Ramadhan: The Month of Truth (II) [Archives:1999/51/Focus]

Common Sense
By: Hassan Al-Haifi

By the time that Allah, the Al-Mighty, had ordered his Archangel Gabriel Ð God’s messenger to the messenger – to start transmitting the Koran to the Prophet Mohammed (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), it was obvious that Mohammed (P) had developed into the ripe human material suitable for conveying the climax of the human spiritual experience. From the time that Adam set foot in this planet, God Almighty had, from time to time, chosen a series of prophets and messengers to impress upon men, chosen from various selected tribes and nations, that the path that is astray from the righteous course is of no use to mankind and only invites the wrath of God, in addition to the social disarray that falls upon such misguided nations. Each of these prophets had a particular mission to carry out and each was equipped with a package of miracles Ð the signs of Allah’s unlimited powers and strengths Ð in the hope that reason would guide mankind to choose the course that will conform to the kind of order that will result in the satisfaction of the Creator, both in thanks and appreciation to all the bounty He has bestowed upon man and in the hope that God’s rewards would rain upon those who abide by his prescription for a stable, healthy and God fearing society.
But it seems that these early messengers, though unfailing in their efforts to implant the true foundations of faith, encountered deeply entrenched forces of evil and arrogance. Often they encountered strong opposition and some were even killed or tortured or faced ridicule from the forces that saw in the path of righteousness a threat to their power and interests. Many of these arrogant people acquired their position through deception and force and thus represented an evil the society could well do without. For these tribes and nations that opposed the calls to the right path, the end result was God’s contempt and severe punishment, for one thing, in order to be penalized for their arrogance and refusal to recognize their Creator’s bounties, and for another, to remain as examples so that forthcoming generations could take note that, as much as God is merciful and compassionate, He can also act severely against those that do not heed the warnings of His messengers and prophets. Thus many a strong tribe and nation Ð some which were the big powers of their times Ð vanished and saw their glory and extravagance fade into the pages of history books, for the simple reason that they refused the honor of carrying the banner of the only acceptable course for humanity to tread on.
These messengers and prophets [from Adam Ð Noah Ð Ibrahim Ð Isaac Ð Jacob Ð Moses Ð Jesus and then finally to Mohammed (P upon them all)] were links of a long series of messengers and prophets that represented a series of steps that the Lord Al-Mighty had progressively arranged to underscore God’s insistence that man’s existence is surely not without purpose and that God’s will will eventually prevail.
The Koran, the Holy Book that was delivered by Mohammed to all of Mankind, and not just to a particular nation, has revealed the stories of many of these prophets and messengers, in the classic literary finesse that can only come from God Al-Mighty, giving the reader a vivid recounting of both the general atmosphere that prevailed in the location where the messenger carried out his mission, while at the same time keeping the reader close to how these prophets emerged, the challenges that beset them and the obstacles that confronted them, in addition to providing penetrating insights of the psyche of evil against good that was manifested by the major players in the drama, those who stood for the status quo with its stench of evil intents and desire to oppress the rest of their fellow men, just so their selfish greed and lust for power could be maintained, while deep inside they knew full well that what these prophets and messengers were conveying could be nothing other than the truth, and those who saw in sacrifice a great reward from the Lord, whether here or in the hereafter, and who saw in the truth a sense of relief from the fallacies that have reigned in the name of traditional heritage Ð most of whom were from the oppressed elements of the society, who recognized that the power of the Lord was their only source of salvation and liberty from the oppression that was imposed upon them. Despite the overwhelming odds against them and the stubbornness of the evil forces they were confronted with, these messengers were unrelenting in their quest to make their people understand that this is no fly by night operation, but a matter of universal human destiny, towards the realization that, no matter what happens, it is God’s will that shall prevail.
Though all these prophets had their particular themes to convey as they carried out their God-sent missions, there was the underlying theme with all of them that true faith lies in the ultimate submission to God Al-Mighty, alone, as the only source of salvation and the only acceptable origin for legislation for the regulation of society. Thus mans’ quest for a stable orderly and just universe can only come when all of mankind has come to recognize that there is only one King and Deity worthy of man’s worship and any other claims or misrepresentations of the Divinity must be rejected. It is only then that men can find joy and ease in facing up to the challenges of life and it is only then that life takes on true meaning.
Thus Mohammed’s solace in the mountains of Mecca have lead him to be the climax of this series of human salvation seekers, who have stood in deliberation, somehow knowing that there just has to be a way out of the agony and suffering that surrounds them, even though they might not be its victims for now, but it is still not right. The shock that Mohammed was to be hit with just cannot be imagined as all of a sudden those bright twinkles here and there in the heavens turned into a luminous brightness with the Archangel’s voice breaking the silence of the desert night to command the prophet, who has yet to become familiar with the task that is about to be laid out to him. With the command: “Read!” the prophet could only answer in a baffled state: “But I am not able to read!” No matter, the Archangel continued: “Read, read in the name of thy Lord who createdÉ” (The Koran, the Clot).
Thus Mohammed’s long quest for the answers to the hundreds of questions that forced him to leave his family and fellow Meccans for so many nights were to be answered in the book that has come down to him over a stretch of 23 years, since that first night of the last few days of the month of Ramadhan. It would be difficult to describe just exactly how the prophet Mohammed (P) felt as he saw the magnificence of the Lord’s archangel break through the darkness of the desert night to shed the light of truth on Mohammed and to recite to him the words that have become the indisputable source of strength and wisdom that the religion of Islam derives its power from. Nothing of equal literary arrangement and verse has ever equaled it, even when considering that the Arabic language, even in the Period of Ignorance, has produced such fabulous eloquent poetry and verse, that remain to this day masterpieces of self-expression and literary genius, yet are still far from ever reaching the mastery of eloquence that the Koran has.
Mohammed (P) went home that night not knowing what to do or what to say, except to ask that he be covered and warmed up. His whole body was undergoing a continuous tremor. He explained to his baffled kinfolk what he had just gone through. In the meantime, the Divine wanted to impress upon Mohammed that; this is just the beginning. From beneath the cloak, the image of Gabriel (P) again appeared: “Hey, you wrapped underneath the cloak! Rise up and warn! And exalt your Lord! And your clothes purify!” Thus the early revelations of the Koran worked to impress upon Mohammed that he is about to embark on the fulfillment of a Divinely guided destiny that would be of paramount significance, not just for Mohammed (P), the Tribe of Qureish, or the Arab Nation, but the world at large, even to this very day. Next issue we will get into the real essence of the mission that was to take humanity to a new journey that still has important ramifications up through this very moment.
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