| Muhammad up to the age of forty | | | | |
| Muhammad before his Prophethood | | | | Speaking on the character of Muhammad, Mahatma |
| | | | | Gandhi says in (Young India): |
| Up to the age of forty, Muhammad was not known as | | | | "I wanted to know the best of one who holds today's |
| a statesman, a parson a spokesman or a lecturer. | | | | undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of |
| He was never seen discussing the principles of | | | | mankind....I became more than convinced that it was |
| metaphysics, beliefs, moral principles, ethics, law, politics, | | | | not the sword that won a place for Islam in those |
| economics or sociology. | | | | days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the |
| His Pagan people knew that he possessed an | | | | utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous |
| excellent personality, pleasant manners and He was | | | | regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to this |
| well known as an honest and a trustworthy man. His | | | | friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his |
| people used to call him the trustworthy honest man. | | | | absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These |
| Nevertheless, there was nothing in his manner of life | | | | and not the sword carried everything before them and |
| that would make his people expecting something great | | | | surmounted every obstacle. When I closed the 2nd |
| and revolutionary from him in the future. | | | | volume (of the Prophet's biography), I was sorry there |
| | | | | was not more for me to read of the great life." |
| Muhammad after the age of forty | | | | |
| At the age of forty, the Angel Gabriel revealed unto | | | | On the other hand, Diwan Chand Sharma, a Hindu |
| Muhammad the first seven verses of the Quran which | | | | scholar wrote [in his book "The Prophets of the East," |
| are: | | | | Calcutta 1935, p. 122.], |
| 1) "Read (O prophet Muhammad) in the name of thy | | | | "Muhammad was the soul of kindness, and his |
| lord and cherisher, it is He who created, | | | | influence was felt and never forgotten by those |
| 2) Created man from "Alaq". | | | | around him." |
| 3) Read! And thy lord is most bountiful, is the most | | | | |
| generous, | | | | Thomas Carlyle (1795 –1881) was a Scottish satirical |
| 4) He who taught (the use of) the pen, | | | | writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the |
| 5) Taught the human what he did not know." | | | | Victorian era. He called economics "the dismal science", |
| | | | | wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and |
| Since then, Muhammad has completely transformed. | | | | became a controversial social commentator. |
| Logically-wise, it is not possible for such a person of | | | | On Heroes and Hero Worship and the Heroic in |
| the above qualities to turn all of a sudden into a liar and | | | | History also accorded a key function to heroes and |
| claim that he is the Prophet of Allah and stimulate all | | | | great men in history. Carlyle centered history on the |
| the wrath of his people against himself. | | | | biography of a few central individuals. |
| His people offered to accept him as their King, to give | | | | |
| him all the money he wants, to give him all the noble | | | | Thomas Carlyle, in his book (Heroes and Heroworship), |
| women he wants to marry them and he would leave | | | | was too amazed to say: "how one man |
| the preaching of his religion. But he chose to refuse | | | | single-handedly, could weld warring tribes and |
| their tempting offers and go on preaching his religion | | | | wandering Bedouins into a most powerful and civilized |
| single-handedly in face of all kinds of insults, social | | | | nation in less than two decades." |
| boycott and even physical assault by his own people. | | | | |
| Muhammad stood like a mountain in the face of all | | | | |
| opposition and conspiracies to eliminate him | | | | The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general |
| Muhammad was but a human being. He was a man | | | | English-language encyclopedia that is regarded as the |
| with a mission, which was to unite humanity on the | | | | most scholarly of encyclopedias. |
| worship of One and Only One God and to teach them | | | | Articles are aimed at educated people, and written by |
| the way to honest and upright living based on the | | | | about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert |
| commands of God. He always described himself as, | | | | contributors. |
| "A Servant and Messenger of God". | | | | |
| | | | | The Encyclopædia Britannica says: |
| | | | | "....a mass of detail in the early sources show that he |
| This article presents what Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas | | | | was an honest and upright man who had gained the |
| Carlyle, Diwan Chand Sharma and Encyclopedia | | | | respect and loyalty of others who were like-wise |
| Britannica said about the Prophet Muhammad | | | | honest and upright men." |
| | | | | (Vol. 12) |
| Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869 –1948) was | | | | |
| the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India | | | | |
| during the Indian independence movement. He was the | | | | Appendix |
| pioneer of mass civil disobedience, a philosophy firmly | | | | It is interesting that |
| founded upon total nonviolence—which led India to | | | | - The first revealed word of the Quran was "Read". |
| independence and inspired movements for civil rights | | | | - The last word in the first revealed five verses was |
| and freedom across the world. Gandhi is commonly | | | | "Know". |
| known around the world as Mahatma Gandhi or | | | | - The Arabic word pronounced as "Alaq" is translated |
| "Great Soul". He is officially honored in India as the | | | | to blood clot; however, in Arabic dictionary, it has 37 |
| Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is | | | | different meanings and all of them fit for the creation |
| commemorated there as Gandhi a national holiday, and | | | | and nature of man. The meanings of "Alaq" will be |
| worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence. | | | | given in a separate article. |