Muhammad: The Ideal Character
MUHAMMAD The Ideal Character
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It was no small matter for a young man to adopt
this course in the prime of his life. In effect, it meant
renouncing worldly happiness and treading a path
ridden with difficulty and sorrow. He had all the
means and opportunities one could conceive of for
a comfortable life, but his turbulent soul found no
satisfaction in them. So little charm did they hold
for him that he was consumed with restlessness.
Not until he had discovered the reality of things
and had solved the mysteries of creation would he
achieve tranquility of spirit. Endlessly he sought
answers to the questions irresistibly arising within
him: Whence do I come? To what end am I
destined? Has my life a purposive goal? Is there any
ultimate reality behind all external appearances?
His quest had reached a point where life itself had
become an intolerable burden. But at last God, in
His infinite mercy, turned towards him and threw
open to him the gates of enlightenment and
guidance. “And when He found thee struggling in
mind (to find the right way), did He not show thee
the way? (Quran, 93:7)
