The Last Prophet of Allah
by Ghulam Nabi Muslim
Introduction
Some four thousand years ago, there lived in Syria (Sham) a good man, named Ibrahim [Abraham] (peace be upon him). He was a prophet of Allah. Allah sent him to lead his people to theright path. He loved Allah with all his heart and was a true Muslim. Allah was much pleased with Ibrahim and took him as a friend (khalil). When Ibrahim grew old, Allah granted him two sons, Ismail [Ishmael] and Ishaq [Isaac] (peace be upon them). He kept the younger one, Ishaq, with him but settled Ismail, the elder one, in Mecca in Arabia. Arabia is to the south of Syria. Its greater part is a great desert. Only date-palms and bushes grow there. However, its western part is fertile. Mecca is situated in the western part of Arabia, near the Red Sea.
Ismail lived in Mecca with his mother Hajira [Hagar]. Ibrahim, with the help of Ismail, built a masjid (mosque) at Mecca to worship Allah. This masjid is known as Kaaba or Bait-ullah (the House of Allah). The Arabs began to gather in Mecca every year to pray to Allah. This was-known as hajj (pilgrimage).
Ismail had twelve sons. They were all hardworking, honest and truthful. They followed the faith of their father and grandfather. They made the land round Mecca fertile and grew many kinds of crops. Some of them took to trade and led their caravans to Syria to the north, Iran to the east, Egypt to the west and Yemen to the south.
Mecca soon became the trade and religious centre of the whole of Arabia. One of the Arab chiefs was named Quraish. The children of Ismail were, later on, known by the name of Quraish after this chief. The Quraish grew very rich. They grew in number and they became very powerful in the land. The Arabs not only respected them but also feared them. As time passed, most of the Quraish and the other Arabs left the faith of their forefathers, and began to worship many gods instead of Allah. They placed 360 idols of their gods in the sacred Kaaba. They took to evil ways. They drank wine. They gambled. Most of them hated their daughters and buried them alive.
In those days there was no strong government in Arabia. The Arabs were divided into several tribes. They followed their own chiefs and often fought among themselves. These fights sometimes continued for years.
With all these faults, they were a brave people and loved freedom. They were very generous also. There were no schools in Arabia in those days and only a few could read and write. But they had some very good poets.
The Quraish were divided into many clans. The clans of Banu Umayya and Banu Hashim were the strongest and most important of them all. They were not on good terms and fought with each other for leadership.