Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
Lodestar for Social Reformation
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(Abid Hussain Rather)
When we turn the pages of history and search for a person who was
perfectly successful both in his private as well as public life; whose life was
an extraordinary example of perfectness, comprehensiveness and historicalness;
whose life can be presented as an ideal to guide us in every aspect of life; we
find that in the thousands of years of human history there was only one
personality, the last messenger of Almighty Allah - Prophet Muhammad (PBUH),
who was perfect in all these arenas and was bestowed with the highest qualities
of humanity. During all the periods of human history we can not find any other
personality alike to our prophet Muhammad (PBUH). His life is a torchbearer and
guidance in our social, political, economic and individual aspects of life. The
social life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is an example of perfectness and the
finest social being which can enlighten and guide the whole humanity with its
magnificent character in every corner of the world irrespective of the variable
time periods. His individual and social life is full of beautiful episodes
which are enough to guide us to live a healthy social life.
A society exists because of its individuals, so safety of life, property
and honor of every individual is must for the existence and survival of a
society. Our Prophet (PBUH) has given much importance to every human being and
has stated that killing of an innocent is not only a big sin but it is like
killing the whole humanity and has hence closed doors for such barbaric acts.
We have been advised to take care of each others property rather than illegal
grabbing of it. Prophet Muhammad( PBUH) has said that best among you are people
with best character . Complaisance has been given the highest preference
because it is the basis for the existence of a good society. Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) himself was the finest example of best morality as it has been mentioned
in Quran, ' and indeed, you are of a
great moral character'. Equality and parity are equally imperative for the
constitution of a good society. We have numberless examples from the life
history of our prophet to enlighten us in the matters of equality. Once a lady
from Quresh clan was brought before
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) for the case of theft. Some close Sahabas of prophet
tried to advocate for her but Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) didn't listen to them and
told them that some nations before us got destroyed only because they used to
punish only common people for their crimes while as the mistakes of special
people were overlooked. Helping poor and needy people was favorite hobby of
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). When an oppressed person in Makkah once asked for help,
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) with some few other people got ready to help him and an
organization of few people was formed for helping the needy and oppressed
people. This treaty was called as 'Halful Fazool' which has been written with
golden words in history. To stand against oppression and helping the oppressed
people was so dear to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that during his life at Madina
Prophet said that if He will be called for 'Halful Fazool' by the people of
Makkah during these days, he will happily accept it. We have many illustrations
from the life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) for helping the weak people of our
society and taking care of them. Once a Sahabi had gone to fight a battle and
there was no other male member in his family.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) used to go to his home everyday to help his
family in their domestic works. Once prophet was going to lead congregational
prayers but a Bodouin came to him and asked for some help in his work. Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) silently went with him and helped him in completing his works
and after that lead the prayers. Once there was famine in Makkah. The people of
Makkah, who were staunch enemies of Prophet and Muslims of Madinah at that time
were living in very harsh conditions. Despite economically poor at that time,
the Muslims of Makkah collected five hundred dinars on the directions of
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and send them to leaders of Madina for helping the
affected people. This was the obligingness and charitable character of our
Prophet towards his society.
Today the world has become a global village and its residents are from
different religions living like neighbors. We ought to know our duties towards
our neighbors to live a happy social life in this global village. The life of
our prophet enlightens us and guides us in living happily with our neighbors.
We have been told by our prophet that our neighbors should always feel safe in
our neighborhood irrespective of their religion and they should always feel
equality in society. Religion should never become a hurdle in social
cooperation and solving social problems. Everybody should have equal
opportunities for social justice irrespective of their religion. Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) never stood by a Muslim against a non Muslim if the former
would have been wrong. The various points mentioned under 'Mesaaqe Madina' ( a
treaty which was formulated for peace and cooperation among different clans and
religions in Madina by our prophet) can act as beacon light for bringing peace
and harmony among different religions and cultures in the present times. Our
society is facing different challenges and these challenges can be overcome by
guidance from our prophet. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has told us that the best
people are those who treat others equally and the best among you are those
whose lives are beneficial for others. These are the golden words of our
prophet which will always guide and enthusiase us for social services. We have
been told that behaving with others in a good manner is charity. Clearing roads
from pebbles and other hurdles has also been mentioned as charity. Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) says that we should have mercy on the creatures of Allah and
Allah will be merciful to us. We have been told by our prophet not only to be
merciful with humans but we should love and show our mercy to other creatures
of Almighty. We have been told not to beat or harm others creatures
unreasonably.
Nowadays environmental pollution is one of the critical and alarming
issues in our society and everybody is quavering by it. Our prophet has guided
us to protect our environment and plant more and more trees. It has been said
by our prophet that planting trees is a charity. Cutting trees has not been
allowed by our prophet even during war times. We have been guided to restrict from
wastage of water and use it judiciously. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has stopped us
from throwing waste on roads, instead we have been guided to remove harmful
things from roads. Adulteration of goods, which has become a common practice
nowadays has been termed as a great sin. Our prophet says that anyone who
cheats anybody in anyway is not a true Muslim. Cleanliness has been termed as a
part of our faith. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has directed us to perform ablution
five times a day before prayers to keep ourselves neat and clean. The best way
for keeping our villages and cities clean from environmental pollution is to
follow the practices and sayings of our beloved prophet.
Nowadays terrorism and violence are the biggest threats to world peace.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was totally against violence and has guided us to stay
away from such practices. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has stated that practices
like violence and oppression are totally unacceptable in Islam. We have been
forbidden from terrorizing an innocent by any means. Corruption and bribery has
become the worst social curse in present times and it has badly affected the
weaker section of our society as they have been dispossessed from their basic
rights. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has termed corruption and bribery as social
curse and has strictly advised us to restrain from it. It has been said that
giving or taking bribe is a big sin before Almighty Allah. Everybody is
responsible for his deeds and has to be answerable before Almighty Allah for
his duties. This sense of responsibility propels every human being towards good
deeds. Divorce and domestic violence have become chronic evils in the modern
society. The life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) guides us to provide women their
rights and treat them with love and protect them. Dowry has been treated as
worst social evil and we have been advised to restrain from demanding dowry
from brides. The couples have been advised by our prophet to restrain from
unreasonable divorces as divorce is the worst and most unlike act before
Almighty Allah.
Mutual cooperation, trust, love and respect are basic components for a
strong social system. Our prophet has given special attention for these things.
We have been strongly advised to avoid back biting. We should never feel jealous
of the success of our fellow beings. Our prophet has directed us to be always
ready for help to needy people. We should never call anyone by bad names
neither we should keep ill intentions about anyone inside us. We should respect
and help other people irrespective of their religion to strengthen the communal
harmony. The various episodes from the social life of
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) are enough to beautifully guide us for social
reformation in the present times and to curb the different social evils present
in our society.
(The author is a columnist and teaches Geography at GDC, Kulgam. He can be reached at rather1294@gmail.com)
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