Why the Messengers Are Opposed

The way that leaders foolishly try to set traps for a Messenger is based on the fact that Allah's Messengers and believers who support them spoil the immoral and perverted order established by unbelievers. Messengers summon their people to serve only Allah. When they begin to do so, the Qur'anic understanding of justice and morality begin to take hold in society. The resulting honesty, sincerity, self-sacrifice, industriousness, and similar moral qualities will upset those who are corrupt and unjust, as well as those who exploit others to gain rank and position. It will also make those who have adopted a shameless, immoral lifestyle and who transgress the limits that Allah has set uncomfortable.

Those who control others by making them dependent upon their wealth, rank, and position fear that they will lose the people's obedience, for now they will listen only to the Messenger, submit themselves to Allah, and act according to the Qur'anic teachings and norms. These are the genuine people who follow the Qur'anic teachings of what is lawful and unlawful. In other words, they do not steal or engage in corruption, defend the poor and the orphaned. Therefore, they ignore their unbelieving society's traditional norms. The message of Prophets and believers thus impinge on unbelievers' interests.

Something else that upsets the society's leaders is that, despite their power, respectability, and authority, a person who is not one of them has been accepted and is now exposing their own falsehoods and those of their system by his religious and moral way of life. As we stated earlier, since they evaluate matters very foolishly and think in a very distorted manner these leaders cannot tolerate even the idea that a Messenger could get the better of them.

Given that Allah's Messengers are the wisest and morally the purest individuals in the world, the leading unbelievers are jealous of them and try to embarrass them in the eyes of society. But it is in fact only themselves who end up embarrassed. For example, the Meccan unbelievers leveled many false accusations against our Prophet (saas), hoping that their mocking words and insults would debase one so high in Allah's Sight in the believers' eyes. But they failed, for such attempts only increased the believers' zeal and strengthened their unity. Allah describes some of the slanders uttered by these people:

Another reason why the great majority of leaders react against a Messenger is because according to their own distorted value judgments they are jealous of someone who is not a member of the elite assuming a leadership position and evaluate matters in the light of their own unpleasant logic.

These Leaders Cannot Appreciate What Messengers Are

The major characteristic of unbelievers, especially of their leaders, is that they cannot evaluate a situation according to the dictates of their conscience. This is described in detail in the Qur'an. And there is no doubt that this characteristic also applies to the leading unbelievers. One of the clearest indications of this is their inability to understand what a Messenger is: an envoy of Allah sent to direct a society in His way. This is certainly an important responsibility, but the leaders cannot grasp this subtlety and so regard a Messenger as an ordinary individual, the same as themselves. Naturally, they evaluate his message in terms of their own distorted logic and silly traditions and rules, which are not based upon the Qur'an.

One of the strictest rules and traditions concerns a leader's qualifications. As a general rule, one who wants to lead a society must have certain material qualifications: a good lineage or wealth. In other words, he must be a member of a class that regards itself, in its own eyes, as the elite .

Unbelievers interpret a Messenger's message according to this distorted logic. In their unintelligent eyes, "if Allah is to have a Messenger," he must be someone from their group: wealthy or well known. They believe that someone who does not come from their social class cannot be Allah's Messenger and, therefore, cannot be a leader. This foolishness inflicts great losses and suffering on them both in this world and in the hereafter. In the Qur'an this way of thinking is revealed in the account of Saul: 

This superficial and flawed way of thinking is quite widespread among leading unbelievers. This explains why the Makkan elite rejected the Prophet Muhammad's (saas) mission. As revealed in the Qur'an, they turned their faces and asked: "Has the Reminder been sent down to him out of all of us?" (Surah Sâd, 8). This is an explicit example of unbelievers' lack of rationality, and their psychology is described in other verses as follows:

Allah answers this question in the next verse:

Is it, then, they who allocate the mercy of your Lord?... (Surat az-Zukhruf, 32) 

According to the unbelievers' twisted way of thinking, the fact that the Messenger is chosen by Allah is not enough. Their only criterion in their distorted logic is material wealth, and they therefore evaluate the Messenger in its light. According to their distorted logic, such a person must have great material wealth so that he will be obeyed. These foolish expectations on the part of unbelievers are revealed thus in the Qur'an: 

However, believers attach themselves to a Messenger not because of his wealth but because Allah has chosen him. They obey him because of his faith in and closeness to Allah. Unbelievers cannot appreciate this, for they think that people obey the Messengers because of their wealth. So, this is one of the reasons why they attack a Messenger and believers, and initiate a struggle. A striking example revealed by Allah in the Qur'an of the immoral attitude of the elite toward Messengers, and where that immorality and unintelligence leads them can be seen in the struggle between the Prophet Moses (as) and Pharaoh.

The Prophet Moses (as) and Pharaoh

As revealed in the Qur'an, Pharaoh was an oppressor who ruled the Egyptians with his material and military might. He especially oppressed and tortured the Israelites, who were forced to work as slaves in Egypt. Pharaoh's regime is described in the Qur'an as follows: 

Allah sent the Prophet Moses (as) as a Messenger and Prophet to free the Israelites from Pharaoh's cruelty and to lead them to the right path. The Prophet Moses (as) asked Pharaoh for permission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, but Pharaoh refused since that would, in his own foolish eyes, cast a shadow on his power. He was irrational enough to insist on his perversion and claim to be the "Lord of all Egypt." (Surely Allah is beyond that) He ruthlessly oppressed the people and made them agree that his distorted ideas were the only right ones: 

For this reason, Pharaoh could not allow the Prophet Moses (as) to become the Israelites' leader. In his foolish mind all of Egypt belonged to him and he could not imagine that the Prophet Moses (as), who had no material wealth, could be their leader.

Pharaoh was jealous of the Prophet Moses (as) and nursed a deep hatred for him. Displaying his superior wealth, power, and possessions, he foolishly tried to belittle Allah's Messenger with deceptive words. But at the end of the day he was the only one to be humiliated and lost everything in this world and the hereafter. Pharaoh's words are quoted as follows in the Qur'an:

As we see, Pharaoh was so irrational and depraved as to present himself as the "Lord of Egypt." (Surely Allah is beyond that) But the Prophet Moses (as) said that Allah was the "Lord of everything on earth, in the heavens and in between," which of course included Egypt, and this upset Pharaoh. This conversation is related in the Qur'an as follows: 

Pharaoh was hostile to the Prophet Moses (as) because the truths he told threatened his kingdom's twisted order. Pharaoh knew that Allah existed, and said as much: 

This distorted logic of Pharaoh's betrays a general characteristic of those who lead the forces of opposition against Allah's Messengers: their distorted belief in Allah. For this reason, they do not recognize that they owe obedience to His Messengers. When a Messenger tells them that their society's status quo has become corrupt and asks them to give up their dishonest profits and become his followers, these arrogant leaders, who have been spoiled by their blessings, respond with anger and hostility.

In the Qur'an, Allah informs us of their state and states that He will choose His Messengers: