Microsoft Word When the Moon Split Final

Argument and quibbling 
There were three tenets of the Prophet’s teachings that the 
pagans found unacceptable. In fact, these three concepts were the 

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sources of much of the discord between them and the Muslims. 
The notion of resurrection on the Day of Judgment, the idea of a 
mortal prophet and the concept of the unity of Allah (Tawheed), 
were, in their eyes, incredible and absurd. 
The concept of resurrection, they believed, was no more than 
a fanciful idea. They would say, “How can we be raised again after 
being reduced to dust and bone? How can our ancestors be 
brought back to life?” Talking among themselves, they would 
mock the Prophet’s teaching regarding the resurrection and the 
Hereafter. “Come. I will show you someone who claims that you 
will be raised anew after being torn into pieces. Who knows 
whether he is inventing stories about God or has gone mad?”
Allah himself explains the notion of resurrection in several 
verses of the Qur’an. Whereas the pagans found it illogical, the 
Qur’an appeals to our sense of justice and presents resurrection as 
an essential, natural component of the life cycle. 
The Qur’an asks us to imagine the case of an oppressor who 
dies without having been punished for the suffering he inflicted. 
In addition, what about the case of someone who dies having 
suffered unjustly at the hands of an oppressor? Alternatively, we 
may even consider the case of a virtuous person who dies without 
having been rewarded for his virtue, or an evil person who was 
never punished for his unjust deeds. If nothing happens to a 
person after death, and if death is indeed the final chapter of our 
lives, then each person mentioned above would merely lie in a 
grave for eternity. 
In this case, the oppressors and wrong-doers, in fact, would 
emerge victorious because death would protect them from being 
held accountable for their actions, while those who suffered 
unjustly in this life would never be rewarded. However, our sense 
of justice rejects the idea that such an unfair system could have 
been created by Allah, Who is more just than any of His 
creations. Such a corrupt system would encourage people to do as 

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they pleased without fear of retribution. Allah says in the Qur’an:
“Shall We treat those who believe the same as those who are 
corrupt? What has happened to you? How can you believe such a 
thing?” (68: 35-36) 
“Or do those who spread evil think that We shall consider 
them equal to the virtuous believers, both in this world and the 
next? How corrupt is their judgment!” (45: 21) 
Is it rational to believe that Allah can give life to that which is 
dead? Allah says: “What is more difficult to create: you, or the 
heavens that He placed above your heads?” (79: 27) 
“Do they not understand that Allah, He Who created the 
heavens and earth effortlessly, is able to resurrect the dead? 
Indeed, Allah has power over all things.” (46: 33) 
He also says: “Just as We began creation, We shall repeat it 
once again. This is a promise that We have made, and We shall 
certainly carry it out.” (21: 104) 
Others argued that although Allah is the creator of the 
universe, it is impossible to reconstruct something once it has 
been destroyed. Allah refutes this argument, pointing out that it is 
easier to reconstruct and revive something than to create it from 
nothing: “Have We become exhausted after creating the universe 
once? Verily, they are confused about the next act of creation.” 
(50: 15) 
Although the Quraysh considered Muhammad to be a 
truthful man, they had difficulty accepting him as a prophet and 
messenger of Allah. They believed that a mere man could not be 
entrusted with such a lofty office. When Muhammad
proclaimed his Prophethood and Messengership, the Quraysh 
responded by saying: “What kind of Messenger is this that eats 
food and walks through the markets?” (25: 7) 

