The Companions of the Prophet

THE COMPANIONS OF THE PROPHET one’s day: this can be gauged from the fact that no group except for the Companions has ever managed to do so. At every stage of ancient history, prophets were denied and ridiculed when they appeared among their people. “You thought nothing of My prophets,” the Bible says. Who were these people who “thought nothing” of the prophets? They were the very ones who believed in both prophecy and divine revelation. They had set up great institutions in the name of prophets. It was with great enthusiasm that they included days for the remembrance of various prophets in their calendar: But it was only ancient prophets whom they revered in this manner. As for the prophets of their day, they made them objects of ridicule and scorn. The Jews disbelieved in the Prophet Jesus, even though they believed in Moses. Despite their veneration for Jesus, the Christians denied the Prophet, Muhammad. Even the Quraysh of Makkah prided themselves on being heirs of Abraham, but when the heir to Abraham’s prophetic legacy came among them, they attacked him and expelled him from the land. Why was there this discrepancy between people’s treatment of ancient prophets on the one hand and contemporary prophets on the other? The reason was that the might of historical tradition supported ancient prophets. They become an essential part of a people’s national heritage. People of later generations look back at prophets of old as