7 Common Misconceptions About Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) & Their Responses
7 Common Misconceptions About Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) & Their Responses
1. Is it true that Prophet Muhammed ﷺ was unlettered?
Yes, Prophet Muhammed ﷺ was, indeed, unlettered; he did not read nor write. But, this was more of a miracle, because those who did not believe in his prophecy would have then said that Quran was his work. This proves that Quran is the book revealed to him from God.
2. Is it true that Prophet Muhammed ﷺ copied the Bible?
While it is clear that both Bible and Quran cover much common ground, but remember: there was no Arabic translation of the Bible in the time of the Prophet ﷺ, the Prophet ﷺ did not read or write.
3. Do Muslims worship Prophet Muhammed ﷺ?
Islam purely is a monotheistic religion. A Muslim, no matter how pious, practicing or non-practicing, is told five time a day in the call for prayers (Adhaan) “Muhammadur Rasoolullah” meaning Muhammed ﷺ is the messenger of God, but not God. However, a Muslim considers Prophet Muhammed ﷺ closer to his heart, and loves him more than his own selves.
4. Was Prophet Muhammed ﷺ an opportunist?
Prophet Muhammed ﷺ is the prophet and a messenger, sent by the creator of the worlds. If he was an opportunist, he wouldn’t have refused the bribes which the chieftains of Makkah offered him – their proposal was to give him anything that he sought, only to shun his religious preaching. Moreover, there are many instances which come through us through reliable sources that his house was almost free of any material goods, including food for himself and his family members, and he only preferred giving it away to the needy. For days, there was no fire lit in his house, and he and his family relied only on dates and water.
5. How was Prophet Muhammed ﷺ with his neighbors?
The most misunderstood person in the human history is Prophet Muhammed ﷺ, especially by the non-Muslims. They accuse him of being a magician, a racist, a man of violence etc. Quran, which was revealed on Prophet Muhammed ﷺ, makes it clear that one should be good to a neighbor, no matter he is related to him or not, and no matter if the neighbor’s character is neighborly (good) or not. (Refer Quran 4:36).
During his 13 years life as a declared Prophet in Makkah, Prophet Muhammed ﷺ faced atrocities from his neighbors too, but he never responded likewise. The maximum that we read about his reaction to his neighbors throwing filth at his doorstep is: “What kind of neighborliness is this?”
When he migrated to Madinah, he considered kindness to neighbors as a sign of strong of faith. He also said: “The archangel Jibraeel (Gabriel) continued to urge me (to teach people) to be kind to neighbors so much that I started to think that he will tell me that they will have my share of inheritance.” (Sahih Bukhari)
He ﷺ also said: “Whoever believes in Allah and on the Day of Judgement must not offend his neighbor.” (Sahih Bukhari)
6. Was Prophet Muhammed ﷺ a man of violence?
Critics have accused Prophet Muhammed ﷺ to be a man of war. They take the verses of the Quran which mention fighting (for defense) to create an impression as such. They also say that through such warfare, Prophet Muhammed ﷺ and his followers sought forced conversions. It is very evident that they willingly do so and forget the incidents like below:
Resting under a tree, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ opened his eyes and found an idolater raising his sword to the sky. “Who will save you from me?” The idolater asked. The Prophet replied, “God,” and the man began to tremble and dropped his weapon.” Prophet Muhammed ﷺ picked up his sword and asked: “Now who will save you from me?” Then, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ asked the man: “Will you testify that there’s nothing deserving of worship except God and that I am the Messenger of God?” The man refused to testify. Despite the refusal Prophet Muhammed ﷺ allowed the man to go back to his people, unharmed. (Al-Bukhari)
There was an instance, while Prophet Muhammed ﷺ had migrated to Madina, that Makka faced a very severe draught. Makkans considered Prophet Muhammed ﷺ their archenemy in the entirety of the then known world. And the Prophet ﷺ, as we said above, and as history is the witness to this fact, faced a lot of atrocities by them. Nevertheless, Prophet Muhammed ﷺ showed his utmost dignity and mercy towards the Makkans and sent a financial aid of 500 Ashrafis (gold coins) which was a huge amount then, to the leaders of Makkah, so that they can distribute it among the poor.
When the amount was received by the leaders of Makkah, they said: “Now Muhammad (ﷺ) wants to persuade the youth and the poor against the leaders of Makkah.” (Reference: Dr. Muhammed Hameedullah, Book: Ahed e Nabi ﷺ me Nizam e Hukmarani, pg 251 & 257)
The Quran explicitly says: “There is no compulsion in (acceptance of) the religion.” (2:256) Meaning, everyone will have the freedom of choosing his/her own religion.
7. Did Prophet Muhammed ﷺ force and implement corporal and capital punishments?
The Prophet achieved this by following God’s command, and by among other things, addressing the root ills of society and applying a just and working legal system.
Let us take as an example the case of adultery and sexual promiscuity. When the Prophet arrived in Madinah adultery was rampant and prostitution was a profitable business.
First, he raised the moral consciousness of his people against such vices, which took him considerable time. Then he closed the doors of brothels and cleaned up the whole community.
