The Prophetic Wisdom

‘You know your worldly matters better.’ (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2363). That is to say that in areas such as horticulture, people are free to follow the method they find useful in terms of their research and experience. Now let us look at this matter from another aspect. The above-mentioned verse of the Quran means that we must adopt whatever example we find in the life of the Prophet and follow that in our own lives. But on closer inspection, we find that it is not a simple matter. The life of Muhammad as a prophet was 23 years in duration. During this period, we find many diverse, rather opposite examples in his life. For instance, when he was in Makkah, he said his prayers secretly, but thirteen years after he reached Madinah, he began praying publicly. In the Makkan period, for a span of 13 years the Prophet remained aware of the idols placed in Kabah, but he never attempted to destroy them. It was only after the conquest of Makkah, (after being away in Madinah for 10 years) that he ordered the removal of all the idols. In the Makkan period, he used to recite to the people only those verses concerning the concepts of monotheism, hell and heaven, but in the Madinan period he gave practical commands on different aspects of life. In the Makkan period the Prophet made the Kabah his direction for prayer, but when he reached Madinah, he made the Bait al-Maqdis in Jerusalem his qibla (direction) for a period of sixteen months. In the Makkan period, the Prophet did not establish the system of congregational prayer, but when he reached Madinah; he built the first mosque and established the system of congregational prayer, etc. Now the question arises as to how these different and apparently contradictory examples have to be followed. It is quite clear that all these examples cannot be followed at the same time – in following one example, some other example has to be abandoned. For instance, the life of the Prophet set the example of patience and circumspection as well as of war and confrontation. Now it is not possible to follow both examples at the same time. Whenever one is opted for, another shall necessarily have to be abandoned. If we were to take our moral inspiration only from the latter stage of the prophetic life and ignore the former stage, this stand would certainly not be right. For, the entire 23-year prophetic life of the Prophet rather than just the final period, serves as an example for us. Making such a division in the life of, the Prophet is patently wrong, not only in terms of the shariah, but also as a matter of reason. In many verses of the Quran revealed in Makkah, God commanded the believers to follow the Prophet. For instance, in chapter, 7, God commands: Say, ‘People, I am God’s Messenger to you all, He has sovereignty over the heavens and the earth. There is no god but Him. He ordains life and death, so believe in God and His Messenger, the unlettered prophet who believes in God and His words. Follow him so that you may be rightly guided.’ (The Quran, 7:158) This verse and other similar verses go to show that the thirteen-year period of the Prophet’s life