Mocking And Slanderous Accusations

As stated earlier, unbelievers do their best to prevent, in their own eyes, believers from conveying Allah's message. Throughout this book, we have listed examples from the Qur'an that reveal the various accusations made against Allah's messengers and devout Muslims. Over the coming pages, we will examine the lies designed to belittle believers, as stated in the following verse: “… you will hear many abusive words from those given the Book before you and from those who associate [others with Me]” (Surah Al 'Imran, 186). We will see that people opposed to Allah and His religion will not succeed by being, in their own eyes, spiteful, hurtful, and contemptuous toward Muslims.

Accused of Insolence

One of the most common wrongful slanders throughout the history against righteous Muslims has been insolence. Every society dislikes this quality, and so the reason for making such a false accusation is always the same: to prevent people from adopting the Qur'an's morality. People naturally despise such individuals and do not want to be associated with or compared to them. Unbelievers, who are well aware of this psychology, want to take advantage of it by, on the basis of their own base mentalities, accusing Muslims of having such qualities.

The fact is, however, that every believer knows that Allah is the Lord of all, and is modest and pleasant-natured in the awareness of that fact. The Prophet Saleh (as) was a messenger who had to face such a wrong and groundless accusation:

[The people of] Thamud denied the warnings. They said: “Are we to follow a human being, one of us? Then we would truly be misguided, quite insane! Has the Reminder been given to him of all of us? No indeed! He is an impudent liar.” [Allah said:] “They will know tomorrow who the impudent liar is.” (Surat al-Qamar, 23-26)

As revealed in these verses, the Prophet Saleh's (as) people could not stand the idea that one of them should be graced by Allah and chosen to be His messenger. For this reason, they met His blessed, faithful, modest, devout, and moral prophet with hatred. When he began to call his people to the righteous path, the Qur'anic morality, and true religion, they slandered him. Such verbal attacks might seem to be a relatively insignificant matter, but believers should remember that those who do it and do not repent of their actions will be given their just return in this world as well as the Hereafter. This is one of Allah's laws, from which no one is exempt. Allah reveals the end of the people of the Prophet Saleh (as):

How terrible were My punishment and warning! We sent a single Blast against them, and they were just like a thatcher’s reeds. (Surat al-Qamar, 30-31)

Accused of Madness

Throughout history, unbelievers have used similar methods to express their opposition and hate toward the messengers of Almighty Allah. The accusations made against the Prophet Joseph (as), Mary (as), and the Companions of our Prophet (saas) regarding their chastity prove that these are classic methods. Another frequent method is to accuse the messengers of madness. Many prophets, including the Prophet Muhammad (saas), were thus accused because of their devotion to Allah and His religion, as stated in the following verses:

Or is it that they do not recognize their messenger and therefore do not acknowledge him? Or do they say: “He is a man possessed,” when he has brought the truth to them? But most of them hate the truth. If the truth were to follow their whims and desires, the heavens and Earth and everyone in them would have been brought to ruin. No indeed! We have given them their Reminder, but they have turned away from it. (Surat al-Mu’minun, 69-71)

This attitude is caused by the conflict of interest that exists between the unbelievers' worldly desires and interests and the truth brought by the messengers. Although the messengers never expected anything in return for what they brought to their people, many of their people nevertheless tried, in their own eyes, to silence or even totally eliminate them, as if they were putting the unbelievers under a great debt. In reality, such undertakings will not alter the unbelievers' fate in the Hereafter. Allah reveals:

YAre you asking them for payment? Your Lord’s payment is better. He is the Best of Providers. You are calling them to a straight path. But those who do not believe in the Hereafter recoil from the path. (Surat al-Mu’minun, 72-74)

History records that unbelievers traditionally accuse Allah’s messengers of madness. All prophets, and after them those believers who conveyed His true message, faced similar accusations. However, in spite of every effort by the unbelievers, Allah reveals in the Qur’an that devout believers have remained on His righteous path. Some of the verses dealing with this accusation are listed below:

Our Prophet Muhammad (saas)

They say: “You, to whom the Reminder has been sent down, are clearly mad.” (Surat al-Hijr, 6)

Those who are unbelievers all but strike you down with their evil looks when they hear the Reminder and say: “He is quite mad.” (Surat al-Qalam, 51)

But then they turned away from him and said: “He is an instructed madman!” (Surat ad-Dukhan, 14)

The Prophet Hud (as)

The ruling circle of those of his people who were unbelievers said: “We consider you a fool and think you are a liar.” He replied: “My people, I am by no means a fool, but rather am a messenger from the Lord of all the worlds.”(Surat al-A‘raf, 66-67)

The Prophet Noah (as)

“He is nothing but a man possessed, so wait a while and see what happens to him.” He said: “My Lord, help me because they are calling me a liar!” (Surat al-Mu’minun, 25-26)

Before them the people of Noah denied the truth. They denied Our servant, saying: “He is madman,” and driving him away with jeers. (Surat al-Qamar, 9)

The Prophet Moses (as)

He [Pharaoh] said: “This messenger, who has been sent to you, is mad.” (Surat ash-Shu‘ara’, 27)

As revealed in the verses above, unbelievers have accused the messengers sent by Allah of madness and/or intellectual deficiency, or of being possessed in order, on the basis of their own base mentalities, to discredit and belittle them. As always, their intention was to reject the true religion so that they could continue to live by their selfish desires and consider themselves to be free and unaccountable to Him.

