for if it had been from anyone other than Allah, contradiction would inevitably have crept into it. Human capacity simply cannot encompass reporting all those matters—many of them dealing with the unseen—issuing so many commands and prohibitions, and yet remaining entirely free of inconsistency. For that reason, no human being apart from a prophet has ever been able to avoid contradiction in such claims.

Now it is a matter of undeniable fact, drawn from the Prophet Muḥammad’s life—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that he was scrupulously truthful and just; never once was he known to have told a lie. It is equally certain that he conveyed his reports with absolute conviction, despite the magnitude and sheer number of those reports, and that he single-handedly called people to what he had brought.

By contrast, anyone seeking worldly sovereignty or leadership—even a just ruler—normally enlists the aid of relatives, friends, and other supporters; he offers immediate incentives such as money or position to win hearts, and he intimidates those who resist him. Muḥammad, however, preached alone while still in Mecca. The Emigrants believed in him, then the Helpers in Medina, and later the people of Bahrain, even though he did not give a single one of them so much as a dirham. Nor did he possess anything with which to overawe them—no sword, nothing at all. Indeed, he remained in Mecca for a dozen or so years while he and the believers were oppressed, having neither wealth to distribute nor a weapon with which to frighten anyone.