Propeth Muhammad, The Pearl (Part 4)

By: Imam Shamsi Ali, President of Nusantara Foundation, New York

Currently, the dark world is commonly referred to as a world with uncertainty. As a result, a world with uncertainty creates deep confusion. In the era of the Prophet Muhammad, this world was called a world full of darkness (zhulumat).

In the language of the Qur’an, the word “ظلمات” is not only interpreted as a situation where there is no light, but also describes chaos that causes unrest and suffering. The word refers more to an act that transgresses and it is called “zulm”. Zulm in various forms can become darkness in human life, such as committing shirk, stupidity, social, and economic inequality, and dictatorship.

Mecca at that time was full of wrongdoing as mentioned above. This situation made Muhammad uneasy so he was moved to make changes. However, he is alone. At that time, it was as if the wrongdoing was part of nature, so doing the right thing would be considered strange and rebellious.

At that time, Muhammad Shalallahu alaihi wasallam had become a business manager who managed the company of his wife, Khadijah bint Khuwailid. However, his busy life as business manager has not made him forget his social responsibilities, bring about change and light to people’s lives.

From day to day, he felt restless because he saw humans doing wrong. He also often isolates himself from the environment by spending time in a cave. These activities are called “takhannuts”.

Takhannut was carried out to find solutions to various problems that occurred in the Prophet’s surroundings and he hoped to find a solution which turned out to be fulfilled by his appointment as Allah’s messenger and revelations that were sent down as instructions for the solution that he had been seeking.

The conclusion of this article is the Prophet Muhammad had an anti-tyranny character. There was anger and restlessness when he saw injustice happening around him. Therefore, as his ummah, we must also feel restless when we see injustice happening and try to stop it. Moreover, we should not be the perpetrators of Zulm. (T/ri/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)