Faqat bir lahzaga Payg'ambarimiz ﷺ ning hayoti va uning dunyoviy muvaffaqiyatiga qarashning o'zi ham jahon olimlarining e'tiborini tortdi, hatto uning ta'limotidagi buyuk mazmun va haqiqatni tan olmaydiganlar orasida ham. Qiyosiy din bo'yicha tanilgan muallif Karen Armstrong shunday deydi: Islom muvaffaqiyat dini hisoblanadi. G'arbda, hech bo'lmasa, asosiy timsoli halokatli, sharmandali va ojiz o'lim bilan vafot etayotgan odam bo'lgan nasroniylikdan farqli o'laroq, Muhammad ﷺ ko'zga ko'rinadigan muvaffaqiyatsizlik egasi bo'lmadi. U siyosatda ham, ruhiyatda ham yorqin muvaffaqiyat qozondi va Islom kuchayib, rivojlanib, yanada kuchayib bordi.136

A momentary glance at just the Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم life and his worldly success has commanded attention from scholars worldwide, even among those who may not recognize the great substance and truth in his teachings. As Karen Armstrong, an acclaimed author on comparative religion, puts it, Islam is a religion of success. Unlike Christianity, which has as its main image, in the west at least, a man dying in a devastating, disgraceful, helpless death… Mohammed was not an apparent failure. He was a dazzling success, politically as well as in spirituality, and Islam went from strength to strength to strength.136

Maykl Xart, zamonaviy amerikalik tarixchi, "The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History" kitobi muallifi, bu hayratlanarli muvaffaqiyat hikoyasini qisqacha quyidagicha bayon etadi:

Michael Hart, the contemporary American historian who authored The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, succinctly illustrates this mind-boggling success story as follows:

Mening dunyoning eng ta'sirli insonlari ro'yxatini Muhammad boshlab berishi ba'zi o'quvchilarni hayron qoldirishi, boshqalari esa uni shubha ostiga qo'yishi mumkin, lekin u tarixda ham diniy, ham dunyoviy darajada eng muvaffaqiyatli bo'lgan yagona inson edi. Kambag'al kelib chiqishiga qaramay, Muhammad ﷺ dunyoning buyuk dinlaridan biriga asos solib, uni targ'ib qildi va juda samarali siyosiy yetakchiga aylandi. Vafotlaridan o'n uch asr o'tgan bo'lsa ham, bugun ham uning ta'siri kuchli bo'lib, hayotning barcha sohalariga singib ketgan. Ushbu kitobdagi insonlarning aksariyati madaniyat markazlarida, yuksak madaniyatli yoki siyosiy jihatdan muhim davlatlarda tug'ilib, o'sgan edi. Muhammad ﷺ esa 570-yilda Arabiston yarim orolining janubida joylashgan Makka shahrida tug'ildi. O'sha paytda bu hudud dunyoning orqada qolgan qismi bo'lib, savdo, san'at va ilm markazlaridan uzoq edi. Olti yoshida yetim qolgan u oddiy sharoitda tarbiyalandi. Islom an'anasiga ko'ra, u savodsiz edi. Yigirma besh yoshida boy beva ayolga uylangach, iqtisodiy ahvoli yaxshilandi. Shunga qaramay, qirqqa yaqinlashganida, uning ortiqcha bir narsasi bilan ajralib turishi haqida tashqi jihatdan deyarli hech qanday belgi yo'q edi.

My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world’s most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels. Of humble origins, Muhammad founded and promulgated one of the world’s great religions and became an immensely effective political leader. Today, thirteen centuries after his death, his influence is still powerful and pervasive. The majority of the persons in this book had the advantage of being born and raised in centers of civilization, highly cultured or politically pivotal nations. Muhammad, however, was born in the year 570, in the city of Mecca, in southern Arabia, at that time a backward area of the world, far from the centers of trade, art, and learning. Orphaned at age six, he was reared in modest surroundings. Islamic tradition tells us that he was illiterate. His economic position improved when, at age twenty-five, he married a wealthy widow. Nevertheless, as he approached forty, there was little outward indication that he was a remarkable person.

Arablarning o'sha davrdagi ko'pchiligi butparast bo'lib, ko'p xudolarga ishonardi. Biroq Makkada oz sonli yahudiy va nasroniy ham bor edi; shubhasiz, Muhammad ﷺ yagona, qodir-mutlaq Xudo haqida, ya'ni butun olamni boshqarayotgan yagona Xudo haqida, aynan ulardan birinchi bo'lib bilib olgan. Qirq yoshga to'lganida Muhammad ﷺ bu yagona haqiqiy Xudo (Alloh) unga so'zlayotgani va uni haqiqiy dinni yoyish uchun tanlagani haqida ishonch hosil qildi. Uch yil davomida Muhammad ﷺ faqat yaqin do'stlari va hamkorlariga va'z qildi.

