Some thousands of years ago, when Huang-Ti, the yellow emperor took over reign of government in what is today called China, a chronicler with a visible penchant for fits threw himself to the ground and cried vociferously; “Guardians of the skies and mountains, bless my emperor”. Although this incident is purported to have happened way into the anthropological dating of human existence, its relevance should not be truncated to a dusty piece of history. Symbolically, it shows that there has never been a theology of solitude, for a solitary man sufficient on to himself, has no God to lean on for material or spiritual elevation. But above all, the chronicler’s action besides its rhythmic antiquity lucidly unravels that man had always taken the skies and mountains as untouchable “pieces of art” beyond his innovative skills and influence. Alternately these imposing masterpieces, are to humans, an unflinching acme of spiritual exhibition, soiree of inspiration and appreciation, for “beauty” in the lustrous eyes of John Keats, “is truth and truth beauty”. Arguably or rather evidently, right from the beginning, man had always developed a flare for spiritual identity in great variety. From the per- pharaohs era of Egypt, the scary hunters in the jungle of Borneo, the nomads in the Sahara, the Eskimos in the frozen Arctic and to the urban dwellers in the hotchpotch metropolis of today, all possess deified segments trusted to monitor or appease the fearsome spirits and to gain the favour of the benevolent. Indeed as Ivar Lissner intimated in a prelude to his thought provoking Chef d’ouvre, Man, God and Magic, “one can only marvel at the perseverance with which man has striven, throughout his history, to reach outside himself. His energies were never directed solely towards the necessities of life. He was forever questing, groping his way further, and aspiring to the seemingly unattainable. This strange and inherent urge in the human being is his spirituality.” And this human trait earns man a spiritual dimension that makes him different from and superior to the less meditative endowed creatures. Logically, religion, or any of its semblance, either hallucinatory or meditative is as old as the history of mankind, irrespective of nebulous and sometimes garrulous analysis of archaeologists and anthropologists. But religion of all epochs, from all the multitudinous strata of the “spiritual world”, modern or ancient, have always sought a justification for their existence and reasons for adoption as codes of conduct for humanity. The pretext was usually juxtaposed to self-satisfaction, superiority of spiritual culture, a factor that endowed the advocates of various religions with civilising missions for the human race. Yet man represents only a very small portion of the magnificent universe. And if he can make plans and appreciate the merits of planning, then his own existence and the survival of the universe must also be based on a planned policy. This effectively translates that there is a Designing Will of unrivalled artistic brilliance behind our material existence, and that there is a Unique Mind streamling things into being. The marvellous wonders of our world and the secrets of life are too mammoth to be products of random accident or mere chance. In cognisance of these irreversible facts, and driven by obsessive needs, the gleam of spiritual discovery, man dabbled in a sweaty exotic allure of meditative stints as the insatiable rapacity for codified religious systems gained pinnacle heights. The consequent was the systematic outburst of theories and thoughts; a few convincingly perspicacious, some seemingly pertinacious, others bore a semblance of a perverse coterie of coterminous confetti of codes bereft with perspicuous features. But Islam, a religion that denotes peace and propagates for the complete submission to Allah, has a stretching history of codified moral principles glued by a chain of authentic spiritual revelations. The five pillars that serve as an institutionalised source of reference and guidance, have unique teachings that when combined, make Islam more of a way of life than a social club propelled by artificial codes of imagination. Centuries before the birth of Muhammad in 571 AD, Islam had already sojourned as a religion, though on a dizzy plane mainly manacled by violent resistance from the millions of idol worshippers in Arabia, where the first segment of Prophets were commissioned to execute special missions to a selected catchment of people. These Prophets, such as Ibrahim, Ismael, Musa, Essa (Alaihi ma -Wa -Salaam) etc had an unassuming personality that hid their razor sharp visions. Belligerent and charismatic, these early Prophets of Islam exploited every avenue to execute duties ordained by the Almighty Allah. Notwithstanding, the story was not all that fine and dandy as they encountered serious resistance in the midst of parochial minded infidels trailing under the murderous lunacy