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Allah describes the confusion of the Quraysh in the next 
verse: “They marvel that a warner has arisen from among them.” 
(50: 2) 
“Ask them: Who then revealed the Book that Moses brought, 
a source of light and guidance for mankind?” (6: 91) 
Numerous parallels are mentioned in the Qur’an in which a 
nation refused to follow a prophet because he was of flesh and 
blood: “You are no more than a man like us.” (14: 10) 
“True, we are men like you, but Allah gives His blessings to 
whomever He pleases.” (14: 11) 
All of Allah’s prophets and messengers, then, were mere 
mortals, and Muhammad was no exception. Allah did not send 
angels as messengers because mortal would not be able to follow 
in the footsteps of a supernatural being. The role of Allah’s 
messengers was not only to communicate Allah’s message to 
mankind, but also to show mortals how to apply this divine 
message in an earthly, human setting. Who could perform such a 
task better than a mortal messenger could? If Allah had sent 
angels as messengers, the polytheists would have been justified in 
asking, “How can we imitate supernatural beings?” This divine 
wisdom is expressed in the following verse as well: “And had we 
sent him an angel, We would have given him the form of man. 
This would have confused them even more.” (6: 9) 
Now, since the polytheists admitted that Ibraheem, Isma’eel 
and Musa (Peace be upon them all), were all prophets as well as 
men, they could no longer challenge Muhammad’s Prophethood 
arguing that he was human. Therefore, they then ridiculed the 
idea that Allah would appoint a once-destitute orphan as His 
prophet. Why would Allah pass over more dignified men of the 
Quraysh or Thaqf tribes? 
“Why was not this Qur’an revealed to someone of great 
importance from either (Makkah or Ta’if)?” (43: 31) 

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Allah’s reply to their question was succinct: “Will they 
determine how to distribute the Mercy of your Lord?” (43: 32) 
The Qur’an, Prophethood, inspiration – all are part of Allah’s 
Mercy, and He alone decides how it should be distributed: “Allah 
knows best who should receive His Message.” (6: 124) 
Unable to question Allah’s right to bless whomever He 
wished with Prophethood, the polytheists now developed a 
different argument to discredit Muhammad . Kings, they 
pointed out, are surrounded by splendour and vast wealth, and 
only the most honourable dignitaries are allowed in their 
presence. Such kings are aided by the wisest advisors, and have 
hundreds of servants, bodyguards, and wives. How was it, they 
asked, that Muhammad , the emissary of Allah, was forced to 
wander about in the market place in order to earn his bread? 
“They say: ‘…Why doesn’t an angel descend from the 
heavens to accompany him while he admonishes us? Or, ‘Why 
hasn’t a great treasure been bestowed upon him, or a garden that 
he can eat from?’ The unjust among them say, ‘You follow none 
but a man who is possessed!” (25: 7-8) 
The polytheists argued that Muhammad , if he were indeed 
a prophet sent by Allah, should resemble a royal dignitary. Where 
were his palaces? His wealth? His royal entourage? He did not 
have even the companionship of a single angel to help him with 
his preaching! 
The Prophet however, saw his mission in quite different 
terms. He was sent to deliver Allah’s message to all people – rich 
and poor, strong and weak, free and enslaved. If he put on the 
airs of a king, he would not be able to reach the majority of his 
audience. The objectives of his mission required him to live as an 
ordinary human being, to show people that Islam was compatible 
with everyday life, and that it was not merely a tool to entertain 
kings, theologians and philosophers. The Qur’an refuted the 

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expectations of the polytheists by using one word to describe his 
status that Muhammad was a Messenger. 
It might seem a little strange to us that the Quraysh would 
turn so viciously on one of their own. What was so unacceptable 
about what Muhammad preached? At the root of all the 
conflicts between Muhammad and the polytheists was the 
concept of monotheism (Tawheed), which the polytheists had 
corrupted into its antithesis, idolatry. At the same time they 
accepted the fact that Allah is One in His person self, attributes 
and actions. The polytheists also agreed with the Prophet on 
the following points: Allah is the sole Creator of the universe, He 
is the Lord and Provider of all living beings, He alone gives and 
takes life, and it is He Who makes independent decisions which 
no one can challenge. 
However, hand in hand with their belief in Allah’s supremacy 
was their belief that certain individuals held special powers 
granted by Allah. These individuals, the polytheists claimed, could 
perform many miraculous feats, such as healing the sick and 
causing barren women to conceive. Some were believed to act as 
intermediaries – when people prayed to them, these beings 
supposedly relayed the prayers to Allah! 
The polytheists, then, strove to please such people who 
supposedly held high-ranking stations close to Allah. By pleasing 
their demigods, they reasoned, one could please Allah. The people 
conceived many ways to please these “friends of Allah.” For 
example, it was a common practice to build shrines over the 
graves of “saints” and “holy men.” People would visit these 
monuments with the belief that rubbing the walls of the shrine, or 
by walking around it several times, they would earn the favour of 
the person in whose honour it had been built. Some even made 
offerings of produce, goods, gold and animal sacrifice. Their 
offerings would be given to the shrine attendants, who would 
then place the objects before the graves or idols. Generally, 

