Before the advent of the Holy Prophet ﷺ, darkness of ignorance prevailed across the earth. Humanity had descended into savagery. The weak had no place in society, and survival belonged only to the strongest. Arrogance and false pride stiffened people’s necks, and humanity cried under the oppression inflicted by human beings upon one another. The concepts of civility, culture, and moral conduct were unknown. Bad manners and immodesty were falsely labelled as refinement, and savagery replaced human values.
Corrupted reasoning led people to bow before idols made of wood, clay, and stone, expecting them to fulfil their needs. Logic failed them to such an extent that even when dogs urinated upon their idols, they continued to worship them. These idols were bathed ceremoniously with milk while flies swarmed over them, yet people failed to reflect how something incapable of protecting itself could ever be worthy of worship.
Evil flowed through society like blood through veins. Witnessing violence, misery, and oppression, the earth pleaded with God for peace. God sent His most beloved creation to extinguish the fires of hatred, so that His creation might live in peace, oppression might end, and the blazing inferno of cruelty could transform into a garden of compassion.
Life everywhere on earth had become a form of living hell. In Iran and neighbouring regions, monotheism had vanished. Light, fire, rain, the sun, moon, stars, and sky were worshipped. Every tribe had its own gods. Political power and leadership were restricted to the religious elite. Landlords and aristocrats lived in luxury while the masses were forced to bow before them. Rulers claimed divine authority over life and death, and no one dared object. People were conditioned to accept every command of the ruler as the will of God.
Imposing new taxes was a favourite pastime of rulers. Any attempt at protest was punished by death. Kings lived in extreme isolation and security. Even close relatives could not see them without permission. Guards patrolled palaces and streets. Their palaces were vast, yet their bedrooms were deliberately small, ensuring no one else could enter.
Kings wore garments woven with gold and silver. Crowns were adorned with diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. Some crowns weighed up to one hundred kilograms and were suspended invisibly from ceilings so that people believed the king wore them effortlessly. Distance between rulers and people was deliberately maintained to preserve fear and awe.
Wealth accumulated in the hands of a few, while the masses were kept poor intentionally. Gambling clubs and centres of indulgence flourished among the elite. Women of privileged classes were treated as communal property, and education was restricted to the wealthy.
Human rights were unknown. Prisoners were tortured in specially designed chambers. One of the most horrifying punishments involved execution in nine stages, beginning with fingers and toes and ending with beheading. Salt, chillies, vinegar, and lemon juice were poured into wounds. Blinding with heated iron rods was common. Captives were bound and suffocated mercilessly.
In Roman lands, spirits were worshipped without formal rituals. Government officials carried idols to designated places to collect offerings. Society was divided strictly into the privileged and the poor, and only the wealthy could hold office.
Borrowing laws ensured that the poor could never repay loans, while the influential had debts forgiven. Education received no public funding. The wealthy held feasts where guests vomited to eat again, claiming food was for pleasure, not digestion. More than half the population survived by begging, and moral decay was widespread.
They believed in life after death, reward, and punishment, and thus practiced elaborate burial rituals. Kings were entombed with possessions, food, water, servants, and concubines sealed alive in chambers so that they could serve him after resurrection.
In India, millions of deities were worshipped. Only Brahmins could study sacred texts. Lower castes could only listen. Women held no social status, and superstition replaced faith. Widows were forbidden to remarry and were expected to burn themselves alive with their deceased husbands. The lowest castes were punished simply for touching wells, while Brahmins enjoyed immunity even for murder.
Statues and images of explicit acts were worshipped as gods.
Before the Holy Prophet ﷺ, Arabia too was engulfed in moral chaos. Immodesty was celebrated. Women were treated as property and sources of income. Daughters were buried alive in the name of honour. Widows could be claimed by male relatives. Human life held no value. Robbery, murder, slavery, and tribal violence were common. Weakness itself was a crime.
Literacy was rare, and idleness was considered honourable.
All divine scriptures share one truth: every prophet called humanity toward monotheism, and every prophet affirmed the message of those before him. Every prophet foretold the coming of a final guide. One hundred and twenty four thousand prophets upheld this mission before Mohammad ﷺ, upon whom God revealed His final Word.
God Himself praised His truthful and trustworthy Prophet Mohammad ﷺ.
Mohammad ﷺ declared, “I am not bringing a new message. I am repeating the same truth delivered by my brother prophets. God is One. He has no partner. He is the Best of creators. I testify to all His messengers, and there is none worthy of worship except Him.”