The Relevance of his
Prophethood
All praise is due to Allah, the Rubb of the
worlds, and may Allah exalt the mention
of His Prophet, and render him and his
household safe and secure from all derogatory
things.
This Booklet sheds light on the requirements
of the testimony, that Muhammad
is the true messenger of Allah,
which people make in order to enter
into Islam. In specific, sixteen principles
should be understood by anyone who
embraces Islam, in order to fully commit
to the religion, and to be considered
a proper Muslim who truly believes that
there is nothing worthy of being worshipped
except Allah and that Muhammad
is the Messenger of Allah. Finally,
the booklet concludes with an important
discussion of the relevance of the
Prophet in our current times; the
twenty-first century. It addresses the
important question of how the Prophet
Muhammad remains both relevant
and influential in the lives of humanity
as a model of how best to live one’s life
and how best to worship the Creator.
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The Testimony that Muhammad
is the Messenger of Allah
Just as it is important to fully understand
the meaning and the implications
of the testimony that there is
nothing worthy of worship except Allah,
it is equally important to understand
the second part of the testimony
of faith, namely that Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah. Indeed, some will
stray from Islam simply by their disregard
for the second part of the declaration
of faith.
When one testifies that Muhammad is
the Messenger of Allah, he is stating
his belief that the Prophet Muhammad
was chosen by Allah to be
His Messenger and to convey His
Message. Allah specifically chose
the Prophet Muhammad to be
His Messenger. Allah says, “Allah
knows best with whom to
place His Message.” (6:124)
This is understood to mean that
the Prophet Muhammad
possessed the most appropriMUHAMMAD
The Messenger of Allah 7
ate characteristics for prophethood
as obviously Allah, due to His justice,
wisdom and mercy, would not choose
one who is treacherous to be His Messenger.
Allah would not choose for
such a mission anyone who would not
convey the message or who would
use the position to his own advantage.
If anyone claims that the Prophet
did not actually convey the entire message,
or that he distorted it in any way,
he is actually saying that Allah did not
know, and did not choose, the best
person to be a messenger. This is obvious
disbelief.
Furthermore, when one makes the
testimony of faith, he is also testifying
that the Prophet
has been sent for
all of mankind until the
Day of Judgment. Allah
says in the Quran,
“Say, [O Muhammad],
‘O mankind, indeed I
am the Messenger of
Allah to you all, [from
Him] to whom belongs
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the dominion of the heavens and the
earth. There is no deity except Him;
He gives life and causes death.’ So
believe in Allah and His Messenger,
the unlettered prophet, who believes
in Allah and His words, and follow him
that you may be guided.” (7:158)
Thus, it is obligatory upon everyone
from the time of the Prophet until
the Day of Judgment to believe in
and follow the Prophet . This also
implies that the Prophet’s teachings
and his Sunnah are valid and obligatory
upon all of mankind until the Day
of Judgment. Yet, some people try to
resist the idea that they have to follow
the Prophet . By taking this attitude,
they must realize that they are going
against what they have testified to do.
Moreover, when one makes the declaration
of faith, he is testifying that
he believes with certainty that the
Prophet Muhammad conveyed the
message - he conveyed it correctly, he
conveyed all of it, and he conveyed it
clearly. Allah says in the Quran, “The
Messenger’s duty is only to convey
(the message) in a clear way.” (29: 18)
And the Prophet himself said, “I left
you on a bright path whose night and
day are alike. No one strays from it after
me except he is destroyed.” (Ahmad)
The obligations upon a believer
as regards the second
testimony can best be
summarized in the following
sixteen principles
or requirements:
To believe in the
Message of the
Prophet and
that he was sent to
mankind at large.
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To believe that the Prophet is
infallible in matters pertaining to
the Deen.
To believe that the Prophet was
sent as a mercy to mankind and as
the seal (finality) of all messengers,
such that no prophet or prophets
will ever come after him.
To believe that the Messenger of
Allah is the most honorable
Prophet and Messenger.
