Skip to main content
Refutations

Why Did God Leave People for 600 Years Before Sending Prophet Muhammad?

6 min read 1336 words
tag

Why Did God Leave People for 600 Years Before Sending Prophet Muhammad?

Table of Contents

The Christian Objection

A Christian wonders: how can God Almighty leave people in error for 600 years — according to his understanding and claim — and then send the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to the people? What is the sin of these people who lived and died during that interval?

First Response — God Is Not Questioned About What He Does

God Almighty is not questioned about what He does. He alone has the power to control the affairs and matters of His creatures. This is a principle accepted by every theist — and notably, the Bible itself records God leaving His own chosen people, the Children of Israel, in states of misguidance and subjugation for extended periods far longer than 600 years.

Those Years Were Not Devoid of Truth

Those years between Jesus ﷺ and Muhammad ﷺ were not empty of truth. There were many groups that did not believe in the divinity of Christ even among those who followed him — such as the Ebionites, the Carinthians, the Basilidians, the Carpocrates, the Hypsistarians, and the Gnostics. You can research them in history books. Furthermore, individuals from among the People of the Book recognized the truth and embraced Islam — such as Abdullah ibn Salam and Ubayy ibn Ka’b, Jewish rabbis who converted after recognizing the signs of the Prophet ﷺ, and Salman al-Farisi, who was a Christian who learned at the hands of priests. These priests had churches and were themselves waiting for the coming of the final Prophet ﷺ and informing their sincere followers of this matter.

The Bible’s Own Record of God Leaving People in Misguidance

If the objection is that God leaving people in error is evidence of injustice, then the same objection must be applied to the Bible — which records God leaving the Children of Israel in error, subjugation, and idolatry for long periods.
“Because they have forsaken me and worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways.” — 1 Kings 11:33
“They forsook the Lord and served Baal and Ashtoreth.” — Judges 2:13
“And they took their daughters to be wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and the Asherah.” — Judges 3:6–7
“And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the children of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.” — Judges 3:8
“So the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.” — Judges 3:14
Why did God leave the Children of Israel for years worshipping other than Him, in misguidance, and subjected to foreign oppressors? The Christian critic must answer his own question first. Furthermore, the Bible records an even more disturbing statement:
“I also gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances by which they could not live.” — Ezekiel 20:25
If the objection is that God leaving people without guidance is unjust — how does the Christian respond to a verse in his own scripture stating that God gave His people statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live? The Christian objection against Islam dissolves entirely when the Bible is examined honestly.

Does God Force People to Embrace the Truth

Does God force people to embrace the truth? No. What if the truth is placed before people and they choose falsehood? The Torah was with the Children of Israel as the Book of Judges confirms — the Law was in their hands, and the prophets came to them continuously — yet they went astray. Does God love misguidance for His servants? No. But as established, He is not questioned about what He does. He has made truth and falsehood clear to people. Whoever follows truth is guided, and whoever follows falsehood goes astray. God created people, gave them countless blessings, and gave them the faculty of choice. He sent messengers to explain the truth and guide them to it. The responsibility of choice rests with the human being.

Monotheistic Christianity Survived Until Islam

Until the beginning of the fourth century, monotheistic Christianity was the dominant form of the religion. During the fourth century, the worship of Christ was imposed by the Roman imperial authority, and the monotheistic Christians resisted this. Wars of extermination targeted the monotheists during the fourth and fifth centuries — by the Arians and others. There remained monotheistic groups that concealed their monotheism and preserved it until the advent of Islam. There are still monotheistic Christians to this day, estimated at more than four million, most of them in the Americas, having fled religious persecution in Europe. These people maintained the truth during the period in question — so the claim that all people were left in total darkness without any remnant of truth is historically false.

The Quranic Principle — No Punishment Without a Messenger

The Islamic principle on this matter is clear and just:
“Whoever is guided is only guided for the benefit of himself. And whoever goes astray only goes astray to his own detriment. And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. And We never punish until We have sent a messenger.” — Surah Al-Isra 17:15
There is no punishment in Islam except after the sending of messengers. The charge of ignorance against those who accuse God of injustice to His servants is thereby negated. He is the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the Owner of the Day of Judgment, able to deal with His servants as He wills. Despite that, He gives them respite for a time — and He is the One who accepts their repentance if they return to Him.

Reversing the Question Back to the Christians

We now reverse the question entirely and direct it back to the Christian: Did God wrong people by leaving them for thousands — or tens of thousands — of years from the creation of Adam until the descent of Christ? If Christ is the one who saved humanity from Adam’s sin and the sins of all humanity, as Christians believe, then why did God delay for this very long period and leave humanity polluted with sin for so long? What was the benefit of the messengers whom God sent before Christ? Were those people saved or not? And if God truly had a son — why did not every prophet, from Adam to the last prophet before Jesus, teach humanity about him from the very beginning?
The Christian who raises the objection of the 600-year gap must first answer for the far longer gap his own theology demands — and for a God who, by his own scripture, left His chosen people in idolatry, subjugation, and corrupt ordinances for generations. The Islamic answer is principled, consistent, and just: no soul is punished except after a messenger has been sent to it. Allah is not questioned about what He does — but He has never left any people without the means to reach the truth.