The life of the Holy Prophet of Islam — Page 24
It is worthy of note how steadfastly the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) adhered to his claim of Prophethood right till the end, despite thousands of dangers and hundreds of thousands of opponents and obstructers and threateners. For years, he endured misfortunes and hardships, which increased daily and rendered success apparently hopeless, and by enduring which patiently he had not in mind the achievement of any worldly purpose. On the contrary, by putting forward his claim of Prophethood, he lost what he had and purchased a hundred thousand contentions and invited a thousand calamities to overtake him. He was expelled from his home, was pursued by slayers, lost his home and all it contained and was poisoned several times. Those who were his well-wishers began to wish him ill and those who were his friends turned into enemies. For a long period, he had to bear hardships, to be steadfast under which was not possible for a cunning impostor. When after a long time Islam became supreme, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) collected no wealth for himself, nor did he raise any structure, nor did he seek any means of comfort or luxury, nor did he derive any personal benefit from anything. Whatever came to hand was spent in taking care of the poor, the orphans, the widows and those burdened with debt. He never ate his fill. He was so straightforward that by his plain speaking and his preaching of the Unity of God, he made enemies of all the peoples of the world who were sunk in paganism. He converted his own people into enemies first of all, by forbidding them idol worship. He upset the Jews for he stopped them from indulging in diverse types of creature worship and exaltation of their divines and from misconduct. He stopped them from denying and insulting Jesus, which caused them great heart burning, and they became his bitter enemies, and began to cast about for means of destroying him. In the same way, he annoyed the Christians for he denied the godhead of Jesus and his being the son of God, and denied his being the crucified savior. The fire worshippers and the star worshippers were also annoyed with him for they were also forbidden to worship their deities. The Unity of God was proclaimed as the sole means of attaining salvation. Were these the ways of winning the world? (Braheen-i-Ahmadiyya, Vol. 1, pp. 108-109) Then the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) describes the bravery and steadfastness of the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the following words: The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was straightforward and was ready to lay down his life for God, and turned wholly away from any hope or fear of people, and put his trust wholly in God, and being devoted to the will and pleasure of God, he cared not what calamities he would have to endure through preaching the Unity of God and what hardships might be inflicted upon him by the pagans. He endured every hardship and carried out the commandments of his Lord, and fulfilled all the conditions called for by his preaching and admonition, and attached no importance to any threat that was held out to him. I say truly that of all the Prophets there was none who put his full trust in God on all occasions of danger and went on preaching against paganism and creature worship despite all his enemies and was so steadfast and persevering as the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). (Braheen-i- Ahmadiyya, Vol. 1, pp. 111-112) SELF-CONTROL The Holy Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was a symbol of patience. He always held himself under complete control. Even when he became a sovereign he