Note: to read part 1 of this article click here.

Yet despite all this, Allah did not abandon him (SAW), He did not allow them to overcome him, instead He protected him, ultimately giving him ascendancy so that he could fully convey the message of his Lord.

 

The Legal Law, throughout its period of revelation, demarcated those who followed it from those who did not; it framed clearly defined criteria differentiating it from the innovations of others, and it did all this in an amazing way - it did so by establishing a clear relationship between its laws and the original religion of the Arabs, the religion of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and the other Prophets sent to them, this so that the elders could feel some sense of familiarity with it. Allah, Most High, says,

The Messenger of Allah (SAW) persisted in his call and a few individuals responded to it, all the while concealing their faith for fear of the disbelievers. This was at the time when the disbelievers were oppressing the Muslims. When it was discovered that a particular individual had become a Muslim, they behaved harshly towards him, opposed him, and harmed him at every opportunity. Some of these Muslims sought protection from their tribes, others migrated for the sake of Allah, and others had no option but to face torture and death at the hands of the enemy. They endured this situation patiently, hoping for reward from their Lord, until Allah revealed leeway allowing them to outwardly utter words of disbelief while the heart still believed. In this way they were seen to be conforming and hence were saved from torture.

 

This strangeness is also clear.

 

Islam continued on the increase, its path became firm and manifest during the lifetime of the Prophet (SAW) and the majority of the epoch of the Companions.

 

But then traces of abandoning the Sunnah appeared and people developed a propensity towards misguided innovations such as that of the Qadariyyah and the Khawarij. This latter group were the ones talked about in the hadith, “They would kill the Muslims and leave the idolaters. They will recite the Qur’an, yet it will not go beyond their throats,”[3] meaning that they will not acquire an understanding of the Qur’an, they would just take to its literal sense.

 

All of this occurred towards the end of the generation of the Companions. Sects started multiplying, just as was promised by the Prophet (SAW) with his words, “The Jews split into seventy one sects and the Christians similarly. My nation shall split into seventy three sects.”

 

In another hadith,

The meaning of this hadith is wider than the meaning of the previous one, for the previous hadith deals with the People of Innovation in the view of the majority of the People of Knowledge; whereas this one deals with any form of opposition to the Legal Law.