Muhammad ibn Abdullah: Difference between revisions

He began preaching as a prophet in Mecca, warning of a day of judgement when all humans who have rejected his claims of prophethood would burn for eternity in Hell (جهنم ''[[Jahannam]]'').<ref name="EncWorldHistory">''Encyclopedia of World History'' (1998), p. 452</ref> Even during the early days of his self-proclaimed prophethood he was often accused by the Meccans of imperfectly [[Parallelism Between the Qur'an and Judeo-Christian Scriptures|plagiarising]] the "ancients' fictitious tales."<ref>"''Such things have been promised to us and to our fathers before! they are nothing but tales of the ancients!''" - {{Quran|23|83}}</ref> This accusation was often coupled with remarks stemming from Muhammad's background as an illiterate man who had come into contact with followers of the [[Abrahamic Religions|Abrahamic faiths]] before his proclamation of prophethood (e.g. Zaid bin 'Amr bin Nufail).<ref>"''....Allah's Apostle said that he met Zaid bin 'Amr Nufail at a place near Baldah and this had happened before Allah's Apostle received the Divine Inspiration....''" - {{Bukhari|7|67|407}}</ref> The elites in Mecca were left unimpressed by what was preached. Eventually, Muhammad delivered verses that condemned idol worship and the Meccan forefathers who engaged in polytheism.<ref>F. E. Peters (1994), p.169</ref> Muhammad's opposition in Mecca came as a reaction to his antagonism of 'idolaters'. As Muhammad's followers remained few in numbers, he revealed verses that pleased his pagan contemporaries.<ref name=":2">Then God sent down the revelation. 'By the star when it sets! Your companion has not erred or gone astray, and does not speak from mere fancy…' [Q.53:1] When he reached God's words, "Have you seen al-Lāt and al-'Uzzā and Manāt, the third, the other?' [Q.53:19-20] Satan cast upon his tongue, because of what he had pondered in himself and longed to bring to his people, 'These are the high-flying cranes and their intercession is to be hoped for.'