The Ray of Hope
Rabee’-ul Awwal 1423
May-Jun 2002
Editorial
Muhammad ﺻﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻳﻪ ﻭﺳﻠﻡ: The Benefactor Of Humanity
Noamaan Bader
Allaah created man for a noble purpose: to worship Him and lead a virtuous life based on His teaching and guidance. How would man know his role and purpose of his existence unless he received clear and practical instructions of what Allaah wants him to do? Here comes the need for prophethood. Thus Allaah had chosen from every nation a prophet or more to convey His message to people. Prophethood is Allaah’s blessing and favour that He may bestow on whom He wills. Muhammad ﺻﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳﻠﻢwas indeed prepared to carry the prophetic message unto all the races of mankind. He was equipped to carry the message of the most perfect religion, to e the final conclusion of prophethood, the unique light of guidance for ever and ever. The religion preached by the last prophet ﺻﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳﻠﻢis as much perfect, ever-abiding and universal as are his own life and character perfect models of goodness and virtue for all the people and for all times to come. Through him, the human spirit embarks on a voyage of adventure, acquires a new culture and light, wins a mastery over nature, and finds a key to unlock the secrets of the material world. In him resides the collective instinct of the whole human race. He makes no distinction between the Gentile and the Jew, the Arab and the non-Arab, the black and the white, the poor and the rich. His prophetic vision ranges the entire gamut of human history when he warns mankind against worshipping the idols of Caste, Colour and Race: “The Arab is not superior to the non-Arab; the non-Arab is not superior to the Arab. You are all sons of Adam, and Adam was made of earth. Verily, all Muslims are brothers. You are all members of one common brotherhood … If a deformed Abyssinian slave holds authority over you and leads you according to the Book of Allaah, hear and obey him.” Nowhere have the Muslims ethics of democracy and equality been as tersely summarized as in this, the last sermon of the Prophet. In the annals of mankind there is none save Muhammad ﺻﻠﻰ ﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳﻠﻢto deal a stunning blow to the racial antipathy that has proved the bane of Western civilization. It is due to his teachings that Muslims have never known the problem. Bilaal ﺭﺿﻲ ﷲ ﻋﻨﻪ, the Negro slave, becomes the first muezzin of Islaam and is respected and loved by the aristocratic Quraish.
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