Imam al-Māwardī had, as noted  earlier, observed: only prophetic wisdom can unite human beings, transcending their tribes, races, and individual egos, because this wisdom is not born of any particular tribe, region, or self-interest—it is divine in origin and universal in scope.

Unlike philosophies that often conflict, fracture, or fossilize, the message of the prophets creates a living, breathing civilization that is united under shared metaphysical truths. The message is both spiritually enlightening and socially organizing. It enables human beings to live:

• In relation to God (via worship and obedience)
• In relation to one another (via justice and compassion)
• In relation to the world (via stewardship and responsibility)

Hence, through prophetic wisdom, entire civilizations have been built. Prophets were not merely preachers or monks—they were:

• Moral exemplars
• Community organizers
• Reformers
• Legislators
• Statesmen, when necessary
• And ultimately: the bearers of truth that aligns creation with its Creator

This is why, in every historically consequential civilization—whether in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, or the Arabian Peninsula—we find the echoes of prophetic guidance. The Qur’an states unequivocally: There is no nation except that a warner was sent to it. (Surah Fatir: 24) And again: Indeed, We sent a messenger to every nation. (Surah al-Nahl: 36)

Humanity began as a single community

Despite being separated by vast geographies and historical epochs, the essential teachings of the prophets, as affirmed in the Qur’an, were grounded in the same eternal truths. One of the most significant among them was tawḥīd—the uncompromising belief in the oneness of God. This belief was not unique to Arabia or the Abrahamic traditions. Rather, it formed the metaphysical core of every divine message sent to every nation, even if over time it was obscured, forgotten, or adulterated.

The Qur’an teaches that all of humanity began as a single community united upon the truth, and that it was only later that differences and divisions emerged. These divisions, far from being the result of differing divine messages, stemmed from human disputes, power struggles, and deviations from original guidance. In the words of the Qur’an: Mankind was [once] a single nation; then Allah sent the prophets as bringers of good tidings and warners and sent down with them the Scripture in truth to judge between the people concerning that in which they differed… (Surah al-Baqarah: 213)

This verse makes a distinctive  epistemological claim: that the multiplicity of religious systems and sects is not proof of divine plurality, but rather of human forgetfulness and fragmentation. In contrast, the unity of the prophetic message remains intact. The Prophets came to restore that which was forgotten, to clarify that which had been confused, and realign societies to their primordial orientation.

This unity is affirmed by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ himself, when he said: The best statement that I and the Prophets before me have uttered is: ‘There is no god but Allah, alone without a partner.’ (Sahih al-Bukhari)

It is therefore not surprising that when one examines the ancient religious texts of other civilizations, one finds striking echoes of the same message. The Rigveda, one of the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, refers to a being called Hiranyagarbha, the “golden-wombed” origin of all things. In a famous verse (10:121:1), it proclaims: In the beginning was Hiranyagarbha, born as the only lord of all. He established the heavens and the earth—who is the god whom we should worship other than Him?

Likewise, the Yajurveda and the Atharvaveda contain passages that reject polytheism and affirm a singular supreme being, one who is beyond the grasp of the senses yet the source of all sensory perception. The Kena Upanishad teaches that the ultimate Brahman cannot be seen or heard, but is that which makes seeing and hearing possible. The Isha Upanishad, meanwhile, condemns the worship of created things as leading into darkness.

These scriptural articulations point to a purified monotheism which, over time, became layered over with ritualism, mythology, and symbolic deities. But they bear the mark of a time when prophetic guidance was still alive—when societies retained the memory of God’s oneness and the moral code that flowed from it. The universality of this ethical monotheism is what the Qur’an calls maʿrūf—the known good—and the deviations from it as munkar—the rejected evil.

Indeed, the Qur’an commands believers: Let there arise from among you a community that calls to what is good (al-khayr), enjoins what is known (al-maʿrūf), and forbids what is rejected (al-munkar). (Surah Āl ‘Imrān: 104)

These terms, maʿrūf and munkar, are not defined through rigid law codes alone. They evoke a moral intuition common to all civilizations once touched by prophetic light. They are what righteous societies once embraced and upheld as self-evident. Monotheism, justice, compassion, honesty, and care for the poor—these are maʿrūf. Idolatry, tyranny, exploitation, and injustice—these are munkar.

It is not that Islam introduced these values for the first time. Rather, the Qur’an presents Islam as the revival of a forgotten covenant, the reformulation of divine guidance in its final and complete form. It is a recitation that remembers, and in remembering, it restores.

In this sense, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was not the founder of a new religion but the final emissary of a timeless truth, whose arrival was foretold in all previous dispensations. As such, his message was not limited by bloodline, region, or era. He was sent, in his own words, “to all of mankind,” and the Qur’an affirms this in numerous places: We have not sent you [O Muhammad] except as a mercy to all the worlds. (Surah al-Anbiyā’: 107)

The message is global. The Prophet is final. The book is preserved. And the religion, now complete, is universal.