فَلَا تَدْعُ مَعَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَـٰهًا ءَاخَرَ فَتَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُعَذَّبِينَ

To take anybody other than God to be worthy of worship is the greatest crime in the eyes of God. No one guilty of this crime can escape punishment. It is the duty of the preacher to save himself from polytheism and to call the people to the Truth, primarily those who are near to him. In order to support the Truth, one has to kill one’s ego. That is why there are very few among the highly placed who are prepared to side with the Truth. It often happens that only those who occupy a lower position in society come forward to do so. This poses a serious trial for the preacher of God’s word. He has to guard himself against holding these persons inferior as others do. They must be given equal status in an Islamic society. The true emissary of the Almighty is one whose relation with his Maker is so strong that he passes his lonely nights in restlessness and is often forced to spring out of his bed. He holds his companions who are kneeling to pray to God in the stillness of the night in such high esteem that they become the centre of his attention.

— Source: Tazkirul Quran (Maulana Wahiduddin Khan) via Quran.com (26:213)