Milad-un-Nabi

Calligraphy bearing the name of Prophet Muhammad. Photo: Courtesy of Hattat Aziz Efendi

This week, Muslims around the world commemorate Milad-un-Nabi, literally meaning the “birth of the Prophet.” Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) was born in Mecca in the year 570 CE and grew up to be a respected merchant, known for his honesty, integrity and trustworthiness. At the age of 40, he received his first revelation from Allah, marking the commencement of his prophethood.

Prophet Muhammad’s life established a paradigm which Muslims have looked to over the past 1 400 years. While he led the ummah through the interpretation of faith, his leadership also brought about a new ethical outlook — an Islamic social conscience inspired by Allah’s revelation. He emphasised the dignity of humankind through care for the poor and marginalised, the importance of justice and equity in building a peaceful society, and he cultivated a pluralist outlook in which human diversity was valued and cherished.

The Prophet faced considerable social and cultural challenges given the prevailing mores and customs in Arabia. Most importantly, he faced opposition to his message of revelation. He built alliances and engaged in diplomacy, mounted defensive expeditions when necessary, and dispatched envoys to explain the message of Islam. He arbitrated disputes between quarrelling tribes in order to prevent feuding and to uphold the peace. Above all, by his own example of tolerance, trustworthiness and compassion, and because of the manifest justice of his message, the Prophet was able to ensure that the revelation of Islam prevailed in Arabia and beyond. Many Muslims came forward to share their material resources, as well as their time and talent, to help the Prophet stabilise and strengthen the institutions of din and dunya — faith and society.

In Shia tradition and belief, the Prophet’s absolute authority in matters of faith and his mission to bring about a just social order was entrusted by divine command to his cousin and son-in-law Hazrat Ali, as the first in the line of hereditary Imams from the Prophet's progeny. As the Ismaili Jamat observes Milad-un-Nabi during this Golden Jubilee year, it is appropriate to revisit Mawlana Hazar Imam’s reflections on the relevance of the Prophet’s life to modern Islamic society:

The Holy Prophet’s life gives us every fundamental guideline that we require to resolve the problem as successfully as our human minds and intellects can visualise. His example of integrity, loyalty, honesty, generosity, both of means and of time; his solicitude for the poor, the weak and the sick; his steadfastness in friendship; his humility in success; his magnanimity in victory; his simplicity; his wisdom in conceiving new solutions for problems which could not be solved by traditional methods without affecting the fundamental concepts of Islam – surely all these are foundations which, correctly understood and sincerely interpreted, must enable us to conceive what should be a truly modern and dynamic Islamic society in the years ahead.
— International Seerat Conference, Karachi, Pakistan, 1976.

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