(The appearance and introduction of Rasulullah, [sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam]).

The shapes of all the visible limbs of our master, Rasulullah, his idiosyncracies, his beautiful manners, his entire life, with all their delicacies, have been written clearly and in detail by savants along with references and documents. These are called siyar books. Of the thousands of siyar books, the one which was written first was Ibni Ishaq's book, Sirat-i Rasulullah, which was elaborated upon under the same title by Ibni Hisham Humairi and reprinted by Westenfeld, a German orientalist. Allahu ta'ala also bestowed upon Muhammad (alaihissalam) all the mujizas (miracles) which He had given to all His anbiya (prophets). Many of them are written in the books al-Mawahib-ul-Ladunniyya (Arabic); Madarij-un-Nubuwwa (Persian); al-Anwar-ul-Muhammadiyya (Arabic), which is the mukhtasar (abridged version) of Mawahib; and Hujjatullahi alal'alamin fi mujizati Sayyid- il-mursalin (Arabic).

In this booklet of ours, we quoted from the two-volume book entitled al-Mawahib-ul- ladunniyya by Hadrat Imam-i Ahmad Qastalani, one of the great Islamic savants from Egypt. AbdulBaqi Effendi, a Muslim poet, has translated this book from Arabic into Turkish. Out of the whole book, the parts considered necessary for youngsters have been written briefly as follows:

The blessed face and all the blessed limbs and the blessed voice of Fakhr-i kainat (Muhammad [sall Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam]) were more beautiful than the faces and limbs and voices of all people. His blessed face was roundish. When he was cheerful, his blessed face used to shine like the moon. It would be evident by his blessed forehead that he was pleased. Rasulullah (sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam' used to see during the night just as well as he saw during the day. He used to see what was behind him just as he saw what was in front of him. Hundreds of events proving this fact are communicated in books. Allahu ta'ala, who creates vision in the eye, is a well potent enough to create it in another organ. When he would look towards one side or look around, he used to turn with all his body and then look. He used to look at the earth more than he looked at the sky. His blessed eyes were large. His blessed eye-lashes were long. There was a certain amount of reddish color in his blessed eyes. The iris of his blessed eye was extremely black. Fakhr-i alam had a broad forehead. His blessed eye-brows were thin. His eye-brows were apart from each other. The vein between his two eyebrows used to swell when he became angry. His blessed nose was extremely beautiful and was a little higher in the middle. His blessed head was great. His blessed mouth was not small. His blessed teeth were white. His blessed front teeth were sparse. When he expressed a word, it used to sound as if haloes (nur) were coming through his teeth. Among the creatures of Allahu ta'ala, no one has been seen with a more eloquent or sweeter speech than his. His blessed words used to be understood easily, pleasing hearts and attracting souls. When he spoke, his words used to string like pearls. Had someone wanted to count his words, it would have been possible to count them. Sometimes, he used to repeat something three times in order that it might be understood well. In Paradise everybody will speak like Hadrat Muhammad. His blessed voice could reach a distance which no one else's could.

Fakhr-i alam (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) was affable. He used to smile pleasantly. When he smiled, his blessed teeth used to be seen. When he smiled, his sacred light used to enlighten the walls. His weeping was easy like his smiling. As he never burst out laughing, so he never used to cry loudly, but his blessed eyes would shed tears and the sound of his blessed chest would be heard. He used to weep when thinking of the sins of his Ummat [that is, Muslims], and he used to weep out of fear of Allah. He also wept when he heard the Qur'an al-karim and, sometimes, when performing namaz (ritual prayer).

Fakhr-i alam's (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) blessed fingers were big. His blessed arms were fleshy. His blessed palms were wide. The scent of his entire body was more odorous than the most beautiful scent. His blessed body was both soft and strong. Anas bin Malik says, "I served Rasulullah for ten years. His blessed hands were softer than silk. His blessed sweat was more odorous than the most fragrant scent or than any flower. His blessed arms, feet and fingers were long. His blessed toes were big. The bottom of his foot was not too high and was soft. His blessed belly was wide and his chest and his belly did not exceed each other. [They were in the same vertico-frontal plane.] The bone at the point of his shoulder was big. His blessed chest was wide, his qalb-i Sharif (blessed heart) was nazargahi ilahi (a place of Divine Sight).

Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) was not too tall, nor was he short. When someone came near him, Rasulullah would look taller than the person. When he sat, his blessed shoulders would he higher than all of those who sat down.