However, people who accuse the messengers with madness and try to hurt and harm them with their tongues always meet the same fate. Allah reveals what happened to Pharaoh when he accused the Prophet Moses (as) of sorcery and madness:

But he turned away with his forces, exclaiming: “A magician or a madman!” So, We seized him and his armies and hurled them into the sea. He was to blame. (Surat adh-Dhariyat, 39-40)

Accused of Perverting Religion

The Qur'an also reveals that many messengers were accused of perverting religion, which is a terrible slander by unbelievers. Despite the fact that the unbelievers did not actually believe in Allah and the Hereafter, they tried to appear as if they did, in order to deceive people in their own eyes, while asserting that the messengers were, on the basis of their own base mentalities, trying to damage people's beliefs by introducing false practices. The fact is, however, that messengers are immaculate people who preach the moral values of the true faith in the Sight of Allah and eliminate superstition and other such false beliefs. The unbelievers did this with the intent, in their own eyes, of depicting the messengers as untrustworthy people seeking personal gain under the guise of religiosity. But it is clear that none of these slanders, each of which is a blatant lie, could never achieve any success. Pharaoh and his inner circle applied this method to the Prophets Moses (as) and Aaron (as):

They said: “These two magicians desire, by their magic, to expel you from your land and abolish your most excellent way of life, so decide on your scheme and then arrive together in force. He who gains the upper hand today will definitely prosper.” (Surah Ta Ha, 63-64)

Allah reveals in another verse that Pharaoh said the following, despite his irreligious and tyrannical nature:

Pharaoh said: “Let me kill Moses, and let him call upon his Lord! I am afraid that he may change your religion and bring about corruption in the land.” (Surah Ghafir, 26)

It is obvious that Pharaoh was not sincere, but only sought to manipulate the people, because he was the one who had tried to do away with religious moral values, who conspired and schemed, and was tyrannical.

Many messengers besides the Prophet Moses (as) have been subjected to similar lies and slanders. One of these blessed messengers is the Prophet Noah (as). This is revealed as follows in verses:

The ruling circle of his people said: “We see you in flagrant error.” He replied: “My people, I am not in error at all; rather, I am a messenger from the Lord of all the worlds.” (Surat al-A‘raf, 60-61)

Allah reveals in the Qur'an that messengers and devout Muslims were accused by their people with the same lies:

They said: “Saleh, we had great hopes in you before this happened. Do you forbid us to worship what our fathers worshipped? We have grave doubts about what you are calling us to.” (Surah Hud, 62)

Those who did evil used to laugh at those who believed. When they passed by them, they would wink at one another. When they returned to their families, they would make a joke of them. When they saw them, they would say: “Those people are misguided.” (Surat al-Mutaffifin, 29-32)

Surely, only those who turn on Allah’s messengers, deny His existence and the Hereafter, and wrong pure, faithful, honest, and sincere people by slandering them are perverting religion. Allah reveals that they do so because they immerse themselves completely in the worldly life, forget about the Hereafter, and refuse to hear what they are told:

Those who are blind in the world will be blind in the Hereafter and even further off the Path. (Surat al-Isra’, 72)

Accused of Sorcery

One of the most frequent false allegations made against the messengers, regardless of when or where they lived, was sorcery. Allah reveals in one verse that unbelievers made a habit of slandering believers with this lie:

Equally, no messenger came to those before them without their saying: “A magician or a madman!” Did they bequeath this to each other? Indeed, they are an unbridled people. (Surat adh-Dhariyat, 52-53)

Unbelievers just cannot come to terms with the fact that one of their own people should be entrusted with conveying Allah's message to them. Therefore, they resort to lying imagining that people will be afraid of the messengers and thus avoid them. All conscientious and intelligent people who hear the messengers' sincere and wise teachings, as well as witness their impeccable character and sincere devotion to religion, become their followers. Unbelievers aimed, on the basis of their own base mentalities, to portray the believers' strong devotion as something worthless and insignificant. The Qur'an provides examples of such events:

