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THE LIGHT THEY FOLLOWED
What a teacher he was, and what a man! He was filled with greatness, honesty, and sublimity!
Truly, those overwhelmed with his greatness have their excuse, and those who sacrificed their lives for
his sake are the most triumphant.
Muhammad lbn Abd Allah was Allah's Messenger to the people in the midsummer of life. What
mystery was available to him that made him a man to honor among human beings And what grand hands
did he extend towards heaven to let all the gates of mercy, blessing, and guidance open widely. What
faith, what chastity, and what purity. What modesty, what love and what loyalty. What devotion to truth
and what reverence to life and the living?
Allah bestowed upon him the amount of blessing to qualify him to carry His standard and speak for
Him, and made him capable of being the last of His messengers. Therefore, Allah's bounty towards him
was great. But however the brains, inspiration, and pens compete to talk about him or to sing hymns of
praise to reveal his greatness, they all seem insignificant due to his superior traits.
If the introductory pages of this book need to start with a talk about the Messenger (PBUH), they
cannot hope to give him his due of praise nor claim that they are really introducing the great Messenger
to the readers. It is only a mere reference to his eminence and some of his superior qualities which make
people cherish him and which drew him an unprecedented loyalty by some of the figures mentioned in
the book whether they were Muhaajiruun or Ansaar or from the Quraish.
No sooner had life emerged than Allah made all its breeze hail his coming, and sent messengers to
all men everywhere, carrying the principles of the divine call and the fragrance of the caller, the truth of
the teachings, the eminence of the master, the enlightenment of the message and the compassion of the
Messenger (PBUH).
That is true. This was the main objective, no more. It is to perceive in the light of one of his beams
some of the traits of his rare eminence that brought about the believers' loyalty and made them perceive
in him the goal and the way, the teacher and the friend.
What made the nobles of his people hasten to his words and his religion. Abu Bakr, Talhah, Az-
Zubair, `Uthmaan Ibn Affaan, Abd Ar-Rahman Ibn `Awf, and Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqaas, all abandoned in
haste the wealth and glory of their community which surrounded them, receiving at the same time heavy
burdens in life, full of cares, troubles, and conflict.
What made the weak of his community seek his protection, hasten to his standard and his call, when
they saw him without wealth or weapon, with harm inflicted upon him and evil following him in a
terrifying way, without his being able to avoid it;
What made the pre-Islamic tyrant `Umar lbn Al-thattaab, who went to cut off his noble head with
his sword, return to cut off with the same sword - made sharper through faith - the heads of the Prophet's
enemies and his persecutors.
What made the city's elite and noble men go to him and promise to be his companions, voluntarily
embracing a set of trouble and terror, knowing that the struggle between them and the Quraish would be
more horrifying than terror itself.
What made those who believed in him increase and not decrease, though he declared day and night,
"I hold no good or harm for you. I do not know what will become of me or you"!
What made them believe that the world would open its countries to them and that their feet would
be wading in the gold and crowns of the world. And that the Qur'aan they were reciting in secret would