In Arabic language the word Islam means ‘PEACE’, “Submission”, and “OBEDIENCE TO ALLAH”. As the word itself denotes, its primary premises are obedience and submission to Allah, the Sole Creator of the Universe, and to live in PEACE with self and the environment. The latter includes the family, the tribe and fellow human beings, called the ‘Society’. It also conveys the necessity of remaining in harmony with Allah’s other creations.

Since the birth of mankind Allah has been sending His messengers (Prophets) to enlighten human beings about the greatest truth i.e., His being the sole Creator and Sustainer of the universe and of mankind and all that is there in the universe. The Human beings, who have been blessed with wisdom and knowledge, must therefore show their gratitude to the Creator and worship Him and Him alone, for the life that He has given and for the provision of various means for their sustenance. Allah’s prophets also laid down a code of conduct according to which Almighty wanted the human beings to live so as to remain in harmony within the society and the environment. This is the righteous path, which would please Allah and earn His rewards.

The core theme of all messengers was the same, i.e., recognition of Allah (God) as the Sole Creator of the universe, and the only Being deserving worship by the entire humanity. However, as these prophets came at different periods of time in history, at different places, and among different communities, the social code of conduct brought by them, while sticking to the basic theme, differed in minor details to meet the needs of the environment, the stage of development of the society, as well as the relevant geophysical locations. This was quite rational, as the codes of social practices had to be in harmony with the environment, keeping the basic principles intact.

The need of sending numerous prophets at different stages of History with the same basic message, was felt because in the earlier stages of human development there were no means of mass communication, neither was any contact possible between communities spread far apart on the inhabitated part of the globe. Thus the message of a prophet had a limited reach and his following remained confined to a limited area within the vicinity. Even in case of the same community and limited area, the teachings of a prophet spread only through direct word of mouth, as the art of writing had not yet been developed. Even the succeeding generations received these teachings by word of mouth. As the memory faded the message got corrupted. On the other hand some elders of a community would intentionally introduce innovations and corruptions in the correct version of the Divine message, to suit their own ends and to maintain their hold on the society. Thus the teaching got debased and a time would come when the original message was completely mutilated and perverted. That was the stage when Allah felt the need to send another prophet to revive His message. 

Even in the later period, starting from Prophet Abraham (2000 years B.C.), down to Moses and then Christ, the teachings of the prophets were distorted from time to time to suit the clergy and the people in power and the injunctions of guidance given to them by the Almighty ‘Allah’ through their divine Books were willfully concealed. At times the adulteration or changes crept in also because of the ignorance of the clergy or these were introduced by overzealous fanatics, who tried to excel in devotion to some saint or prophet, and introduced an element of exaggeration, thus blending their identity with that of Allah (God).

There came a time in history, when the development of human intelligence, culture and social environment, had reached a level to make mass contact possible. On the other hand the clergy of different religions had debased itself to such an extent that in many communities the image of Allah, the Sole Creator of the universe, was obliterated, and parallel gods and their idols were created for worship. Allah considered this to be the opportune time for sending the last Prophet, Muhammad (PBUH) to revive the prime divine message, correct all the wrong beliefs, and rectify all tampered perceptions.

A modern historian of civilization J.A. Denison in his book “Emotion as the Basis of Civilization” has thus depicted the state of the civilized world about the time when Islam appeared on the stage of History.