His hair and the hairs of his beard were not too curly, nor too straight, but they were undulate from his creation. His blessed hair was long. Formerly he used to have a ringlet of hair in front, later he parted his hair into two. Sometimes he use to grow his blessed hair long, and sometimes he used to have it cut and shortened. He didn't use to dye his hair and beard. When he passed away the white hairs in his hair and beard were less than twenty. He used to trim his blessed moustache. The length and the shape of his moustache were as much as and like his blessed eye brows. He had private barbers in his service. [Also, it is a sunnat for Muslims to grow their beard as long as a small handful and to cut what is more than this and to trim their moustache.]

Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) always had his miswak and his comb with him. [A miswak is the twig of the arak tree that grows in Arabia. It is used for brushing the teeth.] He used to look in a mirror when he combed his blessed hair and beard. At nights he used to put kohl in his blessed eyes.

Fakhr-i kainat (Muhammad [sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam]) used to walk fast while looking down at the ground in front of him. When he went past a place, he would be recognized by his odorous scent.

Fakhr-i alam had a white complexion mixed with red, and was extremely handsome with a blessed and lovable appearance. If a person says that the Prophet was ugly he becomes a disbeliever.

He (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) was an Arab. 'Arab' means 'beautiful' in the dictionary. For instance, 'lisan-i arab' means 'beautiful language.' In the geographical sense, 'Arab' means the person who was born on the Arabian Peninsula and who grew up in its climate with its water and food and who is of the blood of its people. As those of Anatolian blood are called Turks, those who are born and raised in Bulgaria are called Bulgarians and those in Germany German; likewise, Rasulullah is an Arab because he was born in Arabia. Arabs, during the time of Rasulullah were white, light-complexioned. Especially the family of our Prophet (Muhammad) was white and very beautiful. As a matter of fact, his ancestor Hadrat Ibrahim had a white complexion and was the son of a Muslim named Taruh, who was one of the inhabitants of the city of Basra. Azar, who was a disbeliever, was not Hadrat Ibrahim's ('alaihi's-salam) father. He was his uncle and stepfather.

The fame of Rasulullah's 'sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam' father, Abdullah, had spread outward even to Egypt due to his beauty and owing to the blessed light on his forehead; almost two hundred girls had come to Mecca in order to marry him. But, Hadrat Muhammad's sacred light fell to Amina's lot.

For a century, in Turkey and in many Islamic countries, the Raghaib Kandil is referred to as the night on which Abdullah got married. It is not right to give such a meaning to the Raghaib night. It would mean that Rasulullah honored the world with his presence earlier than nine months, which is a deficiency, a defect. As he was superior to every man in every respect and as he was perfect in every way, so he was perfect and adequate when he enlightened our mother Amina. A deficiency in this gestation time is considered a defect and fault in medical science.

The first Friday night (the night between Thursday and Friday) of Rajab-i Sharif is called the Raghaib Night, for Allahu ta'ala endows raghibats, that is, blessings and gifts, on His human creatures on that night. The prayer done on that night will not be refused and the worships, such as namaz, fasting and alms, will be rewarded many times more than usual. He (Allah) will forgive those who respect that night.

In the early ages of Islam, and before Islam, it was haram (forbidden) to war in the months of Rajab, Zilqada, Zilhijja and Muharram. It is written in the eighth paragraph of the second chapter of the book Riyad-un-nasihin, 'It is written in the Tafsirs of Zahidi and Ali Jurjani and in all the Tafsirs that before Islam the Arabs used to change the places of the months in order to be able to make war in the months of Rajab and Muharram by putting them forward or backward. Rasulullah, when he performed the Farewell Hajj with ninety thousand Muslims in the tenth year of the Hegira, said, "O my Ashab! We are performing the hajj just at its proper time. The sequence of months is just as it was when Allahu ta'ala created it!" In the year when Abdullah got married the places of the months were wrong. The month of Rajab was in the place of Jama'zil'akhar. That is, it was one month ahead. Then, the transition of the Prophet's blessed light to our mother Amina is in today's month of Jama'zil'akhar. It is not on the Raghaib Night.

His uncle Abbas and his son Abdullah shared his fair complexion. Also, our Prophet's descendants until the end of the world will be beautiful and sympathetic. For example, the Amir of Jordan, the late Abdullah, who had been to Istanbul, was such a person. The virtuous Ahmad Makki Effendi, the late mufti of Kadikoy, was a Sayyid (a descendant of the Prophet), and like his ancestors, he was white with black eye-brows, big black eyes, very sympathetic and affable. Rasulullah's Ashab were sympathetic and beautiful, too. Hadrat 'Uthman was white with blond hair. Dihya-i Kelabi, the ambassador whom Rasulullah used to send to the Emperor of Byzantium, Heraclius, was very handsome, and as he went around on the streets of Istanbul, the Byzantine girls used to rush out into the streets in order to see his face. Hadrat Jabrail (Gabriel) usually came in the disguise of Hadrat Dihya (radi-Allahu 'anh).

