In answer to the video "Paul Won Converts Through Peaceful Preaching; Muhammad Used Bribes and Threats (PvM 17)"
The Quran relates how the prophet's opponents among the pagans and the People of the Book did everything to make him compromise his revealed principles with theirs, forge verses or deliberately corrupt them but the message was divinely protected from the interference of the evil ones -men and jinn- from its descent from heaven all the way to its uttering by the prophet who was repeatedly warned 2:145,10:37,42:15 and never allowed to yield one bit to them despite the hardships he and his followers suffered. Like the prophets of old, who despite the pressure to alter the divine messages and make them more appealing he answered
2:120,10:15,13:37,17:75,68:9,69:44-7,40:66"Say: I am forbidden to serve those whom you call upon besides Allah when clear arguments have come to me from my Lord, and I am commanded that I should submit to the Lord of the worlds".As reflected is sura qalam, which is among the earliest Meccan suras, pressure was already being imposed on the prophet at the onset of his mission to change and compromise his message. It is to be noted, when the Noble Book unapologeticaly warns its messenger in the context of temptation to yield to his opponents, these frequently seen conditional statements do not mean that the prophet was actually tempted in doing so. There are many implicit meanings to these warnings, including that regarding the obligation to abide by the divine law/sharia, there is no difference between a prophet and a regular believer.
The second thing is that, seeing that the prophet is warned, how much more should they be careful of their responsibilities in upholding the principles of this revelation. And finally, seeing and hearing that the messenger is in no position to change anything in Allah's ordinances, the enemies should know that it would be fruitless to even think of approaching him with such objective.
When the prophet Micaiah the son of Imlah was under the same kind of pressure, he answered, knowing the dangerous repercussions of refusing to yield to the rejecters
1Kings22:14"As the Lord lives, for what the Lord will say to me, that will I speak".The prophet Isaiah was equally warned not to yield to the disbelievers' requests Isa8:11 who, unhappy with his strong warnings and admonitions, would openly demand that he should forsake the straight path, the true God and give them false prophecies
Isa30:10-11"You shall not prophesy for us true things. Speak to us with smooth talk; prophesy mockery".
The prophet's opponents practiced deception upon him, and tempted him with greed, held out threats, and raised a storm of false propaganda against him, and persecuted him and applied economic pressure and social boycott against him. Yet the prophet did not compromise an iota of what was revealed to him, even in the direst Meccan period. Although he did experience fear at the consequences, never did he withhold a word that needed to be uttered in the face of his opponents, so as to soften their stance. Even when his uncle and protector Abu Talib was pressured by a Meccan delegation to withdraw his tribal protection of Muhammad and the Muslims, he firmly replied:
"0 my uncle, if they placed the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand to cause me to renounce my task, verily I would not desist therefrom until Allah made manifest His cause or I perished in the attempt".
The prophet then turned to depart until Abu Talib called him back
"Say whatever you please; for by the Lord I shall not desert you ever".
It is to be stressed that the prophet took this stance when his uncle, his last resort, seemed on the verge of letting him down. This attitude, besides the established reputation he had as a man of great integrity by his friends and foes, before and after the revelation, confirm the testimony of God Himself about His chosen one
68:4"And indeed, you are of a great moral character".
The Quran also presents situations where the prophet is showing fear in communicating certain revelations to his people 5:67,33:37 fearing their reaction, judgements or tauntings but the Quran would compel him to keep transmitting what he is receiving, not to ever
11:12"give up part of what is revealed to you"
showing how he wasnt acting according to his whims
2:120"If you (Muhammad) give in to their whims and desires despite the knowledge that has reached you, you will have no protector or helper against Allah".
In short, they did all that could be done to defeat his resolve. But just as he repeatedly, from the onset of his mission, rejected any compromise in religion, even less with the basic concept of monotheism 10:104. Since the earliest Meccan verses, he was admonished to distance himself from all rijz/filth 74:5. The mufassirun have included all kind of spiritual evils under that term, idolatry, sinfulness, impurity etc. The wording here does imply a previous tendency or involvement in those evils. The wording here does not imply a previous tendency or involvement in those evils. It assumes a scenario so as to enforce the point that everyone is liable to punishment for transgression
10:106"And do not invoke besides Allah that which neither benefits you nor harms you, for if you did, then indeed you would be of the wrongdoers".
