Come on. Hello, welcome to another episode of Islam focus. I’m your host Tamar Rashid. Today we continue with our 38th program in our series dealing with Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon them, the last messenger of Allah. Today we’ll be looking at the use of Prophet Muhammad. I’m pleased to have joined me as usual on the program, Dr. Jamal Baddeley of Cypress UNIVERSITY OF THE Jamal Lake Monday.
We always take a few minutes at the beginning of each of our programs. To summarize the main points we touched on our last program that I asked you to do that as is our fashion. Okay. Sure. We discussed briefly the life of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him in the custody of his grandfather after the death of his mother, and examine briefly also his life as a child in the household of his uncle and how his uncle noted that he was different from other children because of the inability of his characters, unselfishness, dignity, kindness and independence. If you also discuss the possible wisdom that God made the Prophet, the last prophet get raised in this kind of atmosphere, the cries
from both parents as an orphan, and an atmosphere which is away from until
luxury and affluence, and that this perhaps serves as a way of getting him to identify with the poor, needy and oppressed.
In the same time, we noted that the nobility of his family also prevented that identification, or being at the expense of hatred towards those who are rich or wealthy, or not vulnerable. And that gives quite a good balance in his upbringing. I must say at this point that there is no inherent virtue in poverty, nor is there any inherent evil in prosperity. It is how the person feels and acts, whether rich or poor, that really makes the person different from others.
We also said that this kind of
upbringing, strengthened in the process, the sense of worth ethics, and the guts, he trains on independence, counting responsibility and earning a living. And more particularly, we’d like to discuss his job as shepherd, and how that very much related to his role as a prophet like many other prophets before him, the qualities of a shepherd are very much relevant to the qualities of a prophet. Yes, indeed, mentioning that, in addition to the shepherd herder, that Prophet Muhammad peace, be upon him was engaged in that he also was involved in in trade. What information can you share with us about that? Okay, we mentioned that on passing in the previous program, and there seem
to be some historical information on that. There are reports, for example, narrated in Abu Zahra from other sources, that Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him did actually engage in some modest type of trade. He wasn’t that rich enough to have a big business. And there was a report, for example, even giving the name of one person who used to have sorts of joint venture with the Prophet His name is Asad bnab, he said, so the name even is known. And it was said that the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon you like to deal jointly with that person, because that other person aside,
was reasonable in his negotiation, and was honest as the Prophet was. And it is quite possible, by the way that the nickname that was uniquely given to Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and be trustworthy, or the honest, might have been partly a result of his reputation as a very honest trader or admission that seemed to have provided him also with some training how to what you call to the business administration, and how he can also stand and remain honest in the face of the temptation when you trade, of course, is the temptation of making money at any cost. So that again, might have been a good part of his his training. I know, of course, it might be curious to you, and
maybe to some of the viewers to know what kind of items of trade he engaged into. The answer to that is that we don’t really have any detailed information on that. But she
feels that it must have been probably trade in iTunes, which was circulated only within MACRA, which is most likely staples or basic needs of the people. The reason behind that is that historically, it is not known that the Prophet has traveled too much. In fact, in terms of traveling to Syria, there were only two reported trips that he meant.
One of them actually when he was quite the young youth
actually be useful to spend some time commenting on those those trips.
When was the first one and what were the circumstances of that
As far as when we find that the historians give a range between nine
to 12 or 17 years, it is more likely to have young was very young Actually, it’s more likely, even though there have been a report that he was still 19. But it’s more likely to be around the age of 12 or 13. As far as the circumstances immediately before that trip, it has said that his uncle Abu Talib was getting ready to go with a caravan. You know, they used to go and caravans exchanging goods in Syria and other places. And
while his uncle was not really planning to take his nephew, and hammer on him with him,
because maybe he thought that the trip was too difficult for him too demanding, and he was still too young, you know. But it is said, according to Abraham, that Prophet Muhammad, as a small child, started to hang in with his uncle and pleading with him to take him along. For that check. His uncle felt, you know, sympathy for the child. And he said, All right, I will take him with me. And he will never depart any more from me, he loved him so much. And that secret enforced this kind of feeling between between him and his nephew.
And in that trip, actually, something happened.
