i'd like to take a permission first from
brother shimshad
that since the topic on dealing with
difficult questions
is quite an involved one
so to avoid too much divergence of
thought i'll begin with that and we see
what we do with with time because that's
the main topic really for my
presentation
the topic
especially with respect to
the
assault on the person of prophet
muhammad peace be upon him
is a topic that is important in its own
right
and more important
in the world
of the post september 11.
it is important in its own right
because
from the very beginning of the mission
of prophet muhammad peace be upon him
unlike many of his brother prophets
before
there have been
detractors
and there have been powers
and interest groups
who
could not stand that islam
with the equality
justice
mercy
that it
it's capable of bringing should be
spread especially those who benefit most
from the oppressive situation in the
world at the time of all of these
prophets for that matter i think it's a
similar history that we find
in the case of islam they have been
three plunged attack from the beginning
that continued over the centuries for
1400 years
one is to attack the teachings of islam
itself
secondly
is to attack the scripture of islam
the quran
in terms of both its authority as well
as preservation and authenticity
and thirdly an attack on the person who
is not worshiped by muslims but
a very important personality through
whom that quran the revelation was
revealed the last prophet as muslim
believe in prophet muhammad peace be
upon him
so in that sense this three-pronged
detraction
is not new
it's actually recycled
it is more important
in the post september 11 world
because we see again like i said
recycling
of some of this old new or new old
type of
questions raised about the integrity
and the prophethood of prophet muhammad
peace be upon him
given the limited time we have as we
have to break just before maghrib to
resume again with the other fellow
speakers
i'd like to focus more particularly on
the prophet
and even in the case of the prophet
more specifically
on two question or objections raised
that he could not qualify as a prophet
because of them
the first
the way he treated non-muslims
especially allegation
that he persecuted caught unquote or
massacred jews
in medina because they rejected him as a
prophet
and secondly
the question of his marriages
let me begin first with
his treatment of non-muslims
and here again we distinguish between
two periods just for the sake of ease
and chronology
the meccan period the first 13 years of
his mission
when muslims were persecuted and the
medinan period the remaining 10
years of his mission
in mecca
we find that
the his encounter
included encounters
with at least two groups
one is the idolatrous herbs the other is
with christians
as far as the
encounter with idolatrous herbs
we find that it is subdivided also into
two types positive
and negative
by that by positive we mean
his encounter
with
those who rejected islam
but did not seek to hurt or undermine
islam
or the prophet and how he dealt with
them
the best example for this is his uncle
abu talib
did not accept islam until his death
but he did not put obstacles before the
prophet
he even defended the prophet and his
right to preach
what he believed in or claim to have
received as revelation
for that
type of
relationship
the prophet peace be upon him prophet
muhammad more than reciprocated that
courtesy
he loved his uncle in spite of his
idolatrous beliefs
so dearly
he respected him and he treated him with
all kindness
that is owed to a peaceful non-muslim
but we have also the encounter in mecca
with those who showed
aggressiveness
and hurt
the prophet and muslims and torture them
there are many examples let me give you
two
the first
is one of his other uncles
abu jahl
in fact it was reported
that one time abu jahl
passed by prophet muhammad peace be upon
him
and he started abusing him verbally in a
very
ugly way
then there was a young lady who was
overhearing
this kind of conversation or discussion
she kept watching what's happening
after abu jahl has his
vile words against the prophet
the prophet simply looked at him but did
not respond
a few minutes later
another ankle of the prophet
hamza
was coming from his hunting trips
and hamza also like abuja
did not believe or did not accept islam
and follow the prophet
then he passed by that young lady
and she tells him hamza
do you realize what happened to your
nephew muhammad
he said what
he said
abu jahl abused him so badly
he said what did muhammad
sallahu
do or say
he said he didn't reciprocate with evil
words he just
left him
just left moved away from him
it was that nobility of the prophet in
the face of abuse
which is one of his characteristics
that softened the heart
of hamza
and that was actually the turning point
in his life
hamza he was a very husky strong and
aggressive person by nature actually
he walked right to the kaaba
where abu jahl was sitting with the
chieftains of quraysh
and he hit him with his bow
on his head caused him an injury and he
said you abuse muhammad
i say what he says and i follow his
religion
you can see
the magic
of kindness
vis-a-vis
responding to evil with evil
the second example
is amazing in itself
how to deal even with those who are
aggressors
at least one form of dealing there are
various ways
and that was when prophet muhammad peace
be upon him being persecuted and
rejected in mecca
sought to find some followers and a base
a secure base
to preach
the word of god as he received it and
believed in it
so he goes to a nearby township
known as
he goes there to talk to people invite
them to monotheism and so on
and then he's mocked first by adults
i'll give you an example of mockery
one of the people in a tafe tells him
huh
you're telling me that you're a prophet
it is either you are a liar
or truthful
and if you're a liar i don't want to
listen to a liar
and if you're truthful and you're indeed
a prophet
oh
you're too big for me to sit and listen
to
you can't win
but then it didn't stop at that
they send their
children investigate them against the
prophet
they start pelting him
with stones
he starts bleeding
blood goes into his sandals
and then he take refuge
in
a wall of a garden that belongs to a
couple of christians
brothers
and he sits there