Non -Muslim View of Our Prophet (SAW )

PROF G R MALIK Referring to some of the glowing tributes paid to our Prophet (SAW ) by nonMuslim luminaries , a friend says that he is not impressed by them . First because truth is itself the best evidence of the veracity of Aaftab aamad dalil-e aaftab The shining sun is itself a proof of the suns existence. Secondly , says the friend , the tributes sound to him insincere . If those who paid these tributes were sincere why did they not accept Islam ? I say that as far as the first assertion , that truth needs no evidence beyond being true , is concerned no one can ever disagree with it . But as far as the second assertion is concerned it needs serious review . The words which a person speaks and the tone in which they are rendered indicate almost unmistakably whether a person is sincere or insincere . Of course there are some non- Muslim writers about the Prophet like Gibbon and H .G . Wells who do not seem sincere and open - hearted. Yet even these people concede the greatness of the Prophet willy- nilly. However there are many other nonMuslims whose very words ring with the tone of unquestionable sincerity . George Bernard Shaw , for instance, remarks that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) should be regarded a Saviour of Humanity and then adds : . ..far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the Saviour of Humanity. ... I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring in the much- needed peace and happiness .

Similarly Annie Besant in her book, The Life and Teachings of Muhammad writes: It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the great Prophet of Arabia, who knows how he taught and how he lived , to feel anything but reverence for that mighty Prophet, one of the great messengers of the Supreme , In the same vein Gandhi wrote in one of the issues of Young India in 1924 that he wanted to know how the Prophet ruled the hearts of millions and millions of people . For an answer to this curiosity he studied the biography of the Prophet and it led him to this conclusion : I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life . It was the rigid simplicity , the utter self -effacement of the Prophet , the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers , his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. If these undoubtedly sincere people did not accept Islam the blame does not lie on them but on us, Muslims, who have failed to establish the truth of Islam through our conduct and behaviour. Like the proverbial harsh-toned muazzin of Mawlana Jalal al Din Rumi ( RA) we have only scared away people from the path of Islam . Mawlana Ubaid -ul-lah Sindhi (RA ) is said to have travelled to Russia, the erstwhile Soviet Union in the making , at the hey - day of the October Revolution . The Revolution was still in the process of completion. Mawlana Sindhi thought it was the appropriate time to meet Lenin , the leader of the Revolution and to explain to him the blessings of Islam , the religion of peace and mercy. If he could be convinced, Islam could find a place where it could be practised and the whole world would stand illuminated.

Having heard Mawlana Sindhi through an interpreter Lenin remarked that it all sounded so well in theory but is it actually implemented anywhere. Mawlana Sindhi had obviously no answer to this question . The question before us today is this : collective implementation of Islam is a far cry: how far do we practise it at the individual level in our day -to- day lives? The distance between us and honest and truthful ways of living is the answer .