Islam and the Earliest Muslims Two Conflicting Portraits

BACK⇒ Return to Table of contents   Contradictory Pictures of Early Islamic Era   What was the standard set by the earliest Islamic Era? What was the result; how the character and morals of the people were moulded under Rasulullah’s salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam guidance; and were these men different from national leaders, founders of kingdoms and persons aspiring for personal aggrandisement? What was their attitude to their kin; […]

BACK⇒ Return to Table of contents    The Doctrine of Imamah   The fourth and the last condition mentioned by us for perennial nubuwwah was that the nabi should be the centre of affections and source of guidance to his followers. Like the Oneness of Allah, Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is the sole expositor of divine laws and commands. Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal has correctly explained the cultural […]

BACK⇒ Return to Table of contents   Accuracy and preservation of the Qur’an   Yet another prerequisite, as indicated earlier, for a perennial nubuwwah is that the revelation vouchsafed to the last and final Rasul salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, which forms the basis of its doctrines and teachings, and serves as a connecting link between the Creator and the created, should be preserved without a change of a dot, […]

BACK⇒ Return to Table of contents   Rasulullah’s salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam attitude towards his Household   The second condition we had set forth for a universal religion claiming to revolutionise and improve the morals and manners of the entire humanity was that its founder should not feign piety and self-abnegation for establishing a dynastic rule, like the kings and conquers of the old. In other words, he should […]

BACK⇒ Return to Table of contents   Puritanical Life of the earlier Khulafaʼ   The sincerity, piety and nobility of the first four khulafaʼ are demonstrated by their abstinence from the wealth that flowed from the newly conquered lands of the former Persian and Byzantine empires to the metropolis of Islam. Unlike other ambitious conquerors, they did not lead a life of ease and sufficiency but preferred to pass their […]