The current month as per Muslim calendar is known as Rabi-ul-Awwal (ربیع الاوّل). If one refers to Lane’s lexicon, ‘Rabi’ means SPRING and ‘Awwal’ means FIRST. Rabi is used as a month and also as a season. Before I go further, let me tell something about this lexicon (detailed Arabic-English dictionary and glossary). This British translator and writer Edward Williams Lane was an expert of Arabic language and literature. He was born in 1801 and he died in 1876. This lexicon was written around 150 years ago and is regarded as most authoritative work in English on Arabic words and phrases. This eight volume book totaling around 3,200 pages is a must if an English reader wants to know the layers and shades of meanings and the proper usage of Arabic words.

 

 After Rabiul Awwal, the subsequent month is known as Rabi-ul-Thaani (the second spring).

 

 The word ‘First’ can be used in the sequential sense to be the one before second. The word ‘First’ is also used as synonym to best, foremost, highest in importance, unparalleled etc. I take this very meaning.

 

 The names of the Arabic months were assigned much before Islam. Now it is worth pondering that Prophet of Islam’s birth is in the month of Rabiul Awwal. This blessed event has justified the Arabic name of the month. Muslims all over the world consider this month as the best, foremost and most vital spring ever. Every faithful smells a sweet fragrance in the air during this month and feels a holy serenity in the environment (beyond words to express). Except only few Muslims (out of 1.4 billion) whose nose are upturned and whose sensory feelings are benumbed, every one who is connected to the Holy Prophet (who as per Islamic injunction is to be loved more than one’s parents, one’s spouse, one’s siblings, one’s children, one’s wealth and above all more than one’s own self) feels rejuvenated, recharged and expresses his gratitude towards the Creator who sent this great entity on this planet. Though The Holy Prophet lives in the heart of every sincere believer, my observation is that those who are weak, poor, feeble and non-entities in the worldly setting have got much more affinity with their Prophet.

 

This great entity turned an uncivilized, uncultured bunch of people into an exemplary unsurpassed society. Those who used to bury their daughters alive became the greatest benefactors of the weak and fragile. Within couple of decades that ignored territory became the centre of humanity’s spiritual search. This is the charisma of this great entity.

 

 In spite of mischievous, vile, vicious and detrimental writers and caricaturists doing their best to malign and denigrate this ideal, immaculate and paramount model, this entity’s prominence has grown exponentially during the last 1440 years since his birth. The Almighty Creator in His book ‘Quran’ has boldly announced that “Every moment in time continuously gives him more honor and repute compared to all the previous moments” (93:4).

 

 There are thousands of books that project his greatness. For the time being, you may click  HERE to read a simple booklet by Professor Ram Krishna Rao – a non Muslim.

 

 When Prophet’s enemies did compel him to leave Makkah (his birth place) he and handful of followers migrated to a new city. This great city is Madinah that welcomed him and provided shelter at this terrible time to the tortured and persecuted people. The reason for victimization (almost at the verge of annihilation) is well carved on the pages of history. This is not mythology or man-made epics or wishful visualization. The glaring sun of history has recorded each event in great details. One can read Will Durant, Gibbon, Toynbee and hundreds of great writers and historians who did not profess the same beliefs.

 

The only fault which was the cause of persecution has been the Prophet’s teaching. He did not want men to be salves of men, not to worship men or man-made objects carved by stone or wood. He gave back the lost dignity to humankind and removed the shackles and burdens from the shoulders of weak and persecuted. He and his followers received severe persecution and torments at the hands of idol worshippers of his tribe, by his own relatives and by all those who wanted to intrude in other’s lives and run this world according to their ugly whims in the name of false religions and beliefs. In return to all his persecution he did not even raise a stick to fight. Among his followers were the great warriors of their time; but they had been trained to such a spiritual height that they became example of tolerance, forbearance and patience. When he and his followers losing their every possession come to a new place, the enemies start making military expedition to annihilate this group from the surface of earth. Ultimately with the team of dedicated followers with very limited resources he could defend successfully and all the enemies had to make way for his teachings of peace, love, brotherhood and compassion. At the time of his entry to Madinah, the Muslims were only in hundreds and in the tenth year of migration there were more than 124,000 men, women and children who had gathered around him at the time of Hajj to listen to his sermon. This figure does not include those who could not be part of this gathering. Why this attraction? Answer is simple – his magnificent magnetic personality, his noble teaching and his sincere concern for each and every one on this earth. For his teachings one can only read the few sentences of famous last sermon and that should be enough for any person who has conscience and who is conscious.

 

His enemies (whom Quran termed as deaf, dumb and blind) have tried to malign his character – sometimes in the name of his marriages, sometimes claiming it was his sword which brought success, sometimes in the name of mistreatment of women etc. These absurd remarks have been there for last 1400 years – by his own tribe, his rich relatives, monarchs who were losing their grip on the poor masses, by the Christian missionaries because of their continuous failure. Interestingly these days many such characters whose major qualification is that they know how to copy from one place and paste along with few words of their own, or hyperlink to some site of their own level and standard. They borrow the whole bottle of poison from the other sites and poison the entire atmosphere. The amusing thing is that most of the times they belong to ICS cadre. In the British imperial days, this acronym meant Indian Civil Service. However, I am using this acronym here for  those having Identity Crisis Syndrome. They can’t even express who they are and what do they believe but are always ready to give their expert opinion on every topic on earth. Their silly remarks are like those fantastic mass e-mails which go on circulating and pouring into our inboxes at regular intervals though every time someone proves that they are hoax. For me to reply to such painful, illogical and baseless remarks is an insult to one’s rationality.  The fact of the history has been that those who were Islam’s greatest enemies and did immensely hate its teachings (like Mongols) finally  themselves became the torch bearer of this message after seeking the truth and realizing their mistakes. However by then they had already killed hundred of thousands of innocent people because of their ill founded concepts and rituals.

 

 I have tried to put some historical facts along with my own thoughts in few paragraphs. Actually my fingers automatically started pressing the keyboard after inhaling the sweet fragrance that I felt during this spring season. I hope every one who accesses this Blog finds something refreshing and soothing for his soul.

 

Before I ask your permission to leave, let me take you back when people of Makkah were migrating to the city of Madinah – Prophet himself being the last to migrate at a time when delay of each day meant more danger to life.  

 

When Holy Prophet (salutation and gratefulness towards him) arrives at the threshold of this new city, there are people of all ages to receive him. In the front rows are the beautiful little girls of Madinah joyfully singing the welcome song at his arrival. Those few lines from the lips of those girls have become immortal in the history.  I would like to conclude with the lines borrowed from that song celebrating his arrival. I can only make a rough translation of the Arabic line which says:
 

“As long as we have the capability to supplicate, it is obligatory for us to express our thankfulness”

 Sayeed Akhtar
Monday 8 Rabiul Awwal, 1431 AH.

PS==> I have  used a different colour for this post. In Indian subcontinent it is known as Basanti color. Basant points Spring.