Meho ef. Šljivo: Muhammad, peace be upon him, transformed the world around him through active participation in it

(Patria) - Mevlud, the day of the birth of the last prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is celebrated today, September 27, or 12th Rabi' al-Awwal according to the Hijri calendar.

From the creation of the world until the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, the Creator sent prophets and messengers to mankind with guidance, who conveyed the Truth of God.

"The large number of prophets throughout history is the best proof of the limitations and powerlessness of human reason to comprehend or at least preserve eternal wisdom, let alone discover it on its own. He who seeks true knowledge based solely on logical thinking is like one who blows into an empty furnace, and he who seeks God through obvious evidence alone is like one who seeks the sun with a candle," stated Meho Šljivo, Head of the Department for Khutbah and Preaching at the Directorate for Religious Affairs of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for MINA Agency.

In an interview on the occasion of Mevlud, efendija Šljivo reminded that the starting point of prophethood on Earth was Adam, peace be upon him, and that according to some narrations, about 124,000 prophets were sent to Earth.

"The Quran states that a messenger (resūl) was sent to every nation. Among them are six specially chosen prophets (ulul-azm). The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, once compared prophethood to a wall built of bricks. In that wall, before his prophethood, there was a gap that needed to be filled.

With the prophethood of Muhammad, peace be upon him, the edifice of prophethood was completed. With Muhammad, peace be upon him, the Merciful One ended and crowned the cycle of sending all of God's prophets and revelations to people. The blessing of his prophethood and the torch of tawhid that he raised high, shines with its full brilliance especially in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal," emphasized Šljivo.

He also pointed out that there are three key dimensions to the Prophet's, peace be upon him, prophethood.

"His prophethood is universal. This means it is imprecise to say that Muhammad, peace be upon him, was sent only to humankind. He was sent to all worlds, not to one nation, country, or ethnicity. At the same time, his prophethood is timeless. The teachings of Muhammad, peace be upon him, which he conveyed to people based on revelation, the moral values he transmitted have inexhaustible and timeless significance. This knowledge never becomes obsolete. And finally, the prophethood of Muhammad, peace be upon him, is the seal of prophethood because it permanently ends the prophetic cycle," stressed Meho Šljivo.

He added that in following the Prophet's, peace be upon him, practice, Muslims are called to find the right balance between extremes, such as relativizing the legacy of Muhammad, peace be upon him, and overt formalism in practicing the Sunnah.

"Besides the formal imitation of the Prophet, peace be upon him, which is reflected in some external and visible forms of practicing the Sunnah, there is also the more demanding ethical, inner dimension of the Sunnah. Followers of the Prophet, peace be upon him, commit to removing hatred, envy, stinginess, and arrogance from their hearts, and to adorn themselves with virtuous character and etiquette. When it comes to moral principles, Muhammad, peace be upon him, did not view them as abstract values, but rather transformed these principles into life values," stated Šljivo.

He emphasized that Muhammad, peace be upon him, as Husein-ef. Đozo pointed out, was distinguished, among other things, by maintaining a balance between spirit and matter, body and soul, heart and reason, virtue and science, this world and the hereafter, the individual and society, the personal and the general, words and deeds.

"He was a teacher, head of a family, merchant, statesman, political and social leader, military commander. On a personal level, he experienced the loss of his parents in childhood, poverty, persecution, an assassination attempt; in a word, he experienced all kinds of severe trials that a person can endure in life. Since Muhammad, peace be upon him, is rehmeten lil alemin - a mercy to all worlds, Muslims who truly follow his path should be merciful to all creation, including the plant and animal world," he pointed out.

He stressed that Muhammad, peace be upon him, unlike other great figures of humanity who tried to change the world by withdrawing from it, transformed the world around him through active participation in it.

"Like all other prophets of God, the blessed Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was first tested and harassed, and only then called and sent to transform and reform the world. The Prophet's Sunnah confirms the universal principle that states: 'To act well and successfully - one must first be good individually; to conquer the world - one must first conquer oneself.' Whenever, in these blessed Mevlud days, we send salutations upon Allah's beloved Muhammad, peace be upon him, let us remember that this very salutation upon our Prophet is a cosmic blessing upon Allah's Beloved, in which believers participate with the Exalted Creator and chosen angels: 'Indeed, Allah confers blessings upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask for blessings upon him]. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessings upon him and ask [Allah to grant] him peace' (Al-Ahzab, 56)," concluded Meho Šljivo.