- Nov 22, 2010
- 3,029
- 920
- 200
The US Supreme court honored Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him) as one of the greatest impact on law in the world in 1935.
Equality before the law; Innocent until proven guilty; The right to counsel this is why , the United States Supreme Court honored Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as one of the 18 greatest lawgivers in human history .
Islam is also recognized in one of our greatest buildings (the Library of Congress) as being one of the 11 or 12 most influential and important contributors to civilization
[FONT="]As the United States Supreme Court judges sit in their chamber, to their right, front, and the left sides are friezes depicting the 18 greatest lawgivers of the world. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The second frieze to the right features a person holding a copy of the Quran, the Islamic holy book. It is intended to recognize Prophet Muhammad as one of the greatest lawgivers in the world, along withMoses, Solomon, Confucius, and Hammurabi, among others. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Here is what the Supreme Courts website says about this frieze:[/FONT]
[FONT="]Muhammad [/FONT] [FONT="](c. 570 - 632) The Prophet of Islam. He is depicted holding the Quran. The Quran provides the primary source of Islamic Law. Prophet Muhammads teachings explain and implement Quranic principles. The figure above is a well-intentioned attempt by the sculptor, Adolph Weinman, to honor Muhammad, and it bears no resemblance to Muhammad. Muslims generally have a strong aversion to sculptured or pictured representations of their Prophet. [/FONT]
[FONT="]In the year in which the frieze of Prophet Muhammad was erected, Franklin D. Roosevelt was president, and Charles Evans Hughes was the Chief Justice. It is not known how the court deliberated on this architectural contribution. No one at that time thought it inappropriate to include Prophet Muhammad as one of the greatest lawgivers of the world at the chambers of the United States Supreme Court. This was despite the fact that American society at that time was not as diverse as it is today. Women had just acquired the right to vote, and Japanese-Americans were about to be sent to concentration camps.
[/FONT] [FONT="]While the learned people in our country knew of the contribution of Prophet Muhammad, our neighbors today are given regular doses of misinformation about the Prophet and Sharia, the path of the Prophet, more commonly described as Islamic law. [/FONT]
Prophet Muhammads Peace And Justice Movement
[FONT="]Prophet Muhammad envisioned a just and peaceful society. With a mass peace movement, he achieved this goal during his life. He hated war and always preferred a peace treaty with his opponents, even if it was not favorable to his and his followers interests. He established his first peace sanctuary in the city of Madinah without any war whatsoever. While he did fight to defend that peace sanctuary, it is critical to note that the total time of actual fighting defending his people was not more than six days in his life of 63 years. He struggled to secure a peace that ensured justice and liberation for all people, especially for those most marginalized and oppressed.[/FONT]
Here are some of the Prophets notable contributions:
- [FONT="]He taught that there is one God for all mankind.[/FONT]
- [FONT="]He taught Muslims to believe in all of the prophets and all divinely revealed scriptures, especially Biblical ones. [/FONT]
- [FONT="]As the Prophet established a peace sanctuary called Madinah after his migration from Makkah, he negotiated treaties with the Jews and the pagans of Madinah. Muslims consider these treaties to be the first written surviving constitution in the world. The constitution guaranteed freedom of religion, self-governance, and legal autonomy in all matters. It called for the common defense of Madinah, and declared the Jews, pagans, and Muslims of that treaty to be one nation, or one Ummah. [/FONT]
- [FONT="]He prohibited hunting and the cutting of trees in the peace sanctuary of Madinah.[/FONT]
- [FONT="]He declared killing non-combatants to be illegal, placed severe restrictions on how warfare could be conducted, and even paid compensation for the killing of some dogs by one of his commanders.[/FONT]
- [FONT="]The Prophets teachings and the Quran are the two major sources of Sharia. Some of his precepts include the following:[/FONT]
- [FONT="]Moral behavior: personal cleanliness; emphasis on preservation and nourishment of all life forms, including plants and animals; rituals and spirituality of prayers; fasting and charity; righteous conduct and good deeds; and rights of parents, children, spouses, and neighbors.[/FONT]
- [FONT="]Interpersonal relations: teaching to enhance human relations and to avoid breaking relationships; encouraging mutual consultation in all affairs; prohibiting bigotry and racism; and emphasizing kindness and hospitality toward others, especially the weak and the poor. [/FONT]
- [FONT="]Financial guidelines: encouraging charity, rights of the poor, respect for workers, and rejection of exploitation; and circulation of wealth among all classes.[/FONT]
- [FONT="]Personal rules and laws regarding privacy, gender relations, marriage, divorce, and inheritance.[/FONT]
- [FONT="]Criminal laws implementing the many of the Ten Commandments. (The only one of the Ten Commandments not having a parallel statement in the Quran is the one having to do with keeping the Sabbath.) Less than two percent of Quranic verses deal with the criminal law of Islam, which is a part of the Sharia but not the totality of it.[/FONT]
- [FONT="]The Prophet asked his judges to make things easy for people, not difficult.[/FONT]
- [FONT="]He declared all sins forgivable as long as a person asks Gods forgiveness and that of the one who has been wronged.[/FONT]
- [FONT="]The Prophet gave special emphasis to honoring treaties, standing up for justice, and opposing oppression.[/FONT]
Last edited:
