Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
7. The Revolution of the Prophet
~ 157 ~
What polytheism had deprived man of more than
anything was the ability to see truth on an abstract
level. It had made him want to see a thing and feel
it before he would believe it. The prophets who
came to the world spoke of a truth, which was an
abstract force. This was something that their
peoples could not appreciate; hence the scorn and
ridicule to which prophets have been subjected to in
every age.
The polytheists had not denied the existence of
God. What they had done was mould Him in the
image of insensate objects. Finding it difficult to
fathom a God that could not be seen, they depicted
Him in material or human forms, and made these
visible objects the focus of their attention. The
objects that they chose to revere were invariably
things that appeared great to them, so that when the
prophets came they failed to achieve public
recognition, for they appeared in the guise of
ordinary people. At the time of their coming to the
world, no historical greatness was attached to them.
It was only much later that they came to be thought
of as national heroes.
