Divine Planning

~ 12 ~ This verse shows that the main mission of the Final Prophet was to remove the religion of polytheism from its place of domination and establish the religion of monotheism in its place, giving it a position of dominance in the world. This dominance was to be of an intellectual and ideological kind. That is, a dominance similar to that gained by scientific knowledge over traditional knowledge in modern times. This was the most difficult plan ever conceived in history. In the 7th century it was the hardest of tasks to stamp out polytheism and replace it with monotheism as the predominant ideology. It was just like uprooting a tree with all its roots and branches. It entailed severe difficulties and could be performed only with meticulous planning and strenuous effort. To secure this goal the Final Prophet was provided by God with two special supporting factors. One was the divine proclamation: You are the best nation that has ever been raised up for mankind (3:110)