Notes required about the teachings of Holy Prophet(PBUH)

[jahanzebhakro]

i have been searching for the teaching of Holy Prophet??? though not found yet. however, i have gone through the book of Mazhar Haq, jahangeer, and shahid, but two question which lack these books are humanity at dawn of islam( socio-economic,politico and religious conditions of world before islam) and teachings of holy Prophet. moreover, the topic of ottomon Empire is also missing in these books, nevertheless the book of Mazharul Haq is very comprehensive, my suggestion to my all brothers and sisters will that they must go through this book....it is requested you guys to post notes here about the teachings of Holy Prophet(PBUH) if possible, least draw the outline,

[mano g]

try to find out the book of M.Arshad, it cotains the answer of humanity at the dawn of islam....though the ottoman empire is missing in it as well.otherwise you can answer the first question at you own, as it's quite a general question......for example we know that social conditions were worst, women condition....beduin life, vendetta was the custom at that time, tribal bigotry, tribal chiefs were the centre of power, etc. due to shortage of time it would not possible to give you the whole answer, however these are some guidelines, hope it will help you.gudkuck.

[jahanzebhakro]

yes dear, i can attempt this question in this way, but what about the question regarding teachings of Prophet?????the material regarding question of Ottomon empire is quite enough which is available on this forum 3 questions are asked from ottomon like suleyman megnificent, sultan fateh and ottomon tanzimat.

[mano g]

Originally Posted by jahanzebhakro

yes dear, i can attempt this question in this way, but what about the question regarding teachings of Prophet?????the material regarding question of Ottomon empire is quite enough which is available on this forum 3 questions are asked from ottomon like suleyman megnificent, sultan fateh and ottomon tanzimat.

humanity at the dawn of islam was in the worst condition, the teachings of the Holy prophet brought revolutionary changes in the society in social, political and economic domains, the teachings of the Holy Prophet were in fact the teachings of Quran.....following are some of the points,

Social:
-women status was raised, given share in the property
-gambling, drinking and all unethical practices were banned
-equality among all social classes
-principles were being followed, as Prophet himself was the role model being truthful and honest
-social justice started prevailing
-polygamy and polyandry were reduced to a great extent

political:
-tribes no more remained the centre of political power
-you can give reference of madina's reformed state
-merit was followed in every aspect of life
-subjugation ended
-treaties were signed on equal footing

Economic:
-social disparity ended to a great extent
-zakat, sadqat were implemented
-economic reforms by Prophet himself then by caliphs......

these are some of the points, you can further elaborate the answer in the similar way.

[muhammad mba]

what is the answer of major civilizations at the dawn of islam their political religious social economic and intellectual state of affairs and what about contribution of islamic universaties and institutions towards human thought

[mano g]

well this question is available in the books......n i don't know the books of indo pak, as i didn't opt it.

[Faseeh Muhammad]

Following thread of this forum will provide you ample help on topic of Civilizations:
Major World Civilizations at the Dawn of Islam & Their Social/Moral Condition?
World civilizations before Islam

For Ottoman Caliphate:
The Ottoman Empire:A Chronological Outline
World History

[jahanzebhakro]

WORLD BEFORE ISLAM

Muhammad Baqa Qazi
M.A sociology and islamic History

When Almighty Allah sent His last and greatest Prophet, Muhammad (s.a.w.), mankind was immersed in a state of degeneration. The messages of the past prophets had been distorted and ignored, civilization was on the decline and humanity had slumped into an age of darkness, with disbelief, oppression and corruption rife everywhere. The whole world presented the gloomiest picture ever of human history. Hence the Qur'an's terming of this chaotic state of affairs as 'Ignorance', or to put it exactly in the very words the Holy Book has used; 'Jahiliyyah'.

Consequently it is incorrect to view 'Jahiliyyah' as something of the remote past, for it is quite clear from the Qur'an's terminology that any people rejecting Divine Messengers, turning a deaf ear to the Almighty's revelations and overcome with carnal desires, can aptly be termed an ignorant lot. Therefore broadly speaking, the term 'Jahiliyyah' is not limited to any particular era but can also be applied to all similar societies irrespective of whether they existed in the past or are still found in our contemporary era, the so-called, Space Age.

