On the Anniversary of the Prophet's Birth

When the magazine The Woman's Voice asked me to write a word on the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of the noble Messenger, I did not expect to find myself as I now am — filled with awe, and with a sense of falling short of giving this anniversary its due. I was also at a loss as to which of his aspects I should speak of, and from which side I should look upon Muhammad, God's blessings and peace be upon him.

Shall I look upon him as the just judge, or the patient striver, or the great educator and noble preacher, or the highest example? Or as the first to speak of a charter of human rights, or the pioneer in giving women their rights?

He, peace be upon him, was more than all I have mentioned. Is it any wonder, then, that I feel a great measure of awe and inadequacy together?

Above all that, he labored in a sphere loftier than anything people expected of any preacher upon the earth: guiding people to see that the divine religions hold no differences among themselves in beliefs and fundamentals, for the pivot of all religions is faith in God and the Last Day, and righteous works; and that the religious truths which Islam brought are those which all the prophets brought. If people return to them, the religious differences that stir up odious fanaticism will vanish from among them. The Almighty said: "He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah, and what We have revealed to you, and what We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus — that you uphold the religion and be not divided in it."

He also called to brotherhood and mutual support:

"The believing men and the believing women are allies of one another; they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and they establish prayer and give alms."

In this duty he made males and females equal alike. He likewise reconciled the claims of this world and the next: The best of you is not he who forsakes his world for his hereafter, nor his hereafter for his world; rather the best of you is he who takes from this and from that.

It is related of him that while he was sitting with his companions, they looked upon a strong young man who had gone out early, striving and toiling at his work. They said: Alas for him — if only his youth and his strength were spent in the way of God! The Messenger, peace be upon him, said: Do not say this. If he has gone out to provide for small children of his, he is in the way of God; and if he has gone out to provide for two aged parents, he is in the way of God; and if he has gone out to provide for himself, to his own benefit, he is in the way of God.

Have we ever heard of a wisdom in practical life loftier than this wisdom?

He, God's blessings upon him, was the highest example in justice among men and in equality. Tu'mah, who was newly come to Islam, stole the coat of mail of Qatadah, one of the Messenger's followers, and accused Zayd the Jew of the theft. Tu'mah and his people held fast to his innocence, supposing — and some supposition is sin — that the Messenger would condemn the Jew because he was a Jew, accept the Muslim's oath and the Muslims' testimony, and acquit the thief because he was a Muslim. The litigants brought their case before the Messenger, the just judge, and Tu'mah and his people set forth the case in the form upon which they meant to have the matter decided.

The Messenger pondered the case, uncovered its buried secret, consulted heaven, and called down revelation. Then the litigants heard the noblest judgment the dwellers of the earth had ever heard — clear verses recited by the sweet tongue of the Messenger: "They hide themselves from men, but they cannot hide themselves from God; He is with them when they plot by night in speech that pleases Him not, and God encompasses all that they do. Here you are — you have pleaded on their behalf in this worldly life; but who will plead with God on their behalf on the Day of Resurrection, or who will then be their advocate?"

And thus he ruled in favor of that Jew and sent his Muslim adversary away disappointed and defeated.

As for equality, he set its bound upon himself before setting it upon his followers. When his she-camel knelt down, as he was emigrating to Yathrib, it knelt upon the ground of the sons of Amr; so the Messenger bought the land, paid its price, and gave direction to build the mosque. And when the Muslims — Emigrants and Helpers alike — set steadily to the building, he made himself their equal, though he was the supreme commander, and worked at building the mosque with his own noble hands, to fulfill his noble saying: A man's faith is not complete until he desires for his brother what he desires for himself.

As for his sublime forbearance, it appears in the following incident:

One day a Jew seized the Messenger of God by the collar, demanding payment of a debt that had not yet fallen due, saying, "Give me my right, O Muhammad," and speaking harshly to him. At the Messenger's side was Umar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, well known for his jealous devotion to the Messenger and his sincere love for him. No sooner had he heard the Jew address such words to the Messenger with insolence and coarseness than Umar sprang upon the Jew, meaning to repay him for his harshness and to teach him a hard practical lesson in respecting the Messenger of God and in observing courtesy when

addressing him. But the Messenger — the man of noble character and pure soul, of a forbearance too vast to be strained by such a Jew — looked at Umar, God's favor be upon him, with a look of reproach that carried its meaning, saying: O Umar, the Jew and I had more need of something better than this from you: that you bid him press his claim with grace, and bid me pay with grace. So Umar grew calm and drew back from harming the man; and nothing remained for the Jew but to be overcome by this vast forbearance and these lofty, exalted morals — this answering of evil with good.

Presently he addressed the Messenger, saying: By God, I did not come to you seeking my right; I had already recognized in you all the marks of prophethood. One mark alone remained: that insolence toward you only increases you in forbearance. Now that I have come to know it, stretch out your hand to me; for I bear witness that there is no god but God, and that you are the Messenger of God.

