Quran 25:20 · Al-Furqan

The initial addressees of the Quran were those who accepted as their prophets Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Moses and others. Despite this, they refused to accept Muhammad. One of the reasons for this is that people of later ages always devise, of their own accord, legendary accounts of their past prophets with a view to glorifying them. In the light of these stories, the personality of their past prophet assumes an almost magical character. Subsequently, when the contemporary prophet comes before them, he strikes them as being an ordinary human being. In their minds, on the one hand, there is the image of the past prophet who appears to them as a superhuman personality, while on the other hand, there is the present, living prophet who appears to them simply in the form of a human being. In the light of this comparison, they find themselves unable to believe in the present prophet. While accepting the institution of prophethood, they reject the prophet. For the disbelievers, the Prophet and the believers are a source of trial, and for the Prophet and the believers the disbelievers are a source of trial. The trial of those who deny the truth is that they should be able to recognise the latent greatness in the apparently ordinary appearance of the prophet, while for the believers it is that they should not lose patience with the meaningless and provocative utterances of the unbelievers.