That added to all of the science that has been accumulating. And we discussed in previous programs so far, that seemed to give some signs, how the role that this child is going to play in the history of
humanity, even though the report itself has been a subject of difference of opinion between the scholars with respect to the degree of its authenticity. Perhaps we should have you comment and acquaintance with the with this report, what does it involve listening to the record, but with the precaution, again, that the authenticity and we have to be quite honest, and whatever we report in the authenticity has been a subject of difference of opinion, but it’s not totally rejected. And maybe they might like you said, it might be some good reason to examine it. If I said that, in that particular tip. They kind of reached a place township called Basra, which is on the route of trade
between Makkah and Syria.
According to one historian, Jawad Ali and his book, radical Arab and Arabic, which means history of herbs, he said that this place Basra perhaps was the hardest place that was seen
by Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him in Syria.
And he said that the caravan was passing by. And then they came to someplace and they wanted to have some rest.
And that close there was a Christian monk by the name of Bahia. It’s Da Hai ra behera.
He used to live in a small cell, you might say in Arabic, Soma, small cells, not really a big monastery, where he used to worship and study the Old Testament, or the Hebrew Scripture and the New Testament.
When the caravan passed by the
noted that this man, the the monk, the Hara, was looking curiously at Prophet Muhammad discipline and examining him in great detail.
Actually, in one narration of the story, it says that when he saw something rather unusual, he invited the caravan and he said, Come on, I prepared some food for you can’t eat everybody, each one we
saw, they said, that’s a very strange thing. We passed many times here. What’s happening this time? We’re inviting us for food. It is Oh, no, that’s all right. I had some food and I wanted you to eat all of you. According to that nation, it is said that they all went. But Prophet Muhammad has a small child, he actually stayed to look after the, you know, the animals and so on, maybe so they can bring him some food later. But when they came, he said, Did everybody come? He said, they said no, there was just a child, you know, sitting there, he said, Oh, how come he comes, all of you to eat and live? No, bring him bring him over. That’s in one narration anyway.
And then after they ate,
they sat down to rest or
relax a little bit. And then that monk mahira came to profit from it as a child.
And he said, Come, later child.
I want to ask you in the name of lead and observe that you should answer me. Of course, you might wonder what is lead an answer. Not an answer, were some of the names of the items that they earned.
At the time we used to worship
so that monks, in the name of Latin was the name of those idols, please, I plead with you to answer me, whenever I asked you
were surprised to find that the Prophet Muhammad as a child still tell him, don’t ask me please, in the name of those idols. I never hated anything more than those items that are worship that is beside God, I have never hated anything more than this.
So the monk get an indication. So I said, all right child, tell me, In the name of Allah, that’s the name of God, then universal God, in the name of God, that whatever I asked you your answer. He said, Well, now ask me whatever you like.
And then he started asking him a series of questions. What does he feel how what happens to him in his sleep, and when he’s awake and asked him about the various, you know, contact of his life?
Having heard the answers have hammered upon him. The man realized the monk, the Christian monk realized that this is indeed the long awaited.
And then, after a while, the uncle of Mohammed Abu Talib came.
So the monk asked him, What is your relationship to that child?
There are different nations in one direction actually said that the initial answers given by his uncle by Metallica said he’s my son.
And it is said, according to that narration, that the monk said, no, that child or that child’s father cannot be alive.
So maybe again, that was another sign that he would be an orphan person
and another mutation, which is not necessarily contradictory, because maybe the other mutation abbreviated directly and came to the right answer, it says, or it is my nephew.
In the second narration, actually, it says that the monk said what happened to his father,
his uncle said he died when his mother was pregnant. So, either generation does not seem to be really inconsistent, they seem to be quite similar.
If I said that, in one iteration that the monk said to his uncle, take him back to your Township.
And because, he said, especially Be careful from the jewess effects of his use of his time, because if they know what I mean, some of them may probably want to do something bad to him, this child will have something great for him in store.
This particular story was narrated in a number of major historical references, ignition,
ignition, and Miss od.
And if nicosia’s and can be found also, in one of the books of heavies are saying of the prophet
in utter misery. However, there have been a few Muslim historians and scholars who criticized that story. One of them is a scholar by the name of the nurse in his book
and at evacuee in history of Islam or traditional Islam, in their view, as a scholar is that the story have some weakness in both in terms of the the metaphor, the text, textual criticism, as well as the narration
should be Shipley a nominee, another Indian scholar has quoted by has another we have another we also indicated that many of those stories are known as masala which is a special term used and how this means that sometimes an arranger may not say, from whom he had, and there was very meticulous on that. So there might be some weakness insofar as the meticulous requirement of historical narration established by prominent Muslim scholar.
But in any case,
since the story is not totally dismissed as unauthentic, just a matter of dispute, about the extent of its authenticity.
