3. Prophethood (nubuwwa)
The prophets were the people who received divine revelation. Allah
has sent numerous prophets and messengers to humankind since the dawn of
history. These prophets were of two types: "local" and
"universal." While the local prophets were sent with specific
messages to specific groups of people, the universal prophets were sent with
messages and books for all of humankind. There were only five universal
prophets, and their names were Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (may
the peace of Allah be upon all of them).
A unique characteristic of all the prophets and messengers is that they
were infallible - that is, they never committed any sin. The easiest way
to see this is to consider that these people were the examples sent for
humanity to follow, and so if they committed errors, people would be obliged to
follow their errors, thereby making the prophets and messengers untrustable.
Infallibility means protection, and, in Islamic terminology, means the
spiritual grace of Allah enabling a person to abstain from sins by his own free
will. This power of infallibility and sinlessness does not make a person
incapable of committing sins; rather, he refrains from sins and mistakes by his
own power and will.
Infallibility is essential since the job of the prophets and messengers
is not only to convey the divine scriptures of Allah but also to lead and guide
humanity towards the right path. Therefore, they have to be role models
and perfect examples for mankind. This has basis in both the Qur'an and
conventional wisdom; the Qur'an mentions infallibility 13 times. Allah
says to the Satan: "Certainly you shall have no authority over My
servants except those who follow you and go astray." (15:42) The
Satan then says to Allah: "By Your might, then I will surely mislead
them all, except Your chosen servants among them [the messengers and imams]."(38:82)
Not only did Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) not
commit any sins, but he was also never harsh to human beings or animals.
Allah says: "And by the mercy of Allah you dealt with them [people]
gently, and had you been severe and harsh-hearted, they would have broken away
from you." (3:158)
In most societies, people with bad records would be ineligible to be
presidential, governmental, or mayoral candidates since they would be expected
to lead society and be good examples of righteousness and honesty.
Unfortunately, as a campaign of distorting the image of the prophets of God,
many distorted stories exist today, such as the stories in the present-day
version of the Old Testament accusing Prophet David (peace be upon him) of
adultery with Baathsheba, Prophet Noah (peace be upon him) getting drunk,
Prophet Lot (peace be upon him) committing incest, and Prophet Moses (peace be
upon him) committing adultery with the Ethiopian women. These are
examples of the ethical wrongdoings and moral weaknesses that the enemies of
Allah tried to ascribe to His pure messengers.
The Holy Qur'an speaks of the sins attributed to certain
prophets such as Adam (peace be upon him). These verses should not be
understood literally in the sense that Adam was committing a sin; allegorical
verses are common in the Qur'an. Adam (peace be upon him) did not disobey
the obligatory commands of Allah; the command that he did not honor was a
recommended command, and, therefore, in the Islamic law, he cannot be
considered to have committed a sin.
Although Allah preordained who the prophets were going to be, the
prophets nonetheless had to strive for this position. The foremost
example of this testing that the prophets had to endure can be seen in the life
of Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), the father of the prophets.
Abraham (peace be upon him) was born into an idolatrous society, but by the
purity of his nature he recognized that the idols his people worshipped were
capable of nothing, neither harm nor good. So one day, when no one was
present, he smashed all of them but the largest, and when the people came to
him and asked who had destroyed their gods, he told them to ask the remaining
statue if they really believed that their stone idols had power. Although
the people realized at that point that their idols were powerless, they didn't
know how to respond, so out of shame and anger they cast Abraham (peace be upon
him) into a huge fire. But Allah protected Abraham (peace be upon him)
from the fire and confounded the plots of the polytheists.
After being tortured for and then saved by his faith in Allah, Abraham
(peace be upon him) still had to undergo the hardest test of obedience to Allah
- the direct order, from Allah, to sacrifice his son Ishmael.[1 This order came to him in a dream, and
although sadness overwhelmed him, he was a strong believer in Allah and did not
question it. Ishmael too accepted the command of Allah unquestioningly
and allowed his father to lead him to a mountaintop to be sacrificed. His
only request was that his father place him face down so that his father would
not see his expression as he was being killed. Abraham (peace be upon
him) raised his blade, still ready to comply with the command of Allah.
But just then came the revelation that this had only been a test, that God
would not order Abraham (peace be upon him) to sacrifice his son, and that
Abraham (peace be upon him) could sacrifice a sheep in his stead. This
event is commemorated every year on a holiday called the Feast of Sacrifice ('eid
al-adhaa) on which animals are killed and the meat distributed to the poor.
After passing these tests, Abraham (peace be upon him) became the leader
of humankind as well as the father of the prophets of the three main
monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Although Allah sent prophets to every group of people on the earth, the
Qur'an only mentions the names of 25 of them. The first of them was Adam
(peace be upon him), the father of humanity, and the last of them and the seal
of the prophets was Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family).
Why did Allah send different prophets and different
religions?
The way of Allah is one, and because the final messenger, Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), has come, there should be no
dispute as to what is the right way to follow. However, throughout
history, different messengers with slightly different messages were sent to
different peoples because the religious needs of humanity were growing and
developing just as the human race was itself growing and developing, and also
because different civilizations needed different types of guidance.
Nevertheless, the source and basic message behind them was the same - namely,
Allah the Exalted and Glorious.
Allah sent Moses (peace be upon him) with the Torah as a light and
guidance for the Children of Israel (the Jews) along with many other prophets
such as David, Solomon, and so on (peace be upon them). 1,500 years after
Moses, Allah sent Jesus (peace be upon him), the son of Mary (peace be upon
her), confirming the Torah and bringing the Gospel which has also been likened
to guidance and light. Finally, 600 years after Jesus (peace be upon
him), Allah sent Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) with the
Qur'an to confirm all the messages before him and to complete the revelation of
religion to mankind.
Since all the Judeo-Christian-Islamic prophets were sent sequentially,
the question arises as to why Judaism, Christianity, and Islam now exist as
separate religions. The answer is that the followers of these religions,
particularly Judaism and Christianity, corrupted the original teachings given
to them and ended up making sects of their own rather than following the pure
word of God. But as the Qur'an says:
For each of you, We have made a Law and a clear way. If Allah had
willed, He would have made you one nation but that He may test you in what He
has given you. So strive as a race in good deeds. Your return is to
Allah; then He will inform you about that which you used to differ.
(5:48)
In 6th-century CE Arabia, the majority of people were
pagans. They lived in tribes, each with its own leader. Some were
farmers, others traders, but many reared camels and raided other tribes for
booty. It was into this society, in CE 570, that Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him and his family) was born in Makkah. His parents died and he
was looked after first by his grandfather and then by his uncle. As he
grew up, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) became known as
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) al-Amin, 'the
trustworthy'. He worked for a wealthy older widow, Khadija, who,
impressed with his honesty, asked him to marry her. He was twenty-five,
and they remained married until her death twenty-five years later.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) often used to go
from the bustle of Makkah for periods of reflection in a cave outside the
city. During one such time, when he was forty years old, he heard the
voice of the angel Jibril giving him a command:
Recite in the Name of your Lord who creates,
Creates man from a clot.
Recite! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful,
Who taught the use of the pen,
Taught humankind that which they knew not. (96:1-5)
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) repeated the words
until he had learned them by heart. He rushed home and related his
experience to his wife, who comforted and reassured him. Khadija and the
Prophet's young cousin 'Ali (peace be upon him) were the first people to
understand and accept that Allah had chosen 'the trustworthy one' to deliver
his final guidance.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) continued to receive
revelations for over twenty years.
As time passed, it became clear to ever-increasing numbers of people
that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) was indeed a Messenger
of Allah. The least receptive were those powerful Makkans who trafficked
in idols and slaves and benefited most from idol worship and the pilgrim trade.
They treated Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) with
derision. Despite this, he continued to deliver the revelations of
Allah's mercy and justice, which were welcomed by the poor and oppressed.
The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), his family, and
followers were driven from Makkah. For three years they sheltered in a
valley outside the city in conditions of hardship and hunger. Narrowly
escaping assassination in Makkah, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his
family) traveled to Madina in CE 622. The migration from Makkah to
Madina, known as the Hijrah, became the starting point of the
Muslim calendar.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) was very well
received in Madina where he became head of what was to become the first Islamic
state. In CE 630, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and
his followers entered Makkah. At the Ka'bah, Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him and his family) cleared the hundreds of idols from inside
and proclaimed that truth had come and falsehood had vanished. He was 63
when he died, and by the time of his death the majority of people in Arabia had
accepted Islam as their way of life.
The final verse of the Qur'an to be revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him and his family), a few days before his death, was this:
"Today I [Allah] have perfected for you your religion, completed my favor
upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion." (5:3)
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