2016

[ OUR ROLE MODEL PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PBUH) AND

HOW HE CHANGE THE SOCIETY]

ByImam Murtadha Muhammad Gusau

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Verily, all praise is for Allah, we seek His help and His forgiveness.
We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our own souls [and from our
bad deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides will never be led astray, and
whomsoever Allah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that
there is no god but Allah, [alone and without any partner] and I bear
witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

"O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not
except in a state of Islam (as Muslims) with complete submission to
Allah." [Ali Imran 3:102]

"O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single
person, and from him He created his wife, and from them both He created
many men and women, and fear Allah through Whom you demand your

0
mutual (rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship)
Surely, Allah is Ever an All-Watcher over you)." [al-Nisa’ 4:1]

"O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and speak
(always) the truth). He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and
will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His
Messenger (SAW) he has indeed achieved a great achievement (i.e. he
will be saved from the Hellfire and made to enter Paradise)." [al-Ahzaab
33:70-71]

As to what proceeds: Verily the best of speech is the Book of Allah

and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (SAW). The
worst of affairs are the newly-invented affairs in the religion and every
newly invented affair in the religion is an innovation and every
innovation is misguidance and all misguidance is in the hellfire. As to
what proceeds:

"There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an

excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and
[who] remembers Allah often." (Surah Ahzaab, 33:21)
A. Religious Characteristics:

1. Belief: From the time that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was charged
with the duty of Prophethood he tried to correct the beliefs of people and
distance them from the idols. Idolatry did not consist merely of believing
that Allah had partners; the idols, which had been raised to the level of
deities, were involved in worship and daily life.
Thus, Prophet Muhammad informed everyone who embraced Islam
that by uttering the Kalimatit Tawhid that they had distanced themselves
from shirk (polytheism) and they should only worship and pray to Allah;
divining the future with arrows, using magic, considering objects to be
unlucky, sacrificing an animal to anyone but Allah, swearing on an idol
and discussing fate were all forbidden. Prophet Muhammad also
demanded reliance on Allah and that only He be turned to for help.
In fact, during the migration Abu Bakr became worried when the
unbelievers followed them as far as the Cave of Thawr; Prophet
Muhammad told him "Do not be afraid! Allah is with us," (Surah Al-
Tauba, 9:40), advising him to rely on Allah. In addition, as everyone who
had faith was close to Allah, Prophet Muhammad announced: "If the
servant approaches Allah by the span of one hand, Allah will approach
him by a yard, if he approaches Allah by a yard, Allah will approach him
by two yards, again if he walks to Allah, Allah will run to him." (Bukhari
and Muslim) In connection with the fact that no Muslim can question the
belief of another (takfir ) the Prophet said, " If a person accuses a fellow
Muslim of not being Muslim, then because of that takfir one of them will
be an unbeliever." (Muslim)

2. Worship: Islam is a religion that gives importance to both worship and

belief. In the Quran Allah says: "I have only created Jinns and men that
they may serve me," (Surah Zariyat, 51:56), indicating the importance of
worship in the life of a person.
The Prophet said, "Allah will not look at your body or appearance or
possessions; he will examine your hearts and your actions" (Muslim),
thus emphasizing the value of worship for a believing person.
In the society which Prophet Muhammad addressed, worship was
important from two aspects. The first was the jama'ah (congregation). In
particular, the forms of worship that must be performed together as
required by the jama'ah, starting with the congregational prayer, increase
the trust between individuals in society and pleasure is attained from
worship. In fact, the Prophet said: "In Allah's eyes the most esteemed
action is that which is continuous, even if it is little" (Bukhari), focusing
attention on the matter of constancy.
There are different aspects for prayer, fasting, zakah and hajj in the
life of the individual and the society. All these forms of worship secure
unity and togetherness, cooperation and solidarity, and altruism for others
within the society.

3. Education and Instruction: One of the most important characteristics in

the society of Prophet Muhammad was education, instruction and
knowledge. Allah's first command to Prophet Muhammad was "Read".
The verses from the Quran: "If you realize this not, ask of those who
possess this message," (Surah An-Nahl, 16:43) "Say: "Are those equal,
those who know and those who do not know?" (Surah Az-Zumar, 39:),
make clear the importance of knowledge, education and instruction in
Islam.
In the time of Prophet Muhammad education and instruction began
with education in the Quran and the Sunnah (practices of the Prophet). In
fact, Prophet Muhammad ordered: "The most blessed of you are those
who learn and teach the Quran." (Bukhari and Abu Dawud) As Prophet
Muhammad gave the importance to both men and women learning how to
read and write he appointed Shifa bint Abdillah to teach the women. In
fact, the Prophet set the ransom for a man, one of the prisoners who knew
how to read and write, as teaching ten Muslim children to read and write.
In addition to this, many Companions were assigned to teach and
instruct in the Quran and the Sunnah. Prophet Muhammad wanted for all
Muslims, with no differentiation between men and women or young and
old, to be occupied with all areas of learning that were concerned with
human life. The Prophet, who ordered that there be specialization in
knowledge, education and learning, stated that a person who had
knowledge was blessed, but that they must not be conceited and must not
hide their knowledge.

4. Abandoning Ignorant Traditions and Customs: One of the

characteristics of the society in the time of Prophet Muhammad was the
complete abandonment of the incorrect traditions, customs and behaviour
that belonged to the Age of Ignorance.
The principles that the Prophet introduced put an end to the beliefs
and concept of worship that belonged to the Era of Ignorance; while
installing the Islamic principles in the place of these earlier beliefs it is
only natural that some of the traditions, customs and behaviour that
existed in this period and which were contrary to the revelation ceased to
be practiced.
The Prophet tried to put an end to all behaviour that was seen as
superstitious from an Islamic point of view; by distancing people from
belief and worship of idols and bringing them closer to Allah he endowed
them with the Islamic morals. In this matter the Prophet forbid the
spilling of blood, stealing and adultery; that is, he forbid involvement in
all forms of behaviour that would threaten the security of property, life,
honour or reputation. Involvement in slander, backstabbing and unjust
earnings, like interest, black-marketeering, and bribery, was also
forbidden.
In fact, when Ibnul Lutbiyah, who had collected the zakah from the
Azd tribe, separated out some objects from the zakah goods that had been
given to him personally, the Prophet was not pleased and said "If you had
been sitting in the house of your mother and father (i.e doing nothing)
would you have been given these?" (that is, the presents were given to the
office not to the man) and he took the objects back. Prophet Muhammad
cursed black-marketeering and cheating.
Again in this period, to be involved in behaviour that would damage
family life or incur a bad reputation, to mock, to be careless when
weighing goods, to oppress, to fail to prevent evil, to be conceited, to
incite disorder and sedition, or to be an instrument of the same, to disturb
those around one with one's attitude or behaviour, to be malicious or
vengeful were behaviour considered to be part of ignorant traditions and
customs and were forbidden by the Prophet.

5. Cooperation: Cooperation and solidarity were important characteristics

in the society of Prophet Muhammad. During the Makkan and Madinan
periods those who followed the Prophet helped one another both
financially and spiritually.
The Madinan Muslims met the needs of the emigrants as much as
they could and for this reason they were called the Ansar (Helpers). The
Prophet considered it a duty to help those who were destitute, poor,
orphaned or abandoned and to relieve them of their difficulties. He said,
"Even if I were to have as much gold as Mount Uhud, I would not want to
keep more beside me at night than what I owed or to have more than a
dinar of that left." (Bukhari and Muslim) Again, the Prophet said: " If one
of you does not want for their brother in religion what they want for
themselves, then they are not a true believer," (Bukhari, Muslim and At-
Tirmidhi), indicating the importance of cooperation and meeting the
needs of others.

B. Political Characteristics:

1. Feeling of Security: The state that was established as a result of the

policies followed by Prophet Muhammad in Madinah had the power to
solve any potential problems. The construction of the first masjid was an
important component of the foundation of brotherhood, and was an
important step in providing closeness, affection, love, cooperation and
security among Muslims.
In addition, the political structure that came about in Madinah
provided mutual security in the relationship between the state and the
people; the Jewish, polytheist and munafiq (hypocrite) elements in
society were not able to destroy the closeness, unity and togetherness of
the Muslims. Again, the Prophet's constitution (agreement - Madinah
Contract), which considered both Muslims and the other people in
Madinah, strengthened the feeling of security between the Muslims and
non-Muslims.
The Prophet, who was the head of state in Madinah, treated both
Muslim and non-Muslim according to the principle of rights, justice and
equality that was involved in this constitution. However, taking into
account developing events, despite the peace that had been established in
Madinah, the Jewish and hypocrite elements had adopted an attitude
opposed to the Muslims and to the state and spread seeds of disunion and
instigation among society.
This much is a fact; the Prophet included people loop in the decisions
he was to make as leader of the society; he brought consultation to the
fore, and took into consideration not the benefits to his person, family or
relations, but rather thought of the good of the society and state. When
there was hardship he would be the first to step up, and when there was a
reward he would put himself last, always placing the benefit of society to
the fore. In fact, this behaviour of the Prophet, as a leader of a society,
provided for the establishment of an atmosphere of peace and security in
society.
2. Disapproval of Tribalism: From the first day of Prophet Muhammad's
revelation, the feeling of tribalism which existed in the Age of Ignorance
was replaced by the concept of "brother/sister in religion", and in the
Madinah Contract the formula of "living together", disregardless of race,
language or religion, was put into practice.
When the Prophet removed the concept of tribalism from society he
did not completely ignore the problem of the tribes, but established a
balance between the Ansar and the Muhajiruun, trying to replace the
tribal feelings that existed between these two groups with the concept of
religious brotherhood.

