It is a common belief among those who consider themselves virtuous that, had they lived in the era of one of God’s messengers, they would have been among the few to recognize the truth and follow their call. This assumption of moral clarity and inherent goodness comforts many, allowing them to imagine themselves as allies of righteousness in the face of adversity. Yet history—and scripture—offers a sobering reminder: the majority of people, when confronted with a messenger, have not only failed to believe but have actively resisted, doubted, and opposed the very individuals sent to guide them.
Today Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad are acknowledged and accepted by billions as God’s messengers. Their names are spoken with respect, their teachings studied with devotion, and their struggles acknowledged as profound acts of faith and perseverance. Yet, if these same individuals were to appear in the present day, bringing a message that challenged the status quo, the reality is that most Jews of today would persecute Moses, Christians would want to crucify Jesus, and the Muslim masses would try to stone Muhammad.
This pattern of rejection is not merely a reflection of human ignorance but a recurring lesson of God’s system. The histories of God’s messengers in the scripture highlight this painful reality. Each of these individuals faced scorn, doubt, and outright hostility, not because their message lacked merit, but because they defied societal expectations. They were not men of high status, power, or privilege. Instead, their origins were humble, their circumstances challenging, and their mission profoundly disruptive to the established order.
35:42 They swore by GOD solemnly that if a warner went to them, they would be better guided than a certain congregation! However, now that the warner did come to them, this only plunged them deeper into aversion.
35:43 They resorted to arrogance on earth, and evil scheming, and the evil schemes only backfire on those who scheme them. Should they then expect anything but the fate of those who did the same things in the past? You will find that GOD’s system is never changeable; you will find that GOD’s system is immutable.
Moses, the liberator of the Israelites and receiver of God’s Book of Law (Furqan) was met with skepticism not only by Pharaoh and the Egyptian elite but even by his own people. The Quran records the mocking words of Pharaoh, who sought to belittle Moses:
43:52 “Which one is better; me or that one who is lowly and can hardly speak?
Moses was a fugitive, a man who had fled Egypt after killing an Egyptian in defense of an Israelite. His past as a fugitive cast a shadow over his credibility, and his speech impediment further fueled doubts about his ability to lead. Moses himself expressed his concern to God, saying:
26:10 Recall that your Lord called Moses: “Go to the transgressing people.
26:11 “Pharaoh’s people; perhaps they reform.”
26:12 He said, “My Lord, I fear lest they disbelieve me.
26:13 “I may lose my temper. My tongue gets tied; send for my brother Aaron.
26:14 “Also, they consider me a fugitive; I fear lest they kill me.”
Despite his divine appointment and the miracles he performed, many of his own people doubted his mission and faltered in their faith, as seen in their repeated grievances during their journey to freedom.
2:55 Recall that you said, “O Moses, we will not believe unless we see GOD, physically.” Consequently, the lightning struck you, as you looked.
Even after witnessing extraordinary miracles—such as the parting of the Red Sea and the provision of manna and quails in the wilderness—the Israelites frequently wavered in their faith and commitment. This reluctance reached its pinnacle when Moses commanded them, by the will of God, to enter the gates of Jerusalem.
5:20 Recall that Moses said to his people, “O my people, remember GOD’s blessings upon you: He appointed prophets from among you, made you kings, and granted you what He never granted any other people.
5:21 “O my people, enter the holy land that GOD has decreed for you, and do not rebel, lest you become losers.”
5:22 They said, “O Moses, there are powerful people in it, and we will not enter it, unless they get out of it. If they get out, we are entering.”
This moment underscores the depth of their resistance and their unwillingness to place trust in the promises of God as commanded by His messenger, despite all they had witnessed. Among the entire assembly, only two men—distinguished by their piety and unwavering faith—stood by Moses and urged their people to comply:
5:23 Two men who were reverent and blessed by GOD said, “Just enter the gate. If you just enter it, you will surely prevail. You must trust in GOD, if you are believers.”
5:24 They said, “O Moses, we will never enter it, so long as they are in it. Therefore, go—you and your Lord—and fight. We are sitting right here.”
These two men, though unnamed, symbolize the rare minority who are willing to act in obedience to God, even when faced with overwhelming opposition and fear. Their steadfastness stands in stark contrast to the majority, who allowed their doubts and worldly concerns to overshadow their trust in divine guidance.
Moses, faced with such persistent defiance, turned to God in frustration and sorrow. His prayer reveals the loneliness of a messenger tasked with leading a people who often fail to grasp the gravity of their mission:
5:25 He said, “My Lord, I can only control myself and my brother. So allow us to part company with the wicked people.”
5:26 He said, “Henceforth, it is forbidden them for forty years, during which they will roam the earth aimlessly. Do not grieve over such wicked people.”
This episode illustrates a recurring theme in the lives of messengers: they are often left isolated, with only a small group of loyal followers willing to shoulder the burden of faith. It serves as a poignant reminder that the path of truth is rarely the path of the majority.
