Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet: Muslims

Kevin James

Kevin James recently retired after a 20-year career with the New York Fire Department, where he was a Brooklyn-based Supervising Fire Marshal responsible for investigating the causes of fires. His father is a mix of African American and Native American and his mother is Caucasian and Jewish. He converted to Islam as a young man because "the universality of [its] message" appealed to him in a society where his mixed racial background often left him feeling "in limbo."

James became a firefighter partly because the Qur'an taught him that if you save one life, it's as if you've saved all of humanity. A fire fighter, he says, will "risk his life to save you whether you're Black, brown, red, Jew, Muslim, Christian, Atheist." James participated in the September 11 rescue effort, and describes why he understands jihad as a "constant struggle with yourself, to improve yourself and perfect your intent," rather than anything that involves violence against others.

Najah Bazzy

Najah Bazzy is a critical care nurse in Dearborn, Michigan. Her parents immigrated to America from Lebanon and Syria. She conducts workshops at her hospital to help bridge the gap in understanding between hospital staff and their Muslim patients, many of whom are immigrants.

Bazzy draws daily inspiration from Muhammad's example, and believes it is her duty to help new arrivals in Dearborn, just as Muhammad's followers in Medina helped new arrivals from Mecca. She also bases her approach to sick and dying patients on examples Muhammad established 1400 years ago.

Yet Bazzy is very much a modern American woman struggling with the challenges of raising her family in a society where it is not always easy to be a Muslim. Her teenage daughter recently decided to wear a hijab, the head covering first worn by Muhammad's wives as a sign of modesty. In the film Bazzy's husband, a businessman, is seen questioning this decision on the grounds that it may subject his daughter to discrimination. Ironically, he too believes he is following Muhammad's example.

Daisy Khan

Daisy Khan is a New York businesswoman who immigrated to America from Kashmir, in the foothills of the Himalayas, when she was 15 years old. After a period of soul searching as a young woman, during which she went through what she describes as "some very, very dark stages in my life," she ultimately embraced Islam, the religion into which she had been born.

Khan is inspired by the story in which the Persian poet Rumi says, "I looked for God. I went to a temple, and I didn't find him there. Then I went to a church, and I didn't find him there. And then I went to a mosque, and I didn't find him there. And then finally I looked in my heart, and there he was."

Khan also draws strength from the story of Muhammad's first wife Khadija, who succeeded as a businesswoman even in male-dominated Arabian society. She counsels other young women in New York who are trying to balance the practice of Islam with the stresses of a contemporary career.

In January 2002, Khan organized an interfaith event at Manhattan's Cathedral of St. John the Divine, for which a diverse group of Muslim artists created works in remembrance of 9/11.

Jameel Aalim-Johnson

Jameel Johnson is Chief of Staff for Congressman Gregory Meeks of New York. Raised as a Christian, he converted to Islam in his early 20s. He now organizes the weekly "Jumma" prayer on Capitol Hill.

Johnson is guided in his work by Muhammad's attitudes towards fairness and justice. He says Muhammad taught him that you change a society through everyday deeds. Muhammad believed in the importance of shura (or consultation) and demonstrated the importance of flexibility and focus in negotiation. For Johnson, the best example of this is the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, in which Muhammad agreed to delay his planned pilgrimage to Mecca by a year in order to secure his long-term goal of establishing Islam. Johnson believes that one of the keys to Muhammad's success was the fundamental fairness of every treaty into which he entered.

Johnson has also learned from the way Muhammad distinguished between revelation and his own ideas, recognizing that his personal opinions weren't always the best solutions to mundane problems. At the Battle of Badr, for instance, Muhammad changed strategies when one of his soldiers suggested a better plan, and Muhammad immediately agreed. Like Muhammad, Johnson also believes that Muslims are obligated to seek justice for all people, not just for other Muslims.

Mohamed Zakariya

Zakariya is a world famous calligrapher and the designer of the U.S. Postal Service's Eid stamp, celebrating one of Islam's most important holidays.

Muhammad discouraged the creation of any images of himself or other prophets, to discourage idolatry. As a result, Calligraphy eventually became Islam's highest art form. Among the sacred texts Zakariya creates is the Hilye, a verbal portrait of the Prophet's physical appearance and inner character.

One of Zakariya's favorite ‘portraits' describes Muhammad as follows: "His face was not narrow, nor was it fully round, but there was a little bit of roundness to it. When he looked at someone, he looked at them with his face turned perfectly towards them. Whoever saw him unexpectedly was in awe of him, and whoever associated with him familiarly loved him. Anyone who would describe him would say, ‘I never saw before him or after him the like of him. Peace be upon him.'"

Zakariya also uses the sayings of Muhammad, called hadiths, as a source for his art. He created a piece for the January 2002 Remembrance Event held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine which says, "There is no harming of other people in Islam, and no returning or retaliating harm for harm." According to Zakariya, "This piece is the golden rule of Islam. It is the basis of the relations between people. That's why I did it. To respond [to the events of 9/11] through the sayings of Muhammad the man."