Principle of Care for the Oppressed

(part 2)

The Social Source of the Noble Prophet (PBUH)

The Prophets have a divine, popular origin. They would rise from the oppressed and never during their life and calling were they slave to superficial powers. They were not  like  the  so-called  reformers  who  would  attach themselves to the sources of power and governments to implement their supposed reforms. They were chosen from the very life of the oppressed, among people who lived in poverty and under pressure. They had experienced the hardships of the life of the oppressed and after being formally appointed as a Prophet by God they would never head to the palaces of kings to carry out their mission under their support. The righteous Prophets were chosen by God from among the people and the first group who would say yes to their invitation were the oppressed, the same group who were considered the lower class and called ignorant due to the stupidity of the self-styled aristocracy and the rich ones. It has always been like this.

Thus,  Prophet  Muhammad (PBUH) as the Last and Greatest of Divine Messengers had the same popular roots. He was from the people and had come to rescue them. Imam Khomeini (R.A) writes in this regard:

“Anyone pondering on the history of the Prophets will realize that they rose from among the people, the belonged to the heart of the people. All divine religions came from the masses. The Noble Prophet came from these people, from the same people. When he was chosen by God, the Quraysh opposed him, as those days they were the strong ones, the capitalists. The Noble Prophet (PBUH) belonged to this lower class of the society. In Islam the Noble Prophet rose from the oppressed.  The  Noble  Prophet (PBUH)  belonged  to  the Quraysh tribe, but this tribe had a rich class and a lower class. The holy Prophet himself says: “I have been a shepherd.”‌ He belonged to the poor society, his uncles were poor too. There was a time when The Noble Prophet (PBUH) said: Abutalib can't take care of his children, let's each of us take some of them. This is because they were not rich. This lower class people were always like this. It was always like this, God chose His prophets from this poor level of the society, from among  those  people  who  didn't  have  anything  and  the oppressors always humiliated them. It was because of their innate  competence  and  He  would  make  them  face  the oppressors.  The  oppressors  would  criticize  the  Prophet because of his family background:

The aristocrats of the tribe said that high class people should not be like ordinary people and shouldn't walk in the markets and do their own chores, they should own servants and appear dignified. They would say, now that this is not the case, at least an angel must be sent to him to be a proof of his prophecy to the people. If the Prophet of God is a human (not an angel), why is he an ordinary person? Why a poor man without any riches? Why no treasure has been sent to him from heavens? Why doesn't he own an orchard from which he can earn his living? It was not acceptable for them that a man with no means could be God's messenger and asked why this Qur'an has not been sent to a rich man. “And they said: Why hasn't the Qur'an been sent to a great man from those two cities?”‌ From their point of view, the yardstick of humanistic values was riches and superficial position and fame. Those simpletons believed that the rich and the oppressing rulers of their tribes were the most cherished men in the divine court. Hence they were surprised why the bounty of God's prophecy has not been bestowed to one of their kind and on the contrary it was given to a poor, orphan boy called Muhammad (PBUH). This was not acceptable to them. This was not the case in God's logic and as Imam Khomeini (R.A) puts it, God would choose the Prophets based on their innate qualities, so the carrier of that great message should have been a man whose soul was filled with piety, and a scholar, with a strong will power, brave, just and familiar with the problems of the oppressed. These characteristics were necessary for conveying the message of God, there was no need for riches of this world and fashionable clothes and regal palaces and being adorned with all kinds of jewelry. Especially none of God's messengers were like this and were not chosen like this for guidance of mankind lest  noble  values  and  humanistic  perfection  are  not mistaken with false values. Contrary to the logic of the oppressors,  the  Noble  Prophet (PBUH)  had  a  popular position and was with the people and for them. According to Imam Khomeini (R.A):

“When we look at the history of Islam and the years following that until today and those who have followed Islam, we see that in the beginning of Islam the Noble Prophet (PBUH) was from this class. And God chose a Prophet from them to be a Messenger to them. Someone from the lower class, someone like them, they could sit with him, eat with him and they could talk with the Noble Prophet (PBUH)  in the mosque and from the same mosque he would gather forces for defeating the enemy. The Noble Prophet (PBUH) would choose his people form these people.

Source:

Principle of Equality (part 1)