The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
The Prophet as a Model
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IMPLEMENTATION ACCORDING TO
CIRCUMSTANCES
The truth is that each one of the diversity of
examples, found in the 23-year prophetic period,
enjoys the position of a good example. Each
example is perfect in itself. On the count of
desirability, no one example is better than any
other.
The reason is that according to the established
principles of the
shariah,
man is obligated to observe
the precepts of religion in terms of the actual
circumstances he finds himself in, rather than in
terms of some supposed goal (2:286). That is to say
that the objective of Islam is not to set some external
target, like the establishment of the perfect Islamic
system, as an absolute.
According to this interpretation, the meaning of the
verse about the ‘good example’ is that all the
examples set by the life of the Prophet are equally
worthy of being followed. That is, one has to study
the life of the Prophet and follow to the letter that
example which is applicable to his own particular
set of circumstances. The Prophet had to face many
