are to the head, because the body would not be guided except by the head, and the head cannot be guided except by the eyes.”

No wonder, Islam is the world’s fastest growing creed today, in spite of the intense hate-campaign it is subjected to by the arrogantly ignorant enemies of humanity.

AS/ME