While searching an answer, at least three aspects should come under focus. First aspect is the personality of the preacher i.e. Prophet Mohammad (SAW), the second aspect is the content of the preaching and lastly the performance of the followers. Indeed, because of the poor and miserable performance of the followers, the preacher and the content of the preaching get maligned, as also attract others because of the positive aspects of the conduct of the followers. Nonetheless, in my view we could have been better. It is therefore time for the followers to correct themselves in the true spirit of the preaching.

One of the foremost ingredients of self correction is having a role model. Abraham Lincoln may be copied, but that will be done by the statesmen and the politicians. Alexander the Great or Hannibal or Julius Caesar may be copied by the warriors and campaigners or commanders. Shakespeare or Rabindranath Tagore or Ferdousi may be copied by poets. Akbar the Great or Queen Victoria may be copied as great rulers. But, how many examples are there in history to find at least a dozen facets of personality and faculty at their best exposure under the full light of historical autopsy. Why should we, being followers (Ummah) answer; we may be accused of being partisan?

Let us see what Michael H. Hart has to comment? Michael Hart authored a great book titled 'The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons of History'. The book was first published in 1989 from the USA. The first fifteen names in serial order are: Mohammed, Isaac Newton, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Confucius, Saint Paul, Ts ai Lun, Johann Gutenberg, Christopher Columbus, Albert Einstein, Carl Marx, Louis Pasteur, Galileo Galilee, Aristotle and Lenin. While authoring all these historical personalities Michael Hart had to make comparative weighing in order to put them in hierarchical slots. Michael Hart said that his book is solely involved with the question of who were the 100 persons, who had the greatest effect on the course of the world. Michael Hart ranked these persons according to the total amount of influence that each of them had on human history and on the everyday lives of other human beings. "These are the top hundred people of the history, who have shaped our lives and formed our world" ---- finally said Michael Hart. At the top of 'this top 100' is Mohammed, according to the declaration of Almighty Allah, the last Prophet, the leader of all Prophets, the leader of humankind for all times to come and since the time of creation, "a mercy for the entire creation", and to whom singularly, uniquely and unprecedentedly "Allah sends his Salat (meaning Graces, Honors, Blessings and Mercy) and also do the Angels ask Allah to bless and forgive him; therefore for all times to come our prayer---- Peace Be Upon Him---- Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam.

How much do we the Muslims know of the Holy Prophet? Will it be too much to say that, we know very little? Than why do we know little, why not more? We are followers or disciples of the Prophet (SAW), who began his life as a Prophet, with the first ever divine revelation saying "Recite or Read! In the name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists). He has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood). Read! And your Lord is the most Generous. Who has taught (the writing) by the pen.

He has taught man that which he knew not"; yet we are shy of reading, diffident of pursuing knowledge and uncompetitive in research. That is why we know little. Isn't it time enough that we wake up to know our Prophet and follow his teachings? Indeed every Muslim worth his name has two bright options in front of him. First option is, to accept his fate as a Muslim by birth casually and make no effort to improve. The second option is, to accept his fate for being born as a Muslim, and add value to it by finding out what will make a good Muslim out of him or what is expected out of him as a Muslim by the Creator or by fellow human beings. Allah designated the Holy Prophet as "witness, a bearer of glad tidings, a warner, and as one who invites to Allah by His Leave, and as a Lamp spreading light (through instructions from the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah)". Allah has commanded all faithful to obey and follow Prophet Mohammad (SAW). Allah's words are as follows, "Say (O Mohammad to mankind): If you (really) love Allah than follow me (that is Islamic Monotheism, follow the Qur'an and the Sunnah), Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." Do we the Muslims, have any second choice other than following the Prophet (SAW)? We do not have a second choice but we have usurped our liberty and decided not to follow the Prophet. On the contrary, we are neither making much effort to follow the Prophet, because we do not know about him.

If we made efforts to know him, then, we would have known how Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (SAW) lived his life as an orphan child, how did he lead his life as an adolescent as a shepherd as well as volunteer social service person, what was his way of conduct as the manager of business of the richest lady of Makkah, how did he adjust himself as the husband of same richest lady also 15 years older in terms of age and finally how was he prepared by Allah for Prophet-hood. Having become a Prophet the sacrifices he made, the patience he showed, the tact he employed, the conviction he displayed in preaching Islam is unprecedented in the annals of all preaching. In the thirteen years of his life as Prophet in Makkah, not for once he cursed anyone, never prayed to Allah for punishing anyone; on the contrary he continued the work of preaching as instructed by Allah.

The same Prophet while in Madinah for the last ten years of his life had much more varied, busy and different roles to play. He was the head of the city state of Madinah for all political purposes, he was the Commander-in-Chief of the Madinite Muslim Army in all the defensive battles to begin with, he was the leader of the Muslims for all religious purposes, he was the social reformer reforming bunch of nomadic tribes into a community bound by love and law. Prophet was a man not of words alone, he believed in deeds. He believed in the motto, examples are better than precepts. He took part in battles and was severely injured during the Battle of Ohud. He signed peace accords, he signed charter of human rights, he governed through consultations, and he conducted foreign policy and always cared for the wellbeing of all people in the city state of Madinah, which in his lifetime became a large state covering the entire Arabian Peninsula. In his personal life, he was a husband and a father, so loving and caring that is difficult to describe. He spent larger part of the nights in prayers to Allah, while he spent the day busily for the state. He was illiterate according to present day definition, but Allah made him the wisest man to do or achieve the greatest deeds. He was a teacher also, teaching the Holy Qur'an as he received it, and explaining various matters in the light of that Qur'an.

We mention all the above to give a background to what we will say now as the last word for the moment. The Prophet was meant for peace. He preached peace, he urged peace; indeed Islam means peace. We repeat verse 107 of the 21st chapter i.e. Surah Al Anbiya of the Holy Qur'an: "And We have sent you (O Mohammad) not but as a mercy for the A'lamin (mankind, jinn and all that exists)". If our Prophet was for peace, why some of us are proponents of violence, either by mouth or by weapons? On the occasion of the birth of the Holy Prophet (SAW), we need to vow to shun violence and know the Prophet.

Major General (Retd.) Syed Muhammad Ibrahim is a national security anylist