The Year of The Elephant

کافر ہوں کہ مومن ہوں خدا جانے میں کیا ہوں

میں بندہ ہوں ان کا  جو ہیں سلطان مدینہ 

Sir Krishan Prasad Shad.

Tradition has is that the Prophet was born and died in the Rabial Awal, the third month of the lunar Hijazi calender. Today, Thursday is the twelfth, considered by many as the day of his arrival and departure from the world.

Muhammad the man has intrigued many, perhaps more than anybody else in the history. He has been loved and hated, maligned and  praised, worshiped and cursed, both in his lifetime and long after that.

Regarding historic evidence, existence of  none of the earlier 'prophets' can be independently  verified. The word has yet to know scientifically whether Moses or Jesus ever lived on this earth. For what we know, there may have not been any of the Biblical figures, but Muhammad is a reality, documented by the uninterrupted narrations/traditions of his life and words.

I do not think that there is any other person who has single handed delivered so much. All his limitations aside, medical or psychological, literacy or the lack of, no sibling, no parent, financial handicaps and so on; he made a nation out of a tribal culture, gave voice to the disenfranchised, and established an egalitarian community. Much of what was accomplished in his 23 years of message could not be reproduced in the rest of the world until a few centuries back.

He was a man and had all the limitations and handicaps a human and a man can have. Despite what he was, his legacy is however what he left behind. 

And much did he leave behind. A long list of scattered revelations which got compiled much later into a book, an abundance of his recorded words and actions, and the oral history of his peers, documented over centuries. 

What happened to his people and his message after his death is both his redemption and his burden. His folks, over the centuries, failed to carry the spirit of the message and have increasingly brought embarrassment and earned ridicule. It is ironic that he could see far ahead what many did not see for thousand years, and yet many of his followers cannot see beyond seventh century. 

The world had selectively taken out of this record whatever it deemed suitable for its purposes. There is much for anyone to hate and discredit him and people have done that over a millennium including many of today's world. I wish and hope that their knowledge and wisdom continues to expand and eventually open up the gates of their hearts and minds.

Countless many, however, over the centuries have loved him much more than any other person in the universe. Despite the caricature of his person, which is increasingly portrayed as a misogynist, possessed, megalomaniac, warmonger, deceitful and a slaveholder, his name, the mere mouthing of which make you lips kiss each other twice, has been synonymous with love, affection, solace, passion and guidance. 

One is known by how many hearts one has touched and how many lives one has blessed. He is alive in many hearts who would not be fazed by the insults hurled on him. My thanks and greetings to all the Aishiqaane Rasul who had the good grace to keep their love and respect for the Prophet steadfast during these trying times.

Happy Birthday. 

Blessed be he on the day he was born and the day he passed away.

میں خاک کف پاے سگ کوے مدینہ