When Muhammad (sws) was sent with the religion of Islam

B) When Muhammad (sws) was sent with the religion of Islam, Arab society was in the
worst possible condition in terms of the distribution of wealth and justice. A small
proportion of the population had money and businesses, multiplying their wealth and
trade through usury, while a large proportion owned nothing but austerity and hunger.
Those who possessed fortunes also possessed honor and status, while the vast majority
suffered the lack of either wealth or dignity.
Muhammad (sws) could have begun his call by raising the flag of social justice, waging
war against the social elite. He could have started a movement for social reform, giving
the wealth of the rich to the poor.
Had he done that, Arab society would (more than likely) have been divided into two:
the vast majority with the new call, standing in the face of the tyranny of wealth and
status, instead of standing as a society united in defense of 'La ilaha illa Allah' (There is
no true god but Allah)—a message which was not raised high at the time, except by a
few singular individuals.
It could be said that, after many people had responded to Muhammad (sws), chosen
him as their leader, overcome the privileged minority and thereby made them compliant,
he would have been in a position to use his influence and power to impose the belief of
monotheism with which his Lord had sent him.
But Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, the All-Knowing and Wise, did not direct His
messenger to do that. He knew that would not be the way. He knew that social justice
must emanate from society through a comprehensive belief system that refers all its
affairs to Allah and that is content to voluntarily accept the justice of the distribution
ordained by Allah. Only through the integration of society as a whole can satisfaction
grow in the hearts of both giver and taker, making it possible to implement a system
pleasing to Allah—a system which, when obeyed, would nourish hope for everything
good in this world and the Next. Hearts would no longer be filled with greed and hatred,
matters would not be settled by sword or stick, intimidation or violence, and hearts
would not become completely corrupt and suffocate the soul, as was the case in systems
based on anything other than Allah.
C) When Muhammad (sws) was sent, the level of morality in the Arabian Peninsula was at
its worst in so many ways, despite the simple virtues of the desert nomads. Oppression
was widespread, wine and gambling were basic cultural institutions and a source of pride,
and prostitution in its various guises was one of the distinctive features of society.
Muhammad (sws) could have begun his mission with a call for reform—redefining a
sense of morality, restoring a base of purity, cleansing souls and reestablishing a set of
checks and balances. He found (as does any moral reformer in any environment) that he
could find good people being harmed by such filth, and their innate dignity and selfrespect
leads them to respond to the call of reform and purification.
Perhaps someone would say: if Muhammad (sws) had done that, and a good majority
responded to him from the beginning, they would have reformed their morals and
purified their souls and gotten closer to accepting the correct belief and supporting it
rather than provoking opposition to the call of 'La ilaha illa Allah' (There is no true god
but Allah) from the outset. Yet Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, the All-Knowing and
Wise, did not instruct His messenger (sws) to proceed in that direction.
Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, knew that was not the way. He knew that morality
cannot be built on a foundation other than belief—a belief that sets the standards,
decides the values and establishes the power to stabilize the checks and balances. Until
such a belief has been settled, all values and the morals they are based on would remain
in a state of instability, without restriction, authority or consequence.
When this belief has been established with great effort, and authority rests upon it,
when people know their Lord and worship Him Alone, they are set free both from being

