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by his imperfect character.
After receiving the message he is infallible. That is, he would
not commit any sin. He might make some minor mistakes which are
usually corrected by revelation.
2. He is supported by miracles to prove that he is not an
imposter. Those miracles are granted by the power and permission
of God and are usually in the field in which his people excel
and are recognised as superiors. We might illustrate this by
quoting the major miracles of the three prophets of the major
world religions; Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Moses'
contemporaries were excellent in magic. So his major miracle was
to defeat the best magicians of Egypt of his days. Jesus's
contemporaries were recognised as skilful physicians. Therefore
his miracles were to raise the dead and cure the incurable
diseases. The Arabs, the contemporaries of the prophet Muhammed,
were known for their eloquence and magnificent poetry. So
Prophet Muhammed's (P.B.U.H.) major miracle was the Qur'an, the
equivalent of which the whole legion of the Arab poets and
orators could not produce despite the repeated challenge from
the Qur'an itself. Again Muhammad (peace be upon him) (peace be
upon him)'s miracle has something special about it. All previous
miracles were limited by time and place, i.e., they were shown
to specific people at a specific time. Not so the miracle of
Muhammad (peace be upon him) (peace be upon him)-the Qur'an. It
is a universal and everlasting miracle. Previous generations
witnessed it and future generations will witness its miraculous
nature in term of its style, content and spiritual uplifting.
These still can be tested and will thereby prove the divine
origin of the Qur'an.
3. Every prophet states clearly that what he receives is not of
his own but from God for the well-being of mankind. He also
confirms what was revealed before him and what may be revealed
after him. A prophet does this to show that he is simply
conveying the message which is entrusted to him by the One True
God of all people in all ages. So the message is one essence and
for the same purpose. Therefore, it should not deviate from what
was revealed before him or what might come after him.
Prophets are necessary for conveying God's instructions and
guidance to mankind. We have no way of knowing why we were
created. What will happen to us after death? Is there any life
after death? Are we accountable for our actions? In other words,
is there any reward or punishment for our deeds in this life?
These and so many other questions about God, angels, paradise,
hell etc.. is only known to the Creator and Knower of the
unseen. Those answers must be authentic and must be brought by
individuals whom we trust and respect. That is why, messengers
are the select of their societies in terms of moral conducts and
intellectual abilities.
Hence the slanderous Biblical stories about some of the great
prophets are not accepted by Muslims. As for example, when Lot
is reported to have committed fornication while drunk, with his
daughters, or that David sent one of his leaders to death to
marry his wife. Prophets to Muslims are greater that what these
stories indicate. These stories can not be true from the Islamic
point of view.
The prophets are also miraculously supported by God and
instructed by Him to affirm the continuity of the message.
The content of the prophet's message to mankind can be
summarised as follows:
a) Clear concept about God: His attributes, His creation, what
should and should not be ascribed to Him.
b) Clear idea about the unseen world, the angles, jinn
(spirits), Paradise and Hell.
c) Why has God created us? What does He want from us what the
reward or punishment for obeying or disobeying Him?
d) How to run our societies according to His will? That is,
clear instructions and laws that, when applied correctly and
honestly, will result in a happy and ideal society.
It is clear from the above discussions that there is no
substitute for prophets. Even nowadays with the advancement of
science, the only authentic source of information about the
supernatural world is revelation. Guidance can neither be
obtained from science nor from mystic experience. The first is
too materialistic and too limited; the second is too subjective
and frequently too misleading.
Now one might ask:
How many prophets had God sent to humanity? We do not know for
sure. Some Muslims scholars have suggested 240 thousand
prophets. We are only sure of what is clearly mentioned in the
Qur'an, i.e. God has sent a messenger (or more) to every nation.
That is because it is one of God's principles that He will never
call a people to account unless He has made clear to them what
to do and what not to do. The Qur'an mentions the names of 25
prophets and indicates that there have been others who were not
mentioned to the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) (peace be
upon him). These 25 include Noah, the man of the Ark, Abraham,
Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon him) (peace be upon
him). These five are the greatest among God's messengers. They
are called 'the resolute' prophets.
