Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 86
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 86 fulfilment of that part of the prophecy, which related to the Holy Prophet, and the terrible chastisement that was imposed upon his enemies. The progeny of those who had predicted that his movement would peter out automatically all became the devoted follo wers of the Holy Prophet, and thus set their seal to the truth that the only one, out of not merely Quraish but all the tribes of Arabia, whose progeny has survived and flourished through the ages is Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, on whom be peace. Quraish were a prey to great agitation and did not know how to deal with the situation. In this state of uncertainty, Waleed bin Mughirah, Aas bin Wail and Umayya bin Khalf, having agreed upon a plan, approached the Holy Prophet and said to him, ‘Our diffe rences are widening and the strain between us is increasing. Is there no way of arriving at a settlement?’ He inquired, ‘Have you anything in mind?’ They responded with, ‘Let us adopt a common mode of worship. You should worship our idols along with God, a nd we shall worship God along with our idols. One benefit that might result from this accord is that the truth and righteousness of one side will affect the other side also. ’ The Holy Prophet smiled and observed, ‘Your plan is utterly unacceptable. Believi ng in the Unity of God, how can I worship your idols also; and how can you, while worshipping your idols, worship the One True God also? These inconsistencies cannot be reconciled together. ’ A few days later, the Holy Prophet received the revelation (109:2 - 7): Proclaim: Hearken ye who disbelieve! I cannot worship those that you worship, nor can you worshipping them, worship the One True God. Thus it is not possible that I