Muhammad A Revolutionary Prophet Theology Religion Essay
To both the Muslim faithful, the name Prophet Muhammad is not alien. Previous to his birth, many kinds of religious beliefs and practices reigned supreme but he came with another definition of what faith in Allah truly is. His beliefs can be truly referred to as revolutionary. According to general school of thought, revolutionary refers to “the overthrow of an established government by those formerly under its authority” (The Harcourt Brace School Dictionary: 628). It could also mean “great change in a condition” (The Harcourt Brace School Dictionary: 628). The transition of America from the monarchical political system to new governmental foundation for the colonial states was as a result of values gathered from years of being enlightened due to deep thoughtful period is correctly referred to as revolution whereas a revolutionary refers to an individual who is involved in effecting the radical change.
The prophet of Islam, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, was truly a revolutionary. Major spheres of life such as religious, social and political received a new meaning due to the philosophies Prophet Muhammad brought into these areas of life. Many events concerning him were penned down by some scholars: many shared belief in some of these writings while so many people were also in doubt of these. Some even called him “Apostle of Allah” Ibn Ishaq -(Muhammad ibn Ishaq (d. 767 or 761) (justislam). Prior to Islamizing Mecca, there were many tribes which was headed by the tribe known as Quraysh and accumulated much of its wealth from the tribes that would make pilgrimage to Mecca which was an important holy site for the polytheistic religions of the nomadic Arabs. As at then, The Arabs “worshipped spirits associated with natural features such as stones and trees” (William: 26).
When the Prophet Muhammad brought one of the most important part of Islam, Tawhid which is translated as (Uniqueness and Unity of God), this message principle coded in this message immediately challenged the existing religious beliefs because it completely disapprove the worship of other tribal idols. Tawhid is contained in the 112th chapter of the Qur’an. It is to be noted that Qur’an is the holy book of the Muslims and contains divine message to the people (sufibooks). Prophet Muhammad’s messages really did not go down well with many people. These people were already entrenched in theory local beliefs that they (the Meccan elite) “saw him as a revolutionary leader espousing an ideological message that threatened their social, economic, and political dominance.” (Mir Zohair Husain : 45).
The theological tenets of Muhammad was so strong that he left no stone unturned when he “purify it by smashing the polytheistic idols” (Frederick: 66) when he entered Mecca and approached Ka’ba. All his messages are already contained in the holy book (Darultawhid). Considering the fact that Islam is a holistic way of life its religious tenets present quite a number of social repercussions. The Prophet’s message of Islam was revolutionary on this front as well. Muhammad made it know to them that the Arab’s pre-Islamic social life was referred to as the period of jahiliyya or the period of ignorance. Because of this ignorance, People’s allegiances were absolutely to their tribe and family irrespective of whether the tribe was right or wrong. A “kind of anarchy reigned among tribes” because each of them was fighting his own course and that of his tribesmen. (William: 26).
Another noticeable thing was that there was also an increasing “gap between the wealthy and the poor” (William : 27). This was causing strains in the society and made some individuals to be exploited by the elite which is considered wrong by the prophet. In addition to other things, Muhammad’s first followers were amongst the poor and were at times tortured because they were seen as expendable. The Prophet of Islam strongly countered this with the Islamic injunctions of social justice. “Muhammad frequently stated that all are equal before God” (Mir Zohair Husain : 46) which effectively eliminated tribal-elder status, socio-economic status and any superiority based on race or physical traits. “This was a revolution in the social and political history of Arabia” (Frederick: 66) which started with the bloodless victory of Mecca by the Prophet Mohammed (May peace be upon him) in 628. This political change was not simply a reform in the Arab’s political life but was a radical shift from self-interested tribes made up of families and clans to a more unified “nation” based on religious orientation.
No doubt, in today world, the revolution of Muhammad is still alive since .Islamic revivalism is an explicit illustration of this. The modern movement of Islamism is the re-emergence of Islam as a social and political force to be reckoned with in a world that is dominated by religious, social and political systems that are not in accordance with an Islamic message. Movements based upon the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings are taking place and are attempting to replace non-Islamic entities. Modern Islamism is also “global in scope” (Mir Zohair Husain : 55) and targets religious, social and political entities that may have little or no Islamic influence just as pre-Islamic Arabia’s values were founded on principles which Islamic values challenged.
The shift in Arabia is an after effect of Prophet Muhammad’s message. The Prophet’s message and cultivation of his way of life in his community would not be such a distinguished force in the world today if it didn’t espouse a new, fundamentally different, social milieu.
In conclusion, as a true fundamentalist, Prophet Mohammed has proved beyond doubt that his mission is not just humane but divine. From the time of his birth to the situations that surrounded his birth, Mohammed, no doubt has proved that he was a courier of a greater knowledge than the society and environment he met himself. Although the ancient Arabs worshiped their own gods in their own way but Mohammed made it a point of duty to preach divine truth to these people. Quite expectedly, many od these Arabs took it as an insult while so of them understood the thesis of the message Mohammed was preaching but a true revolutionary, he was unshaken and pursued his objectives with vigor.
His vigor further gave him the badge of true revolutionary and when he challenged the religious practice as this was true to his nature; fighting a just course. From which angle this great revolutionary is viewed from, he may be not be everything to everybody but he is a true revolutionary to everyone.
