Even More Complicated

20 Ramadhan, 1442

Having arrived at the final chapters of Tariq Ramadan's The Messenger, I'm struck by the unrelenting nature of the challenges faced by the Prophet - peace be upon him - to the very end. I suppose all Muslims tend to think of the triumphant return to Makkah as the endpoint of the story, but existential threats remained even after the capitulation of the Quraysh. Indeed, the assimilation of the converted Quraysh was, in a sense, as much as threat to the ummah as it was a triumph.

What simplifies the impossible complexities of the survival and expansion of the first Muslim community on the Arabian peninsula is the character of the Messenger himself. To be confronted by that exemplar of complete integrity is compelling to say the least. When I first read the story I recall the fascination attendant upon the unpredictability of the narrative, the sense of being a spectator to something both extraordinary and curiously satisfying - knowing that this was an encounter with a kind of 'rightness'.

Encountering the tale again, the novelty has gone, but not the sense of compulsion, the satisfaction. Those are stronger than ever.