Most people believe that the occupation of the Messenger of God, may God's blessings be upon him and his family, was that of a shepherd.
However, as we discussed in the previous article about the Quraish, and as it became clear from the scientific comments and research at the end of that article, the occupation of the Prophet's ancestors, paternal grandfather, uncles, and even the confirmed reports indicate that the occupation of the Prophet's maternal grandfather and uncles, who are the brothers of Ameneh, may God's peace be upon them, was trade.
Now the question is, how can a boy who is the pride of the Arabs and non-Arabs, and whose sharp-mindedness, intelligence, and good qualities surpass all his peers, and has shown such traits from his childhood, not choose such a prestigious and classy occupation and remain illiterate?
Is this not an insult and slander against the Messenger of God?
Has the title "Amin" been obtained from his trustworthiness toward the wealthy and other merchants, or has he been called "Amin" because he has taken care of some sheep, taken them out in the morning, and returned them safely at night?
Do the other shepherds who take the sheep out at night either kill or steal them, that the Prophet (PBUH) has given him a special privilege?
Is this statement not from Ibrahim (PBUH), which God has mentioned in the Quran, Surah Ibrahim, verse 37?
"O my Lord! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in a valley without cultivation, by Your Sacred House."
Did Abraham (PBUH) refer to someone other than Isma'il (PBUH)?
Was that valley without water and vegetation where the house of God is located not Mecca?
So, according to God's confirmation, Mecca did not have cultivation and greenery, where shepherding was common, and if there was any shepherding, it was specifically for camels.
Even today, the sheep that are sacrificed during Hajj are imported to Arabia, and there is no domestic production of sheep in Arabia.
How can a man, whose is adorned in his family and whose family members are all merchants, and in a region where there is no cultivation and greenery, and a wife he chooses, and he himself is the greatest merchant of the time, and all his trade affairs are entrusted to this man, be considered a shepherd in our minds?
Did Khadijeh (RA) not realize that she should not entrust her great trade to a shepherd?
Does it make sense for any wise or even less intelligent person to leave his eighty thousand camels in the hands of an illiterate shepherd and then say, "I and all that belongs to me belongs to you"?
O people,
If your Prophet is a shepherd, does it bring more honor to you or if he is a merchant?
Ask others which religion and faith is more attractive to them?
The religion where the first person is an illiterate shepherd or a cultured merchant?
It has been narrated from Imam Sadiq about the illiteracy of the Messenger of God, which people mistakenly translate as being illiterate.
They said that because he was fatherless and an orphan, God called him "Ummi" or one who is raised by a mother.
And because Mecca, the mother of all cities at that time among the Arabs, and he was from Mecca, he was called "Ummi."
May God bless Majid Majidi for making the film of our Prophet, which showed how Abdul-Muttalib, the grandfather of the Prophet, fed all the people when he was born, and then, to protect him from the turmoil and enmity of the Jews during his childhood, sent him to the surrounding deserts of Mecca with some sheep to keep him safe.
Is it fair that a person with such wealth and status raises his orphaned grandson - whom we all know is dearer than a son - as an illiterate shepherd?
Is it just that our parents, who may not even have proper education, send us to school and take our learning seriously, but Abdul-Muttalib, who was a great figure of the Quraish, as they say, did not provide any guardianship or care for the upbringing of the Prophet, leaving him as a shepherd with sheep?
The occupation of our Prophet was trade, and a part of the Prophet's commercial travels was also depicted in the movie "Muhammad: The Messenger of God" by Majidi.
It is natural that every group would either attribute their own occupation to the Prophet or remain silent about it in order to claim ownership of its glory.
It has even been said that our Prophet was a teacher, and teaching is the profession of the prophets.
There is no doubt that all the prophets have been teachers of humanity, but provide evidence that our Prophet or other prophets have taken a penny or a dinar for teaching people.
Therefore, the teaching was the mission of the prophets, not a profession to earn income through it.
Do you want to know what the common occupation of all the prophets was?
Surah Al-Furqan, verse 20, God addresses His prophet:
"And We did not send before you, [O Muḥammad], any of the messengers except that they ate food and walked in the markets."
With this verse, God wants us to understand that if you are a prophet, you have worldly needs.
God has chosen eating food among these needs because it is possible that someone may not have a place to live and live under the open sky, or even not wear clothes or change them only once a year and take from others, but the need for food and eating is daily, so the prophets also had this need.
The prophets had ways to meet this need.
God did not say they ate and built or carpentered or worked as laborers or teachers or any other profession.
He said "and they walk in the markets."
Markets mean the plural of "souq," which means market.
"Walk" means to go.
"And they walk in the markets" means to move in the market, which means some of them were engaged in trade and some of them in buying and selling.
God, in mentioning His messengers' participation in trade and movement in the market, has not made any reference to other things that are a common point among the prophets in many people's minds.
O merchants and Arad employees,
May God reward you for entering into trade and reviving the forgotten tradition of your prophet.
Others refuse to say that the Prophet of Islam was a merchant.
Let its reason remain for the Day of Judgment.
If each of you dear Aradis could make it clear to their own community that the Prophet of Islam was a merchant and the attribution of his blessed existence to shepherding is not more than a great lie, surely it will please the Prophet, as it distances a great slander from him.
And whoever pleases the Messenger of God, surely God will make his blessing flow in his wealth, life, spouse, and children.
We as Aradis, if we make an effort, we will definitely succeed in this great mission.
Make the intention from today.
For example, I will convey this to ten, twenty, a hundred, or two hundred people from our surroundings that the Prophet of God was a merchant.
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