No task more delicate and baffling and no charge more onerous and gigantic than that
entrusted to Muhammed the Messenger of God (r), was imposed on any man since birth of
man on this planet. And never has a man accomplished such a huge and lasting revolution
as the Last Prophet (r) for he has guided millions of men of many nationalities to the path
of justice, truth and virtue by putting a new life in the humanity at the throes of death in the
sixth century. It was the greatest marvel of human history, the greatest miracle the world
has ever witnessed. The well-known French poet and litterateur, Lamartine, bears witness
to the grand accomplishment of the Prophet (r) Muhammed in a language of incomparable
elegance and facility.
"Never has a man set for himself, voluntarily or involuntarily, a more sublime aim, since
this aim was superhuman; to subvert superstitions which had been interposed between
man and his Creator, to render God unto men end men unto God; to restore the rational
and sacred idea of divinity amidst the chaos of the material and disfigured gods of idolatry,
then existing. Never has a man undertaken a work so far beyond human power with so
feeble means, for he had in the conception as well as in the execution of such a great design
no other instrument than himself, and no other aid, except a handful of men living in a
corner of the desert."
Lamartine goes on further to enumerate the achievements of the Great Prophet (r):
"...And more than that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs
and the souls. On the basis of a Book, every letter of which has become Law, he created a
spiritual nationality which blended together peoples of every tongue and of every race. He
has left us as the indelible characteristic of this Muslim nationality, the hatred of false gods
and the passion for the One and Immaterial God. This avenging patriotism against the prof-
anation of Heaven formed the virtue of the followers of Muhammed; the conquest of one-
third of the earth to his dogma was his miracle; or rather it was not the miracle of a man but
that of reason. The idea of the Unity of God, proclaimed amidst the exhaustion of fabulous
theogonies, was in itself such a miracle that upon its utterance from his lips it destroyed all
the ancient temples of idols and set on fire one-third of the world."
This universal and enduring revolution whose objective was rejuvenation of humanity or
rebuilding of the world anew, demanded a new Prophethood surpassing the Messengership
of the old, for the new Prophet (r) had to hold aloft the banner of Divine guidance and
righteousness for all times to come. God has Himself explained the reason for it:
"Those who disbelieve among the People of the Scripture and the idolaters could not have
left off (erring) till the clear proof came unto them."
"A Messenger from Allah, reading purified pages containing correct scriptures."
[Qur'aan 98:1-3]