The natives of Egypt, Damascus, Africa, Sicily and Spain aren't Arabs. But since the Arabs came to these places after having migrated from the Arabian Peninsula in order to spread Islam all over the world, there are Arabs in these lands, too. Likewise, they exist in Anatolia, India and other countries. But, today, none of the citizens of these countries can be called Arabs.

The Arabic language, the one and only language of knowledge and civilization in the Middle Ages and which is, in fact, the most advanced and sophisticated language among the seven hundred and seventy languages used in the world today with its richness in grammar, eloquence and literature, had entered and settled in every countries along with the Islamic civilization. In those times, the French and other European people who had gone to Arabic universities and Muslim schools in Spain for specialization had taken with them many Arabic words, especially technical terms used in knowledge and science, to their countries and mixed them with their own languages. Today, in Western languages, Arabic words are still in use.

In "The Gospel in Many Tongues," published by The British and Foreign Bible Society in London, in 1947, there are a few lines written as examples of each of the seven hundred and seventy languages.

The people of Egypt have a light-brown complexion. The people of Ethiopia (Habashistan, Al-habashatu) are black and are called habashi. The people of Zanzibar (Zanjibar) are called Zanji (negro), and they are also black. It is an act of worship to love and respect our Prophet's relatives, the Arabs. Every Muslim loves them. Everybody who came to Asia Minor as guests, introduced themselves as Arabs to us in order to receive respect and kindness, and the credulous Anatolian Muslims believed and loved them. This was because the black and the white weren't looked upon differently in terms of this love. For a Muslim, a black Muslim is better, dearer, and more lovable than a white disbeliever. To be black does not diminish the value of iman (faith) for any person. Some of Rasulullah's Ashab were black even though they were Arabs. Hadrat Bilal-i Habashi and Usama whom the Prophet loved very much were black. But such disbelievers as Abu Lahab and Abu Jahl, whose evil and baseness are known by everybody, were white. Allahu ta'ala evaluates a man not with regard to his color, but with respect to the strength of his iman and taqwa.

However, the enemies of Islam, the Jews, introduced blacks as if they are of a low class and horrible. They used them as slaves. They wanted to wipe out the love existing among Muslims and to break off their relation of brotherhood. On the other hand, by calling black pets such as cats and dogs 'Arab' and by referring to the blacks in their pictures, cartoons, magazines and newspapers as Arabs, they tried to misrepresent the Arabs to our youth as badly as they could in order to alienate Muslim children from our Prophet (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam). Today, people living in Arabia, Mecca al-mukarrama, and Medina al- munawwara are the descendants of the foreigners who came in the course of centuries from Africa, Asia, and other places and settled there. Those foreigners were black and were lovers of Allah and Rasulullah. Ayyub Sabri Pasha, 'rahmatullahi alaih', one of Sultan AbdulHamid Khan II's 'rahmatullahi alaih' admirals, writes in his five-volume Turkish book Mirat-ul-haramain that in the entire city of Mecca there are only two Arab homes left. And today, there aren't any. After our Prophet's death, all of his companions and then his descendants moved out of Arabia for jihad, that is, in order to spread Islam all over the world. They spread far into Asia, Africa, Cyprus, Istanbul and, in brief, everywhere. In order to introduce Allah's religion to His human creatures, they fought and they sacrificed their lives. These vast lands are full of those blessed martyrs. They sent their sons to the faculties of Baghdad University, which was at that time the greatest university in the word - and it can be seen in its existing artifacts today that they had experimented and discovered many new things in physics, chemistry, astronomy, geography and mathematics - in order that they might learn knowledge. When Hulaghu, the famous tyrant, and the disbeliever Genghis [Whose real name is Timuchin] Khan's grandson persecuted and killed more than eight hundred thousand Muslims, including women and children, and burned and destroyed Baghdad in 656 (1258 A.C.), only those who hid in wells and those who escaped to Anatolia were able to remain alive. Thus, the descendants of our master, the Prophet, and his companions had at that time settled in every part of Anatolia, especially in the East. Today, the intelligent, patient, and studious persons, whom we call Kurds, are all descendants of those blessed people. There are two groups of Kurds. One of them is the descendants of Yafes, Hadrat Nuh's son. This group consists of the rude and ignorant people who in very ancient times came to Asia Minor from Central Asia and who now lead a nomadic life. The historian Xenophon, a pupil of Socrates, writes that he has seen the Kurds in eastern Anatolia. The second group of people who are called Kurds are civilized and polite people living in cities. Almost all of them are the descendants of our Prophet and of his companions. Imam-i Hasan's descendants are called "Sharif" and Imam-i Husain's descendants are called "Sayyids." Sayyids are higher than Sharifs. During the time of the Ottomans, in Aleppo there was a great court of justice reserved for Sayyids and Sharifs. All their descendants were registered there and liars couldn't claim to be Sayyids. The famous Irisan Beghs, who lived on the land between Van and Hakkari, are the descendants of the Abbasid Khalifas and have multiplied out of a child who had escaped the massacre of Hulaghu. In every part of our country today, there are descendants of the Prophet's companions and Sayyids. We should appreciate their value and spare no effort to respect them.]