The conditional form of the second part of the verse shows that the premise is a warning, not an accusation.
There are many such statements where the prophet is urged to stay away from someone or something that is against the truth revealed to him 26:113,28-86-8 or to behave in a certain way that is upright
33:1"O Prophet, fear Allah and do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites. Indeed, Allah is ever Knowing and Wise. And follow that which is revealed to you from your Lord. Indeed Allah is ever, with what you do, Acquainted".
Their hopes of finding common ground between Islam and their ancestral beliefs which they showed they werent truly attached to and were ready to compromise so long as their worldly interests were preserved, was definitely shattered with the very first word of sura kafirun
"Say: O kafirun".
That simple word "qul/say" unambiguously showed them that what the prophet was presenting, his answer to their offers, wasnt his that he would be in a position to negotiate; a third party was sending a message through him and, contrary to them, was so firm in his position that a forceful announcement of dissociation had to be made. That opening word reveals another important point, the sending authority wants to make a strong, unforgiving statement and is pushing the messenger to communicate it despite his often described soft character, gentleness and even sometimes reluctance to transmit a particular message, as described in the Quran.
The second verse elaborates
109:2"I do not serve that which you serve".
It follows by refuting any possibility of amalgamating Islam's monotheism with the polytheism of its addressees
"Nor will you worship that which I worship".
The next verse increases the intensity of the declaration of acquittal as it shows that the prophet never even considered worshiping their idols before his prophetic call so how could they imagine he would make any compromise with them now that he has received the Quran
"Nor did I worshiped that which you worshipped".
This is thus the monotheistic pattern of the prophet, his constancy that began before his call. He had dissociated himself from all practices linked to polytheism, and was wandering in search of guidance as to how to properly worship the One Creator.
Muhammad was always troubled by witnessing the bestial behavior, the families who viewed a firstborn daughter as a disgrace and would burry her alive among other savage practices and the polytheism of the idol worshipers. The Quran pictures an intense scene on the day of Resurrection, where the parents responsible of such horrendous act would be so contemptible in God's sight that they would not be addressed regarding the killing of their infant. So undeserving are they of being directly spoken to that God will turn to the victim, the one without a voice in this world and even if she had one would not be heard, and ask her if there exists any minutest fault for which she might have deserved to be murdered in that way 81:8-9. In their savagery, short mindedness and lack of God-consciousness they would sometimes not even spare their sons, for fear of poverty and lack of sustenance 6:151. It is to be noted that this abhorrent practice has perdured throughout time, and in a more widespread fashion in the form of abortion, most often for the same kinds of reasons. Fear of being able to sustain a child, in any aspect, can never be a reason for taking away his right to live 17:31. Sustenance at its source, does not reach anyone but by God's leave.
The temptations of Mecca had no power over the disciplined soul of Muhammad whose prime concern was contemplation. He did not like to frequent the Meccan social gatherings and activities. Sometimes when overcome by the pain of such sights, he would retire for meditation in a small cave known as Hira on the Mountain of Nur two miles from Mecca, he would fast and spend long hours in contemplation far from vice, immorality and idol worship. The cave is an extremely isolated small crevasse high in a mountain which even those passing very near to it, if they ever ventured at that desolate, rocky and hardly accessible place, would not notice. Only those who have been there can understand its remoteness and isolation. It is as if the prophet was drawn to this place, suitable for a spiritual retreat.
Muhammad was taking a different direction than his people, advancing on his path of evolution and spiritual perfection, although being totally unaware of the requirements of the true faith, solely relying on his innate moral uprightness with which every human being is born and which compelled him at most to be repulsed by the ungodly habits and rituals around him and at least to never participate in their practices. For example he is said to have been keen to avoid the idols placed at Safa and Marwah while making runs between those places.