As for the charter of human rights which the United Nations proclaims today, it is nothing new, for the Messenger proclaimed it at the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian era, saying: "All creatures are the dependents of God, and the dearest of them to Him is the most useful to His dependents."

The Noble Quran defined equality and brotherhood in words that the finest scholar could not match nor approach: "O mankind, We created you from a male and a female, and made you peoples and tribes that you might know one another. Verily the noblest of you in God's sight is the most God-fearing of you; verily God is All-Knowing, All-Aware." He, peace be upon him, likewise gave pure brotherhood a scientific, social definition, saying: "Whoever deals with people and does not wrong them, speaks with them and does not lie to them, and makes them promises and does not break them — he is one whose manliness is complete, whose justice is manifest, and whose brotherhood is binding."

More beautiful still is his address on the day of the conquest of Mecca to a people who had called him liar, defied him, and disbelieved in him, though they knew of him nothing but truthfulness and trustworthiness — nay, they acknowledged in the depths of their souls that what Muhammad brought was truth and what he called them to was right; but pride in sin kept them from following an orphan or listening to a poor man. Then they conspired against him to kill him, after they had spent their utmost in harming him and harming those who believed in him.

But God gave him victory, and he went forth; and their enmity did not rest until they made war upon him. Then their dominion passed away, and God gave him power over their necks and opened their city to him with an army they could not withstand. And he called out to those who had done him harm: What do you think I shall do with you? And then there ran upon their tongues what they knew of his character, and they said: A generous brother, and the son of a generous brother. He did not disappoint their opinion of him; the intoxication of victory did not seize him, nor did triumph make him overweening, nor did he call them to account for their past;

rather he spoke the words of the strong and merciful: "Go your way, for you are free." What commander acts as Muhammad acted, shows mercy as Muhammad showed mercy, pardons as Muhammad pardoned! No — it is the mercy of heaven and the guidance of God.

And whatever I may forget, I shall not forget that the Messenger's mission was not for prophethood alone, but for the preaching of glad tidings and for doing justice to woman and giving her her rights in full. Islam may boast to the furthest degree that it was the pioneer that strengthened woman's arm and made her one of the blessings of life, saying: "And of His signs is that He created for you, of yourselves, spouses that you might find rest in them, and He set between you affection and mercy; surely in that are signs for a people who reflect. O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from a single soul, and created from it its mate, and scattered abroad from the two many men and women." Islam went, in its respect for woman's rights, to lengths that have not entered the imagination of any civil legislator to this day, making her the equal of man in all rights and duties by His words: "And theirs are rights like those held over them, according to what is equitable."

It also permitted her, fourteen centuries ago, to be a judge, and to take charge of higher teaching once she had attained a far point of learning. And more than that: to attend the public affairs of the Muslims, at which they gathered at the summons of their emirs to decide the necessary measures in the face of any social emergency, or to take the people's opinion on the laying down of some new rule for society — as happened on the day when the Commander of the Faithful, Umar ibn al-Khattab, saw the people going to excess in women's dowers, their worldly means having widened in his age. Fearing the consequence of this, he forbade the people to exceed four hundred dirhams. When he delivered his opinion to the people from the pulpit, a woman of Quraysh confronted him and said: "Shall God give, and the Commander of the Faithful withhold?" He said to her: "How so?" She said: God says, "And if you have given one of them a qintar, take nothing back from it." Then Umar said: O God, Thy forgiveness! Everyone has more understanding than you, O son of al-Khattab. A woman was right, and Umar was wrong.

Is this not to be counted a precedent in Islam for giving woman her representative rights in legislative bodies?

Among woman's political rights in Islam is this: if she granted protection or safe-conduct to any of the enemy fighters, it took effect. Umm Hani said to the Prophet (God bless him and give him peace) on the day of the conquest of Mecca: I have given protection to two men of my husband's kin. And he said: We have protected whomever you have protected, O Umm Hani... And there were ordained for women social and political matters beyond even this: the wives of the Prophet and of his companions would go out on the campaigns with the men, giving water to drink, preparing food, binding up wounds, and urging on the fighting — this besides the oath of allegiance, which was for women as it was for men.

Islam abolished all that Arabs and non-Arabs alike had practiced in depriving women of ownership, and the tyranny of husbands over the property of their married wives. It established for women the right of ownership in its kinds, and of lawful disposal in its kinds; it ordained bequest and inheritance for them as for men; and it granted them, over and above, what it imposed on men on their behalf — the marriage dower, and maintenance for the woman and her children even if she is rich — and gave them the right of sale, purchase, gift, charity, and the rest. This, while we see that some of the European nations which have gone to great lengths in honoring and respecting women still have laws forbidding a woman the right to dispose of her own property without her husband's leave.

Such is a sketch of the character of the Messenger, peace be upon him, and of some of his teachings. How fitting it is for us, as we revive his memory, to take on his character and to draw from his guidance.