The mission of the Prophet of Islam is universal, it is for all peoples, all places and all times, as the Qur'an says:
And We have not sent you except comprehensively to mankind as a bringer of good tidings and a warner...(Sura Saba', 34:28)
And again:
And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds. (Sura al-Anbiya', 21:107)
We see here that his mission and call is to all 'the people' (al¬nas):
O Mankind, the Messenger has come to you with the truth from your Lord, so believe; it is better for you. ( Sura al-Nisa', 4:170)
Of course, at the time when he began his mission, it was natural that he first make his admonitions to his own people before warning a people to whom no previous Prophet had been sent:
Or do they say, "He invented it"? Rather, it is the truth from your Lord, [O Muhammad], that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you [so] perhaps they will be guided.(Sura al-Sajda, 32:3)
But this does not mean that he was sent only to a specific group. We occasionally see that the Qur'an, while clearly establishing a particular community as the recipient of the mission, immediately follows this with a statement indicating that all those who receive the message are invited to follow it:
And this Qur'an was revealed to me that I may warn you thereby and whomever it reaches. ( Sura al-An 'am, 6: 19)
It is clear that all the Prophets were charged to invite first of all their own people to follow the religion revealed to them, whether the scope of their mission was universal or delimited. In this regard, the Qur'an states:
And We never sent a Messenger save with the language of his folk, that he might make [the message] clear for them. (Sura Ibrahim, 14:4)
But, as we have said, the fact that the Prophet of lslam was sent with the language of his own people does not mean that his mission was limited to them alone.
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