“And when they embark on a ship, they invoke Allah, making their faith pure for Him only:
but when He brings them safely to land, behold, they give a share of their worship to
others.” [Soorah Ankabauut: Verse 65]
And whenever the Prophet Muhammad (r) would warn them about the Day of Judgment
they would deny all of the signs, proofs and evidences that the Day is in fact coming and
they would say:
“When we are dead and have become dust (shall we be resurrected?) That is a far re-
turn.” [Soorah Qaf: Verse 3]Second: The Fanatical Adherence of the Pagan Arabs to the Cultural Heritage of their
Ancestors
It was the practice of these idolaters to revere the customs of their forefathers doing. In
fact it was the most important rule of their society and whoever hesitated about or rejected
part of their culture was considered to have dishonored the ancestors As a result the biggest
obstacle to the message of monotheism was ancestor worship in the form of blindly and
unquestioningly following the customs and practices.
The pre-Islamic Arabs, when they were called to the Book that Allah had revealed and to
the truth that the Prophet Muhammed (r) came with, they were stubborn and obstinate in
their refusal and said: “Enough for us is that which we found our fathers following”!
[Qur'an: Al-Ma’idah: Aayah 104]
They also said: “Nay! We shall follow what we found our fathers following.” [Qur'an Al-
Baqarah: Aayah 170]
They only resorted to this argument because they had no other excuse. Their argument
was not credible nor was it based upon sound reasoning nor did they have proof from any
book and it is for this reason that Allah said about them:
“Yet of mankind is he who disputes about Allah without knowledge or guidance or a book
giving light! And when it is said to them: “Follow that which Allah sent down”, they say:
“Nay, we shall follow that which we found our fathers following.” [Qur'an: Luqman, Aayah
20-21]
And in general this was how every nation of people rejected the Prophets and Messengers
sent to them by Allah even though the message they were sent with was full of light and
guidance. Allah documented in His Book what the unbelieving Arabs said as well as what all
unbelievers say:
“Or have we given them any Book before this (the Qur’an) to which they are holding
fast? Nay! They say: “We found our fathers following a certain way and religion, and we
guide ourselves by their footsteps.” And similarly, We sent not a warner before you (O
Muhammed) to any town (people) but the luxurious ones among them said: “We found
our fathers following a certain way and religion, and we will indeed follow their foot-