﴿ بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ وَصَدُّوا۟ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ أَضَلَّ أَعْمَٰلَهُمْ ﴾

“AS FOR THOSE who are bent on denying the truth and on barring [others] from the path of God - all their [good] deeds will He let go to waste;”

In ancient Arabia, the deeds of those who denied the prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad and opposed him, counted for nothing. In other words, since they did not prove to be religious on the level of moral awareness, their achievements, performed as a matter of conventional and traditional religiosity, became valueless. The people of ancient Arabia used to consider themselves the community of Abraham and Ishmael. They also had the honour of being the custodians of the Kabah. The customs of prayer, fasting and Hajj in some form or the other were also prevalent among them. The serving of Hajj pilgrims, good treatment of relatives, and hospitality towards guests were also social requirements. Though the ancient Arabs acquitted themselves well on all these scores, their actions were not the outcome of their conscious religiousness. They performed all these deeds simply because it had been the custom to do so for centuries. In order to recognise the prophet of the time, it was necessary for them to have heightened their own awareness. At that time, the force of ancient traditions had not yet built up around the Prophet Muhammad. Therefore, only one who was capable of recognising reality through deep personal perception could have acknowledged him. In this context, when they rejected their contemporary prophet, it was clearly established that their religiousness was based purely on tradition and not on personal realization. And God requires religiousness in spirit not in form devoid of spirit. Those, however, who embraced the faith of the Prophet of their own times, proved that they were capable of being religious at a heightened level of consciousness.