Journey

Vision of Eternity  
The revelation had come, the mission and the inspiration. But what was it leading to? It was a miracle, but not in the sense of a reversing of Nature: Al Mustafa's vision was linked with Eternity, but he was no soothsayer foretelling passing events; the mysteries of knowledge  were being opened out, but his message was no mere esoteric doctrine, to be grasped by a few in contemplation, fleeing from action; nor was it the practice of single or social monasticism, undisturbed by the whims or passions of life. He was asked to stand forth, to preach, to declare the One Universal God, the Gracious, the Merciful, and to lead men to the Right and forbid the Wrong.

True Power & Wealth 
The wrong? -- The selfish pride of birth, the massing of power and wealth in the hands of a few, the slaughter of female infants, the orgies of gambling and drunkenness, the frauds of temples and idols and priests, the feuds and arrogance of tribes and races, the separation of Sacred and Profane, as if the unity of All Life and All Truth did not flow from the unity of God, the Most High.

Spiritual Growth  
He was loyal to his family, but could he support their monopoly of power? -- To his tribe, but were the Quraysh the only creatures of God? To the temple of Mecca, but could he wink at Lat and 'Uzza, and the other monsters, whose worship killed the spiritual growth of Man? -- To the earlier Revelations, but could he hold with the superstitions and falsehoods, the dogmas and creeds which went against reason and nature, and the inner light which was now fanned into flame by the Will of God? 

Shaking the Foundations  
And so his very virtues an loyalties pointed to offense and conflict, mockery and misrepresentation, hatred and persecution, threats, tortures, and exile for him and his, and martyrdoms, wars, revolutions, and the shaking of the foundations of history and the social order. But Islam meant the willing submission of his will to God, the active attainment of Peace through Conflict.

The Agony of Submission  
And he gave that submission, not without effort, even as Moses did before him, and Jesus in the agony of the garden of Gethsemane.