THE
MOST INFLUENTIAL
Normally,
it is quite, natural for anyone to love, praise, idolize or
hero-worship ones leader, be it a guru, saint
or prophet: and very often we do.
However,
if I were to reproduce here
what great Muslims have said or
written about our illustrious prophet, it
could be played down as
exaggeration, fancy or idolization by the sceptics and the opponents
of Islam. Therefore, allow me to quote unbiased historians, friendly
critics and even avowed enemies of that mighty
Messenger of God - Muhammad
(pbuh). If the tributes of the non-Muslims do not touch your hearts,
then you are
in the wrong faith. Opt out of Islam! There is already too much
deadwood on the "ship" of Islam.
In recent times, a book has been published in America titled "The
100," or the Top One hundred,
or the Greatest
Hundred in History. A certain Michael H. Hart, described as a
historian, mathematician and
astronomer has written this novel
book. He has searched history, seeking for men who had the greatest
influence on mankind. In this
book he gives us The hundred most influential men, including Asoka,
Aristotle, Buddha,
Confucius, Hitler, Plato, and Zoroaster. He does not give us a mere
chart of the topmost "one
hundred"
from the point of view of their influence on people, but he evaluates
the degree of their influence
and rates them in order of their
excellence from No. 1, through to No. 100. He gives us his reasons
for the placing
of his candidates. We are not asked to agree with him, but we cannot
help admire the man's research
and honesty.
The most amazing thing about his selection is that he has put our
Nabee-e-Kareem, the Holy Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) as No. 1,
the first of his "100!"
Thus confirming, unknowingly, God's Own testimony in His
Final Revelation to the World:
MOST
CERTAINLY, YOU HAVE IN THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH AN EXCELLENT PATTERN
(OF BEHAVIOUR)
Noble
Qur’ân 33:21
JESUS
(PBUH) No. 3!
Hart
placing the Prophet of Islam as No. 1, has naturally pleased the
Muslims. But his choice as shocked the
Non-Muslims, more specially the
Jews and the Christians, who consider this as an affront. What?
Jesus (pbuh)
No. 3 and Moses (pbuh) No. 40! This is for them very difficult to
stomach, but what says Hart? Let us
hear his arguments –
SINCE
THERE ARE ROUGHLY TWICE
[The latest estimate is that
there are one thousand million Muslims in
the world and one thousand two
hundred million Christians] AS MANY CHRISTIANS IN THE WORLD, IT
MAY INITIALLY SEEM STRANGE THAT
MUHAMMAD HAS BEEN RANKED HIGHER THAN JESUS.
THERE ARE TWO PRINCIPAL REASONS
FOR THAT DECISION.
FIRST,
MUHAMMAD PLAYED A FAR MORE IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAM
THAN JESUS
DID IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITY. ALTHOUGH JESUS WAS
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
MAIN ETHICAL AND MORAL PRECEPTS OF CHRISTIANITY (INSOFAR AS THESE
DIFFERED FROM
JUDAISM), ST. PAUL WAS THE MAIN DEVELOPER OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, ITS
PRINCIPAL PROSELYTIZER,
AND THE AUTHOR OF A LARGE PORTION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
MUHAMMAD,
HOWEVER, WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR BOTH THE THEOLOGY OF ISLAM AND ITS MAIN
ETHICAL AND MORAL PRINCIPLES. IN
ADDITION, HE PLAYED THE KEY ROLE IN PROSELYTIZING
THE NEW FAITH, AND IN
ESTABLISHING THE RELIGIOUS PRACTICES OF ISLAM.
Michael
H. Hart in his book - "THE 100"-pages 38/39
To Be Continued....
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