At the top of these qualities are chastity...

At the top of these qualities are chastity, peace of mind, faith, and trust in Allah and because a Prophet possesses such qualities, his thoughts cannot go astray." The scholars have said : "The gradual development of a Prophet begins from his very childhood and gradually his knowledge reaches a stage of perfection. Even the slightest doubt does not cross his mind about the things which he sees or hears.

Furthermore the remarks of anyone do not create any doubt in the mind of a person who occupies this position." The above quoted Qur'anic verses and especially the verse "Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor does He abhor you," show only this that someone said these words to the Holy Prophet but do not indicate as to who said them and what effect they had on his soul.

However, some exegetes say that these words were uttered by some polytheists and in view of this probability all these verses cannot relate to the commencement of revelation, because none knew about the commencement of prophethood with the descent of revelation except Khadijah and Ali so that he might resort to criticism.

So much so that as we shall mention later the fact of the Holy Prophet's prophethood was unknown to the polytheists for full three years and he had not been ordered to proclaim his prophethood to the general public, till the verse: "Manifest that which you have been ordered to do" was revealed. Hence, the story of the cessation of revelation has only historical and no Qur'anic evidence and that, too, is not in a repulsive shape but in the manner as described in the beginning of this chapter.

The Holy Prophet Commenced Reformation From A Limited Circle The wise men and leaders of a society chalk out a very extensive programme but start their work from a limited circle and as and when they achieve success they immediately make efforts for its extension and expand the sphere of their activities in proportion to their success, and make endeavours for its gradual advancement.

A wise person[^3] enquired from the head of one of the big states of modern times: "What is the secret of your success in public matters "He replied: The way of thinking of westerners like us is different from that of you orientals. We always start a work with an extensive and well-calculated programme but commence it from a small place and make an attempt for its expansion after acquiring success.