THE HOLY LIFE OF THE HOLY PROPHET MUHAMMAD (P.B.U.H.)

The Age of Ignorance

ANCIENT RELIGIONS:

After the Prophet of AllahIsa ibn Maryam (a.s), there was a long period without a Prophet. Light and knowledge disappeared. Christianity fell into disrepute and became a matter of sport for the corrupt and the hypocrites. From the very beginning, Christianity had been subjected to alterations by extremists and to interpretations by the ignorant. The simple teaching of the Messiah was buried beneath the transgressors' evil behaviour.

The Jews had become a society obsessed with rites and rules lacking all life and spirit. Apart from that, Judaism a tribal religion, did not carry a message to the world nor a summons to other nations nor mercy to humanity at large.

THE SPREAD OF ISLAM

From the oasis cities of Makkah and Madinah in the Arabian desert, the

message of Islam went forth with electrifying speed. Within half a century

of the Prophet's death, Islam had spread to three continents. Islam is not, as

some imagine in the West, a religion of the sword nor did it spread

primarily by means of war. It was only within Arabia, where a crude form

of idolatry was rampant, that Islam was propagated by warring against

those tribes which did not accept the message of God--whereas Christians

WHAT IS THE ISLAMIC RELIGION?

According to a famous saying of the Prophet Islam consists of five pillars

which are as follows: affirmation of the faith (shahadah), that is, witnessing

that La ilaha illa 'Llah (There is no divinity but Allah) and Muhammadun

rasul Allah (Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah); the five daily prayers

(al-salat) which Muslims perform facing Makkah; fasting (al-sawm) from

dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan; making the pilgrimage to

ISLAMIC LAW (al-Shari'ah)

Islam possesses a religious law called al-Shari'ah in Arabic which governs

the life of Muslims and which Muslims consider to be the embodiment of

the Will of god. The Shari'ah is contained in principle in the Quran as

elaborated and complemented by the Sunnah. On the basis of these

principles the schools of this day were developed early in Islamic history.

This Law, while being rooted in the sources of the Islamic revelation, is a

living body of law which caters to the needs of Islamic society.

ISLAM A WORLD CIVILIZATION

"Thus We have appointed you a middle nation, that you may be witnesses

upon mankind." (Quran, surah 11:43)

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION

Islam was destined to become a world religion and to create a civilization

which stretched from one end of the globe to the other. Already during the

early Muslim caliphates, first the Arabs, then the Persians and later the

Turks set about to create classical Islamic civilization. Later, in the 13th

century, both Africa and India became great centers of Islamic civilization

and soon thereafter Muslim kingdoms were established in the Malay

THE CALIPHATES

The Umayad caliphate established in 661 was to last for about a century.

During this time Damascus became the Capital of an Islamic world which

stretched from the western borders of China to southern France. Not only

did the Islamic conquests continue during this period through North Africa

to Spain and France in the West and to Sind, Central Asia and Transoxiana

in the East, but the basic social and legal institutions of the newly founded

Islamic world were established.

NORTH AFRICA AND SPAIN

When the Abbasids captured Damascus, one of the Umayyad princes

escaped and made the long journey from there to Spain to found Umayyad

rule there, thus beginning the golden age of Islam in Spain. Cordoba was

established as the capital and soon became Europe's greatest city not only in

population but from the point of view of its cultural and intellectual life.

The Umayyads ruled over two centuries until they weakened and were

replaced by local rulers.

Meanwhile in North Africa, various local dynasties held sway until two

powerful Berber dynasties succeeded in uniting much of North Africa and

also Spain in the 12th and 13th centuries. After them this area was ruled

once again by local dynasties such as the Sharifids of Morocco who still

rule in that country. As for Spain itself, Muslim dynasty was defeated in

Granada in 1492 thus bringing nearly eight hundred years of Muslim rule

in Spain to an end.

ISLAMIC HISTORY AFTER THE MONGOL INVASION

The Mongols devastated the eastern lands of Islam and ruled from the Sinai

Desert to India for a century. But they soon converted to Islam and became

known as the II-Khanids. They were in turn succeeded by Timur and his

descendants who made Samarqand their capital and ruled from 1369 to

1500. The sudden rise of Timur delayed the formation and expansion of

the Ottoman empire but soon the Ottomans became the dominant power in

the Islamic world.

From humble origins the Turks rose to dominate over the whole of

Anatolia and even parts of Europe. In 1453 Mehmet the Conqueror

captured Constantiople and put an end to the Byzantine empire. The

Ottomans conquered much of eastern Europe and nearly the whole of the

Arab world, only Morocco and Mauritania in the West and Yemen,

Hadramaut and parts of the Arabian peninsula remaining beyond their

control. They reached their zenith of power with Suleyman the Magnificent

whose armies reached Hungary and Austria. From the 17th century onward

with the rise of Western European powers and later Russia, the power of

the Ottomans began to wane. But they nevertheless remained a force to be

reckoned with until the First World War when they were defeated by

Western nations. Soon thereafter Kamal Ataturk gained power in Turkey

and abolished the six centuries of rule of the Ottomans in 1924.

