The Quran increasingly spoke of God, not only as the Creator, but as the Lord qf the Worlds (Quran, 1:2) and as the Lord of all people, King of all people, God of all people (Quran, 114:1-3). And God Himself described the Quran as the Criterion, that is, a new scripture that was to be the religious standard, the ethical measure by which humankind was to live and be guided. God said, moreover, that He sent it down upon His servant, Muhammad $, whom He commissioned to be a warner-not merely for the Arabs or the seventh century-but for [all] the worlds (Quran, 25:1). The Quran had begun to openly speak of itself as a reminder to the worlds (Quran, 38:87, 68:52), alerting humanity that you shall assuredly know its tidings after a time (Quran, 38:88). The Qurans universal address preceded the Abyssinian migration, which indicates that to live Islams way oflife free of an Arabian pagan milieu was a main objective of this tenyear episode, and to find peaceful coexistence with a Christian society was another. For in such an environment Muslims could feel secure in adhering to the principles of their religion and worship, albeit with religious differences between them and their neighbors. Muslims also would present a vibrant model oflslams creed and morality in their new context. The People of the Book would learn firsthand that the essence of Islam was but a continuation of the message ofthe prophets of old-Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (peace be upon them)-with wbom they were already familiar. Tbis familiarization, in fact, occurred in the course of the Abyssinian migration.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 07:16:36 +0000
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