The Prophetic Wisdom

spent in Makkah is in all respects to be followed. It is as good an example as that of the Madinan period. There is no difference between the two in so far as their being good examples is concerned. This is an extremely serious matter requiring deep reflection. For instance, if one says that jihad is the sole solution to all communal problems, this assertion will not be true in its absolute sense; such statements negate all other examples of the Prophet, where he did not opt only for the way of jihad, but rather followed the path of patience and hijrah. Similarly, if it were to be said that the goal of the Muslim ummah is the establishment of a complete Islamic system, such a statement likewise would not be right, for it would amount to a cancelling out of the entire life of the Prophet prior to the Last Sermon. As we know, several Islamic commands were finalized only on the occasion of the Last Pilgrimage. Neither had these commands been given previously nor had the revelation of the Quran been completed by that time. In such a case ‘the good example’ would amount to claiming that only the last phase of the Prophet’s life served as a good example, at the time when the Quran was completed. Giving the above interpretation to this verse, “This day I have perfected your religion” (The Quran, 5:3) is wrong both from the point of view of the shariah and of reason. The truth is that the entire Prophetic life, and not just a part of it, serves as an excellent model for us. Of all the examples it affords, none is either undesirable or to be discarded. There are some who say that the whole matter of the Prophet’s example is one of gradation. That is to say that the final goal of the Prophet of Islam is the one we find in his final phase after the last pilgrimage. That is to say, all the earlier examples are only those of initial stages, going by the principle of order and gradation, and not of the final and complete stage. This interpretation too is quite wrong, for there are statements in the Quran which clearly refute this theory. For instance, the Quran tells the Prophet of Islam to follow the way of Abraham (The Quran, 16:123). As we know, the Prophet Abraham did not give his people a complete shariah in the sense of a comprehensive list of commands. His entire life was concentrated on the call of monotheism. Examples of the implementation of social commands or the establishment of the state do not exist in his life at all. In such a situation, according to the above-mentioned interpretation, this means that a prophet who has brought the complete shariah is being asked to follow a prophet who brought an incomplete shariah. Similarly, after mentioning several prophets, the Quran says to the Prophet of Islam: ‘Those [the previous prophets] were the people whom God guided. Follow their guidance’ (The Quran, 6:90) This statement of the Quran proves that the prophets mentioned therein were not bearers of the ‘complete shariah’ according to the above-mentioned interpretation, but rather had such basic teachings as that of monotheism, moral teachings, revealed to them. In such a situation if the above-mentioned interpretation is taken to be right, this would amount to saying that a bearer of