In the Name of Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful INTRODUCTION TO PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S.A.W)

"Al-Mustafa, the chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn unto his own day...."   These are the words of the famous Lebanese Christian writer and poet, Khalil Gibran from his most famous and best loved book.  "The Prophet".  They are the first lines of his most celebrated work and are so full of meaning in their open and hidden words.  Al-Mustafa means the chosen and the beloved, it was the name of the most famous man in history, Muhammad al-Mustafa, the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w).  He was a dawn unto his own day, for he came with a message that brought the people of the world out of darkness into light as the sun's rising sheds its rays of light upon a world covered in darkness. What made this man, a prophet, an apostle, a messenger , a human being, so beloved by the people of his time and all generations to come.? Indeed, many men have come with Divine missions and many others with messages for humanity.  The prophets before, Muhammad al-Mustafa (s.a.w) were limited in their missions.  They came to specific groups and brought limited guidelines for the people of their day.  They were often met with deaf, dumb and blind audiences and the success of their missions was sometimes limited only to their families. The unique position of the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad al-Mustafa (s.a.w) is mult-faceted.  He is the last prophet that God Almighty will send to mankind.  He was sent to all humanity, all creeds, all races, all nationalities.  He was sent with a complete code for all levels of humanity here are hereafter.  He completed the missions of all the prophets preceding him and therefore brought the final religion in the form of this code of life which we lovingly call Islam.  But, are these factors the cause for so much love and respect for this prophet?  Was not Jesus (a.s) a person to be loved?  Was Moses and Ibrahim, Ismail, Jacob, Isaac, Noah, Joseph, Jonah, Elijah, Lot, Job, and David also worthy of love and respect?  Of course, the answer is yes.  At the same time we find that one religion does not honor one or the other of another religion's prophets.