The rejection

The impact of small, obscure events in History sometimes leave a lot of impact with them that very few among us can either understand at the time or long afterwards. Sometimes even very small and seemingly without any particular significance can have big impacts upon the turn of events in history.

Sometimes even a very small and trivial thing like say a failed meeting can affect the history in a big way.

The scene is in the small desert town of Yaathrib in Arabia around 640 AD. There is a meeting going on in one of the small houses in the town. A middle-aged Arab was meeting with some of the residents of the town.

The man’s voice was measured and confident. He never spoke a word in hurry but always spoke softly and with a tone that others found the man to be deeply convinced about his views. His eyes radiated with energy and a sense of calmness that some people in the area thought reflected the way Prophets would look. He never hurried in his tone or in his gesture while presenting his viewpoint but always found enough time to organize his words in way that others did not need to think too much to understand his viewpoint. Indeed he was a man whom everybody in the town looked for guidance when in trouble and he knew how to shoulder that responsibility.

Talking with the man was a group of bearded , elderly men who looked confused and sometimes bitterly disappointed. Some of them hushed among themselves “oh by the name of Abraham, how can a man from the tribe of Ishmael talk about the same way the prophets did“. Some of the eyes of the men rolled around in disbelief “how could this man speak truth the same way our holy books say the Prophets spoke truth in their times”.

The man in question looked on at his bearded counterparts and he continued to assert his case. He was introducing himself as the last messenger of God and was constantly asking the rest of the men in room to accept him as such. But most importantly his voice was sure and confident when he talked about his grand plan. He wanted to create a unified community of those who worship the God of Abraham in the city and then propagate the same idea all over the World. He wanted the rest of the men in the room to accept his plan and help him implementing it. His eyes were beaming with great expectations and hope as he spoke.

The other men in the room started to look increasingly concerned. Some of them started to open their holy books and scurry through chapters, it seemed that they were not confident enough with what they themselves were thinking and just needed the holy book to support their views amidst their confusion.

The man increasingly understood the combative nature of the debate. His eyes which were shining brightly with hope of a genius who has just performed his masterpiece, now suddenly began to become sober with sudden realization that his ideas might not have appealed to his audience the way he would have believed in the beginning. Suddenly one of the bearded men looked at the man and said with a voice which seemed to have been coming from a long way away, “By the name of the God of Abraham, we know you are the prophet, by the God of Abraham, we also know we are not going to acknowledge your prophet hood because if we accept today that prophet hood can be bestowed upon a man from the children of Ishmael , then we will lose the status of being the only chosen people of the God of Abraham”. The man after hearing all these words, looked at those who had rejected him, his demeanor did not change, the colors and lines in his face did not darken and the glow that was radiating from his face continued to shine as he spoke with the same confident and unrushed voice which this time had also added a touch of sobriety to itself. The man said “I know I have been bestowed Prophethood by the God of Abraham, it is now my duty to spread his message throughout the World, even if you reject me today.”

“I know I am the last of the messengers that the God of Abraham has sent to the World. The angels of the very same God have told me so. And they also told me that you will never accept the truth. But irrespective of what you people say, I will continue to spread the message that has been bestowed upon me by the God of Abraham till eternity and no one can stop me from doing that.” He left the room as he finished his words.

So this was the story of the most significant rejection of History. This was the story that could probably have changed the World had the turn of events have resulted in an acceptance and not rejection. But ultimately it was the rejection and prejudice that won the day. The consequences that started from that rejection is there for all of us to see even after all these centuries have passed since that rejection took place.