The Prophet in the Quran

At the end of the Makkan period the Prophet’s uncle Abu Talib died. As he had been the chief of the Banu Hashim, his death left the Prophet without the kind of support, he needed to lead his life under that tribal system. Here too the Prophet, taking advantage of the situation in Makkah, managed to find a supporter in Mutim ibn Adi. As we know, Mutim ibn Adi was an idolater. But the Prophet welcomed his support, for there was scope for this in terms of status quo in Arabia. After the emigration when he reached Madinah, he found idolaters and Jews living alongside Muslims. But in order to establish a system based on Islamic teachings, the Prophet did not immediately attempt to launch a movement to expel Jews and idolaters from Madinah. Instead, he announced the establishment of a system based on the existing society. This declaration is called the charter of Madinah. It was mentioned in this Charter that the affairs of their tribes would be settled according to whichever of their own traditions were prevalent at the time. Prophet Abraham (and later Ismail) had established the Hajj system on the basis of the lunar calendar, which is of a shorter duration than the solar calendar. The idolaters subsequently adjusted the calendar to the solar system. The Prophet of Islam was then entrusted by God with changing back to the lunar calendar. But the Prophet neither attempted to bring about this change during his stay in Makkah, nor did he even broach the subject immediately after the conquest of Makkah. He waited for almost the whole of his life before he took this step. He did so only in the 23rd year of his prophethood, when in accordance with astronomical principles; the Hajj fell on the correct date of Dhul Hijjah, as in the system established by Abraham. This was when the Prophet performed his last ‘farewell’ pilgrimage, and on this occasion the Prophet announced that, in future, Hajj would always be performed in the month of Dhul Hijjah. (For further details, see the book, Muhammd, A Prophet for All Humanity, by the author, p.95 in the chapter entitled, “The Revolution of the Prophet.”) This status-quoism abounds in the life of the Prophet of Islam, to the extent that some matters were left in their existing state, although the Prophet knew fully, well that after him no one would be able to change them. One clear example of this is provided by the issue of Hateem (an un-built area) in the Kabah. When Prophet Abraham and Ismail built their mosque in the form of the Kabah, it included the part known as Hateem. Originally, the Kabah built by Abraham was rectangular while the present Kabah is a square. This square Kabah was built by the idolators. Once the ancient walls of the Kabah collapsed in the wake of a flood, and then were rebuilt. But, due to the shortage of building material, the Quraysh could cover only half of the area, the other half being left unbuilt. Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, said that the Prophet had told her that he wanted to bring down the present walls of the Kabah and re-build them on the foundation laid by Abraham. But since the people had recently converted, he feared that they would be provoked at such a step. Therefore, the Prophet left the Kabah on the existing foundations. That meant that the Kabah would remain forever on the foundations laid by the idolaters. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No.