Most Arabs at that time were pagans, who believed in many gods. There were, however, in Mecca, a small number of Jews and Christians; it was from them no doubt that Muhammad first learned of a single, omnipotent God who ruled the entire universe. When he was forty years old, Muhammad became convinced that this one true God (Allah) was speaking to him and had chosen him to spread the true faith. For three years, Muhammad preached only to close friends and associates.

613-yilda, taxminan, u jamoatchilik oldida va'z aytishni boshladi. Asta-sekin ergashuvchilari ko'paygach, Makkaning hokimiyat vakillari uni xavfli bezovtalik manbai deb hisoblay boshladilar. 622-yilda, o'z xavfsizligidan cho'chib, Muhammad ﷺ Madinaga (Makkadan taxminan 200 mil shimolda joylashgan shahar) qochib ketdi, u yerda unga katta siyosiy hokimiyat lavozimi taklif qilingan edi… Muhammad ﷺ 632-yilda vafot etganida, u butun Arabiston yarim orolining janubiy qismining amalda hukmdori edi. Arabiston cho'llarida yashovchi badaviy qabilalar jangovar botirligi bilan mashhur edi. Biroq ularning soni kam edi; ichki nizolar va o'zaro urushlar tufayli parokandalikka uchragan bu qabilalar tarixda birinchi marta Muhammad ﷺ tomonidan birlashtirilib, shimoldagi o'troq dehqonchilik hududlaridagi qirollikларning katta qo'shinlariga qarshi tura olmas edi. Ammo Muhammad ﷺ tomonidan birinchi marta tarixda birlashtirilgan va yagona haqiqiy Xudoga bo'lgan qat'iy ishonch bilan ruhlantirilgan bu kichik arab qo'shinlari endi insoniyat tarixidagi eng ajoyib fath yurishlaridan birini boshladilar.137

Then, about 613, he began preaching in public. As he slowly gained converts, the Meccan authorities came to consider him a dangerous nuisance. In 622, fearing for his safety, Muhammad fled to Medina (a city some 200 miles north of Mecca), where he had been offered a position of considerable political power… When Muhammad died, in 632, he was the effective ruler of all of southern Arabia. The Bedouin tribesmen of Arabia had a reputation as fierce warriors. But their number was small; and plagued by disunity and internecine warfare, they had been no match for the larger armies of the kingdoms in the settled agricultural areas to the north. However, unified by Muhammad for the first time in history, and inspired by their fervent belief in the one true God, these small Arab armies now embarked upon one of the most astonishing series of conquests in human history.137

Shunga ko'ra, Islomning tez yoyilishi ham ko'plab G'arb tarixchilarining hayratini uyg'otgan va uni Islom da'volarining haqiqatiga mo''jizaviy dalil sifatida keltirayotgan musulmonlarni ham hayratga solgan. Lamartin avval aytganidek, Muhammad ﷺ ni noyob qilgan narsa nafaqat ajoyib ketma-ket fath etishlar va ularning hayratlanarli tezligi, balki ularga erishishida ega bo'lgan kam vositalar, har qanday moddiy foydadan xudbinlarcha voz kechishi va barcha bu yutuqlarga qaramay, o'zining yuksak maqsadini saqlab qolishi ham edi, ana shular uning buyukligini belgilagan. Ruhoniy maktab o'qituvchisi va muallif Bosworth Smith (vafoti 1908) yozadi: "U davlat boshlig'i ham, cherkov boshlig'i ham edi; u bir vaqtning o'zida ham Sezar, ham Papa edi; lekin u Papaning da'volarisiz Papa, Sezarning legionlarisiz Sezar edi."

Therefore, it was also the swiftness of Islam’s expansion which beckoned the wonderment of many Western historians, and Muslims who cite it as a miraculous proof for the truth of Islam’s claims. And as Lamartine said earlier, it was not just the astonishing series of conquests and their striking rapidity that made Muhammad unique, but also the meager means through which he صلى الله عليه وسلم accomplished this, the selfless relinquishing of any material gains and the retention of his transcendent purpose despite all these accomplishments, that marked his greatness. Bosworth Smith (d. 1908), a reverend schoolmaster and author, writes, Head of the State as well as the Church; he was Caesar and Pope in one; but he was Pope without the Pope’s pretensions, and Caesar without the legions of Caesar.