Many of those historical works made reference to it. But in any case, that is quite different in its significance, even if it’s happened from the significance normally attached to it by many of the non Muslim scholars, especially the orientalist must refer humans to some discussion of how the orientalist view this report and how they interpreted it give us some indication of
the non Muslim writers especially the orientalist. They seem to have a special bias when they write about Islam or the life of the Prophet. We’ll discuss that in some detail in the beginning part of this series.
They are quite determined in their initial
This is to deny any possibility that Prophet Muhammad was indeed a genuine prophet and messenger of God, who received revelation from God the same way like Abraham, Moses, Jesus or any other Prophet peace be upon them.
They try in vain, many of them to advance the theory that whatever Mohammed’s thought was nothing more than what he learned from Jews or Christians, especially the scholars. And as such, they seem to be indirectly implying that he was not truthful, when he said that this person is not my work. It is not my ideas, what I teach is that of a nation that came to me through the engine of Revelation. So this is the sort of hidden, you know, implication that they usually
present.
This issue we have discussed in great detail in the series called The ultimate miracle in which plenty of evidence has been given historical, logical or even scientific to show that this kind of assumption, does not hold any water that is, is not a scientific objection, really, that that has any strong ground at all.
This story that I mentioned before, and the way it was presented and interpreted by some even famous non Muslim writers like William were, Margolis and john Draper and others.
They think, now, we’ve got you,
the prophet, and the is this historic historical differences written by Muslim and says, admit that the Prophet meet, met with that monk, and as such, he must have learned from him the secrets of theology. Now, that really makes me wonder, where the scholars have dealt with intelligence and seen how very simple facts seem to have been overlooked by them. First of all,
assuming for the sake of argument, and that comes to that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him learned all the deep secrets of theology is
from that monk,
how come?
This information remained totally dormant in his mind, from the age of nine, or even 12, to the 14th, even his offer 30 years until he was 40 years of age realized about 30 years later, all of a sudden, came to the
second.
We do that, in an attempt, recent decades. Some Christians even were not allowed to read the Bible on their own, except, of course, for the Protestantism, which was one movement again, that you can learn from the holy book.
And you’re talking now 1400 years ago? How can we imagine that the deep, the deepest secrets of theology that might be limited, even to the higher echelon and the church would be very easily dispensed with, from a monk like the hair, and to whom that’s the third point, a child about the age of 12, who is not a Christian, even coming just from Arabia, if that monk actually existed, and that meeting took place, even if we take this report to be authentic,
then this monk must have been out of his mind to tell all these hi theology to a small child in that age. And as such, he would not be dependable even as a source of information at all, he would be out of his mind.
And again, how a child in that age would learn in a casual
way, just resting to get some lunch and then resumed their, their movement of their caravan in this casual music or even 100 casual meetings like this. How could that child 40 years later, come up with a new message that not only puts the pure monotheistic faith that God’s revealed to all of the prophets back in perspective, in the most logical and appealing way that one find in the Quran, and even correct some of the notions that existed in the followers of previous scriptures and bring it back to the purity of faith that God has initiative to those profits, and all of that, in a casual while having lunch or resting or having a few minutes conversation. Like I said, it is most amazing
to me that how big scholars like Mongolia, like john, like William Boyd, whose books are used quite freely, in many courses about Islam or comparative religion to represent the true picture of Islam. With this very simple things being overlooked. There’s no explanation but the bent and preconceived ideas and bias from the very beginning that you can praise Prophet Mohammed for anything but in his capacity of being a prophet who received revelation from God He must have copied and did not tell the truth when he said it is on
No wonder we find that the Quran itself has already made the challenge to his contemporaries, including those who belong to other religions, including any other monk or religious scholars. We find that clearly, for example, in Surah, number 29, in the Quran and verse 41.
One or two meaning, isn’t
that just a free translation that you Mohamed never used to recite any book, any religious book before that, or any book for that matter? He was unless you never used to recite any book before this, that’s before the Quran was revealed to you are right, it was your right hand because he didn’t know how to read or write. Right? It says then those who want to promote falsehood would have found some reason for doubt. So that don’t even was removed.
And sort of 42 verse 52. Yes, it also describes how the Prophet was giving the face and the book, that’s the Quran, and he didn’t know anything about it before. Nakajima Kitab well, and he never knew before that what was the book or what was faced, in Surah 28, verse 86, very conclusive statements also, when you are in a Calcutta, Abu Dhabi, you had never even hoped or aspired, that you will receive a book, that revelation of Iran to be a prophet.