3. Care in Appointing Administrators: The administrators who were

appointed during the Prophet's time were people who were humble,
gentle and merciful; they were people who expended all their energy for
the community, people who were capable and competent, who complied
with the principles of the Quran and Sunnah, who worked to securing the
unity and togetherness of society and the state and peace of mind of the
individual and who did not allow themselves to be used as instruments
for instigation or sedition. The Prophet said, "You are all shepherds; you
are all accountable for your herds" (Bukhari, Muslim and Abu Dawud),
expressing the fact that all should act with a feeling of responsibility in
society, in particular the administrators of that society. When Prophet
Muhammad said: "My Lord! If one who has taken on a duty for the sake
of the ummah makes things difficult, make things difficult for them, if they
act well, then treat them well ," (Bukhari, Muslim and At-Tirmidhi), he
made it clear that rights and the people are the support of administrators
who treat society well.

C. Economic Characteristics:

1. The Economic Situation in Madinah: With the emigration of the

Muslims to Madinah great changes took place. In Madinah, the arrival of
Muslims like Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman bin Affan, Talha bin Ubaydullah,
Abdurrahman bin Auf, Zubayr bin Awwam, sped up the commercial life
of the city. During the early days of the emigration to Madinah it was the
Ansar who saved the Makkan Muslims from financial strife; later the
Makkan Muslims worked in such a way that the Ansar did not find
themselves in a difficult position, and the economic situation righted
itself. The economic problems of the Muslims continued until the Battle
of the Trench (Khandaq). In this period the zakah that the Muslims gave
balanced the economy in favour of the poorer members of society.
After the Hudaybiyah agreement and the conquest of Haybar the
economy improved. In fact, the result of this relaxation in the economy
was that some Companions became wealthy enough to leave inheritances.
The economy of Madinah was agriculturally based. Dates, grapes, barley
and wheat were among the main crops. At the end of the migration, to
prevent the agriculture suffering from the jihad, members of family
joined in the battles in turn.
Thus, Sad bin Ubadah went on jihad one year and he sent his son the
following year. The Prophet did not let the land lay unattended; he
ordered, "Whoever has land, let them plant it, if they cannot plant it
themselves then their brother should plant it" (Muslim), and the
Companions acted according to this.

2. Measures Taken to Develop Trade: Immediately after the emigration

Prophet Muhammad established a new market to where the market place
had been during the Age of Ignorance to speed up the vitality of trade.
The Prophet, encouraging the Companions to be involved in trade, said:
"Honest and reliable merchants are with prophets, saints and martyrs."
(at-Tirmidhi).
There was no obstacle to women participating in trade. Prophet
Muhammad encouraged halal earnings and forbid the purchase of those
things that were haram. The Prophet frowned on deception and when he
discovered that some wheat, which appeared dry on top, was actually wet,
he said, "Those who deceive are not of us." (Muslim and Abu Dawud)
Again the Prophet warned against empty promises when trading and
ordered that purchases made on installments should be organized
according to written documents that were witnessed.
The Prophet stated that any purchase concluded should be on
approval, and the responsibility for anyone who was wronged lay with the
administration; he ordered that the property of others should not be
abused, and strictly forbid earnings that were not honestly gained, but
rather came through bribery, interest or black marketeering. He ordered
that great care be shown to the property of orphans and ordered
conformity with the law to protect the balance established between the
inheritance rights of men and women.
The Prophet appointed inspectors to ensure honesty in trade; these
officials knew the religion well, acted according to what they knew, were
gentle, pleasant and honest and were also respected in society. The
Prophet announced the variety of needs of craftsmen to ensure the
development of commercial life, and was pleased with those who carried
out trades like brokers, tailors, blacksmiths, carpenters, plasterers,
butchers, leatherworkers, barbers, midwives, nurses, doctors, bakers,
etc... No trade that existed in the Age of Ignorance that was important for
human life was forbidden, however people were warned against
fraudulent practices in these trades.
In the era of the Prophet there was no obstruction to trade or other
career practices for women in the market place.

May Allah send His peace and blessings upon our beloved Prophet
Muhammad and upon his Family and Companions.

Your Brother,

Imam Murtadha Muhammad Gusau, from Okene Kogi State,

Nigeria. He can be reached via: +2348038289761.