The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
The Life of the Prophet
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would go to a place where people had gathered and
would say: “O people, say there is no Being worthy
of worship save God and you will be successful.” In
this way the Prophet continued to communicate the
message of monotheism to the idolaters around
him.
In the beginning the Prophet adopted the method of
conveying the message privately to people at an
individual level. About three years later he began
publicly to invite people to accept monotheism. It
was then that he met with opposition. At that time
the Makkans as well as other tribes of Arabia had
adopted idolatry as a religious practice. They
apprehended that the Prophet wanted them to
abandon the religion of their ancestors and follow a
new religion. But this was something they could
never tolerate. In that case it was but natural for
them to oppose the message of monotheism.
Furthermore, there was another dimension to
idolatry for the Makkans. No economic resources or
agriculture existed in Makkah. The only thing of
value that it possessed was the sacred house built
by Abraham and Ismail. The Makkan leaders had
