Shafaqna English- “The Visage of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)” is written by the late Dr. Ali Shariati. In these essays, Dr. Ali Shariati presents Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as a transformative leader whose life embodied justice, compassion, and social change, offering a fresh perspective that goes beyond conventional historical narratives.
Some of the Salient Characteristics of the Prophet’s (PBUH) Personality
Truly, even thinking about the Prophet is extremely difficult and awe-inspiring. A great personage like Ali said: “Whenever we found the situation to be grave, we used to take refuge in the Prophet of God and sought the shelter of his presence to feel safe and protected in his loving company”. How sublime and lofty was the personality of this great man. It is quite natural that our limited and little minds are unable to realize this greatness. The tools and criteria we use to evaluate and measure men fail to assess and understand such a great being. Hence, we are compelled to understand him within the limits imposed on our intellects.
Strength and Popularity at their Peak
One of his characteristics’ (with which I myself came across while lecturing on the life and personality of the Prophet) indicates that no personage has existed in the annals of history in whose being both strength of character and popularity, at such a high level, were combined together in this way. In a personage of such greatness, which inspires awe, fear, and another quality; which fills the heart with a special kind of friendly love for him, has never been integrated with each other. The love-ableness of the Prophet is separate from his prophet hood; for instance Moses, Abraham and Jesus were also prophets and all of them were loved and respected by their people as prophets and apostles of God. But our Prophet possessed an additional quality, and that was the compassion of all who came in contact with him. (We who know and love the Prophet through his words alone can naturally imagine to what extent those who dealt with him personally, could love him.) This dimension of his personality was, in itself such a great force that many of his Companions were greatly affected by his words in such a way that they feared that the Quranic verses reflecting the Prophet’s utterances filled their hearts so full that even the words of the Quran might not fit. They were anxious to remember whatever he said, because they loved him so much they memorized his words by heart. Even today, after the passage of fourteen hundred years, his words are so familiar to the masses of Makkah and Madinah, who now have no culture whatsoever and have fallen to the lowest intellectual level, it is as if the Prophet is still alive and speaking to them. His words, his reminiscences, his relics, his memoirs and all that belong to him are ever recounted by the people, as if he still resides in Madinah. Even the drivers, grocers and vendors those who are not acquainted with history, who have never read about his life and character and are illiterate still feel his presence among them. As if he was still alive, and in contact with them.
In the course of these fourteen hundred years, no incident, no rift or gap has been able to create a gulf or distance between them and the Prophet (this is something very unusual). This love-ableness is wonderful and extraordinary, to the extent that when one reads his biography, after some time one begins to love him. All this greatness within all this simplicity seems to be impossible is a miracle in itself. Philosophically, it is to contain the whole world in an eggshell, but this actually became reality.
While sitting in the corner of the Prophet’s Mosque, one can imagine the magnificence of the Prophet. What kind of a man was this person who razed all the great empires of the world to the ground? Who was he? What was the extent of his might and strength? Those of you who have fortunately visited this mosque can envision it in your mind. The additions that have been made to the Prophet’s Mosque, are fully distinguishable. If you envision that portion of the Prophet’s Mosque which is between the columns colored in yellow ochre, it was the entire area of the Prophet’s Mosque, both the covered and uncovered area measured 2,100 sq cubits. The area covered by the yellow ochre columns with a golden margin, indicates the exact place where the columns were erected during the Prophet’s time. In place of the present columns date trees were placed (exactly in the same place where the present columns stand). It perfectly reveals the nature and extent of the government which brought down and destroyed the majestic edifice of the Roman Empire and leveled to the ground the lofty mansions of the Mada’in rulers within the short period of less than a quarter of a century. A few houses made of mud in one corner of the courtyard of the mosque, a pulpit in another corner. a nitche at the distance of two three meters; there a small house, here the site of the mosque and the place where he prayed, and in that corner he used to converse with the people. This was the centre of his power* the entire domain of his strength, which served as the base of Islam throughout the entire world. This was actually the whole administration he controlled until the time of his death.
When one views that history was made in this small space of ten to twelve meters and all the ancient magnificent powers were humbled to the ground, one has to believe that it was in fact an extraordinary phenomenon. One can feel this miracle and witness it with his own eyes.
The other specific quality of the Prophet’s personality is that in every place of the (Arabian) Peninsula, which the Prophet visited, man feels a sense of attachment to that land and is attracted to its soil, its pebbles and the mountains thereof. It attracts the heart like a magnet, as if one has entered a magnetic field. At first I thought that maybe since I knew what had happened on the other side of the mountain Abu Qubays, and what role it played in the Prophet’s life, and I knew about the gloomy years when the sequence of the revelations was interrupted for years those nights, when sometimes the Prophet even considered throwing himself down, made a great emotional impression on me, for they had a specific attraction for me. Even though, when a group of Germans and other youths came to visit this place, even before I told them about where we were, (we were talking and as we passed through the ravines of Bani ‘Amir and Bani Hashim, and went up the summit of Abu Qubays), when we reached the tops all of them had the same unconscious feeling, even though they did not cherish any memory which could stir their feelings.
Part of series: The Visage of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by Dr. Ali Shariati