Accordingly, it is easy to recognize the symptoms of 'Jahiliyyah', for wherever there is 'Jahiliyyah', there is oppression and corruption, because the salient features of such a society are disbelief, deviation, breach of divine commandments, spread of injustice and vices such as usury, drinking alcohol, adultery, gambling, bloodshed, moral decadence, etc. Thus any society in which such perversions prevail is without doubt 'Jahiliyyah'.

Such was the sad state of affairs in which mankind lived, before Allah sent them a Prophet, describing him as a 'Mercy for the creation'. The Arabs among whom Muhammad (s.a.w.) was born were fragmented into a number of heterogeneous tribes constantly engaged in internecine bloodshed. They had replaced Abraham's monotheism with the worship of idols, stars, angels and demons, turning the Ka'ba built for the One and Only Creator, into a pantheon of idols. Tribal rivalries and blood feuds, fueled among them like the burning desert sands of Arabia.

Ignorance was not confined to the Arabs alone, for on the fringes of Arabia where the desert gives way to hospitable lands, met the ever changing borders of 'World Arrogance', the two superpowers of the age; the Persian and the Byzantine Empires. Both bidding for hegemony over the known world had bled white with wars, and despite their massive territories, it was obvious they were in their death throes.

The fire-worshipping Persians with their strange concept of dualism were further plagued by the still weirder Mazda kite doctrine, which advocated communal ownership and went to such an extent as to rule women to be the common property of all men. Like Mani a few centuries earlier, who had claimed a new religion by combining the teachings of Jesus and Zoroaster, Mazda's movement was also a reaction to the corruption of the traditional priestly class. Both creeds had flattered to deceive and died away after the execution of their proponents, who more or less depended on royal patronage. On the other hand the Sassanian aristocracy aligned with the Zoroastrian clergy was steeped in pleasures burdening the downtrodden masses with heavy taxes and oppression.

At the other end was the Byzantine World, which though claiming to profess a divinely revealed religion had in fact polluted the monotheist message of Prophet Jesus (a.s.) with the sediments of ancient Greek and Roman pagan thoughts, resulting in the birth of a strange creed called Christianity. Way back in 381 A.D., the Greco-Roman Church council had declared as heresy, the doctrine of Arius of Alexandria, to which most of the eastern provinces of the empire adhered, and in its place the council had coined the absurd belief that God and Jesus are of one substance and therefore co-existent. Arius and his followers had held the belief in the uniqueness and majesty of God, Who alone, they said has existed since eternity, while Jesus was created in time.

Throughout the 5th and 6th centuries the church continued to be racked by a myriad of controversies over its illogical attempts to define the alleged dual (divine and human) nature of Jesus in the light of Greek mythology and Persian Mithraism, the influence of both of which was quite visible on the Christian church. In addition, weirder beliefs like Holy Ghost, God-Mother (Mary) and Trinity cropped up which caused trouble in Syria, Egypt and North Africa, where the Monophysite Christians held 'god the father' to be infinitely superior to 'god the son'. In short, terror, oppression and sectarian persecution were the order of the day in Christendom.

Scattered here and there across West Asia and North Africa were colonies of Jews, to whom several outstanding Messengers had been sent by the Almighty. But these divine favors had failed to reform the crime hardened Jews, whose very name had become synonymous for treachery. They had long deviated from the commandments of Allah, distorting the laws brought by Prophet Moses (a.s.), tampering with divine scriptures, slaying prophets and in the end coining the chauvinist creed called Judaism. It was more a racial sedition rather than a set of beliefs and the Israelites' vehement opposition to the last great reformer, Prophet Jesus Christ (a.s.), was still fresh in the minds of the people.

Further to the east lay the once flourishing cultures of China and India, which were now groping in the dark. Confucianism had confused the Chinese, robbing their minds of any positive thinking.