All the beautiful habits were accumulated in Rasulullah. His beautiful habits were given to him by Allahu ta'ala; he did not acquire them later by striving. He never cursed a Muslim by mentioning his name, nor did he slap anybody with his blessed hand. He never took revenge for himself. He used to avenge for Allah's sake. He used to treat his relatives, companions and servants well and modestly. He was very mild and affable in his home. He used to visit the sick and attend funerals. He used to help his companions with their work and take their children on his lap. Yet his heart wasn't busy with them. His blessed soul was in the world of angels.

Fear would grasp a person who saw Rasulullah suddenly. If he hadn't behaved mildly, no one could have sat near him, no one could have had the strength to listen to him, owing to his manners of prophethood. However, out of embarrassment, he himself would never look at anybody in the face with his blessed eyes.

Fakhr-i alam (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) was the most generous of human beings. He has never been heard to say, "I don't have," about something asked from him. If he had the thing asked for, he gave it; if he didn't have it, he didn't answer. The Prophet had so many great attributes and had done so many favors for so many people that the Byzantine emperors and the Persian shahs could not do enough to compete with him. But he himself liked to live in inconvenience. He led such a life that he would not even remember to eat or drink. He never used words like "Bring something to eat," or "Cook such and such food." He used to eat when they brought the meal to him, and he used to accept whatever fruit they gave him. Sometimes he ate very little for months, and he liked hunger. And sometimes he ate much. He used to eat with three fingers. He didn't drink water after meals. He used to drink water while sitting. When he ate with others, he used to stop eating after everybody had finished. He used to accept presents from everybody. In response to someone who had brought him a present, he used to give much more.

Rasulullah, together with twelve thousand heroes, after departing from Medina on the tenth day of Ramadan, conquered Mecca on Thursday, the twentieth of Ramadan, in the eighth year of the Hegira. On the following day, Friday, when reciting the khutba, he had a black turban around his blessed head. After staying eighteen days in Mecca, he went to Hunayn. He used to let the end of his turban hang down. He used to say, "The turban distinguishes Muslims from disbelievers." It was his habit to wear various clothes. When ambassadors from foreign countries came, he used to adorn himself. That is, he used to wear precious and beautiful clothes and expose his beautiful face. First, he used to have a gold ring, but later he wore a ring with an agete. He used his ring as a seal. "Muhammadun Rasulullah" was written on his ring. It is not permissible for men to wear gold rings in all four madhhabs. His bed was made of leather filled with date tree threads. Sometimes he laid on his bed and sometimes on the leather laid on the ground, on a mat and sometimes on dry soil. He laid on his right side putting his blessed palm under his right cheek.

Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) didn't accept zakat, and he didn't eat such things as raw onions or garlic, and he didn't recite poems.

