Download Discuss the ways that the prophet Muhammad is seen as a model

Philip Berghan-Whyman, Student#300101461, RELI 102, Section One Essay, Question Six
Discuss the ways that the Prophet Muhammad is seen as a
model for Muslims.
The function of the Prophet Muhammad as a role model for Muslims is critical to
the understanding of the Muslim community in the modern era. The life and experiences
of Muhammad and his companions, their struggle to survive, their eventual victory, and
the conversion of the entire Arabian Peninsula to Islam, provide an exemplar for modern
day Muslims. For militants like Osama bin Laden this example is one of a jihad (holy
struggle) against the unbelievers, yet this is not the only possible, or even the most
popular interpretation of the Prophet’s life and works. The aim of this essay is to
examine the way in which the Prophet’s example has been interpreted in order to justify
the struggles of organisations like Al Qaeda, the fundamentalist policies of Salafist
Saudis, and to demonstrate some of the alternative viewpoints held by modern
progressive Muslims.
Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad dictated the word of God, recorded
in Islam’s holy book: the Quran, and provided a living example of how both individuals
and communities should live.1
The Quran (“the Recitation”) is broken into surah
(“chapters”) and ayah (“verses”), which provide instruction and guidance, endorsing
some actions and prohibiting others.2
As well as the Quran, Muhammad provided
instruction by his personal example, known as the sunnah (“the trodden path” or “the
example”). The Quran “… orders the faithful to emulate the role model of the messenger
[Muhammad] …”, so the sunnah are important to Muslims, providing a direct illustration
John L. Esposito, “Muhammad and the Quran: Messenger and Message” RELI102 Contemporary Western
Religions: From Jerusalem to Mecca via Rome, Book of Readings (Victoria University of Wellington,
2006) 183.
2
Reza Azlan, No God But God (Arrow Books, 2005) 267-8.
1
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Philip Berghan-Whyman, Student#300101461, RELI 102, Section One Essay, Question Six
of the correct way to live.3 Stories recalled by Muhammad’s companions, detailing the
Prophet’s words and deeds, are called hadith (“traditions”) and it is the body of collected
hadith that provide the foundation of the sunnah.4 As Muhammad is believed to have
rightly embodied the ideals and values of the Quran, the hadith provide a vehicle to “…
explain, clarify, and paraphrase …” that which is expressed by the Quran.5 Interaction
between Quran, sunnah and hadith, provides the faithful with accurate knowledge of the
Prophet’s message and is intended to avoid misunderstandings that could occur from
reading the Quran in isolation.6
The message of Islam was not supported, or appreciated by the seventh century
leaders of Muhammad’s home city of Mecca. Mecca was situated on one of the caravan
routes that ran across the Arabian Peninsula, passing goods between Asia, Africa, and
Europe.7 Mecca’s primary source of wealth was the trade that accompanied pilgrims who
visited the Ka’ba, the sanctuary at Mecca that housed the tribal deities of the Arabian
Peninsula.8 Mecca’s ruling tribe, the Quraysh, had become enormously wealthy by
controlling the pilgrim trade, and that wealth had been consolidated into the hands of a
small number of powerful families.9 When Muhammad began receiving his revelations
in 610 C.E., and began preaching to the people of Mecca, he spread not only a message
of monotheism, but also a message of social reform.10
Nay! but you do not honor [sic] the orphan,
3
Prof. Shahul Hameed, The Importance of Hadith in Islam,
http://www.islamonline.net/English/Living_Shariah/HadithItsSciences/HadithMethodology/2006/05/01.sht
ml (downloaded 19/12/2006).
4
ibid.
5
ibid.; Esposito, 185-6.
6
ibid.
7
Azlan, 26-9.
8
ibid.
9
Azlan, 32.
10
Esposito, 183.
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Philip Berghan-Whyman, Student#300101461, RELI 102, Section One Essay, Question Six
Nor do you urge one another to feed the poor,
And you eat away the heritage, devouring (everything) indiscriminately,
And you love wealth with exceeding love.
Nay! when [sic]the earth is made to crumble to pieces,
And your Lord comes and (also) the angels in ranks,
And hell is made to appear on that day. On that day shall man be mindful, and what shall
being mindful (then) avail him? [89:17-23]11
Muhammad denounced the exploitation of orphans, widows, and the poor, and called for
social responsibility, and the rights of the underprivileged.12 Through reasoning, bribes,
and sanctions, the Quraysh attempted to silence Muhammad, but he would neither alter
his message, nor cease his warnings.13
The small, but growing community of
approximately two hundred Muslims came under constant, and sometimes violent assault
by the Quraysh; although Muhammad was protected by family connections, many of his
followers were not.
