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Historicity of Prophet Muhammad

Introduction

As is well-known Muslims consider Prophet Muhammad as the greatest man in history and the final prophet sent to all nations for all time to come. It is also a fact that even some non-Muslim commentators have acknowledged the unmatched influence Prophet Muhammad has made in history. One fact which lends credence to this Muslim claim is that it is Prophet Muhammad's biography that has been recorded in the most detail and is the most voluminous in content. This can only be fully appreciated by a comparison with the historicity of founders of other major world religions. Another important feature is the meticulous manner in which the Prophet's biography has been recorded, which also gives it highly reliability. This is also particularly commendable, considering that moral precepts are the most susceptible to adulterations over time.

The historicity of Prophet Muhammad is also the history of Hadiths (narrations of the words and deeds of the prophet), the second most authentic source of Islam after Quran which is considered the verbatim word of God. Hadith are regarded as important tools for understanding the Qur'an and in matters of jurisprudence. The scope of Hadiths includes aspects of creed, rituals, legislation, jurisprudence and a wide range of moral aspects of human life including even seemingly "trifling" ones. In a narration a Jew once said to a companion of the Prophet, "Your Prophet teaches you everything, even trifling matters?" "Yes", came the prompt reply, "Our Prophet teaches us even about abstersion after urination and excretion".

No wonder Muslims consider Islam as a complete way of life and the Prophet as the noblest exemplar for all human beings and a standard by which every man can reform and renovate his life and morals, body and spirit, behavior and conduct and habits and manners and a universal touchstone which draws a distinction between the vice and the virtue, the good and the bad. This has been made possible by the endeavors of the companions of the Prophet and their immediate successors who made it their life mission to preserve the traditions of the prophet and pass it on to the future generations with utmost diligence and perseverance. Besides demonstrating the tremendous influence Prophet exerted on his contemporary society, this also underscores the exalted position of the early generation of Islam, for had they relaxed this effort it could never have been made up for later.

We readily ascribe the saying "Love thy neighbor like thyself" to Jesus, as we don't see anybody before Jesus in history having expounded such an idea. If we apply the same golden rule to Prophet Muhammad, especially in the light of the pathetic historicity of the previous moral teachers and obscuration and adulterations of their moral precepts, Prophet Muhammad will have the claim to almost the entire spectrum of constructive morals, legislations, rational and scientific thinking and even many tenets of faith the world has accepted today - encompassing monotheism, social equality, social justice, emancipation of slaves, human rights, religious freedom; rights of women, minorities, prisoners of war, orphans, children, aged people, working class; animal rights, protection of environment, hygiene, etiquettes; eschewing of alcohol, drugs, adultery, homosexuality, obscenity, usury, gambling, backbiting, slandering, black magic, sorcery, superstitions and so on.

This highlights the significance of the historicity of Prophet Muhammad in a secular perspective, his true contribution to the world civilization and, in the Muslim perspective, is a vindication that he is the vicegerent of God and a fulfillment of the Quranic promise that the Prophet has been sent as a Mercy to the nations.

Here I reproduce a pertinent article by the Islamic scholar Saiyid Sulaiman Nadwi in his book "Muhammad The Ideal Prophet" published by the International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations enunciating the historicity of Prophet Muhammad. The footnotes has been minimized for clarity and those interested can refer to the same book for more details.

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