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.
The Elevated Status of The Prophet (PBUH)
Today I shall describe some very unique characteristics of the Prophet, since it is a day especially connected with his person. On all other days we can talk about his philosophy and ideology. Today is not the anniversary of the beginning of his prophetic mission, it is his birthday. Due to this, it is not improper if I choose to speak about him personally, the characteristics of this great personage and his personality.
Whenever one reads the account of his life, the places where he lived, one realizes the one of the characteristics inherent to his nature was his choice of high and lofty places like an eagle. Wherever he went and put up his tent, he chose the highest point. For instance, during Haji he would go to ‘Arafat. His spiritual state was exactly like a bird that dwells in lofty heights. If you look at Mina, the highest hilltop there is Khayf, where the mosque of Khayf is situated that is the place where the Prophet preferred to stay.
Arafat is a desert and a plateau. There is a hill in a corner. You know that at Arafat the Prophet went and stayed there.
Before he was appointed to the prophet hood, he chose the mount of Hira, which was the highest and the most mysterious mountain among the mountains surrounding Makka, to go into retreat and seclusion. Unlike the hermits and recluses who chose basements and underground places, burrows, secluded spots and caves for this purpose, even the place that he chose to go into seclusion was a mountain top, a lofty peak and a summit. These are spiritual and psychological matters but they are indications of his existential experience. Sometimes the individualistic behavior of a person reveals the greatness of his being and his innate characteristics.
Destroying the Old Value System and Creating a New One
He was a man who wielded so much power and might that even when his enemies wanted to abuse him, they would say: “He is a Prophet equipped with arms and his religion is the religion of the sword”. For the world his image is projected as that of a warrior. None of the Roman, Aramaic, Greek or Arian generals ever fought as many battles as our Prophet. What is important is not the extent of battles but the occupation in martial activities. The Prophet was engaged in battles for eight years. During this period of time he fought 64 or 65 battles, which if averaged out, will show that he had a military expedition every forty or fifty days. No single military man, considering his military operations alone, has been able to engage himself in as many battles, (64 or 65) during a ten year period of social and political responsibilities.
Nevertheless, his Companions never considered him to be a military man. People came to him with their smallest problems. A woman opened her heart to him complaining that her husband does not sleep with her. He was so accessible to the people that she comes to the Prophet without having the slightest idea of his superiority . (To whom can you speak to in this manner? You dare not speak of; such trifle matters to the clergy in your neighbourhood. ) This woman comes and detains the Prophet for an hour. She recounts to him the habits of her husband; she tells him how he is when he comes home; how bad is his mood; what she says, and how he answers; what he said the last night; how many nights he has not slept with her; how he behaves with her; how he supports her, doesn’t support her… He sits patiently, and listens to her in such a manner that she is encouraged to return the next day again. Tomorrow her neighbors also come. The day after tomorrow all the other women come to him. It is obvious that he does not behave in a way that the very first day a person feels that he or she was mistaken, should not have come to him. Till his death no one realized that he was mistaken to behave with him in this manner. His firmness, grandeur, greatness and his worldly prestige overwhelmed all those, irrespective of friend or foe who did not see him. But those who saw him, they found in him an intimate, lovable friendly person. Unlike the great worldly personages who appear little and humble from a distance and dreadful and terrible from near.
An old woman wanted to speak with him. She saw the Prophet emerging from his quarters and came face to face with her. The Prophet felt that she wanted to tell him something. She stopped and waited, when he saw that she would not come forward, he himself went to her. He noticed that she was trembling and tongue-tied (she was over-awed by the Prophet’s personality). He came and held her by the shoulders like a child and said, “Mother whom are you afraid of ? I am the son of that Qurayshi woman who used to milk sheep. Whom do you fear?” This is the new value system which was created by him, as he broke the old value system.
We have again returned to those very aristocratic values. Even while speaking about our Prophet, we judge him by criteria that is contrary to the mission of his prophet hood. Imam Sadiq speaks about the Prophet thus:
“The Prophet used to sit as a servant siteth, used to take his meals as a servant eateth; and indeed he regarded himself to be a servant”.
(It was not a feigned appearance, but in reality he considered himself to be a servant. What a strange thing.)
Besides being a social privilege, aristocracy has its own specific symbols. It has its own style of dressing, its own specific decorations, its own means of transportation, its own specific sources of livelihood, its own specific titles all these are the signs of aristocracy, whether it may be the clerical elite, for if you look at the titles of this class, the whole writing space will be filled or it may be the political or a privileged class elite. It makes no difference as to which kind of aristocracy a person belongs. One of the signs of aristocracy, for example, is having a long beard this was prevalent in Russia several years ago. servant. But the latter is more appropriate.
Part of series: The Visage of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by Dr. Ali Shariati