In 622 C.E Muhammad was invited to arbitrate between two
quarrelling tribes in the community of Yathrib, this provided the opportunity to establish
a new home, and the small band of Muslims stealthily emigrated.14
The following days were characterised by the battles and struggles of Muhammad
and his companions, as they attempted to survive and forge a new community. The
emigration, known as the Hijra, was a dangerous and secretive affair. When the Quraysh
became aware of the plan, they sent assassins after Muhammad and his people.15
Surviving this threat, in 622 C.E., the community established their new home in Yathrib;
later to become known as “… as Medinat an-Nabi: “The City of the Prophet,” [sic] or
more simply, Medina.”16 In Medina the community, known as the ummah, were able to
consolidate and build, and then, on the authority of Muhammad (who had received
Shakir, “The Noble Qur'an”, http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/089.qmt.html (downloaded
16.12.2006).
12
Esposito, 183; Azlan, 40.
13
ibid.
14
Azlan, 55; Esposito, 184.
15
Azlan, 48.
16
Azlan, 52.
11
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Philip Berghan-Whyman, Student#300101461, RELI 102, Section One Essay, Question Six
further revelations) they began raiding Meccan caravans, thus further threatening the
Quraysh.17 At the Battle of Badr, in 624 C.E a small Muslim force defeated a far larger
Meccan force, reinforcing the truth of the Prophet’s message; “And Allah did certainly
assist you at Badr when you were weak; be careful of (your duty to) Allah then, that you
may give thanks” (3:123).18 The ummah suffered defeat at the Battle of Uhud in 625
C.E, with Muhammad himself being wounded, but when the Quraysh sent an alliance of
Bedouin fighters against Medina in 627 C.E, Muhammad’s forces were able to hold the
siege until the frustrated attackers disbanded.19
This victory greatly increased
Muhammad’s prestige with the surrounding tribes, and in 630 C.E Muhammad led a
force of ten thousand troops against the Quraysh, and conquered the city of Mecca.20 The
Meccans, including the Quraysh, converted to Islam and became part of the ummah.21
The tiny band of refugees who had fled Mecca in 622 C.E had become the most powerful
force in the Arabian Peninsula.
The Quran’s directive to emulate the Prophet has been used to justify the
imposition of policies, which many people view as gross violations of human rights.
Saudi Arabia bases many of its laws upon a strict interpretation of shari`a (“Islamic Law)
directly related to the nation’s dominant Islamic sect: the Wahhabis.22 The Wahhabis,
who prefer to be known as Salafists, name themselves after the “… “pious forefathers”
17
Esposito, 184.
Esposito, 184-5; Shakir, “The Noble Qur'an”, http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/003.qmt.html,
(downloaded 16.12.2006).
19
Esposito, 185; Azlan, 90-92.
20
Esposito, 185.
21
ibid.
22
Noam Chomsky and Gilbert Achcar, Stephen R. Shalom, edit., Perilous Power, The Middle East and US
Foreign Policy, Dialogues on Terror, Democracy, War and Justice (London: Hamish Hamilton, 2007), 356.
18
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Philip Berghan-Whyman, Student#300101461, RELI 102, Section One Essay, Question Six
(salaf) [sic] …”, the companions of Muhammad who led exemplary lives.”23 Their
interpretation of Islam places complete faith in the literal word of the Quran, and justifies
its activities by reference to hadith.24 The movement, founded in the eighteenth century
by the preacher Muhammad bin Abdel-Wahhab, enforces the wearing of beards by men,
the closeting of women, and punishment of criminals by public flogging and mutilation.25
The Salafist website www.thewahhabimyth.com quotes the Quran in support of the
Wahhabite interpretation of Islam: “… Allah [God] says in the Quran that He is pleased
with the companions "and those who follow them exactly (in faith)" [sic]”.26 This quote
is then supported with evidence from hadith:
When asked about which was the correct and acceptable way of understanding Islam, the
Prophet (may Allah raise his rank and grant him peace) replied by saying: "That which I
and my companions are upon." [sic]27
The Wahhabites/Salafists see themselves as reformers of Islam, and as followers of the
example of Muhammad; however their theory denounces many popular factions of Islam
as heretical, including Sufism and Shi’a Islam; this places the Salafists in opposition to
much of the Islamic world.28
For modern Islamic militants, the example of the historical battles of the ummah
provides a blueprint, which they believe, validates their struggles. In the late 1980s
23
Gilles Kepel, and Pascale Ghazaleh, trans., The War for Muslim Minds (Harvard, Belknap, 2004), 157;
Chomsky, Achcar and Shalom, Perilous Power, 35-6.
24
Youssef H. Aboul-Enein and Sherifa Zuhur, Islamic Rulings on Warfare,
http://www.smallwarsjournal.com/documents/islamwarfare.pdf (downloaded 16.12.2006) 1, 10; Kepel,
158.