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nothing could be offered directly without the aid of the 
attendants. 
However, animals were presented as offerings in a number of 
ways. Sometimes worshippers would leave the animals free in the 
name of the “holy man” in order to seek his pleasure. There, 
animals would graze ad roam around at will, revered by the 
people. Sometimes they carried the animal to the home of the 
“holy man” and had it slaughtered there. This however, was done 
in the name of the “holy man.” 
The polytheists would also organise a fair once or twice a 
year at shrines dedicated to certain individuals at which people 
gathered and performed the acts of worship and adoration 
mentioned above. Such fairs were often scheduled around the 
death anniversaries of these saints, and people would journey long 
distances to attend these gatherings. 
All these acts of worship and adoration were performed in 
hopes of pleasing the dead “holy men,” and winning their 
intercession. The Pagans would address certain saints saying: “O 
father! Answer my request, and remove such and such hardship.” 
The polytheists believed that the dead people that they prayed to 
could not only hear them, but could also answer their prayers 
with powers given to them by Allah, or by interceding with Allah. 
Such were the practices of the pagans – associating partners 
with Allah by deifying human beings and inanimate objects even 
as they denied His power to resurrect His creation. It was in this 
citadel of polytheism that the Prophet was sent to preach the 
message of the One God, and to teach people of His Oneness. 
Many of the polytheists, however, viewed the message as 
unreasonable and untrue, and they clung to their own flawed 
beliefs about the nature of God. 
“Has he made all of the gods into one god? This is something 
strange!... We have not heard of any religion that has only one 
god. Surely, this is nothing but an innovation!” (38: 5-7) 

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Allah engages in debate with the pagans through verses of 
the Qur’an. The pagans were asked how they could tell whether 
or not a person had been chosen by Allah and actually possessed 
the power of intercession. For example, how could one be sure 
that a person who claimed to be “close” to Allah was telling the 
truth? Essentially, there are only two ways to determine whether 
or not such an individual was telling the truth: by possessing 
knowledge of the unseen, or by having access to a divine book. 
Allah addresses this point in the Qur’an when He asks: 
“Does the unseen appear before them so that they can record it in 
their own books?” (68: 47) 
“If you speak the truth, bring to Me a book revealed before 
this one, or some traces of knowledge to support your claim.”
(46:4) 
And: “Say: Do you have any proof that you can bring before 
Us? No, because you follow nothing but conjecture and your 
words are only lies.” (6:148)
The polytheists admitted that they did not have knowledge of 
the unseen, nor could they produce a divinely inspired book. 
Tradition and the wisdom of their ancestors were their sources of 
truth. The Qur’an quotes them as saying: “We found our fathers 
following a certain religion, and we are following in their 
footsteps.” (43: 23) 
These verses highlight the ignorance and helplessness of the 
polytheists, and Allah makes the matter clear when He says in the 
Qur’an: “Truly, Allah knows, but you know not.” (16: 74) 
Referring to their saints and intercessors, Allah leaves no 
doubt about their status: “Verily, those whom you pray to besides 
Allah are servants like you. So call upon them and let them 
answer, if you speak the truth.” (7: 194) 
Allah challenges those who still insist there are individuals 
with special powers who can answer prayers. In verse after verse, 

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Allah emphasizes the futility of praying to anyone other than 
Him: “Those whom you pray to other than Allah do not even 
possess a Qitmeer [the thin membrane that covers a date stone].” 
(35: 13) 
“If you pray to them, they will not hear you. Moreover, even 
if they did hear you, they could not answer your prayers. Then, on 
the Day of Judgment, they will deny that they asked you to 
worship them. Who can inform you of those things better than 
Allah, He Who knows all things?” (35: 14) 
“Those whom they pray to other than Allah have not created 
a single thing. In fact, they themselves were created. Dead, utterly 
lifeless, they know not when they will be raised up.” (16: 20-21) 
And: “Do they associate partners with Allah that cannot 
create anything, partners that were created themselves? These