The Sui dynasty (581-618) espousing the cause of Buddhism had plunged China into a blood bath. If Buddhism was never intelligible to the masses, Taoism the religion of the former court was even more remote and expensive to practice looking like a huge complex of rites, cults and strange rituals. The victims of these feuds were of course the poor masses, bewildered as ever and seething under oppression.

In the subcontinent, the fabric of the Indian society was in even more shambles. Hinduism and the absurd philosophy of the caste system it preached had created watertight compartments between the human races reducing the so-called lower classes to the ranks of mere beasts of burden.

Hinduism had no universal pretensions whatsoever, and had evolved and was peculiar to the geographical confines of India, or more properly Northern India and its Aryan invaders. Conversion of foreigners was difficult because one had to be born in a particular caste and it was the mystery of 'Karma' that determined one's fate.

In addition, India presented a confusion of castes and creeds and a pantheon of idols more weird and in erotic postures than found anywhere else. Tantric rites including demon worship, sacrifice of humans and possibly cannibalism were the order of the day. No intermarriage, no interliving, burning of the widows on the dead husband's pyre, exploitation of the so-called lower class women dedicated to temples as devdasis but whose actual work was to satisfy the carnal desires of the priests, were some of the sordid affairs in practice.

Outside the periphery of the civilized world, beyond the River Jexartes in the endless steppes of Central Asia, dwelt the marauding Turks and other related tribes. They adhered to the magical rites of Shamanism and ancestor worship.

Africa, beyond the Sahara was steeped in animism while in Europe bands of barbarians such as Avars, Bulgars, Germans, and Franks etc. wandered around pillaging what remained of the Roman civilization.

In short, wars, bloodshed, slavery, oppression of women and the deprived held sway everywhere. Might rule right. The world was in dire distress but no one seemed around to deliver it from darkness. No religion, ideology, creed or cult could offer any hope to the agonies and frustrations of humankind.

None of the religions in currency had any universal outlook or even pretensions and were limited to insurmountable geographical and psychological barriers, preaching discrimination and the narrow-minded superiority of a particular race.

Thus it was in such a chaotic state of depression that Almighty Allah sent His last great Prophet, with the universal Message of Islam to save mankind from disbelief, oppression, corruption, ignorance and moral decadence that was dragging humanity towards self-annihilation.
The society at obscure Mecca where Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) opened his eyes was rife with vices and oppression. It was as barren as the harsh Arabian landscape, with declining morals, rising perversion, ignorance and poverty. Like the rest of Arabia it was polytheist in nature, deeply engrossed in the worship of a multitude of idols.

The Meccan society roughly speaking was divided into three classes as follows:

1. The Arrogant Wealthy:

In their hands was vested the wealth, authority and leadership of Mecca, and it was this class which vehemently opposed the Messenger of Allah and his call to Islam. They terrorized and forbade people from believing him, for fear of losing their unjust hegemony over Mecca. To this class belonged Abu Jahal, Abu Sufyan, Abu Lahab, Walid bin Mughira, Uqba bin Abi Moayyit, Aas bin Wael Sahm and others, who had built up large fortunes by oppression and foul means.

2. The Deprived (slaves and the oppressed):

This class was composed of the downtrodden like Ammar and his parents Yaser and Sumaiyya, Bilal the Abyssinian, Suhaib the Roman, Khabbab bin Arat and etc., who all eagerly hastened towards the call of Islam, because they found it to be the truth and a way of deliverance from oppression, slavery and disbelief.

3. The General Public:

These were neither part of the landed oligarchy nor were subjected to slavery. They could well be termed the middle class. Affiliated to their respective tribal chiefs or clan heads they blindly followed the path chosen by their leaders.

Thus since the Islamic Da'wah (call) strives for justice and equality among the human race, removing the artificial barriers of class set up by 'Jahiliyyah', the tyrants and oppressors did all they could to stop its eventual spread. Sensing that its Monotheist message, preaching submission to the One and Only Creator and forsaking the worship of idols and man-made images, would bring and end to their domination over Mecca, the pagan Quraish, decided to gang up against Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.).