25
A situation not unlike that enforced under the Afghani Taliban regime; Human Rights Watch, Human
Rights Watch Memorandum to the Government of Saudi Arabia on Human Rights Priorities in the
Kingdom, 2006, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/02/07/saudia12622.htm (downloaded 17.12.2006); Kepel,
158.
26
Haneef James Oliver, The Wahabbi Myth, http://www.thewahhabimyth.com/salafism.htm (downloaded
19/12/2006).
27
ibid.
28
Elizabeth Sirriyeh, “Wahhabis, Unbelievers and the Problems of Exclusivism”, Bulletin (British Society
for Middle Eastern Studies), http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=03056139%281989%2916%3A2%3C123%3AWUATPO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C, (Vol.16, No.2., 1989), 125.
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Philip Berghan-Whyman, Student#300101461, RELI 102, Section One Essay, Question Six
Osama bin Laden, the son of a Saudi public works magnate raised under Wahhabite
religious instruction, joined Muslim forces (mujahedeen) fighting a jihad against Soviet
invaders in Afghanistan.29 During this struggle, bin Laden met his teacher and the man
who would become the principle ideologist of Al Qaeda: Ayman al-Zawahiri.30
“Zawahiri interpreted the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan and the actions taken
by Al Qaeda on September 11, 2001…
as a continuation of the Prophet’s life and epic battles …. “The new Quraish … has ganged
up on the long-suffering Muslims, much as the old Quraish and its brutes ganged up on the
Muslims in Medina; so do as the Prophet’s companions did. Young mujahedeen, faithful
ulema who love Allah, this is a new Islamic epic …31
Just as Muhammad and his companions had fought for the survival of Islam at Medina,
so the mujahedeen fought for the survival of Islam in Afghanistan, and so would Al
Qaeda fight against the United States, Israel, and their allies; nations Al Qaeda portray as
the new Quraysh, and hence the enemies of Islam. In a statement release on jehad.net,
and attributed to Al Qaeda, the group asserted that jihad “… is part of the path shown by
the Prophet Muhammad … and his companions.”32 Like the Salafists/Wahhabites, Al
Qaeda’s members view themselves as reformers fighting a holy war to defend Islam.
Much Islamic scripture strikes western audiences as terribly backward, especially
its attitudes to women and to issues like homosexuality; however, many Muslims reject
literal and fundamentalist interpretation of the Quran and the sunnah, “… and believe,
instead, in taking heed of their [the scriptures] spirit, their progressive character at the
time of their first appearance, and … [in] adapting religion to modern times.”33 Like
their fundamentalist coreligionists, moderate Muslims revere the example of the Prophet
29
Kepel, 83.
Kepel, 1.
31
Kepel, 76.
32
Kepel, 130.
33
Chomsky, Achcar, and Shalom, Perilous Power, 212.
30
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Philip Berghan-Whyman, Student#300101461, RELI 102, Section One Essay, Question Six
and make reference to the Quran and the sunnah to support their position; generally
stated, this position encourages mutual respect and integration, and supports pluralism.
An article on Islam-oneline.net supports the balanced and respectful integration of
minority Muslim bodies into the surrounding community by quoting the Quran: “But
rather help one another in furthering virtue and good conducts, and do not help one
another in furthering evil and enmity. [5:2]”34 It also providing a supporting hadith,
recalling Muhammad’s statement that:
The believer is he who mingles with people and is patient with people[s] annoying habits;
he earns more reward than the believer who does not mingle with people and is not patient
with peoples annoying habits (Ahmed 5:365).35
In Medina, the Prophet interacted with several independent tribes, maintaining a balance
between them, which allowed the groups to participate in the life of the community.36 In
Medina, the equal value of human life was made law, the positions of women, orphans
and the poor were improved, and a program of social and economic egalitarianism was
implemented.37 For Muslims around the world, the example of ‘Muhammad in Medina’
is touted as a model of Islamic society in perfection.38 For moderate Muslims, this model
is not a literal model to be recreated in all of its details, but rather a model of change that
betters both individuals and society.
Nearly one quarter of the world’s people are Muslim, and while many of those
people may agree with al-Zawhiri and bin Ladens’ objections about imperialist Western
34
Ajmal Masroor, Integration, A Two Way Process,
http://www.islamonline.net/English/EuropeanMuslims/CommunityCivilSociety/2006/06/01b.shtml
(downloaded 19/12/2006).
35
Masroor, Integration, A Two Way Process.
36
Islam-online.net, Pluralism: An Islamic Perspective,
http://www.islamonline.net/livedialogue/english/Browse.asp?hGuestID=2HhSnS (downloaded
19/12/2006).