Except that this is a mercy from your Lord, you never anticipated to be a prophet wanted or sought after. And that’s quite obvious when you come also to the, what happened to him. When the Venetian came to him first, I tried to cover that in a very brief way. Because again, that was the basic notion or basic theme of the whole series on hammered on the Quran, ultimate miracle was much more evidence has been discussed. But the point here is that whatever the story is, whatever authenticity it may have, it does not justify at all, any claim that this was the source of the great treasures of wisdom and spirituality, that the Prophet thought
I’d look at another aspect of the Prophet Muhammad peace.
That is when he was growing up. What position if any, did he have on a religious belief or practice of his people at that time? Okay, maybe we can take lead from what we just finished in the previous question. For example, His attitude even as a child before even it becomes a form,
that monk was asking him in the name of the idols and said, Don’t ask me in the name of idols, that seems to show the pure, you know, innate nature that is, you know, a virtue to this kind of
his people as we all know, the pre Islamic herbs. Next, believe in God because they believed in God, but they mix that with idolatry and consider those idols to be a source of intermediaries between mankind and God.
There is no single, authentic report that shows the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him ever subscribed to the beliefs of his people either worship, no, not even once participating in their religious practice worshiping those idols. He never accepted those beliefs never accepted even the mediatorial role of those idols.
It was said, even according to Bahar is the most authentic source of the prophetic saying that the Prophet even never ate from the needs of animals dedicated to it, which many people would say so what, even when the animal is killed, that it gets done either he wouldn’t even touch its meat.
This understanding is not only limited to Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, I must make it clear that for the Muslim, this is equality, which is common among all prophets. And perhaps it might be helpful to make a reminder of something that was mentioned in one of the very earliest series can Muslim beliefs, especially dealing with prophets and Prophethood. That the Muslim believes that all prophets have been infallible, they are humans, but they are infallible, they are the best of the best the cream of humanity. Muslim does not believe in some of the stories about the major sins attributed to those great prophets, or to accusing them of committing any act that
you know shed any doubt about their firm belief in monotheism and in doing so, God of all.
So they are protected from that. So it is not, in the case of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, but we believe that other prophets are equally respected also for this kind of
integrity.
How about his general behavior as a young person,
when as a youth in a society which was very licentious, you know, in terms of desires and most sexual morality
and despite all of these pressures,
Drinking everything else, the remarkable aspects of his life that God protected him also from getting into an indulgence and those kind of access. This is a matter which is absolutely certain and there is no shred of doubt about. The reason is that even his enemies who oppose him because of the teaching, that was different from what they used to accused him of a variety of things, that he’s mad that he’s magician, and all of that. But nobody could ever bring a single incident that might shed any doubt about his integrity and about his character, his personal chastity and integrity. In fact, we will find, as we go on that, in one particular incidents, this the Prophet
himself tells that even will be thought even just the idea that crossed his mind
to just participate in a party, by the way, God protected him from that, because it’s just giving you the story very briefly.
This has been narrated again, in several sources, to find it, for example, in unhackme, and inhibiting fear, in which Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him says that I have never even thought or just
the idea crossed my mind to do what other people are doing in the past 90 days, except two times. And then both cases God
kept me away, and established like a barrier between me and doing these things. And he described that he says that
one time, one night, he said to one, small, youth, young youth, Shepherd also with him, he said, how about if you look after my, shift my head, so that I just go back to Makkah, and just have a party with the youth as they entertain themselves? And he said, he said, All right, you go. So I said, I went and start going back to Makkah. And then I started hearing some music, I asked people to watch that,
there is a wedding of so and so and so and so, he said, I sat down to listen. And somehow I felt sleepy, I slept all night, and I was only awakened in the following morning with the heat of the sun. And he said, I told my friend again the second night to do something similar and something happened to him exactly the same that he did not even reach the place where the party was held. And he said after that I never thought even thought of trying to get into any of these actions that the people said. So even when he sort of got established a barrier between him and those type of his integrity was simply beyond any question.
Now, if we assume that this report to you submission is authentic,
what will you signify in your view?
One of the things which is quite obvious in that story, of course, is that you would expect the young man and the youth
to be quite naturally get involved in that. But since I suppose we are not getting enough time getting some signal perhaps we can take on that example. There is a lot to learn from from this kind of conduct and behaviors.
Next week, because we are out of time I want to thank you both Jamal, we want to thank you for watching invite you back next week we will continue with another episode of Islamic focus Assalamu alaikum peace be unto you
