India
Great Maharajahs like Asoka, Chandra
Gupta and Vikarmajeet had already passed away. Indians were particularly proud
of their astronomy, mathematics and philosophy. They also retained the tales of
founders of religions like Krishn, Ramchandra and Gautama, and the epics of
Mahabharata and Ramayana. But the era we are referring to here is one when
Buddhism was declining and making a way for Brahmanism. No province of the country
had a magnificent leader. Idolatry was rampant in the entire country. Idol
worship was considered as the only means of deliverance both in Buddhism and
Brahmanism. In most cases, idols of Brahmans and Buddhas were kept side by side
in the same temple and were worshipped with great fervor.
A Chinese traveler writes that no
household was free from idols. The immodest and impure ways of Bam-Marga had
achieved popularity all over the country. They had also instituted, like the
Egyptians, rules and principles for committing adultery, which were essentially
made a part of their religious rites. The Rajahs of Sindh set the example of
marrying their own sisters. When Rajahs and rulers had reduced themselves to
such human degradation, it is not surprising that their subjects followed them
in meanness of character. Some books written in that period that are now
available as part of the Hindu scriptures and religious books, bring to light
the utter degradation of their style of living. Worship of stars, planets, mountains,
rivers, trees, animals, snakes, stones and human genitals was rife in India.
One can easily infer from this the depth of terrible darkness prevailing in
India at that time.
China
The countries mentioned above lie
around Arabia and these alone are taken as civilized. Only China may be added
to this list. China was worse than all the others. The mixture of Confucianism,
Taoism and Buddhism had made a mess of the cultural and moral condition of
China. However, peace returned to China only when a band of Muslims settled in
China and impressed their neighbors with their high moral examples. Human
populations existed in Turkistan, Russia, and Europe too but either they were
unknown to the rest of the world or they could hardly be called humans and they
possessed no enviable qualities.
Conclusion
From the states and conditions
observed above, it can be easily understood that, before or at the time of
Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) being commissioned
as Prophet, the entire world had steeped in darkness. A state of ignorance had
overtaken the entire inhabited part of the earth in a manner that not even a
twinkling light of hope and guidance was visible. Never before had such a state
came to pass when civilization, society, morality, knowledge, wisdom, and
knowledge of Allâh had perished everywhere at the same time.
The whole inhabited earth had been
sent the guidance of Allâh the Almighty, which kept coming to every country,
and the sight of light and darkness continued appearing alternately like days
and nights until night spread over the whole world. The time was right for the
Prophet of Truth to be sent to all the countries of the world. Allâh the
Almighty put to an end the teachings brought by the former Prophets. He brought
to the surface the dire need for a new guide and leader for every part of the
world. Thus the sad plight of the mankind was thirsting for a new guide. Allâh
the Almighty chose Arabia to be the place of Prophethood and the birthplace of
His Perfect Messenger and Guide. Thus the sun of Prophethood rose from Makkah
to dispel darkness from the inhabited parts of the earth and illuminated the
whole world with its bright rays.
This book is inspired by this same
rising sun. But, before coming to this point, the answer to the question why
Arabia was chosen for the Prophethood of Muhammad (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) demands answers. Why was he not sent to
any other country?
The
Choice of Arabia
The most reasonable and definite
answer to this question is that the last Prophet had, after all, to be born in
any one particular country and so the question arises in every case. So, the
question becomes meaningless.
Another answer to the question is
that all the well-known countries had at one time attained progress and
development and achieved distinction in the sphere of civilization, society,
ethics and science. Moreover, every country had tasted victory and defeat in
due course. No language of any other country of the world had achieved such
perfection as Arabic, which had surpassed other languages in the power of
expression.
If the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) had been sent to any country other than
Arabia, the message of the last Prophet (صلى الله عليه
وآله وسلم) would have encountered complications due to the past and the
previous history of victories and defeats and possession of or possession by
the chosen country. There was also the risk of his message losing its power and
grace and a part thereof might have been attributed to ancient traditions of
the chosen country. The magnificent task of redressing civilization, character
and spiritual values could not have been accomplished and all his endeavors
would be lost in the ancient customs and traditions of the country concerned.
Moreover, any complete book of
guidance is in need of a language superior to all others in power of expression,
and no language was more appropriate than Arabic to bear the heavy spiritual
and intellectual burden of Revelation. So, by any logic and reason, the last
Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) must have honored
Arabia as his birth place.
The people of Arabia neither became
subject of any foreign power nor captured and ruled over any other country.
Thus, to the Arabs, every nation or every country was alike. When they came out
with Islam, all the civilized countries and nations from Spain on the eastern
coast of Atlantic Ocean to China on the western coast of Chinese Sea, the
entire human population was equally strange to them. Thus, Allâh the Almighty
sent his religion through a nation for whom the whole world was equally
strange.
Since the Arabian character,
civilization and society were far from progress and development, it was obvious
that it was this universal religion that made them highly civilized, morally
disciplined, and a graceful nation, and the teachers and leaders of the world.
The spiritual power of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله
وسلم) was so tremendous that every nation in every period during his
time and after him benefited from him. Moreover, the Quran is the culmination
of all the teachings imparted by all the Prophets and guides.
The above last few sentences may be
considered strange to the concrete principles of history writing. Since, this
book of history is solely meant for Muslim readership and I, too, am a Muslim
by the Grace of Allâh the Almighty, I cannot take back these words, which have
naturally come from my pen. Whether I am expelled from the assembly of the
historians or not, I shall feel happy if I am left to join the company of the
Muslim Ummah.
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