Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 103
103 6 The Excellent Exemplar MUHAMMAD WAS A LAWBEARING PROPHET. The Quran says that he was not a Messenger who brought new fangled doctrines (46:10). There had been law-bearing prophets before him, for instance Moses, through whom God had proclaimed the advent of a law-bearing Prophet “like unto him” (Deut. 18:18). This means that Muhammad had been selected by God as a fit and appropriate channel for conveying the Divine law and guidance to mankind. His claim that he had been so selected implied that his personality had been moulded to that end and that he illustrated conformity to that law and guidance in his own conduct. It is necessary, therefore, briefly to study his personality and character in order to see whether that implication was justified. What type of man was he? How did he deal with his fellow beings? How did he discharge his duty to God? Though Muhammad lived in a region which had slight contacts with the rest of the world and at a time when the art of history was still in its infancy, his