I had the opportunity to listen to Professor Tarik Ramadhan's public lecture while he was in Singapore yeterday, entitled "Prophet Muhammad's Enduring Message to Humanity." As always, Professor Ramadhan captivated his audience. I've had several opportunities now to hear him talk and he had always impressed me. This time, it is no different as he touched on a topic that I think is important in the light of all the misconceptions that Muslims and non-Muslims alike have about the Prophet, peace be upon him(pbuh). In his talk, he touched on the aspects of the Prophet's life (pbuh) that everyone of faith (anyone who believe in a god) can learn from.
Definitely I will not be able to do him justice here but let me briefly touch on the salient points (to my mind and knowledge) of his lecture.
1. The concept of God as the Educator. The arabic word for God, "Rabb," has the same root word as tarbiyyah (which means education). This is clearly manifested in the Prophet's life (pbuh) even when he was still a small child. For example, during his youth, he wished to go to a wedding where there would be a party with alcohol and so forth. Instead, God made him tired and slept till morning.
2. The same example pointed to a way of educating ourselves and others...that we have to accept that to be attracted to something that is bad for us is natural, however, it is how we manage those urges...in the example, God controlled the urge of the Prophet (pbuh) by distracting him through sleep. Similarly, it is possible to divert that attraction to something more positive without the use of force.
3. Knowledge is important in Islam but we must remember that there are limits to our knowledge. We must not fall into the trap of worshipping knowledge instead of the Creator of Knowledge.
4. Knowledge and education should lead us to serve those who has little of both. The rights and respect given to the knowledgable comes only when they serve the society/community. For in the Prophet's example, that he was born poor and an orphan and then God educated him and gave him wealth (through his marriage with Khadijah) and strength (his youth as well as spiritually). Yet, he never forgot his humble beginnings and continued to serve his people till his death. Today, there are those of us who would rather forget where we come from and revel in our knowledge. We start becoming arrogant and forget the duty that we have to serve.
5. Love is important and a form of protection that God grants to us; given that life is fragile, you should always express your love for your loved ones. Out of this love, comes respect and affection. The Prophet (pbuh) used to refuse invitations that are not also extended to his wife. And when his children approach, he always rose to show them respect. I really liked Professor Ramadhan's example of the Prophet staying still while prostrating in prayer because his grandchildren climbed over him. It showed his affection and loved for them that it transcend even the important act of prayers. Today, we often stop the children from being near us when we pray because we are afraid of their distraction. We could definitely learn from the Prophet in this aspect.
6. Peace is not obtained only through justice but also forgiveness. Professor Ramadhan said that we must be self-disciplined and grant forgiveness to others. We must first seek to understand before we can be understood...he quoted the treaty of Hudaibiyyah where the Prophet understood and respected his enemy's point of view while they negotiating the treaty of peace. When they told him that they want the name of Allah struck off and similarly the phrase "Muhammad is His Messenger", he told his scribe to do so. When the scribe and the rest of his companions bulked, he did it himself. Thus the treaty were negotiated and peace reined for a number of years...years in which Islam flourished and grew in the Arabian peninsular. Similarly, later, when the Quraish broke the treaty, and the Muslims were victorious and marched into Mecca, the Prophet (pbuh) granted amnesty to all of the Quraish except a very few from which justice was to be served.
There were other points that the good professor raised up but I thought these salient points are enough to allow us some food for thought. Peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment