1. ISLAM: CREATOR OF THE MODERN AGE

~ 16 ~ This shirk gradually came to dominate all aspects of belief and practice, finding its way into every household as a bearer of good omens and a nullifier of bad omens, thus becoming a part of all customs. Moreover, once belief in a divine king was added to all the other polytheistic beliefs, it became a necessary part of the political system. This was the religion of the ancient world. Worship in those days was based wholly on shirk, to put it in religious terminology, or, in common parlance, superstition. All the prophets in the past had come with the mission of rectifying this perversion. In all ages, throughout the history of man, they called for the renunciation of shirk and the adoption of monotheism. Over one hundred thousand prophets were said (according to one of the Traditions) to have come to the world from the time of Adam to the time of the Messiah (Christ). But man was not willing to give ear to what they had to say. The message of the prophet was thus confined only to the proclamation of truth; it could not go so far as to bring about a revolution based on this truth.