Accusations against the Prophet ﷺ are proofs of Prophethood

This is a rule for proving prophethood from the accusations of the polytheists that are mentioned in the Qur’an against the Prophet (peace & blessings be upon him.)

If we look at the accusations of the polytheists against the Prophet (peace & blessings be upon him) we find that they are as follows:

1. Accusing him of being a magician (because he performed miracles, otherwise they would not have accused him of magic).

2. Accusing him of being a soothsayer (because he informed of the unseen, notably the famous incident of the defeat of the Romans).

3. Accusing him of being taught by someone else, pointing to a non-Arab young boy and claiming that he learned from him;

   ﴿ۗ لِّسَانُ ٱلَّذِى يُلْحِدُونَ إِلَيْهِ أَعْجَمِىٌّ وَهَـٰذَا لِسَانٌ عَرَبِىٌّ مُّبِينٌ ﴾

   The tongue of the one they refer to is foreign, and this [recitation, i.e., Qur’ān] is [in] a clear Arabic language.

   — Sūrat-Al-Naḥl, verse 103

   and that is because the knowledge he brought was not known among the Arabs.

4. Accusing him of being a poet (because he came with words that are of ultimate eloquence, and the closest thing to it that they knew were the words of the poets who were the most eloquent of the Arabs).

5. Accusing him of being insane (because he angered his own people by confronting them, putting his entire life in danger).

Proof of prophethood from this information is clear to every intelligent person, because mastering all the previously mentioned subjects requires being able to read and write, and the Prophet (peace & blessings be upon him) was illiterate. To excel in just one of these requires a lifetime of learning and devoting oneself to it. But to excel in each one of these at the same time, along with the effort to conceal that you are learning these skills, is an extremely difficult matter!

The Arabs challenged the Qur’an, and among them were soothsayers, magicians and poets, who could learn the sciences of the People of the Book from their reciters and writers, but they were unable to do so. And the last accusation is incompatible with the other accusations because mastering one of those, let alone all of them, requires exceptional intelligence.

When the Prophet (peace & blessings be upon him) started calling people to Islam he was 40 years old and no state or power supported him, and he did not establish a small state in Medina until he was over 53 years old, and it was threatened by great dangers.

Add to this the fact that he came with a great law that organizes life in all matters, small and big. And the rational arguments mentioned in the Qur’an against those who deny the resurrection and worship idols. And the failure of the scholars of the People of the Book to undermine people’s trust in him. And the successive military successes he achieved, such that the Arabs eventually submitted to him, along with what is known of his asceticism, honesty, generosity and good character in general. He obliged himself and his companions to heavy acts of worship and abandoned evils and pleasures that many Arabs had become accustomed to, such as alcohol and adultery. Despite all this, he did not claim to be a son of God or to be divine, but rather said, “I am only a servant and a messenger.”

To those who believe in a Creator like the Jews, the Christians, and the Deists: In your view, is it appropriate in the wisdom of God Almighty to grant a liar all these talents and not even expose him from close by, but rather support him against his enemies and support his followers over the two largest kingdoms in the region, and immortalize the names of his companions and wives in a way that was not achieved by the companions of Christ, and preserve his words in a way that the words of Christ were not, and allow him to be a means of spreading the virtues of the prophets and their morals and their conduct among the pagan nations what was not achieved by any prophet of the children of Israel nor by others, and allow him to be a means of the reform of people and the establishment of nations according to his law which all philosophers and kings in ancient and modern history were unable to do.

He remembered Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on his side, and Allah allowed him to deliver the greatest words of praise and supplication to Him, such that if you compare the Prophet’s supplications and remembrance to the Psalms of David and the supplications of the prophets in the Holy Book, the superiority of the Prophet’s supplications will become clear.

May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad and praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.