Principles of Islam
40. Prophethood
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even in extreme cases was persecuted, he had
nevertheless to follow a strict policy of avoidance of
confrontation, and had unilaterally to adopt the
path of patience and forbearance. He was
responsible only in so far as the conveying of the
message was concerned. As for the response to, or
acceptance of the message, that entirely depended
on the addressees. But clearly, the greater the
number who accepted the message, the greater the
sphere in which a practical system of guidance sent
by God became established.
The Qur’an testifies to the fact that God’s
messengers came in every age and in every region.
According to a hadith, more than one lakh
messengers were sent to guide the people.
However, the prophets mentioned by name in the
Qur’an are two-dozen in number, the Prophet
Muhammad being the last of them. In the past, the
need for new prophets had always arisen because
God’s religion, suffering from the vagaries of time,
had frequently been distorted from its original
form. New prophets had to come to the world time
and time again in order to revivify the true spirit of
religion, which had been lost when nations in
