Although they did not claim to be prophets, but what if they did?

Although they did not claim to be prophets, but what if they did? Therefore this is no ground. To acknowledge someone as a prophet, we should study his life, his antecedents and his education, and when we observe that his mental, and spiritual personality is not an acquired one, only then we conclude that he has gained that exalted personality from an extraordinary source, and that proves him to be a prophet. That is why the Qur'an reiterates the fact that the prophet was unlettered.

Therefore, we acknowledge our faith in God and the Prophet simultaneously without placing one before the other and declare one faith in God and the prophet at the same time. Then the words of that Prophet would have validity for us, and to reach this conclusion a prior study of comparative religions was never needed. With this brief introduction, we can proceed to the main topic of discussion which is recognizing Islam and Muslims of the world under the title of "Islam and world Muslims".

Birthplace of Islam In order to acquire a close familiarization with Islam it is necessary to know the environment in which Islam took birth and started to spread since such an understanding greatly aids the recognition of that entity. It is possible to have a superficial knowledge of certain matters without being familiar with their knowing their background or the conditions of their origin.

But a profound understanding of a certain being or phenomenon depends wholly on a thorough familiarization of the background of that being or phenomenon. This applies equally to individuals or technical , artistic or social phenomena. For this reason, a deep understanding of the environments of Islam at the time of its birth is essential.

The environments at the time of the birth of Islam may be misconstrued to mean the region including Mecca, or Mecca and Medina, or Mecca, Medina and Ta'if, or Hejaz or Arabia.

It should be noted though that the noble Prophet of Islam from the very outset as he began his call to Islam while he was still at Mecca and Islam had not yet spread to Medina, began his call in the following manner: "Come and embrace a faith the light of which will spread over Iran, Rome, Abyssinia and all other places." Thus from beginning the Prophet's call was a universal one addressing the civilised world of that time.