Personal reflection on academic learning and growth

¶ … land of Arabia witnessed a remarkable change in their cultural, moral and ritual practices. They underwent a reformation from a totally barbaric nature to that of a civilized one. Where female babies were buried alive, women were treated like slaves and were denied any rights, emerged a man who began to give the people lessons on morality, women equality and equal rights. This man was none other than Muhammad. He was the true definition of a leader. Leadership is where a man influences the masses, is trusted and honored by his followers and has followers and is remembered and loved by them even after his death.

Born in Mecca, in 570 A.D., Muhammad, even as a youth was an honest person and would never lie, such that the people of Mecca would call him "The Trustworthy." During his time Arabia was dominantly idolaters with pockets of Jewish tribes and Christians. Muhammad belonged to the Quraish tribe of Arabia who became one of his worse enemies later on. His father had passed away sometime before his birth and he was taken care of by his grandfather. At a young age he lost his mother as well. By profession Muhammad was a trader who traveled widely. Muhammad would often go to the cave of "Hira" to meditate and at the age of 40, when Muhammad was in the cave of "Hira," he claimed to have received a revelation by God through His angel Gabriel. This event marked the reformation that Arabia was soon to witness in the form of Islam.

Muhammad started preaching from within his own household and then expanded his teachings to relatives and friends. He was so committed to this that when the pagans of Arabia asked him to stop preaching Islam in return for abundant wealth, Muhammad simply refused by saying that even if they put the sun on his one hand and the moon on the other; he will still continue spreading the message of God until death parts him from this world. Today we find leaders including religious leaders whose primary objective is to gather wealth. They are so much into the material gains of this world that they forget what the religion that they are preaching teaches. Muhammad lived a simple life where he never accumulated any wealth. There would be days when his household would not have any food to eat. Whatever money he would get from the booty of the wars, he would distribute it among the poor rather than accumulating it. Another remarkable quality of this leader was the simplicity with which he lived his life. He would mend his own shoes, repair his own clothes, and also indulged in normal household work. With the spread of Islam Muhammad was like the king of Arabia yet he possessed absolutely nothing and lived like a normal man in a small house. He never built any palaces nor spent wealth to buy the luxuries of life. Amazingly enough he would even sit on the floor rather than some comfortable couch. Such was Muhammad, a model of humbleness and simplicity.