Jesus: The Outsider from Galilee
Jesus, too, faced rejection and ridicule, much of it stemming from his humble origins and unconventional ministry. Born in a modest family and hailing from the small town of Nazareth in Galilee, he did not fit the mold of what many expected in a prophet or a savior. The New Testament captures the disdain of his contemporaries in the dismissive question:
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).
Jesus was not a scholar trained in the prestigious schools of his time, nor was he a member of the religious or political elite. His teachings challenged the authority of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and his association with the marginalized—tax collectors, sinners, and the poor—further alienated him from the establishment. The Quran also acknowledges the rejection Jesus faced, saying:
43:63 When Jesus went with the proofs, he said, “I bring to you wisdom, and to clarify some of the matters in which you dispute. You shall reverence GOD and obey me.
43:64 “GOD is my Lord and your Lord, you shall worship Him alone. This is the right path.”
43:65 The opponents disputed among themselves. Woe to those who transgress from the retribution of a painful day.
Despite his miracles and profound teachings, many dismissed him as an imposter, a threat to their traditions, and even a blasphemer.
Muhammad: The Orphan of Mecca
Muhammad endured similar skepticism and opposition. Orphaned at a young age (93:6), he grew up without the social and financial advantages that commanded respect in the tribal society of Mecca. When he proclaimed his prophethood, the Quraysh leaders derided him, questioning why God would choose an orphan over someone of wealth and influence. The Quran captures their incredulity:
43:31 They said, “If only this Quran was sent down through another man from the two communities (Mecca or Yathrib) who is prominent!”
Muhammad’s message challenged the Quraysh’s idol worship, social hierarchies, and economic practices, making him a target of relentless ridicule and hostility. The Meccans labeled him a madman, a magician, and a fabricator. Yet, like Moses and Jesus before him, Muhammad’s strength lay not in worldly status but in his appointment by God to be the bearer of God’s final scripture to mankind.
The Pattern of Rejection
Why, then, is this pattern of rejection so pervasive? The answer lies in the nature of human society and the challenges people must overcome when faced with divine guidance. Messengers often arrive during times of moral and spiritual decay, when societies are steeped in flagrant defiance of God’s laws, entrenched in idol worship, and completely astray from the right path.
No messenger was ever sent to a people with the message that everything they were doing was perfect and that no change was needed. Such a notion runs entirely counter to the very essence of a messenger’s mission. A messenger’s role is not to affirm the status quo but to challenge it—serving as a disruptor of deeply entrenched traditions and long-standing erroneous beliefs.
43:22 The fact is: they said, “We found our parents carrying on certain practices, and we are following in their footsteps.”
43:23 Invariably, when we sent a warner to any community, the leaders of that community would say, “We found our parents following certain practices, and we will continue in their footsteps.”
Moreover, the messengers of God were often selected specifically because they defied the societal expectations of their time. Instead of selecting the powerful, the wealthy, or the influential, God, more often than not, chooses those who appear weak or insignificant in the eyes of society as a test to validate the people’s sincerity.
Consider the challenge for the Egyptians to receive God’s message through one of the Children of Israel, a person they considered their slave. Or the Jews’s apprehension to God’s final scripture being given to an Arab, a descendant of Ismail, rather than one of their own.
15:10 We have sent (messengers) before you to the communities in the past.
15:11 Every time a messenger went to them, they ridiculed him.
And even when all other excuses are exhausted, the fact that God even chooses humans instead of angels is reason enough for people to object to the messengers.
17:94 What prevented the people from believing when the guidance came to them, is their saying, “Did GOD send a human being as a messenger?”
The stories of Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad challenge us to confront an uncomfortable truth: would we have believed in their messages if we lived in their times? Or would we, like the majority, have succumbed to doubt, prejudice, and resistance? It is easy to claim allegiance to righteousness in hindsight, but far more difficult to recognize it in the present, especially when it challenges our comfort and assumptions.
A simple test to see where we would stand is to ask ourselves: how likely would we be to accept a person coming today claiming to be God’s messenger? Most people of the book will reject this premise outright, which only confirms their self-deception when they claim that they would have supported the messengers of the past if they lived amongst them.
Notice that nowhere in the Old Testament, New Testament, or Final Testament (Quran) does it say that God has ceased sending messengers. So automatically, if anyone attempts to dismiss this thought experiment on scriptural grounds, then they have already witnessed their own personal bias.
Jews have multiple prophecies of Messiahs to come. Christians have statements from the New Testament that also confirm ones to come after Jesus, such as in the book of Matthew, when Jesus is said to have stated:
“Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.” ( Matthew 23:34)
Also, in the book of John, Jesus states that God is sending the Spirit of Truth after him.
