Introduction

INTRODUCTION him and subsequently by his devoted followers throughout the centuries. To ensure this train of events, the Prophet had to bring about a great revolution that would give him a world following. Muhammad is the father of no man among you. He is the Prophet of God and the last of the prophets. God knows all things.3 God chose the Prophet to give the kind of guidance to people they needed to lead good, virtuous lives. If people seemingly have complete control over what they do, it is because, in this world, they are on trial. If the illusion of free will causes them to act as they choose, they are being tested. Despite their divine mission, the Prophets cannot force people to change their ways. All they can do is communicate the message with which God has entrusted them: Yet what should Messengers do but give plain warning?4 God has done the maximum to ensure that we should not go astray in our journey through life. He has given us a conscience, enabling us to differentiate between right and wrong, and has placed us in a justice-based world. But - whenever man has failed to listen to his conscience or was deaf to the silent message emanating from every object of God’s creation, God sent His prophets to bring him the truth, and so that these God-sent messages should not be incomprehensible to the people of many different lands, they were communicated to them in their languages.