Do people find it so surprising that We should reveal to a man among them: “Warn humanity and give the good news to those who believe, that they are on a sure footing with their Lord.” The unbelievers say: “This is downright magic!” (Surah Yunus, 2)

They are surprised that a warner should come to them from among themselves. The unbelievers say: “This is a lying magician. Has he turned all the deities into One God? That is truly astonishing!” (Surah Sad, 4-5)

Unbelievers accused messengers of being magicians, and went even further to lie that they were possessed. Some of the verses in this regard are the following:

We know how they listen when they listen to you, and when they confer together secretly, and when the wrongdoers say: “You are only following a man who is bewitched!” (Surat al-Isra’, 47)

They said: “You are merely someone bewitched. You sssare nothing but a human being like ourselves. So, produce a sign if you are telling the truth.” (Surat ash-Shu‘ara’, 153-154)

The wrongdoers say: “You are merely following a man who is bewitched.” (Surat al-Furqan, 8)

Allah's response to such people is related as follows:

Look how they make likenesses of you and go astray. They are unable to find their way. (Surat al-Isra’, 48)

See how they make comparative judgments about you. They are misguided and cannot find the way. (Surat al-Furqan, 9)

Words Full of Rage and Mockery

As many instances have shown throughout the course of history, the majority of unbelievers, who bitterly resented Allah's messengers and their followers and envied the material and spiritual wealth and beauty given to them by Allah, uttered the most hurtful and insulting words to believers. Some of these are revealed in the Qur’an:

The ruling circle of those of his people who were unbelievers said: “We do not see you as anything but a human being like ourselves. We do not see anyone following you but the lowest of us, unthinkingly. We do not see you as superior to us. On the contrary, we consider you to be liars.” (Surah Hud, 27)

The aggressive style of Pharaoh's speech to the Prophet Moses (as), a sign of his own base mentality, expresses the unbelievers' rage toward Muslims. It is revealed as follows in verses:

Pharaoh called to his people, saying: “My people, does the kingdom of Egypt not belong to me? Do not all these rivers flow under my control? Do you not then see? Am I not better than this man, who is contemptible and can scarcely make anything clear?” (Surat az-Zukhruf, 51-52)

As revealed in the above verses, Pharaoh uttered hopelessly base words to Allah's messenger. Pharaoh, whose only criteria were material and worldly values, was not intelligent or conscientious enough to realize that human superiority does not depend on material wealth, status, or office. From his words, it can easily be deduced that he classified people according to their respective wealth and social class, and that he was an irreligious man who would even mock people for their physical deficiencies.

Throughout history, unbelievers have lived under the mistaken belief that they could cause Muslims to give themselves over to depression, despair, and sadness by slandering them, as Pharaoh slandered the Prophet Moses (as), and by either insulting them or lying about them. In reality, Muslims respond to even the harshest of such words with patience, knowing that they will be rewarded in the Hereafter. In their ignorance, the unbelievers are actually contributing to the believers’ reward in the Hereafter.

Through this patience, believers continue their education and reach a spiritual maturity worthy of Paradise by persevering in good conduct and nice speech. Their subjection to such unwarranted attacks also indicates their sincerity and strong faith. Just as sincere Muslims before them faced such accusations, they too are tried by Allah as a general rule. Looking at it from this perspective, it is an honor for them to prove their patience in the face of insults, slanderous accusations, and lies.

People like Pharaoh, who trust in their wealth and forget about the Hereafter, cannot see this reality. Like him, most of them only drop their conceit and feel remorse when they realize that death has come. However, remorse at the point of death will not benefit them in the Hereafter. This is why the end of such people should be a lesson for everyone. Every material thing that people have in this world is impermanent and of no use in the Hereafter. The only thing that will last and benefit them is their fear of Allah and their good deeds. Allah reveals the thought-provoking fate of Pharaoh and his inner circle, who were blinded and made conceited by their worldly possessions, and thus insulted and rejected Allah's messenger:

In that way he swayed his people, and they succumbed to him. They were a people of deviators. Then when they had provoked Our wrath, We took revenge on them and drowned every one of them. We made them a thing of the past, an example for later peoples. (Surat az-Zukhruf, 54-56)

As Allah states in the verse, every deed and word against Allah's beloved and befriended servants is a cause of punishment in His Presence. Those who commit such deeds may think that they will get away with it, but Allah is infinitely just. Slanderers and tyrants will be held accountable in the Hereafter for every word they uttered, and will be punished accordingly unless they repent of what they said.

Allah reveals the surprise of cruel people, who uttered despicable words against Muslims in the world, when they face the Hellfire:

They will ask: “How is it that we do not see some men whom we used to count among the worst of people? Did we turn them into figures of fun? Did our eyes disdain to look at them?” All this is certainly true—the bickering of the people of the Fire. (Surah Sad, 62-64)