Islam Rediscovered
17. Prophetic Vision
~ 288 ~
early years of his prophethood, the Makkan leaders
gathered at the house of Abu Talib, the Prophet’s
uncle, to ask the Prophet what it was that he aspired
to, he replied with complete determination: I want
only one word from you, if you are willing to give
that, you will come to possess the whole of Arabia
and all the other parts of the world will surrender
before you. (
Hayat As Sahaba
, 1/56)
The day the Prophet made this pronouncement, he
was all alone in the world, without a single soul to
support him. To those who lacked insight he had no
future, yet he could visualize something which
appeared inconceivable to others. Today we all
know that these words uttered by him became a
part of history. Within barely twenty-three years of
the commencement of his mission, the whole of
Arabia was brought into the fold of Islam, while in
the next two decades the Roman and the Sassanid
empires, —the two great empires of the world, —
had surrendered before his followers. These events
were so astonishing that historians have called them
the greatest miracle of human history. In the words
of historian M.N. Roy:
