Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
14. The Termination of Prophethood
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The provision that God made for the termination of
prophethood
also
produced
circumstances
conducive to the preservation of the Qur’an, the
revealed word of God. If previous scriptures had
not been preserved in their original form, it was
because no protective power had emerged in
support of them. But the Prophet and his
companions fought against their adversaries and
established Islamic rule in a substantial portion of
the globe, so that the Book of God enjoyed state
protection, its immunity from all attempts to change
or destroy it being thus ensured. The Qur’an was
preserved for one thousand years in this way, with
one generation passing it on to the next under the
protective wing of an Islamic government. Then
mankind entered the age of the printing press, and
there was no further danger of the Qur’an being
destroyed.
It would be a mistake to think that all this was
accomplished smoothly. In order to establish Islam
as the ruling religion, thus ensuring the
preservation of the Book of God, the Prophet and
his companions had to suffer torments of
unbearable intensity. The pagans wanted to see
