Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

Without a doubt, I think that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the greatest man to ever live. The more I read about him, the more humbled and amazed I am by his actions, trustworthiness, truthfulness, patience, knowledge, and courage. For me, it is hard to imagine the existence of such an influential human figure. Today, his name is the most common name in the world, and he easily has over a billion followers. And Muslims allover the world take pride in Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) character. One may say, however, that perhaps Muslims are biased about his "greatness," so I wanted to look at what some of the non-Muslim historians, writers, politicians, poets, and spiritual leaders have had to say about the prophet of Islam, Muhammad (peace be upon him). In this post, I will give a few examples in hopes of sparking your interest for further research about the prophet:

1. Michael Hart, in his book The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, ranked prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the number one, most influential, person:

"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels."

2. Lamartine, a French writer, politician, poet, and historian, writes the following of Muhammad:

"Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may ask, is there any man greater than he?

If greatness of purpose, smallness of means, and outstanding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms, and empires only. They founded, if any at all, no more than material power which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man merged not only armies, legislation, empires, peoples and dynasties but millions of men in one third of the inhabited world, and more than that, moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and the souls on the basis of a Book, every letter of which has become law. He created a spiritual nationality of every tongue and of every race.” (Historie de la Turqu,, Vol. 2, page 76-77)

3. Montgomery Watt, a professor of Islamic Studies, writes that the...

"The more one reflects on the history of Muhammad and of early Islam, the more one is amazed at the vastness of his achievement. Circumstances presented him with an opportunity such as few men have had, but the man was fully matched with the hour. Had it not been for his gifts as a seer, statesman, and administrator and, behind these, his trust in God and firm belief that God had sent him, a notable chapter in the history of mankind would have remained unwritten. It is my hope that this study of his life may contribute to a fresh appraisal and appreciation of one of the greatest of the sons of Adam."

4. William Durant, a historian and a politician, writes about the great influence that prophet Muhammad had on the Arabian continent:

"In the year 565 Justinian died, master of a great empire. Five years later Muhammad was born into a poor family in a country three quarters desert, sparsely peopled by nomad tribes whose total wealth could hardly have furnished the sanctuary of St. Sophia. No one in those years would have dreamed that within a century these nomads would conquer half of Byzantine Asia, all Persia and Egypt, most of North Africa, and be on their way to Spain. The explosion of the Arabian peninsula into the conquest and conversion of half the Mediterranean world is the most extraordinary phenomenon in medieval history."

5. George Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright, wrote that "If a man like Muhammad were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness."

Also, he writes: "I have studied him - the wonderful man - and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ he must be called the saviour of humanity."

6. Rev. R. Bosworth-Smith writes that Muhammad (SAW) was the:

"Head of the State as well as the Church, he was Caesar and Pope in one; but, he was Pope without the Pope's pretensions, and Caesar without the legions of Caesar, without a standing army, without a bodyguard, without a police force, without a fixed revenue. If ever a man had the right to say that he ruled by a right divine, it was Muhammad, for he had all the powers without their supports. He cared not for the dressings of power. The simplicity of his private life was in keeping with his public life."

7. Annie Besant, a theosophist, a women's rights activist, writer and orator, writes the following about Muhammad (SAW):

"It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the great prophet of Arabia, who knows how he taught and how he lived, to feel anything but reverence for that mighty Prophet, one of the great messengers of the Supreme. And although in what I put to you I shall say many things which may be familiar to many, yet I myself feel whenever I re-read them, a new way of admiration, a new of reverence for that mighty Arabian teacher."

These are some of the example of what some of the western scholars thought about prophet Muhammad, whose influences on history are too great to ignore. Gene Garthwaite, a historian, suggests that there are a many great 'men' who play a part in history, but there are few who change history, and Muhammad was one of them. We have a lot to learn from his character and the history of the time because essentially, "events that took place in seventh-century Arabia have much to teach us about the events of our time and their underlying significance--far more, in fact, than the facile sound bites of politicians" (Armstrong).