The report by abd al Mundhir, a known falsifier and fabricator of traditions unanimously rejected as unreliable stating the prophet once sacrificed an offering to an idol prior to his prophethood has been discarded by all hadith scholars.
Such was the situation of the hanif remnants among the Arabs, those that tried maintaining the legacy of Ibrahim, retiring away from their community, to the desert, a cave or against the walls of the very house built by their forefathers Ibrahim and Ismail whom they constantly remembered, searching and wondering about the original and complete manner in which they should worship the Almighty but that was now almost entirely lost and forgotten.
The ingrained guidance which Allah has equipped all mankind with, although allowing the possibility of avoiding the great moral harms and reasonably coming to believe in the most basic tenets of correct faith (monotheism and herefafter), it cannot explain the complete and exact requirements of the Creator whom the upright person is convinced of. Despite his awareness in those fundamental principles, the person therefore remains lost and ineffective in his search for an explicit guidance to know his obligations, how he should discharge them, how he should direct all possible aspects of his life in total subservience to God. Such person remains wandering in perplexity in search of the truth until he is shown the ultimate and precise manner in which his Creator is to be served
12:3,42:52,93:6-7"Did He not find you an orphan and gave you shelter? And found you lost and guided you?".
It is important to note here it doesnt speak of being lost from the straight path. One can be on the straight path all the while yearning and unsuccessfully looking for the best and ultimate way to progress on it, until it is shown explicitly. The difference between a prophet and philosopher is that the former, after seclusion and deep insight gets the truth and wisdom from God whereas the latter arrives to a glimpse of it or sometimes falls short of it by himself. Consequently, we find that the books of ancient philosophers, and of those that developed their theories after them, could not stand the test of subsequent criticism, resulting either in exposing flaws or entirely discrediting their lines of thought. As to the branch of philosophy that claims to investigate the realm of metaphysics through rational thought, the Quran categorically denies these attempts since it states that the concepts of God, Hereafter and revelation are parts of the knowledge of the unseen/ghayb, meaning beyond the reach of human perception. That knowledge is only imparted through revelation and thus all true metaphysical endeavors depend on it. Although the Quran continuously encourages humanity to inquire into and reflect upon the visible world to acquire knowledge, and understand through it the rational need for the resurrection, judgement and hereafter, in the case of knowledge of the unseen, it aims to guide the individuals during that process
96:4-5"He taught mankind that which they did not know".
Any philosophy that is not guided is in great error when dealing with the metaphysical realm, a realm transcending our sense-experience, making its direct intuition or experience impossible.
That condition the prophet was in, of seclusion and desperate seeking of the truth, as well as God's remedies to his concerns, inner questions and difficulties, is captured in sura duha and sharh. So, just as God, in answer to Ibrahim and Ismail's prayers, showed them the manner in which they and those after them should engage in worshipping Him 2:124-131, as was done to Adam who was taught the manner in which to invoke God and seek forgiveness 2:37,7:23,20:122 God showed the true rituals to Muhammad in answer to his spiritual quest, restoring them to their true form and purpose after they had been disfigured with time. There is a lesson of humility, for a servant to reverently ask his master for the best way to please him, as Ibrahim asked his Lord, and to not be self-conceited in thinking that one knows best how to outwardly behave when addressing the Lord of creation just as one wouldnt disrespect the basic conduct to have when facing a mere worldly ruler. The form of a ritual is just as important as the sincerity in its execution.
In the musnad we read of a neighbor overhearing a conversation that occurred between the prophet, prior to his call, and Khadija at their home
"wallaahu laa a'budu allaat wal uzza walaahu laa a'budu abadan""I dont worship al-laat and al-uzza and i will never worship them".
This could have only happened when they had just been married. Had the prophet been a worshipper of the idols prior to his call or during his marriage for some time, he would have had to provide some explanation for his sudden change of attitude, yet we read Khadija respecting his position without showing any sign of surprise
"leave that al-laat, leave that al-uzz".
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