Rasul-i akram (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) was born in Mecca, in the hegira year 571, on the twelfth of the month of Rabi'ul-awwal, on a Monday night, which coincides with the twentieth of April, towards morning. Every year, Muslims all over the world celebrate this night as the Mawlid Kandil. Everywhere, Rasulullah is remembered by reciting Mawlid Qasidas [Eulogy of Mawlid]. The Sultan of Erbil, Abu Said Muzaffar-ud-din Kukburi bin Zaynaddin Ali, used to organize festivals on mawlid nights and used to give gifts and presents. The beautiful character, benevolence and good deeds of the sultan is noted in detail in a history book by Ibni Khilligan, on the 234 th page of Hujjatullahi 'alal'alamin and in a pamphlet entitled Mawlidi Sharif by Sayyid 'Abdulhakim-i Arwasi. 'Mawlid' means 'the time of birth.' 'Rabi'ul-awwal' means 'the Spring.' Our Prophet, after he had become the Prophet, used to lay very much stress on this night every year. The ummat of each prophet had made the birthday of their prophet a feast day. And this day is the Muslims' feast day. It is a day of pleasure and happiness. When Hadrat Adam was between soul and body, he (Muhammad) was the Prophet. Hadrat Adam and everything were created for his honor. His blessed name is written in Islamic letters on the Arsh, on skies and heavens. His name Muhammad was given to him by his grandfather, Abdulmuttalib. He had dreamt that (Muhammad's) name would be spread over the world and that everybody would praise and laud him. 'Muhammad' means 'he who is praised much.' Hadrat Jabrail's first coming and informing him of his prophethood, his leaving the city of Mecca for a Hegira, his setting foot in the village of Kuba of Medina-i-munawwara, his leaving Madina for the conquest of Mecca, and his death all took place on Mondays. When he was born, it was discovered that his umbilical cord had been cut and that he had been circumcised. When he honored the earth with his presence, he raised his index finger and prostrated. Angels used to cradle him. He began talking while yet in the cradle. It is said in the annotation Zarqani of Mawahib, "When they got married, Hadrat Abdullah was eighteen and Hadrat Amina was fourteen years old. Hadrat Amina passed away when she was twenty. First he was suckled by his holy mother for nine days, then by Suwayba, a jariya of Abu Lahab, for a few days. Then, Halima-i Sadiyya suckled him for two years. He stayed in the village of Bani Sad bin Bakr for two years; then, when he was four years old, he was brought to the city of Mecca. When he began to walk, he used to watch children play; he wouldn't join the playing. When he was six years old, his mother Amina passed away, and when he was eighth, his grandfather Abdul-muttalib passed away. When he was twenty- five years old, he married Hadrat Hadija 'radi-Allahu anha'. When he was forty years old, in the month of Ramadan on a Monday, as he was in a cave on a mountain that was called Jabal-i-hira and Jabal-i-nur and which was an hour's walk north of the city, the angel appeared to him and he was informed that he was the Prophet for all human beings and genies. First, Hadrat Jabrail came. Then, for three years Hadrat Israfil kept coming to teach him. Yet, Israfil didn't bring the Qur'an al-karim. Then, Hadrat Jabrail began to come and conveyed all of the Qur'an al-karim in twenty years. Jabrail 'alaihis-salam' came to him twenty-four thousand times. [However, he had descended to Hadrat Adam twelve times, to Hadrat Nuh (Noah) fifty times, to Hadrat Ibrahim forty times, to Hadrat Musa (Moses) four hundred times, and to Hadrat Isa ten times.] He didn't manifest his prophethood for three years, and then, with the command of Allahu ta'ala, he declared it.

When he was fifty-two years old, on the twenty-seventh night of the month of Rajab, in Mecca, Hadrat Jabrail descended and took him from Masjid al-haram to Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem and thence to heavens. In this Miraj, he saw Allahu ta'ala. On this night, the five times of namaz (ritual prayers) during the day became fard. Please read the last page on the fifth chapter of the second part (of the Turkish version).

When he was fifty-three years old, he migrated to Medina with a divine command. He left his house early in the morning, on Thursday, the twenty-seventh of the month of Safar. He came to Abu Bakr Siddiq's house in the afternoon. After a short time, he and Abu Bakr left the latter's house together. They went to a cave on Mount Sawr, five and a half kilometers south-east of Mecca. The way to this mount, which is 759 meters (about 2530 ft.) above sea level, was very rough. His blessed feet bled. They stayed in the cave for three nights and left it on Monday night. After a week's travel, they arrived at Kuba village near Medina on Monday, the eighth of Rabi'ul-awwal, which coincided with the twentieth of September. It is written in the book of Tafsir entitled Baidawi that after staying here until the twenty-third of September, when day and night are of equal length, they spent the day here and left for Medina on the twelfth of Rabi'ul-awwal, a Friday, arriving in the blessed city on the same day. Later, during the caliphate of 'Umar ul-Faruq, the first day of the month of Muharram of that year, which was sixty-six days before the Hijrat, became the beginning of the Muslims' Hijri Kamari calendar. That first day, according to historians, was in the year 622 A.D. It is written in Ahmad Ziya bey's book Ilm-i Hey'et, printed in 1316 [1898 A.D.], that it corresponds with Friday, the sixteenth of July. The beginning of Muslim's Hijri Shamsi year (Hegira solar calendar) is the day when he entered the village, Kuba, which was the 20th of September. The first day of the year of 623 A.D. was in the first year of the Hegira solar calendar, and lunar calendar.