controlled by their fellow slaves and from being controlled by their own passions. When
'La ilaha illa Allah' has taken root in their hearts, Allah builds with it and its people
everything anyone could suggest.
The earth was cleansed of the Byzantines and Persians, not to solidify the authority of
the Arabs, but to establish the Authority of Allah Almighty.
Society was completed cleansed of social injustice. The Islamic system began to judge
by Allah's standards, weigh with Allah's scales and raise the banner of social justice in the
Name of Allah Alone. It is called, simply: the banner of Islam; no other name is
connected with it. Written on it is: 'La ilaha illa Allah' (There is no true god but Allah).
Souls and morals were purified, and hearts and minds were cleansed because the sense
of being watched took root in the people's consciences. They focused their ambitions on
pleasing Allah, they hoped for reward from Him, they felt ashamed to displease Him,
and they feared His anger and punishment. All of this came to pass as a result of
supervision and consequences. Humanity was elevated in social organization, in morality
and in all aspects of life—elevated to towering heights that have never been reached
before and which have never been reached since, except under the auspices of Islam, and
the Prophet (sws) and his companions are the proof of that.
Herein above, we have made clear the importance of belief. Belief is the foundation. Whoever
has correct belief in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day and
Preordination, keeps his acts of worship and interactions in accordance with Sharia, and makes
his intentions purely for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, his religion is sound and his deeds will
be accepted. Whoever lets his belief be corrupted (for that is the foundation), his religion is
corrupt and his deeds will be null and void (even if they were good). They will not be accepted,
and he will not benefit from them in the Hereafter.
Let us meditate on the belief with which Muhammad (sws) came—the belief that was the cause
for Muslims to rise above, for the people who accepted Islam as a religion, who embraced it,
acted upon its instructions and held fast to the Book Allah sent down upon His Messenger (sws).
Prophet Muhammad (sws) called to the belief in and worship of one God. He made people get
to know their God and asked them to worship Him alone. He let people learn about their Lord
Who created them, formed them out of nothingness and provided them with sustenance, and he
renounced the existence of any partner or equal to Him.
He called those who denied the existence of Allah Almighty to believe in the founder of this
perfectly-formed universe. He called them to believe in Allah, the Glorious and Exalted.
He called them to fight those who worship idols, for idols can neither benefit nor harm, yet
despite that fact, the Arabs and others used to worship them instead of Allah, the Mighty and
Majestic.
He called them to combat the worship of anything other than Allah. The Arabs and others
worshipped stone, the Persians worshipped fire, and the Jews took their scribes and rabbis as
lords beside Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. They made lawful that which Allah forbade, and
forbidden, that which Allah made lawful, and they followed them.
The Christians worshipped a human being: Jesus, the Messiah, a creature who eats, drinks,
sleeps and does everything else other human beings do. Yet, despite that, they worship him
beside Allah.
Muhammad (sws) called to the worship of Allah alone, and he denied any flaws or
characteristics of incompleteness attributed to Him by men. We should notice that the
environment in which the Prophet (sws) lived was teeming with blasphemous lies about the
Creator, may He be glorified and exalted. And the following is proof:

A) The Arabs said awful things about Allah: that He created the angels in female form and that
the angels are Allah's daughters, may He be glorified and exalted above such unbefitting charges.
B) The Jews also said blasphemous things about Allah. They said that Uzayr (Ezra, the prophet)
is the son of Allah, may Allah be glorified and exalted above that which they say. They took their
rabbis as lords beside Allah. Their rabbis fabricated lies about Him, made lawful that which He
had prohibited and prohibited that which He had made lawful, and the Jews followed their rabbis
in that. They made changes to their scriptures, denied their prophets and even killed them. They
denied Allah's slave and messenger, the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, (peace be upon him), despite
the evidence of his miraculous birth, the miracle when he spoke from the cradle and the miracles
Allah supported him with after that. They cursed him and spoke badly of his honor. They
ascribed to his mother, the Virgin Mary, that which the tongue is too shy to mention, accusing
her of fornication, though she was a devout worshipper, an ascetic, and a pious, virtuous young
woman. Her Lord, the Blessed and Exalted, supported her with a miracle when her son was
born: as a newborn baby, the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, spoke in the cradle. He was likewise
granted other miracles thereafter, yet this dissolute nation charged Jesus with performing magic.
They claimed he was a magician, the son of a prostitute, and accused his mother of being a
whore.
They accused Lot (a prophet and the cousin of a prophet, Abraham, peace be upon them both)
of copulating with both of his daughters and getting them pregnant while he was drunk on
alcohol. They called Solomon (peace be upon him) a magician king and his father an annointed
king. They claimed that Joseph (peace be upon him) unfastened the waistband of his pants and
the waistband of his master's wife's pants and that he sat with her as a man does with his wife,
when the wall opened up and he saw his father, Jacob, biting his nails in dread. They claim that
he did not get up until the Angel Gabriel (peace be upon him) descended and said, "Oh Joseph,
how can you be an adulterer and be counted before Allah as one of the prophets?" Only at this
point, according to their claim, did Joseph get up and leave.
This is what they say, and there are many more examples of their blasphemous statements and
false accusations.
Indeed the Jews only dared to make such blasphemous claims because of their impatience with
humiliation and enslavement. They accused the Prophet Muhammad (sws) of lying, they fought
him and tried to kill him, but Allah Almighty protected him and His religion. Yet despite all these
lies, they describe themselves as clusters of grapes, while the rest of mankind is the thorns
surrounding these clusters.
This is merely a product of their ignorance and insolence, for to take care of grapes, thorns
need only be placed at the tops of the walls for protection. Amongst all the peoples of the world,
we see that the Jews have suffered at the hands of men and have forever been humiliated by
other nations. Their position among nations is trivial, as is the way people treat thorns.
The Christians say terrible things about Allah as well. Among them, there are those who say that
Jesus is Allah, there are those who say that Jesus is the son of Allah, and there are those who say
that Allah is the third of three, and may Allah be glorified and exalted above that which they
claim. They say that Allah, the Glorified and Exalted, has taken a son though this is a charge of
defect or incompleteness. Indeed, it would not be befitting for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, to
take a son, for He has no need of a son.
Allah Almighty says: