Allah tells us about His servant, Messenger and close Friend, the leader of the monotheists and the father of all subsequent Prophets, from whom Quraysh were descended and claimed to have taken their religion. He disowned his father's and his people's worship of idols and said:
("Verily, I am innocent of what you worship, except Him Who created me; and verily, He will guide me." And he made it a Word lasting among his offspring,) The Word means the worship of Allah Alone with no partner or associate, and the denunciation of all gods apart from Him, i.e., La ilaha illallah. He left this word as an example to be followed by those of his progeny who were guided by Allah.
Superiority is not based upon wealth and property This is the second reply to the infidels of Makkah for their question why prophethood was not bestowed upon some very rich and wealthy person of Makkah or Ta'if? The gist of the answer is that some qualities and abilities are undoubtedly necessary for choosing someone as a prophet. But abundance of riches and wealth cannot be taken as the basis of this choice. Wealth and property are so worthless in Allah's view that if there was no apprehension of all the people becoming disbelievers, He will have showered gold and silver upon all the infidels. The Holy Prophet ﷺ has stated, in a hadith reported by Tirmidhi,
When the Prophet Muhammad appeared in Makkah, he seemed to the people to be an ordinary man. They opined that had God wanted to send His representative to them for their guidance, He would have selected some great renowned personality from the central townships of Arabia such as Makkah or Taif. But, this showed a narrowness in their outlook. Man is able to look simply at the present, while far-sightedness was required to understand the greatness of the Prophet Muhammad. Since the people did not possess such an outlook, they failed to understand the greatness of the Prophet Muhammad. The reason for the Prophet Muhammad being thought of as a small man was that people did not see any material pomp and show surrounding him. But these material things have no importance in the eyes of God. The fact is, these things are so unimportant in the eyes of God that, if He wishes, He may bless people with heaps of gold and silver. But God did not do this, as people’s attention would have been diverted to riches and they would not have been able to proceed to find the truth.
Uthmani text of the Madinah mushaf (King Fahd Complex). Translation: Saheeh International. Tafsir via Quran.com.
