ভূমিকা

Say, ‘Enjoy [for a while], for indeed your destination is towards the Fire!’ (Holy Qur’an, 14:30) As befits the final Messenger of Allah, was born into the noblest Arab family of his region, the tribe of Bani Hashim in Arabia, in the sixth century. His prestigious lineage stretched back to Prophet Ibrahim, and his ancestors distinguished themselves through integrity, (belief in) monotheism, and bravery.

His virtues were visible amongst the Quraysh tribes who entitled him as “Muhammad, the Truthful and the Trustworthy One ( As-Sadiq al-Ameen ).” When Allah called upon to publicly declare his prophethood, these virtues assisted him to bring forth the message of Islam. For that environment, the revolutionary message of Islam shattered tribal, ethnic, and imperial barriers.

In a society where ancestry dictated respect and exclusiveness, the Prophet proclaimed the opposite, he said, “Anyone who has an atom’s weight of prejudice in his heart will not enter Paradise.”[^1] In stark contrast to the highly stratified society to which Islam came, the Prophet paralleled the rich with the poor, the desert nomads with the urban dwellers, and the rulers with the ruled, side by side in prayer to Allah at the Holy Ka’abah.

Their monotheism came at a time when the Ka’abah, initially reconstructed by Prophet Ibrahim had been usurped for idol worshipping, and members of the Prophet’s extended tribe, the Quraysh relied upon the revenue from the pilgrims who flocked to the House of Idols. Needless to say, the majority of the Quraysh were less than pleased with the idea of destroying the statues and lucrative income for the sake of restoring the foundation of monotheism.