37
Azlan, 59-60.
38
Azlan, 53.
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Philip Berghan-Whyman, Student#300101461, RELI 102, Section One Essay, Question Six
powers, many do not share their interpretation of jihad.39
Famed Turkish Islamist
Fethullah Gülen defines Jihad as primarily “… the inner struggle of a believer against all
that stands between the believer and God”.40 One aspect of Jihad is the removal of
obstacles that prevent “… the defence and exaltation of the name of God ...”; however,
Gülen advises that this should not be interpreted as the “… fundamental aim of Islam.”41
Gülen, like al-Zawhiri, sees in the hadith examples of how Muhammad intended his
people to live: “The Prophet of God was passing a Jewish funeral and he stopped to pay
his respects. When reminded that the man being buried was a Jew, he replied, "He is still
a human." [sic].42
For Gülen this demonstrates “… the value that Islam gives to
humanity.”43 Moderate opinions on the nature of jihad and on progressive Islamic life
are weekly espoused on Al Jazerra’s popular television show ash-Shariah wal-Hayat
(“Religion and Life”), which is hosted by scholar and cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi.44
Through his internet site and Television show al-Qaradawi influences millions of
Muslims worldwide, issuing religious pronouncements that promote moderate and
progressive Islamic interpretation.45
The Quran directs Muslims to use the life of the Prophet Muhammad as a basis
for emulation, and as a guide for the correct way to interpret the word of God. Muslims
around the world take this command seriously, looking to the sunnah of Muhammad for
direction in their lives. In spite of this commonality, the way of life adopted by different
39
Azlan, 87.
Fethullah Gülen, Real Muslims Cannot Be Terrorists, http://en.fgulen.com/content/view/1843/1/
(downloaded 19/12/2006).
41
ibid.
42
ibid.
43
ibid.
44
Hugh Miles, AlJazeera, How Arab TV News Changed the World (Abacus, London, 2005), 40-41;
Wikipedia, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_al-Qaradawi (downloaded 20/12/2006).
45
ibid.
40
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Philip Berghan-Whyman, Student#300101461, RELI 102, Section One Essay, Question Six
communities is as different as the political and ethnic mix of people who make up the
worldwide Islamic community. Those who make the mistake of viewing Islam as a
monolithic block often fall into the trap of representing the views of fundamentalists like
the Wahhabites/Salafists or of militants like Al Qaeda, as being representative of all
Muslims. This overlooks both the views of moderate and progressive Muslims like
Fethullah Gülen and Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, and the existence of thousands of
Muslim communities living peacefully around the world. These communities attempt to
follow the tenants of their religion, emulating the spirit and progressiveness of
Muhammad’s enterprise at Medina, and striving for peaceful coexistence that benefits
society as a whole.
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Philip Berghan-Whyman, Student#300101461, RELI 102, Section One Essay, Question Six
Bibliography
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(British Society for Middle Eastern Studies), http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=03056139%281989%2916%3A2%3C123%3AWUATPO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C, Vol.16, No.2.,
1989, 123-132.
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Chomsky, Noam and Achcar, Gilbert, and Shalom, Stephen R., edit., Perilous Power,
The Middle East and US Foreign Policy, Dialogues on Terror, Democracy, War and
Justice, London: Hamish Hamilton, 2007.
Esposito, John L., “Muhammad and the Quran: Messenger and Message” RELI102
Contemporary Western Religions: From Jerusalem to Mecca via Rome, Book of
Readings, Victoria University of Wellington, 2006: 180-195.
Kepel, Gilles, and Ghazaleh, Pascale trans., The War for Muslim Minds, Harvard,
Belknap, 2004.
Miles, Hugh, AlJazeera, How Arab TV News Changed the World, London, Abacus
Books, 2005.
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Edgecomb, Kevin P., “Chronological Order of Quranic Surahs”,
http://www.bombaxo.com/chronsurs.html, downloaded 16.12.2006.
Gülen, Fethullah, Real Muslims Cannot Be Terrorists,
http://en.fgulen.com/content/view/1843/1/, downloaded 19/12/2006.
Hameed, Shahul, Prof., The Importance of Hadith in Islam,
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Arabia on Human Rights Priorities in the Kingdom, 2006,
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Page 10 of 11
Philip Berghan-Whyman, Student#300101461, RELI 102, Section One Essay, Question Six
Islam-online.net, Pluralism: An Islamic Perspective,
http://www.islamonline.net/livedialogue/english/Browse.asp?hGuestID=2HhSnS,
downloaded 19/12/2006.
Masroor, Ajmal, Integration, A Two Way Process,
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http://www.thewahhabimyth.com/salafism.htm, downloaded 19/12/2006.
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