– Dr. Farrukh Adnan
Allah has created this universe and among all creations He put human beings at the peak of His creation. He has granted stewardship of this world to the humans, and as a result made arrangements for guiding them to The Straight Path (Sirat al Mustaqeem). He set the perfect duration of life and death for man so that he should do the things that he’s sent for in this world in a limited timeframe. He said in the Quran that “[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best indeed.” (67:2).” He sent His prophets and with them the books and scriptures to provide this guidance in every era. “And there was no nation but that there had passed within it a warner.” (35:24). Similarly, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was sent for our Ummah and he changed the world with the holy revolution and the guidance that he had received from Almighty Allah. His legacy is as follows:
- Ideological Changes:
Before the arrival of the Prophet, the Arabs were very superstitious, they called themselves followers of the Abrahamic religion, but despite the presence of the sacred Kaaba, they worshiped idols. Drinking alcohol was common. They circumambulated the Kaaba naked. Daughters used to be buried alive. Looting was common. War would break out over a small matter, and it would go on for years. They believed in Allah but considered idols as a means of reaching Him. Hence, it is safe to say that at that time society was suffering from various social and moral diseases. Prophet ﷺ made people aware of the Oneness of Allah and invited them to worship Him alone. “Say, “Indeed, I have been forbidden to worship those you invoke besides Allah.” Say, “I will not follow your desires, for I would then have gone astray, and I would not be of the [rightly] guided.” (6:56). Prophet ﷺ changed people’s belief, their behaviors, their customs, and social norms. After migration to Madina he focused on building and safeguarding his community. He brought them out of the darkness of superstition, fortune telling and divination. He dispelled their wantonness and sexual exploitation. He did away with their tribal boasting and rivalries. He rid their hearts of racism. He had achieved a great deal. To the pagan peoples of western Arabia, he had brought a new religion which, with its monotheism and its ethical doctrines, stood on an incomparably higher level than the one it replaced. He had provided the guide that would become the basis of thought and conduct for countless millions of Believers which were to come in the centuries to follow. But he had done more than that; he had established a community and a well-organized and armed state, the power and prestige of which made it a dominant factor in Arabia.
Prophet ﷺ changed people’s belief, their behaviors, their customs, and social norms.
- Social and Constitutional Establishment:
Through instructions from the Almighty, Prophet ﷺ established constitution with security of community, religious freedom, role of Madina as a Haram (secured place), security of women, stable tribal relations within Madina, tax system for supporting the community at the time of conflict, parameters for exogenous political alliances, a system for granting protection of individuals, judicial system for resolving disputes. In the Islamic state, the power of law is invincible. No one is above the law. The most respectable person, even the Caliph, is subject to the law in the same way as a destitute pauper is. These words of Muhammad ﷺ are recorded in history that he said, “If Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad ﷺ had conducted theft, by God, Muhammad ﷺ would have cut off her hand too.”
- Political Changes:
Prophet ﷺ introduced the system of Caliphate as the structure of ruling which was based on an important Islamic concept Shura or called as consultation with people regarding their affairs, mentioned in Quran as “And those who have responded to their lord and established prayer and whose affair is [determined by] consultation among themselves, and from what We have provided them, they spend.” (42:38). History is witness to the fact that peace and order was established in the world through this caliphate system. The Caliph would make sure that in his Caliphate no acts of injustice should take place, otherwise, he would be accountable to God for all these.
The Caliphate introduced by the Prophet ﷺ is the most just rule the world has ever seen
- Scientific Establishments:
Muslims in the world pondered over the Qur’an and made the world aware of many scientific inventions. As the world progressed, people changed the names of these Muslim scientists and authored these inventions with other names. Following are some of the Muslim scientists with their real names and their inventions which are not widely known:
- Jabir ibn Hayyan and Abu Bakr al Razi are the two great scientists who introduced new inventions of sulfur mercury theory and systematic classification of chemical substance respectively.
- Ibn Seena introduced the world with the medical inventions in streams of health and science.
- Al Zahrawi published a 1500-page encyclopedia of surgery.
- Abbas ibn Firnas was the first person to make a real attempt to construct a flying machine and succeed.
These are some establishments that changed the face of the world through Prophet’s ﷺ teachings, and it was the rise of world.
