Prophet Muhammad and I on his birthday.

When someone dialogues with me, prophet’s words jump at me, to respect the otherness of other, without having to agree but respectfully differ and move on. Indeed, it is a big lesson in conducting civil dialogue.

When I am frustrated, I think of prophet’s narration, God told him to do his work, and not worry if people don’t get his message, give them the room to make up their own minds, and let me guide them, and you respect everyone’s free will.

Every day, I think about the Prophet, how he would have found a solution to a given conflict, and all I see is the application of the principles of fairness and justice to every human, with goodness and inclusiveness.

My spiritual mentors are Muhammad (pbuh) and Jesus (pbuh), and my civic mentors are Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barack Obama.

When I think of getting even at someone, who maligns me, I think of the advice of Prophet Muhammad and Jesus – the best thing we can do is to forgive the other, it brings relief, and frees us from being possessed.

When I see injustice done to others, the prophets words ring again, the least you can do is to speak out against injustice. Injustice to one is injustice to the whole humanity.

When I see inequality in our society, our immortal declaration of independence kicks in for me, that all men are created equal.  I think of prophet’s last sermon, where he said no man is superior to the other and that all are equal.

Whenever I think of the Liberation of women, I think of the prophet, he was perhaps the first women’s libber; and he officially liberated women from the shackles of the bondages, he was a radical of his time, as Jesus was, and said women are free to marry or divorce, own their own business and property separate from their husbands, and introduced the idea of consent and free will in marriage.  Let’s not judge America by the New Town, Denver and Oak Creek murderers, and let’s not judge Muslims by the Misogynistic men among Muslims either.

Whenever I feel judgmental towards others, the prophet’s voice pulls me back, only God knows everything about the other, not me, then let me not judge anyone without the full knowledge. 

When I think of standing up for others, I think of Gandhi and MLK, if we don’t stand up for others, why should anyone stand up for us.

Whenever the idea of being better than others crosses my mind, I think of the prophet, who said, I am a human like you, and don’t make a God out of me or paint my pictures and put me on the pedestal. He even said to his daughter, you earn your paradise through your good deeds, the good you do to the fellow beings and not because you are the Prophet’s daughter.

Whenever arrogance attempts to creep in me, I hear the words of the prophet, “treat all prophets the same, no human is above the other” instead of saying I am the greatest prophet and listen to me. Feeling and practicing equality is the way for creating peaceful societies.

I will be writing a full chapter on the Prophet in my upcoming book, as to how I relate with him in my daily life, and I have learned to give a 20 minutes motivations talk on “Prophet the Peacemaker” and that is rejoicing.

The Peacemaker:  http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/02/prophet-muhammad-pbuh-peace-maker.html

Criticism of Islam:  http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/11/criticism-of-islam-prophet-muhammad.html

Milaad Mubarak!