While the Ottomans were concerned mostly with the western front of their

empire, to the east in Persia a new dynasty called the Safavids came to

power in 1502. The Safavids established a powerful state of their own

which flourished for over two centuries and became known for the

flowering of the arts. Their capital Isfahan, became one of the most

beautiful cities with its blue tiled mosques and exquisite houses. The

Afghan invasion of 1736 put an end to Safavid rule and prepared the

independence of Afghanistan which occurred formally in the 19th century.

Persia itself fell into turmoil until Nader Shah, the last Oriental conqueror,

reunited the country and even conquered India. But the rule of the dynasty

established by him was short-lived. The Zand dynasty soon took over to be

overthrown by the Qajars in 1779 who made Tehran their capital and ruled

until 1921 when they were in turn replaced by the Pahlavis.

As for India, Islam entered into the land east of the Indus River peacefully.

Gradually Muslims gained political power beginning in the early 13th

century. But this period which marked the expansion of both Islam and

Islamic culture came to an end with the conquest of much of India in 1526

by Babur, one of the Timurid princes. He established the powerful Mogul

empire which produced such famous rulers as Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah

Jahan and which lasted, despite the gradual rise of British power in India,

until 1857 when it was officially abolished.

Farther east in the Malay world, Islam began to spread in the 12th century

in northern Sumatra and soon Muslim kingdoms were established in Java,

Sumatra and mainland Malaysia. Despite the colonization of the Malay

world, Islam spread in that area covering present day Indonesia. Malaysia,

the southern Philippines and southern Thailand, and is still continuing in

islands farther east.

As far as Africa is concerned, Islam entered into East Africa at the very

beginning of the Islamic period but remained confined to the coast for

some time, only the Sudan and Somaliland becoming gradually both

Arabized and Islamized. West Africa felt the presence of Islam through

North African traders who traveled with their camel caravans south of the

Sahara. By the 14th century there were already Muslim sultanates in such

areas as Mali, and Timbuctu in West Africa and Harar in East Africa had

become seats of Islamic learning.

Gradually Islam penetrated both inland and southward. There also

appeared major charismatic figures who inspired intense resistance against

European domination. The process of the Islamization of Africa did not

cease during the colonial period and continues even today with the result

that most Africans are now Muslims carrying on a tradition which has had

practically as long a history in certain areas of sub-Saharan Africa as Islam

itself.

EDUCATION AND SCIENCE IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD

In seeking to live successfully in the modern world, in independence and

according to Islamic principles, Muslim countries have been emphasizing a

great deal the significance of the role of education and the importance of

mastering Western science and technology. Already in the 19th century,

certain Muslim countries such as Egypt, Ottoman Turkey and Persia

established institutions of higher learning where the modern sciences and

ISLAM AND MUSLIMS

The Arabic word "Islam" means peace, submission, and obedience. The religion of Islam consists of the complete acceptance of the teachings and guidance of God as revealed to His Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

A Muslim is one who believes in God and strives for the total reorganization of one's life according to the guidance revealed by God-the Qur'an-and sayings of the Prophet. A Muslim also works to create a human society on the same basis. "Muhammadanism" is a misnomer for Islam and offends its very spirit, for it implies that Muslims have deified and worship Muhammad, as the Christians did with Jesus Christ. This practice is condemned in the Qur'an and is totally foreign to the Islamic belief structure.

THE MORAL SYSTEM OF ISLAM

Islam has laid down for humanity universal fundamental rights that are to be observed and respected under all circumstances. So that these rights can be realized in one's daily and social life, Islam provides both legal safeguards and a very effective moral system In beef, whatever improves the well-being of an individual or a society is morally good, and whatever harms this well-being is morally bad.

Islam attaches so much importance to one s love of God and love of fellow human beings that it discourages excessive formalism. We read in the Qur'an:

PROPHETHOOD IN ISLAM

The concept of prophethood is found in the three great monotheistic religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. In Islam, however, it has a special status and significance.

According to Islam, Allah created man to worship Him and to lead a virtuous life based on His teachings and guidance. But how can man know and fulfill his role and the purpose of his existence if he does not receive clear and practical instructions of what Allah wants him to do? The existence of prophethood, by which Allah sent a prophet to every nation to reveal His message in terms that the people could understand, has answered this question most effectively

One might ask: How were the prophets chosen and which individuals were so honored?

Keajaiban Matematis Al-Quran

Quran ditandai oleh suatu perwujudan unik yang tidak pernah ditemukan di dalam buku karangan manusia manapun. Tiap-Tiap elemen Quran tersusun secara matematis baik surat-suratnya, ayat, kata-kata, banyaknya surat tertentu, banyaknya kata-kata dari akar yang sama, variasi dan nomor; jumlah dari nama ilahi, ejaan yang unik dari kata-kata tertentu, ketidakhadiran atau perubahan yang sengaja dari surat tertentu di dalam kata-kata tertentu, dan banyak unsur-unsur yang lain (menyangkut) Quran di samping isi nya.Ada dua segi utama (menyangkut) mathematical sistem Quran: