The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
The Prophet as a Model
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people only those verses concerning the concepts of
monotheism, hell and heaven, but in the Madinan
period he gave practical commands on different
aspects of life. In the Makkan period the Prophet
made the Kabah his direction for prayer, but when
he reached Madinah, he made the
Bait al-Maqdis
in
Jerusalem his
qibla
(direction) for a period of sixteen
months. In the Makkan period, the Prophet did not
establish the system of congregational prayer, but
when he reached Madinah; he built the first mosque
and established the system of congregational
prayer, etc.
Now the question arises as to how these different
and apparently contradictory examples have to be
followed. It is quite clear that all these examples
cannot be followed at the same time – in following
one example, some other example has to be
abandoned. For instance, the life of the Prophet set
the example of patience and circumspection as well
as of war and confrontation. Now it is not possible
to follow both examples at the same time.
Whenever one is opted for, another shall necessarily
have to be abandoned.