of ignorance and decadence. Their resistance, violent in the main for centuries, was not the assertion of some abstract or remote historical rights, but explicitly a vital, seemingly unchangeable rejection of a permanent act of condemnation against the very roots of their lives. Some of these resistances were so brutish that Islam almost wallowed in doldrums as the biting hurdle of animosity between its handful propagators and millions of idol worshippers geared up in strength. But does this mean that, at any moment in history, one ought to give up and abandon oneself, to blows and accomplished hatred? Not at all. Pessimism and despair are contrary to the spirit of Islam, and helplessness is incompatible with faith in God. Apparently, the person who is ordained by Allah to be His active agent, must necessarily have some power and authority, and be, at least potentially, endowed with honour and integrity. And this is the status of man in Islam; not a condemned race from birth to death, but a dignified being potentially capable of good and noble achievements. The fact that the Almighty chose His messengers from the human race shows that man is trustworthy and can acquire immense treasures of goodness. Prophethood is an eloquent expression of Divine teachings of truth to help man realise the purpose of his existence. The sending of these Prophets from God is a clear manifestation of a strong link between Heaven and Earth, God and man. The promulgation process of prophets of Islam continued for centuries, covering the registered 124,000 prophets before the closing curtains were raised in 644 AD. By 571 AD, a man poised to transform the world with stunning intellectual standing and unrivalled spiritual significance was born to a peasant family of the Quraish clan. His humble beginnings were characterised by routine meditative spells in a secluded mountain in the outskirts of Mecca. This man, Muhammad Rasulullah, is a supreme example of a fountain of hope and man of action. As he grew up, he questioned the religious practices of his generation, visibly disturbed by incessant quarrelling in the avowed interest of religion and honour among the Quraish elders. Stronger still was his dissatisfaction with the primitive survivals in Arabian religion, the idolatrous polytheism and animism, the immorality at religious convocations and fairs, the drinking, gambling, and dancing that were fashionable, and the burial alive of unwanted infants. At around 621, Muhammad soon became the symbolic epitome of Allah’s greatness. Ordained at age 40 with a herculean mission, his struggle for survival and prominence had thus started. Unlike earlier prophets charged with a sacred mission to a narrow catchment of inhabitants, Muhammad’s mission had a universal bearing, the central theme of which was Submission to the Will of Allah. His message was not simply a neutral revival, racial monopoly, temporary change or reversion in the trends of history. The message of Muhammad (S A W) was, and, ofcourse, still is, a universal revival, a common blessing, a supranational heritage and an ever-lasting spiritual deliverance. It is an evolutionary continuance of the previous Messengers and a well-balanced incorporation of all the former revelations. It transcends all boundaries of race, age, colour, and regional features. It is addressed to man of all times and it is precisely what man needs. Indisputably Muhammad’s message has the highest qualities of a truly universal and conclusive faith. Indeed as professor Ninian Smart opined in his book Background to the Long Search, “looked at from a human point of view, the achievement of an Arabian prophet living in the sixth and seventh centuries after Christ is staggering. Humanly, it was from him that a new civilisation flowed. But ofcourse for the Muslims, the work was divine and the achievement that of Allah.” Dr Hammudah Abdalati a renowned scholar in the Muslim Ummah minced no words in his assessment of Prophet Muhammad; “his spiritual accomplishments, and his mundane reforms are unparalleled in the entire history of mankind. Victory did not spoil him, triumph did not weaken his excellent virtues, and power did not corrupt his character. He was incorruptible, consistent, and inaccessible to any notion of personal gain or glory. His words display dazzling light of wisdom and truth”. But as humans cannot escape the dictates of mortality, no matter the value and contribution of individuals, Muhammad finally succumbed to the invincible hands of death in 644 AD. Today, Islam’s billion plus congregations pronounce his name at least five times daily. Certainly a man who had done so much and contemplated such large designs cannot be relegated to an ordinary stand. Gone on a journey of eternity, his ideas strongly remain to us living memories of pride. His sayings, major sources of reference and his deeds model to the human race. Abou Jeng ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------