One solar year contains 365.342 days. And one lunar year contains 354.367 days, that is, 354 days plus eight hours plus 48.5 minutes.

He went to war twenty-seven times, nine times of which he attacked as a soldier, and the other times he occupied the rank of commander-in-chief. He used two types of flags in his holy wars. His Raya was black. His Liwa, which was smaller, was white. We have already explained in the twenty-ninth chapter of the first part (of the Turkish version) that the banner of the Ottoman State was designed by Timurtas Pasha.

In the city of Medina, he passed away before noon on Monday, Rabi'ul-awwal 12th, 11 [632 A.D.], when he was 62 or 61, according to the calculations done by using the lunar calendar or the solar calendar, respectively. Without taking his holy shirt off, he was washed three times, was wrapped with a new white shroud folded three times, and was buried where his blessed soul was taken.

Sarwari alam's (Muhammad) blessed eyes used to sleep, but his blessed heart would not sleep. He used to go to bed hungry, but he would feel satiated when he got up. He never yawned. His blessed body was luminous, and he never cast a shadow on the ground. Flies didn't alight on his clothes, nor would mosquitos or other insects suck his blessed blood. When he was made Rasulullah (Allah's Messenger) by Allahu ta'ala, satans could not ascend to the sky and could get news any longer, nor could soothsayers make predictions.

If a person dreams of Rahmatan-lil-alamin 'sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam', this person certainly has seen him, for the Devil cannot disguise himself as him.

Sarwar-i alam 'sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam' is now alive in a life we do not understand. His blessed body never rots. An angel stays in his tomb and informs him of the prayers which his Ummat (Muslims) say for him. Between his pulpit and his blessed tomb is a place called Rawda-i-mutahhara. This place is one of the gardens of Paradise.

It is one of the greatest and most valuable of worships to visit his blessed shrine. He said, "My shafaat is certain for him who visits my shrine."

Sarwar-i alam 'sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam' had three blessed sons and four blessed daughters, eleven blessed wives, twelve uncles and six paternal aunts.

[In order to deceive youngsters, immoral and indecent people, the enemies of religion say that the Prophet 'sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam' was fond of women and girls, and they insolently slander him by saying and writing very loathsome things which become their abominable souls, but of which we would be ashamed to write in this book of ours. Rasulullah 'sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam' first got married when he was twenty-five years old; he married Hadrat Khadija. She was forty years old and a widow. But she had much property, beauty, wisdom, knowledge, honor, nobility, chastity and decency. They lived together for twenty-five years, and she passed away three years before the Hegira in the month of Ramadan in Mecca. When she was alive, Rasulullah (sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) never married another.

Rasulullah 'sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam', secondly, married Hadrat Aisha 'radi-Allahu anha', Hadrat Abu Bakr's daughter, when he was fifty-five years old. He took her under his nikah [religious betrothal in Islam] one year after Hadrat Hadija's death, with the command of Allahu ta'ala, and lived with her for eight years, until he died.

He married all the others after marrying Hadrat Aisha 'radi-Allahu anhunna' and did so either for religious or political reasons or out of mercy or as a blessing. All these women were widows. Most of them were old. For example, when the Meccan disbelievers' persecution and harm to the Muslims had become unbearable, a group of the Prophet's companions migrated to Ethiopia. Najashi (Negus), the Ethiopian emperor, was a Christian. He asked the Muslims several questions, and, admiring the answers he received, he converted to Islam. He did the Muslims many favors. Ubaidullah bin Jahsh, who had a weak belief, in order to escape poverty, submitted to the priests and became a renegade by changing his faith for the world - may Allah protect us. This accursed person, who was Rasulullah's aunt's son, incited and forced his wife, Umm-i Habiba, to dissent from the religion and become rich. Yet, when the woman said that she would rather die than dissent from Hadrat Muhammad's 'sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam' religion, he divorced her. He waited for her to die out of misery. But he himself died after a short while. Umm-i Habiba was the daughter of Abu Sufyan, who was the commander-in-chief of the Quraish disbelievers in Mecca. Meanwhile, Rasulullah 'sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam' was busy with a very difficult armed struggle against the Quraish armies, and Abu Sufyan was fighting with his utmost power in order to annihilate Islam. Rasulullah heard of Umm-i Habiba's strength of faith and the dismal happenings which she had undergone. He wrote a letter to Najashi, saying, "I will marry Umm-i Habiba, who is there; perform my nikah! Then send her here!" Najashi had already converted to Islam. He respected the letter very much and gave a feast inviting many Muslims from that area to his palace. The nikah was performed in the seventh year of the Hegira, and he gave many presents and gifts. In this way, Umm-i Habiba attained the reward of her iman and became rich and comfortable there. Owing to her, the Muslims of that area became comfortable, too. Since women will be with their husbands in Paradise, she was given the good news of the highest grade of Paradise. All the pleasures and blessings of this world are almost nothing when compared to this good news. This nikah was one of the reasons contributing to Abu Sufyan's 'radi- Allahu ta'ala anh' being honored with becoming a Muslim afterwards. As it is seen here, this nikah not only shows how wrong and worthless the disbelievers' slanders are, but also indicates the degree of wisdom, intelligence, genius, blessing, and mercy in the Messenger of Allah.