To believe that the Prophet
conveyed to us the true and complete
Deen of Islam.
To believe the Messenger of
Allah conveyed the message
in its entirety and gave
sincere counseling to the
Muslim people.
To believe the
Shari’ah (law) of Muhammad
is the only
acceptable law and to
obey the Prophet as Allah
commands.
To be content with the
judgment of the Messenger and
not object to what the Prophet
has legalized and made law,
and to adhere to
the Sunnah of the
Prophet .
To hold the Prophet
in high esteem,
and to revere him, and to ask
Allah to exalt the mention of the
Prophet.
To love and respect the Prophet
as he should be revered and
respected, and to invite and persuade
people to accept Islam, using
wisdom and good manners.
To defend the Prophet
and his Sunnah
against the haters
of Islam, and
to adhere to the
Sunnah of the
Prophet.
• Muhammad
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Conclusion
We conclude this treatise with the
words of Alphonse de LaMartaine1 in
Historie de al Turquie:
“Never has a man set for himself, voluntarily
or involuntarily, a more sublime
aim. Since this aim was superhuman, to
subvert superstitions which had been
imposed between man and his Creator,
to render God unto man and man unto
God, to restore the rational and sacred
idea of divinity amidst the chaos of the
material and disfigured gods of idolatry,
then existing. Never has a man undertaken
a work so far beyond human power
with so feeble means, for he (Muhammad)
had in the conception as well as
in the execution of such a
great design, no other instrument
than himself and
no other aid except a handful
of men living in a corner
of the desert. Finally, never
has a man accomplished
such a huge and lasting
revolution in the world, be-
(1) He was a poet, a
member of the
provisional government,
and a onetime
French presidential
candidate.
19
cause in less than two centuries after its
appearance, Islam, in faith and in arms,
reigned over the whole of Arabia, and
conquered, in God’s name, Persia, Khorasan,
Transoxania, Western India, Syria,
Egypt, Abyssinia, all the known continent
of Northern Africa, numerous islands of
the Mediterranean Sea, Spain, and part
of Gaul. If greatness of purpose, smallness
of means, and astonishing results
are the three criteria of a human genius,
who could dare compare any great man
in history with Muhammad? The most famous
men created arms, laws, and empires
only. They founded, if anything at
all, no more than material powers which
often crumbled away before their eyes.
This man moved not only armies, legislations,
empires, peoples, dynasties, but
millions of men in one-third of the then
inhabited world. And more than that, he
moved the altars, the gods, the religions,
the ideas, the beliefs and the souls.
On the basis of a Book, every letter of
which has become law, he created a
spiritual nationality which blends together
peoples of every tongue and race. He
Islam is a complete
way of life. It
includes the social,
political, economical
and ethical aspects
of life.
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has left the indelible characteristic of this
Muslim nationality, the hatred of false
gods and the passion for the One and
Immaterial God. This avenging patriotism
against the profanation of Heaven
formed the virtue of the followers of Muhammad.
The conquest of one-third the
earth to the dogma was his miracle, or
rather it was not the miracle of man, but
that of reason.
The idea of the unity of God, proclaimed
amidst the exhaustion of the
fabulous theogonies, was in itself such
a miracle that upon it’s utterance from
his lips, it destroyed all the ancient temples
of idols and set on fire one-third of
the world. His life, his meditations, his
heroic reveling against the superstitions
of his country, and his boldness in defying
the furies of idolatry, his firmness in
enduring them for fifteen years in Mecca,
his acceptance of the role of public
scorn and almost of being a victim of
his fellow countrymen. All these and finally,
his flight, his incessant preaching,
his wars against odds, his faith in his
success and his superhuman security
21
in misfortune, his forbearance in victory,
his ambition, which was entirely devoted
to one idea and in no manner striving
for an empire; his endless prayers,
his mystic conversations with God, his
death and his triumph after death. All
these attest not to an imposture, but
to a firm conviction which gave him the
power to restore a dogma.
