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3:79, 80 THE SLAVES OF ALLAH

3:79 “ It was (absolutely) not possible for any human being after Allah

granted him the Book, power and Prophet – hood that he could have

ordered the people to become his slaves rather than of Allah. Instead,

he said: ‘ Be Rabbaniyyeen’ i.e. be the slaves of the Lord (Allah), and

this is what you have been teaching (others) from the Book and also

what you have been studying (before) (i.e. no one but Allah is the Lord

of the entire universe, and that all are His slaves).”

3:80 “ And nor he (i.e. the Prophet) would order you to take the Angels

and the Prophets as Lords (gods). Would he order you to disbelieve

(i.e. revert to the state of infidelity by calling the Prophet as God, as the

Christians did about Jesus), when (the fact is that) you (have accepted

Islam and) have become Muslims?”

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I) THE PROPHETS WERE THE SLAVES OF ALLAH:

1. The Prophets of Allah were His slaves. How can any one of them may be called as God, as the Christians did about Jesus Christ? The Holy Quran states:

a) “ Messiah will never be ashamed of being called as the slave of

Allah, and nor the angels…” (4:172)

b) “ O’ People of the Book! Don’t show exaggeration in your

religion …Indeed, Messiah i.e. Jesus son of Mary is but the

Messenger of Allah and His Word…and don’t say : ‘Three’

(i.e. Jesus as one of three Gods)….” (4:171)

[The Holy Prophet said: “ Don’t exaggerate while praising me just

as the Christians exaggerated in case of (Jesus) son of Mary,

because I am just the slave of Allah. So you (must) call me as Abd

(i.e. the slave) of Allah and His Rasool (Messenger).”(Bukhari:3261)]

c) “ Say ( Holy Prophet): ‘ If ever there had been a son for Allah,

(then I am not so stubborn not to admit, but, in fact,) I am the

first (Abid) to submit myself to the Commandment of Allah

(, but the solid fact is that Allah has no children).” (43:81)

d) All the Prophets were the slaves of Allah. For example, the Holy Quran calls:

i) Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) as the slave of Allah in 2:23; 17:1

ii) Prophet Jesus Christ as the slave of Allah in 4:172;43:59

iii) Prophet Daud (David) as the slave of Allah in 38:30

iv) Prophets Ayyub, Ibrahim, Isaac & Yaqub as the slaves of Allah in 38:44,45.

e) The Prophets were totally obedient to Allah. This is the meaning of the word ‘slave’. They were completely guided, controlled and supervised by Allah. They could never think of committing even an error or a minor sin. They were ‘Masum’ (innocent). The sin was not in their nature. They could never think of ordering the people to set aside the Commandments of Allah and become their slaves. See the dreadful Verses 69:44- 47 in this connection.

Let us now consider the peculiar qualities of the Prophets, as below:

II) THE PECULIAR QUALITIES OF THE PROPHETS:

The following peculiar qualities of the Prophets particularly of our Holy Prophet have been derived from Ibn Khaldun’s Muqadammah on history:

1. Allah chose certain individuals (Prophets), whom he honored, addressed and made them as connecting links between Himself and the people. The knowledge that the Prophets imparted to the people through revelation from Allah was intrinsically and absolutely true.

2. The sign by which a Prophet could be recognized is that in the state of revelation, he appeared to have been removed (spiritually and not physically) from the people, who were before him. This was accompanied by choking or unconsciousness , but had nothing to do with either of the two. In fact, it was an immersion in the spiritual kingdom. This spiritual state then disappeared after he retained the Divine Message i.e. revelation. When the Holy Prophet was asked about the condition of revelation, he said:

Since the revelations produced the above conditions, the polytheists wrongly understood that the Prophet was overpowered by a jinn and were, thus misled.

3. Another sign by which the Prophets could be recognized is the fact that even before receiving revelations, they were virtuous, innocent and pious with no sin on their part. It looked as if such actions were against their nature. In other words, they were ‘Masum’.

4. Merrymaking activities also were not in the nature of the Prophets. The Holy Prophet, in his youth, was once invited to a wedding party, where there was much merrymaking. He fell fast asleep, and slept till the day appeared. Thus, he had nothing to do with the things the others did on that occasion. Allah protected him from all that. It was his nature. He even avoided food that was considered objectionable. Thus, he never touched onions or garlic. When, he was asked about it, he said: “ I communicate with the One with whom you do not.”