Who Was The Greatest Man On Earth (Epilogue)

EPILOGUE

“Endless are the words which have been spoken to described his noble life and personality. I believe no one can fail to be moved or inspired by the magnificence of his radiance character; even Muhammad’s (pbuh) greatest enemies had to admit that no fault could be found in his behaviour or integrity. In addition, those Western scholars and historical figures who over the centuries were brave enough to gaze with an honest heart at the miracle of Muhammad’s (pbuh) life and achievements have testified to this.

Strange indeed, therefore, that so many people on the face of the earth today have little or no knowledge of the life and mission of this last great Prophet of God (pbuh) and his historical impact on the world we live in.”

Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens)

Who Was The Greatest Man On Earth (Part II)

PART II

3. A PROPHET’S MISSION IS TO CONVEY GOD’S RELIGION, BUT THE LAST PROPHET’S MISSION MUST BE UNIVERSAL SINCE THERE WILL BE NO OTHER PROPHETS TO CONTINUE THE MISSION.

[The most famous men created arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away before their very eyes. This man moved not only armies, legislation, empires, peoples and dynasties, but million of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and souls...his forbearance in victory, his ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic conversation with God, his death and his triumph after death, all this attest not to an impostor but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma.”

“This dogma was twofold, the unity of God and the immateriality of God; the former telling what God is, the latter telling what God is not; the one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with the words.

- Lamartine/Histoire de la Turquie?Paris 1854

“Four years after the death of Justinian, A.D.569, was born at Mecca in Arabia, the man who, of all men, exercised the greatest influence upon the human race...”

- John William Draper/A History of the Intellectual Development of Europe/London 1875

“The Christians and their missionaries have presented a horrible picture of Islam. Not only that, they also carried out an organized and planned propaganda against the personality of Prophet Muhammad and the religion he preached. I have very carefully studied Islam and the life of its prophet. I have done so both as a student of history and as a critic, and have come to a conclusion that Mohammad was indeed a great man and a deliverer and benefactor of mankind...”

Who Was The Greatest Man On Earth (Part I)

There are many claimants to the title of Prophet of God, but Muhammad (peace be upon him) had claimed to be the last Messenger of God (Rasulullah) and hence the Seal of the prophetic order.

A Prophet of God must satisfy many criteria to be worthy of the claim, so we shall apply some of these to him - based only on objective, independent analyses of his life, mission and achievements.

PART I

1. A PROPHET OF GOD MUST HAVE DIVINE AUTHORITY FOR HIS CLAIM, AND THIS MUST BE EVIDENT TO THOSE WHO STUDY HIS LIFE OBJECTIVELY - EVEN THOSE WHO ARE NOT HIS FOLLOWERS.

“The essential sincerity of Muhammad’s nature cannot be questioned: and a historical criticism that links no facts, yields nothing to credulity, weights every testimony, has no partisan interest, and seeks only the truth, must acknowledge his claim to belong to that order of prophets...”

- Annie Bessant (Theosophist/The Life & Teachings of Muhammad/Madras 1932.

“He was Caesar and Pope in one; but he was Pope without Pope’s pretension and Caesar without the legions of Caesar: without a standing army, without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a fixed revenue; if ever any man had the right to say that he ruled by the right divine, it was Mohammad, for he had all the power without its instruments and without its support.”

- Rev. Bosworth Smith/Mohammad and Mohammadanism/London 1874