Standing army, bodyguard, palace, fixed revenue yo'q holda, agar biror kishi o'zini ilohiy huquq bilan hukmronlik qilayotgan deb aytishga haqli bo'lgan bo'lsa, bu Muhammad ﷺ edi; chunki u kuchning barcha vositalarisiz va uni ushlab turuvchi tayanchlarsiz hamma hokimiyatga ega edi...138 Tarixda o'ta noyob bir baxt bilan Muhammad ﷺ uchta jihatdan asoschi bo'ldi: bir millat, bir imperiya va bir dinning asoschisi.139

Without a standing army, without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a fixed revenue, if ever any man had the right to say he ruled by a right Divine, it was Mohammed; for he had all the power without its instruments and without its supports...138 By a fortune absolutely unique in history, Mohammed is a threefold founder of a nation, of an empire, and of a religion.139

Ko'pchilik Smitning Muhammad ﷺ ning noyob ravishda hokimiyat tepasiga kelishi va uning xabari qayerga borgan bo'lsa, o'sha yerda siyosiy qo'llab-quvvatlashga ega bo'lmasa ham saqlanib qolgan ta'siri haqidagi qiziqishini takrorlagan. Muhammad ﷺ ga nisbatan dushmanlik bilan yozilmagan Edvard Gibbon ham Islomning dunyo sahnasidagi chidamliligiga bo'lgan hayratini yashira olmagan. U yozadi: "Hayratga soladigan narsa dinning tarqalishi emas, balki uning barqarorligidir. Muhammad ﷺ Makka va Madinada qoldirgan o'sha sof va mukammal taassurot o'n ikki asrlik inqiloblardan keyin ham Hindiston, Afrika va Turkiya Qur'on dinini qabul qilganlar tomonidan saqlanib kelmoqda..."140

Many have echoed Smith’s fascination with Muhammad’s صلى الله عليه وسلم unique rise to power, and his enduring influence wherever his message went, irrespective of whether it had political support there. Edward Gibbon, whose writings are not void of hostility towards Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, could not help but document his admiration of Islam’s resilience on the world stage. He writes, It is not the propagation but the permanency of his religion that deserves our wonder, the same pure and perfect impression which he engraved at Mecca and Medina is preserved after the revolutions of twelve centuries by the Indian, the African and the Turkish proselytes of the Koran…140

Buyuk Mahatma Gandhi (vafoti 1948) qamoqda Payg'ambar ﷺ ning hayotnomasini o'qigach, Payg'ambar ﷺ engib bo'lmas to'siqlarni yengib, dunyoviy muvaffaqiyatning shunday cho'qqilariga qanday erishganining sirini anglab yetdi. Bu sir siyosiy hokimiyatga ega bo'lish va o'sha siyosiy hokimiyatning o'zini boshqarishiga yo'l qo'ymaslikning uyg'unligida edi. Musulmonlarning e'tiqodicha, bu ikki holatni bir insonda faqat Alloh birlashtira olgan va U payg'ambarlik da'vosini ana shu moddiy va ma'naviy g'alabalar bilan mustahkamlagan. Gandhining so'zlariga ko'ra: "Bugun millionlab insoniyat qalbida tengsiz hukmronlik qilayotgan zotning hayotidagi eng yaxshi narsani bilishni istadim... Men o'sha kunlarda Islomga hayot tizimida o'z o'rnini qilich emas, balki g'olib qilgan degan fikrga yanada ishonch hosil qildim. Uni qat'iy soddalik, Payg'ambarning to'liq o'zini-o'zi inkor etishi, va'dalariga qat'iy rioya qilishi, do'stlari va izdoshlariga cheksiz sadoqati, jasurligi, qo'rqmasligi, Allohga va o'z vazifasiga mutlaq ishonchi qilgan. Aynan shular, qilich emas, hamma narsani o'z oldiga qo'ydi va har qanday to'siqni yengib o'tdi."141

After the renowned Mahatma Gandhi (d. 1948) found himself in prison with the Prophet’s biography, he was able to identify the secret behind the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم overcoming insurmountable odds and reaching such stations of global success. It was the combination of political control and not allowing that political power to control him. Muslims believe that only God could have fused these two phenomena inside one man, and that He reinforced his claim to prophethood with these material and moral triumphs. In Gandhi’s words, I wanted to know the best of the life of one who holds today an undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind… I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle.141