From Messenger to Son of God
Till that time Christendom was torn by a devastating debate on whether Jesus was a human being and a Messenger of Allah, Alaihis Salam, or whether he was God or Son of God. The Grand Council at Nicaea put that question to rest and agreed that he was God and Begotten Son of God, dealing a near-death blow to the Concept of Tawuheed on earth.
So, all that was left on earth was this tiny little band of people from Madinah, who believed in One God and stood up for him. There was no one else left in this world to do that.
Now, it was clearly up to God, whether he will now stand up for them and save this tiny little group of his worshippers from extinction.
And he did.
God then went to war in their behalf, and took his angels with him, and killed those who would kill his message of La Ilaha Illa Allah (No God but God) and kill those who were the only people to worship him on the face of this earth.
That is why the Non-Believers of Makkah had no chance on that day, any more than Pharaoh had a chance of escaping the watery grave that closed in on him from every side during an earlier time.
The Finest Book He Brought
And Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, brought a book from God that called itself “The Book” (Al-Kitaab) and it called itself “That Book,” as if reminding humanity – and all the other worlds beyond – that this was the book they needed, the one they had misplaced and forgotten, the one that was going to answer all their questions and solve all their problems.
This book was That Book: Dhaalikal Kitaab!
And it did.
I study That Book fairly frequently and I am amazed, nay spell-bound, by all the wonders, treasures and bounties That Book contains. And how they all unfold one at a time, and at times in roaring torrents and floods too rapid to swim or keep up with.
And how That Book answers any question anyone ever had and does better than anyone ever did or could.
For the first time in the history of written discourse, That Book calls human beings by their rightful and proper name: People!
Not Men, but People
Not men, but People!
It was this miraculous expression that first graced this earth in the early part of the 7th Century in the Qur’an and then later found its way in the American Constitution over a thousand years later that said: We the People!
Ya Ayyuhannaas, the Qur’an called out to the People – all people of the world of all and every description – as “O You People!” as no one had ever done before, and will not do until 1000 years later.
And That Book commanded everyone everywhere, man as well as woman and child, to read.
“Read!” said That Book. No other book did that before.
Forgive, Forget and Let Go
And That Book told People to learn to “Forgive and Forget and Overlook and Let Go” (5:13). No other book did that before.
And That Book told People to “Turn Away from Bad People and Say ‘Peace!’ and Walk Away from Confrontations” (43:89). No other book did that before.
And That Book said God’s People are those who walk the earth softly and gently and when they are accosted and addressed by foolish and ignorant people, they say “Peace!” (25:63).
No other book did that before.
“Do not commit aggression,” warns That Book – “Even against those who fight you and who have kept you from entering the Sacred Mosque” (2:190; 5:2).
No other book did that before.
“Resist bad things with a goodly approach,” says That Book (23:96) and “Fight Evil with Good” (13:22).
“And spend generously of all that we have given you,” says That Book (2:3).
That Book says: “Accept from people as donations and charity what they can afford and spare, and what is beyond their own needs, and tell them to follow what is in line with commonly accepted noble traditions and standards of the community and turn away from the ignorant and foolish people” (7:199).
Accept Peace When It Is Offered
And That Book says: “And if your enemies show an inclination toward peace, then you too must move in the direction of peace, and you must accept peace when it is offered” (8:61).
And That Book clearly states: “There shall be no force, coercion or compulsion in all matters of belief, and conscience and religious conviction and adherence” (2:256).
So, everything in That Book, the Qur’an, that this nicest man in the world, Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, brought from God Almighty for “All the Worlds” was nice and noble and decent and good and sweet and kind and considerate and generous and loving and giving – for all, friend and foe alike.
Gratuitous Hate and Hostility
And yet the same people who loved him so dearly only a moment earlier turned bitterly and violently against him when he told them to accept the message that “There Is No God but God!”
La Ilaha Illa Allah!
There was nothing new about this message. Moses, may God bless him, preached the same message in the First Commandment in the Old Testament.
Jesus, may God bless him, also preached the same message in the New Testament.
And yet, when this most blessed and perfect man Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, preached the same message of No God but God, his own people turned against him overnight.
They begged him to stop. They told him they will make him king if he did. And they told him they will give him all the treasures of the world if he did.
And when he refused, they set about attacking, insulting, abusing and torturing him and those men and women who followed him and embraced the message of “No God but God!” along with him.