An outstanding aspect of the Islamic belief in prophethood is
that Muslims believe in and respect all the messengers of God
with no exceptions. Since all the prophets came from the same
One God for the same purpose - to lead mankind to God- belief in
them all is essential and logical; accepting some and rejecting
others has to be based on misconceptions of the prophet's role
or on racial bias. The Muslims are the only people in the world
who consider the belief in the prophets of God an article of
faith. Thus the Jews reject Jesus Christ and Muhammad (peace be
upon him) (PBUH), the Christians reject Muhammad (PBUH) and in
reality reject Moses because they do not abide by his laws. The
Muslims accept them all as messengers of God who brought
guidance to mankind. However, the revelation which those
prophets brought from God had been tampered with in one way or
the other. The belief in all the messengers of God is enjoined
on the Muslims by the Qur'an: Say (O Muslims):We believe in
Allah and that which is revealed to us and that which was
revealed to Abraham and Ismael, and Isaac and Jacob, and their
children, and that which Moses and Jesus received and that the
prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction
between any of them and unto Him we have surrendered. (2:136)
The Qur'an continues in the following verses to instruct the
Muslims that this is the true and impartial belief. If other
nations believe in the same they are following the right track.
If they do not, they must be following their own whims and
biases and God will take care of them. Thus we read: And if they
believe in what you believe, then are they rightly guided. But
if they turn away, then they are in disunity, and Allah will
suffice you against them. He is the Hearer, the Knower. This is
God's religion and Who is better than God in religion?
(2:1137-38)
There are, at least, two important points related to prophethood
that need to be clarified. These points concern the roles of
Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon him) as prophets who are
usually misunderstood.
The Qur'anic account of Jesus emphatically rejects the concept
of his 'Divinity' and 'Divine Sonship' and presents him as one
of the great prophets of God. The Qur'an makes it clear that the
birth of Jesus without a father does not make him a son of God
and mentions in this respect Adam who was created by God without
a father and mother.
Truly the likeness of Jesus, in God's sight, is as Adam's
likeness; He created him of dust, then said He unto him, "Be",
and he was (3:59).
Like other prophets Jesus also performed miracles. For example,
he raised the dead and cured the blind and the lepers, but while
showing these miracles he always made it clear that it was all
from God.
Actually, the misconceptions about the personality and mission
of Jesus found a way among his followers because the Divine
message that he preached was not recorded during his presence in
the world, rather it was recorded after a lapse of about hundred
years. According to the Qur'an he was sent to the children of
Israel; he confirmed the validity of the Torah which was
revealed to Moses and he also brought the glad tidings of a
final messenger after him.
And when Jesus son of Mary said, 'children of Israel, I am
indeed the Messenger to you, confirming the Torah that is before
me, and giving good tidings of a Messenger who shall come after
me, whose name shall be the praised one. (61:6) (the underlined
portion is the translation of Ahmad which is Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him)'s name).
However, the majority of the Jews rejected his ministry. They
plotted against his life and in their opinion crucified him. But
the Qur'an refutes this opinion and says that they neither
killed him nor crucified him, rather he was raised up to God.
There is a verse in the Qur'an, which implied that Jesus will
come back and all the Christians and Jews will believe in him
before he dies. This is also supported by authentic sayings of
the prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The last prophet of God, Muhammad (peace be upon him), was born
in Arabia in the sixth century C.E. Up to the age of forty,
people of Makkah knew him only as a man of excellent character
and cultured manners and called him AL-AMEEN (the trustworthy).
He also did not know that he was soon to be made a prophet and
receiver of revelation from God. He called the idolators of
Makkah to worship the only one God and accept him as His
prophet. The revelation that he received was preserved in his
lifetime in the memory of his companions and was also recorded
on pieces of palm leaves, leather etc. Thus the Qur'an that is
found today is the same that was revealed to him, not a syllable
of it has been altered as God Himself has guaranteed its
preservation. This Qur'an claims to be the book of guidance for
whole humanity for all times, and mentions Muhammad (peace be
upon him) as the last prophet of God.
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