To understand the Prophetic legal system, one must understand that the Prophet was concerned with all aspects of human life: from the personal to the societal realms, as well as the spiritual.
The Prophet addressed the concerns of the individual’s and society’s worldly here and now as well as the spiritual hereafter.
With regards to this world, in analyzing the societal benefits of the legal system brought by the Prophet one realizes that at its core the Islamic legal system (Sharia) has much in common with most legal systems. For instance, in attempting to achieve safety and security in human societies, legal systems – including the Islamic one – employ the principle of deterrence.
The idea being that by introducing a threat of punishment, the individual would be less likely to commit a specific crime.
Take, for example, the crime of murder. If a person knew nothing would happen to him if he were to kill someone, he would not be as deterred than if he knew that he would serve time in prison, or perhaps lose his own life as a consequence of his actions.
By deterring an individual from committing heinous acts through punishment, more lives are saved and society is more secure. As the Quran states: {There is preservation of life for you in retribution, O people of understanding…} (2:179)
In attempting to balance the concerns of victims and society, legal systems, and the Prophetic legal system (Sharia) included, employ the principles of retribution and restitution.
By retribution and restitution, the public takes back from the criminal the advantage he has unfairly taken by committing the crime in question from the public and the victim.
Otherwise, leaving the criminal unpunished would leave the scales of justice unbalanced, and it would be unfair to both the rest of the law-abiding members of society and to the victims of crimes.
In relation to retribution, many would argue that the concept does little to help victims or criminals. For instance, killing a murderer cannot bring back the life of the victim and would only result in the loss of another life.
Further, many argue that victims should be encouraged to forgive and not exact retribution – the understanding being that forgiveness being closer to civility and revenge more closely related to barbarity.
Indeed, Islamic law (Shariah) addresses these and other concerns by giving the victim options: to forgive or to exact retribution. The Quran in fact encourages the victim to forgive the wrongdoer for the benefit of both parties.
However, in some instances victims and their family members can only feel pain as a result of the crime and see no solution except to exact revenge upon the criminal, or have the criminal pay for his crime in the form of financial compensation or through other means.
In these instances the ideas of retribution and restitution seek to address the concerns of the victim and society at large.
Not addressing this aspect of human social relations can result in injustices; today, certain legal systems are so lenient in their punishments that perpetrators of heinous crimes such as rape and child sexual abuse receive only a slap on their wrists, leaving victims tormented with the knowledge that their abusers remain unpunished while they must live with their suffering for the remainder of their lives.
Yet the Prophet, the Messenger of Mercy, did not leave the criminal himself out of the equation, and was concerned with the criminal’s spiritual reformation.
The criminal was often given a second chance, for if he repented after the first act and mended his ways, he may have been allowed to go without punishment. In relation to the crime of fornication, the Quran states:
{If they both repent and mend their ways, then leave them alone. Verily, God is acceptor of Repentance, the Merciful} (4:16)
Moreover, the punishment itself is seen as a form of spiritual purification for the criminal. Seen in this way, a criminal who is concerned about his spirituality and his life in the hereafter may even choose to be punished for his crimes.
The story of Maiz ibn Malik is quite telling in this regard. Maiz committed adultery and came to the Prophet confessing to his crime and insisting on having himself purified by being punished, knowing fully-well the punishment for such a crime was stoning until death.
The Prophet turned him away three times, and twice asked Maiz’s tribe if Maiz was sane or if there was anything abnormal with him. They insisted he was sane and that he was one of their pious men. Only after Maiz insisted on being punished the fourth time and after the Prophet was assured that Maiz was sane was his request accepted.
In a similar incident, a woman who committed adultery requested to be punished, and like with Maiz the Prophet turned her away. Only after she insisted on being punished was the woman punished.
Even then, the Prophet highly praised her extraordinary repentance, prayed for her, and buried her. This shows the high degree of moral consciousness the Prophet nourished in the hearts and minds of his followers. The Prophet never implemented punishments before the society in which they were to be applied was ready for it.
It should be noted that the Prophet’s teachings with regard to criminal law was never meant to be applied without understanding the circumstances of the criminal. That is, the Prophet did not conclude that a given punishment is suitable in every circumstance.
The importance of context in applying corporeal punishment can be seen in the crime of theft. In any organized society, stealing is regarded as a punishable act. However, there may be instances when stealing can be understandable, and where the relevant punishment can be dispensed with.
For example, during a period of famine in the reign of Islam’s second Caliph, Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the corporeal punishment for stealing, that is the amputation of the hand, was not applied since in those times of dearth and starvation, stealing could have been a crime of necessity rather than maliciousness.
Islamic punishments, especially those for adultery and theft are meant to be implemented only in an Islamic society where social justice and moral consciousness prevail and where there is no room left for the committing of crimes except as a result of human wickedness.
The Prophet of Mercy never implemented even a single punishment in a context other than this.
It may be not out of place here to state that stoning to death as a punishment for adultery, while not practiced today by Jews and Christians, is commanded in the Torah, a scripture sacred to both religions.
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*Seerah of Rasoolullah ﷺ*
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