Another example is that of Hadrat Hafsa; Hadrat 'Umar's daughter was widowed. In the third year of the Hegira, when Hadrat 'Umar 'radi-Allahu ta'ala anh' said to Hadrat Abu Bakr and Hadrat 'Uthman 'radi-Allahu anhuma', "Would you marry my daughter?" each of them said, "I'll think about it." One day when all three of them and others were present, Rasulullah asked, "O 'Umar! I see you are sad. What's the reason?" As it is easy to see the color of ink in a bottle, so Rasulullah used to understand everybody's thought at first glance. He sometimes used to question the person when he deemed it necessary. Since it is fard for us to tell the truth to him and even to others, Hadrat 'Umar answered, "O Rasulallah 'sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam'! I offered my daughter to Abu Bakr and to 'Uthman 'radi-Allahu anhum'. They wouldn't marry her." Rasulullah, because he never wanted his most beloved companion to be hurt, immediately said in order to please him, "O 'Umar! Would you like it if I gave your daughter to a person better than Abu Bakr and 'Uthman 'radi-Allahu anhum'?" 'Umar was astonished. For he knew there was no person higher and better than hadrat Abu Bakr and 'Uthman. He said, "Yes, O Rasulallah." Rasulullah said, "O 'Umar, give your daughter to me!" Thus Hadrat Hafsa became the mother of Abu Bakr, 'Uthman 'radi-Allahu anhum' and of all Muslims; and they became her servants, and Hadrat Abu Bakr, Hadrat 'Umar and Hadrat 'Uthman became closer to one another.

For a third example, let us explain briefly that in the fifth or sixth year of the Hegira, Juwayriyya, who was amongst the hundreds of slaves captured from the tribe of Bani Mustalaq, was the daughter of Haris, the chief of the tribe. When Rasulullah bought, emancipated and married her, all his companions said, "We would be ashamed to use as jariyas and servants the relatives of Rasulullah's wife, our mother." They all emancipated their slaves. This nikah caused hundreds of captives to be emancipated. Hadrat Juwayriyya often mentioned this fact boastfully. Hadrat Aisha used to say, "I haven't seen a woman more auspicious than Juwayriyya."

The fourth example is that of Zaynab-bint-Huzaima (radi-Allahu anha).

Our booklet is too small to allow us to write down the other examples. The first three examples will certainly suffice for him who has wisdom, quick understanding and the capacity to realize the truth. We will state also the fact that though he was the strongest of men in every respect, he lived only with his nine wives. And that lasted a few years. Besides, in those times he was always busy with wars; the days when he stayed home were very few. If it had been as priests write about it or as the dishonest, who suppose he was like themselves, describe it, in his youth he could have had as many women as he wanted by marrying young girls and divorcing them after a short while. As a matter of fact, his grandson, Hadrat Hasan, married almost a hundred pretty young girls by marrying and divorcing them. One day when his father, Imam-i Ali, said in a khutba of his, "O Muslims! Don't give your daughters to my son Hasan! He divorces, drops girls soon." The Muslims said, "We will gladly sacrifice our daughters to him. It will be enough for them to be honored by his nikah (marriage in a manner prescribed by Islam). We will give our daughters to him." In Badr, in Uhud, in Handak and in Khaybar, by attacking a superior enemy with one signal from Rasulullah, those lions sacrificed their lives for him. Wouldn't they have given their daughters to him? Yet, he didn't want them. On the Night of Miraj (his ascent to heaven), when he entered Paradise, he never turned to look at the houris of Paradise. Voltaire, one of the enemies of Islam, dramatized Rasulullah's marrying Hadrat Zaynab and calumniated them with vulgar and base slander. For this reason, he received a letter of congratulation from the Pope, who was his enemy. This fact is written in Kamus- ul-alam, under the entity Zaynab. In a translation of Mawahib-i Ladunniyya, on page 459, it is written, "Rasulullah 'sallallahu alaihi wa sallam' married his aunt's daughter Zaynab to his adopted son Zayd. After a long time, Zayd said that he wanted to divorce his wife. When he was asked 'Why?' he said, 'I have not seen a bad thing in her, and I have always appreciated the useful things from her. But, she boasts about the honor of her lineage and always reminds me of it.' Though Rasulullah said to Zayd, 'Do not divorce her for this reason.' Allahu ta'ala stopped him from preventing this divorce. Allahu ta'ala married Zaynab to his Messenger and ordered him to ask her for marriage." Dawud (alaihissalam) had one hundred wives and three hundred jariyas. Sulaiman (alaihissalam) had three hundred wives and seven hundred jariyas. Voltaire does not even mention the names of these great prophets, but attacks Rasulullah for taking a wife that he was ordered to by Allahu ta'ala.

One of the important reasons why Rasulullah married many wives was to communicate the Shariat. Before the ayat of Hijab was revealed, that is, before women were commanded to veil themselves, women also used to come to Rasulullah to ask and learn what they did not know. When Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) went to the house of one of them, they used to come and sit, and listen and obtain information. But, after the ayat of Hijab, it was prohibited for na-mahram women and men to sit together and talk, and Rasulullah did not allow na-mahram women to come and ask questions afterwards. He ordered them to ask and to learn from his blessed wife Hadrat Aisha. There were so many women and so many questions that Hadrat Aisha was unable to find time to answer all of them. In order to make this important task easy, and to reduce the weight on Hadrat Aisha, Rasulullah married as many wives as necessary. He communicated to Muslim women hundreds of delicate pieces of information concerning women through his blessed wives. If he had one wife, it would have been difficult, and even impossible, for all the women to learn from her.]

Rasulullah was ummi, that is, he hadn't read books; he was not schooled in writing nor had he received lessons from anyone. Born and raised in Mecca, brought up among certain people, and despite having never traveled, he conveyed information about facts and events in the Tawrat (Hadrat Musa's holy book), in the Injil, and in the books written during the Grecian and Roman centuries. In order to communicate the Shariat, he sent letters to Muslims. In the sixth year of the Hegira, he sent letters to Byzantine, Iranian, and Abyssinian rulers and to other Arabic emperors. More than sixty foreign ambassadors came to his service.

It is wajib for everybody who has heard of Rasulullah's 'sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam' prophethood to believe in him, the Qur'an, which he brought, and Islam. He who, after having heard, dies without having iman will go into Hell and will be eternally tormented there.

Fakhr-i alam's 'sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam' names and characteristics were written in the Tawrat and in the Injil. Jews and Christians had been awaiting his honoring the world with his presence. But, because he came not from their own race, but from the Arabs, they became jealous and denied him. However, many of their learned and wise ones were reasonable enough to believe, and they did believe. It will not decrease his value and honor not to believe in his prophethood nor not to appreciate his greatness and superiority. Allahu ta'ala says in Surat al-Inshirah: We exalted (raised high) for you your reputation (name, esteem)" [your name is said together with My name everywhere]. While moving one degree of longitude towards the west, the times of prayer begin four minutes later. Therefore, Muslims all over the world call the Adhan every minute of the day, and his blessed name is mentioned with esteem and love everywhere, all the time.

Unless a person follows Rasulullah 'sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam' in everything he does, he will not be a Muslim. Unless he loves him more than his own life, his iman will not be complete.

It is stated in the chapter about namaz in Ibni Abidin that it is fard to say the (certain prayer) Salawat (pronounced as a benediction over our Prophet's soul) once in one's lifetime. It is wajib to say it each time one says, hears, reads or writes (his blessed name) for the first time, and it is mustahab to pronounce this blessed benediction whenever the blessed name (of the Prophet) is repeated.

He is the Prophet of all people and genies. It is wajib for every nation living in every century to follow him. Every Muslim should help his religion, adapt himself to his habits, mention his blessed name very often, say salat and salam for him respectfully and with love whenever he mentions or hears his blessed name. A Muslim should want with love to see his blessed beauty, and love and respect the Qur'an and the Shariat, which he brought. The book Mirat-i Kainat says, "Ignorant and lazy people write initials [such as (SAW)] instead of 'sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam.' This is not advisable. We should carefully avoid this."

Whoever on Earth can attain by force his goals?
Whatever the divine decree is, it will certainly take place.