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate, to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17)
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father— the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.” ( John 15:26)
For Muslims, the Quran states that as long as there are Children of Adam on Earth, God can continue sending messengers by specifically talking to the Children of Adam regarding the “messengers” (plural) to come.
7:35 O children of Adam, when messengers come to you from among you, and recite My revelations to you, those who take heed and lead a righteous life, will have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve.
The Quran also informs us about the coming of the Messenger of the Covenant, who will come after Muhammad.
3:81 GOD took a covenant from the prophets, saying, “I will give you the scripture and wisdom. Afterwards, a messenger will come to confirm all existing scriptures. You shall believe in him and support him.” He said, “Do you agree with this, and pledge to fulfill this covenant?” They said, “We agree.” He said, “You have thus borne witness, and I bear witness along with you.”
Additionally, the Quran warns its adherents not to make the mistake of the people of the past and claim that their messenger was the last and that God would not send any more messengers.
40:34 Joseph had come to you before that with clear revelations, but you continued to doubt his message. Then, when he died you said, “GOD will not send any other messenger after him. (He was the last messenger)!” GOD thus sends astray those who are transgressors, doubtful.
It is an ironic feature of human nature that people readily venerate messengers of the past while harboring deep skepticism about the possibility of divine guidance in their own time.
Why is it easier to accept a prophet from the past than to acknowledge the possibility of one in the present? Part of the answer lies in the comfort of distance. The lives of past messengers are often idealized, stripped of the context and controversy that surrounded them in their own time. Moses is remembered as the heroic liberator of the Israelites, but the constant complaints and rebellions of his people are often glossed over. Jesus is venerated as someone who was willing to give his life for the truth, yet the disdain of his contemporaries—who questioned his legitimacy and mocked his origins—is rarely dwelled upon. Muhammad is celebrated as a statesman and a prophet, yet the ridicule and ostracism he faced in Mecca are often relegated to the background.
By focusing on the triumphs of these messengers while ignoring the trials they endured, people construct a sanitized version of their lives that is easy to admire but disconnected from the reality of what it means to accept divine guidance. This selective memory creates a dangerous illusion: the belief that recognizing a messenger is simple and that one would have surely been among their followers.
The Quran captures the hypocrisy of such attitudes, as people profess faith in past messengers while dismissing the possibility of a living one:
2:91 When they are told, “You shall believe in these revelations of GOD,” they say, “We believe only in what was sent down to us.” Thus, they disbelieve in subsequent revelations, even if it is the truth from their Lord, and even though it confirms what they have! Say, “Why then did you kill GOD’s prophets, if you were believers?”
This verse highlights a recurring pattern: people are willing to accept messengers from a safe historical distance, where their teachings pose no immediate challenge to their way of life. Yet, when faced with the demand to believe in a contemporary messenger, their faith falters.
The Test of the Present
The arrival of a contemporary messenger, however, would shatter this illusion. Such a figure would likely challenge deeply held beliefs, unsettle established norms, and demand renunciations that many would find intolerable. Just as the Quraysh questioned why Muhammad, an orphan and a man of modest means, was chosen as a prophet, people today would undoubtedly reject a messenger for failing to meet their worldly expectations of charisma, power, or sophistication. The excuses might differ, but the underlying resistance would remain the same.
34:34 Every time we sent a warner to a community, the leaders of that community said, “We reject the message you are sent with.”
34:35 They also said, “We are more powerful, with more money and children, and we will not be punished.”
The affluent and powerful often dismiss messengers not because their message lacks truth, but because it threatens their privilege and undermines their sense of superiority. This mindset transcends time, appearing in every society confronted with a messenger of God.
A Warning for the Present
The unquestionable acceptance of past messengers, though commendable, serves little purpose if it is not accompanied by humility and self-reflection. The Quran warns against the arrogance of assuming one would have believed in past messengers while rejecting the possibility of divine guidance in the present.
2:87 We gave Moses the scripture, and subsequent to him we sent other messengers, and we gave Jesus, son of Mary, profound miracles and supported him with the Holy Spirit. Is it not a fact that every time a messenger went to you with anything you disliked, your ego caused you to be arrogant? Some of them you rejected, and some of them you killed.
This verse not only condemns the distortion of divine revelation but also serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of placing one’s own personal opinion above the will of God. It is a reminder that true faith requires the willingness to submit to divine guidance, even when it challenges personal preferences or societal norms.
These narratives invite us to reflect on our own biases and the ways we respond to truth when it appears in unexpected forms. They remind us that divine guidance often comes from the margins, through individuals who may seem unremarkable by worldly standards but are extraordinary in the purity of the message they bring.
7:75 The arrogant leaders among his people said to the common people who believed, “How do you know that Sãleh is sent by his Lord?” They said, “ The message he brought has made us believers.”
If God were to send a messenger today, would we recognize them? Would we accept their message, even if it upended our lives and beliefs? Or would we, like so many before us, find reasons to doubt, to hesitate, and to reject?