This dogma was twofold the unity of
God, and the immateriality of God. The
former telling what God is, the latter
telling what God is not. The one overthrowing
false gods with the sword,
the other starting an idea with words.
Philosopher, Orator, Apostle, Legislator,
Conqueror of Ideas, Restorer of
Rational beliefs... The founder of
twenty terrestrial empires and
of one spiritual empire; that
is Muhammad. As regards
all standards by which
human greatness may be
measured, we may well ask,
is there any man greater than
he?”
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Relevance of the Prophet
Muhammad Today
In today’s modern and secular society,
we see many advances that demonstrate
the advancement of civilization.
More efficient cars, faster airplanes,
taller buildings, smart devices, AI, the
genetic engineering of everything from
foods to babies… indeed one could legitimately
wonder what a man living in
the desert fourteen hundred years ago
could contribute to such a society. Yet
beneath the advanced technology and
neon lit streets of today’s world teems
a world which seems only to be going
backwards in regards to moral integrity,
societal equality, environmental
protection and general kindness
and respect to one another.
Our world today experiences
more and more corruption and
vice where the strong devour
the weak. Advancement was
supposed to bring an end to
racism, murder, theft, rape and
all such evils; yet sadly the secular
experiment hasn’t been able to
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do that. This is not to say that many
of our advances as a civilization are
without benefit. On the contrary, they
are great tools by which we can serve
one another and by which we can
make our world a better place to live.
Yet there is one critical ingredient that
continuously seems to be missing,
and that is the spiritual dimension. The
world today is in dire need for trust,
mercy, love and peace - all of which
stem from God alone.
The Prophet Muhammad was, is
and will always be an embodiment of
these excellent values, not to mention
his many other virtues. When his mission
began, the world around him was
struggling with many of the same vices
we find ourselves drowning in;
injustice, oppression, poverty,
petty wars, infanticide, and racism
amongst others. In twenty-
three years, the Prophet
Muhammad sparked
a revolution that would alter
world history and spread the
message of peace, justice and
mercy throughout many nations.
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The message of the God, as delivered
and lived by the Prophet Muhammad
, continues today to guide millions
upon millions of people to improve
not only their own lives, but the lives
of those around them. It encourages
one to remember that this life is a life
of testing and not the goal which we
should be seeking. That there will be
a day when true and complete justice
will be meted out and where one will
find the complete fruit of their labor.
There is a distinct difference in the life
of one who follows in the footsteps of
the great men and women of faith before
them as opposed to the one who
denies any reason or purpose to life.
As you read more about Islam and see
the impact of the teachings
of Muhammad on
entire societies and nations,
as well as his specific
instructions to individuals,
you will gain the
best appreciation for the
true relevance of this man
in today’s world. Muslims
already know the rele25
vance of this great and noble prophet
to the human race every time they see
a Muslim put their faith into action.
It might be through selfless charity,
standing up for the rights of the oppressed,
the honor and respect given
to those who teach or any one from
among the many simple, yet profound,
lessons we have learned from that
great Prophet of the Almighty. And as
long as we continue to be members of
the human race, his teachings will always
be valid and practical.
سلام على نبينا محمد ù صلاة وال ü الحمد لله رب العالمين وال
سلم. S صلى الله عليه و U
All Praise is due to Allah Alone, the
Lord of the Worlds, and may God
Praise His Prophet Muhammad and
his household, and keep him safe
from all evil.
It is time to know Him
ش
His Lineage, Childhood and Prophethood
Persecution and Hijra
His Manners & Characteristics
The Prophet’s Manners With Those Around Him
Textual, Scriptural and Intellectual Testimonials of his Prophethood
Intellectual Proofs of his Prophethood
The Relevance of his Prophethood
This booklet is the seventh in a series
of publications based on a book titled
Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah.
Each booklet covers an aspect of the
Prophetʼs life, deeds and teachings and
aims to provide a better understanding of
Islam.
