T h e V i s i o n o f I s l a m
62
The man on the straight path develops the highest capacity
for acceptance. When the Quraysh heard the Prophet recite the
Quran, they exclaimed: “This is the work of a poet!” They did not
of course, use the word poet in any derogatory sense; yet, even so,
toGod this conveyed only underestimation, not total faith. (69:41).
If they called it the work of a poet, it was merely to indicate their
assessment of it as a literary achievement in which the teachings
of the ancient Abrahamites were presented in a novel way.
Interpreted as such, they thought that the Quran merely deserved
to be acknowledged as a literary masterpiece. But the Quran ought
rather be regarded as an expression of the HigherTruth and should
be accepted with total conviction.
Just one day before the entry into Makkah, when the Prophet
asked Abu Sufyan to bear witness to the Islamic faith, the latter
said, “By my parents, you are undoubtedly very forbearing, very
tolerant, nobler and of higher derivation than others, yet I still have
some qualms about your prophethood.” Later, the Prophet’s uncle
Abbas apprised Abu Sufyan of the critical situation, whereupon
he recited the article of faith and became a Muslim. It had been
easier for Abu Sufyan to acknowledge the Prophet’s nobility and
perseverance than to concede that he was a genuine Prophet;
because in accepting his moral worth he had the psychological
satisfaction that the difference between him and the Prophet was
one of personal worth, and not that his beliefs had been wrong
vis-à-vis the Prophet’s. No doubt acceptance of moral worth is far
easier than the recognition of the superiority of another’s ideology.
T
he
S
traight
P
ath of the
I
ndividual
The Quran has very explicitly indicated the straight path of God,
both for the individual and for society, as against the paths of
deviation which human beings are faced with at all times.
A section of the sixth chapter of the Quran reads: say: ‘Come,
I will tell you what your Lord has made binding on you: that you
