^9 Almighty God described the nature of ritual prayers and...

^9 Almighty God described the nature of ritual prayers and the way to perform them through Gabriel to the Prophet, who taught it to 'Ali and Khadija and also ordered congregational ritual prayers.[^10] Three Years Of Propagation In Practice For three whole years after the actualization of the prophetic mission of the Prophet, he propagated his faith in secret because the corrupt environment of Arabia, which had been polluted with idolatry and paganism for centuries, was by no means ready for the open propagation of Islam, which is perfect monotheism and opposed to any kind of polytheism.

In the beginning, the Prophet was faced with extremely difficult problems and obstacles that seemed to prevent him from achieving his divine goal - the propagation of Islam. Thus the Holy Prophet of Islam praised the One God before the eyes of the idolaters who worshipped numerous gods and whose worshipping assumed the form of whistling and clapping. He performed the ritual prayers, which included spiritual discourse and praise of Almighty God, Who has no partner nor any peer.

The Prophet, accompanied by 'Ali and Khadija, went to the crowded places like the Masjid ul-Haram and Mana and performed the congregational ritual prayers before the eyes of the enemies of Islam and thus, through his practice, fought polytheistic faiths.

[^11] `Atif, a merchant of that time, has said, `I had gone to 'Abbas, the son of Abdul Muttalib, on business, when suddenly I observed that a man entered the Masjid ul-Haram, looked up at the sky and the sun and stood praying in front of the Ka'aba. A little later, a woman and a boy came in and accompanied him in his prayer. I asked 'Abbas about that religion of which I had not yet heard!

'Abbas said, "This man is Muhammad (peace and the mercy of God be upon him and his descendants), the son of Abdullah. He believes that his God is the Creator of heaven and earth and that God has assigned him to guide people. For the time being his faith has no believers other than these three people. This woman you see is Khadija, the daughter of Khuwalid, and this boy is 'Ali, the son of Abu Talib, who have accepted his faith"'.

[^12] In this way the Holy Prophet of Islam went on with his divine task until gradually the number of Muslims increased and, contrary to the ill-wishes of the opponents of Islam, this faith prevailed. When the atmosphere became suitable for the open propagation of Islam, the Prophet was divinely ordered to act accordingly.