PROPHETHOOD is not unknown to heavenly revealed religions, such as Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
Why Prophets?
According to Islam, Allah Almighty created man for a noble purpose: to worship Him and lead a virtuous life based on His teachings and guidance. How would man know his role and the purpose of his existence unless he received clear and practical instructions of what Allah wants him to do? Here came the need for Prophethood.
Thus Allah Almighty had chosen from every nation a Prophet (Messenger) or more to convey His Message, His instructions and His guidance to the people.
We do not have any direct way of knowing some very pertinent issues: Why were we 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. cannot be answered without direct Divine Revelation from the Creator and Knower of the unseen Himself. Those answers must be authentic and must be brought by individuals whom we trust and respect. That is why Prophets/Messengers were the select of their societies in terms of moral conducts and intellectual abilities.
Major characteristics of Prophets
One might ask: How were the Prophets chosen and who was entitled to this great honour? Prophethood is Allah’s blessing and favour that He had bestowed on whom He willed. However, from carefully studying the lives of the various Divinely selected Messengers throughout history, three principle features (of a Divinely chosen Prophet) may be recognised:
1.He was the best in his community morally and intellectually. This was necessary because in the case of the Messenger of God Almighty his life had to serve as a model for his followers. His personality had to attract people to accept his message rather than drive them away by any imperfect character. After receiving the message he was infallible. That is, he would not commit any sin or transgression of the commands of The Almighty nor violate the rights of any human being in any way whatsoever.
2.He was supported by Divinely bestowed miracles to prove that he is not an impostor.
Those miracles were granted purely by the power and permission of God Almighty and were usually in the field in which his people not only excelled but were regarded as masters/superiors. We might illustrate this by quoting the major miracles of the three Messengers of the major world religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The contemporaries of Moses (peace be upon him) were excellent in the art of magic. So his major miracle was to defeat the best magicians of his time, in Egypt.
The contemporaries of Jesus (peace be upon him) were recognised as skillful physicians. Therefore his miracles were to raise the dead back to life and cure incurable diseases.
The Arabs, who were the contemporaries of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), were known for their eloquence and magnificent poetry. So Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)’s major miracle was the Qur’aan.
The equivalent of which the whole legion of the Arab poets and orators could not produce despite the repeated challenge from the Qur’aan itself.
3.Every Prophet stated clearly that what he received as revelation was not of his own but from God Almighty for the well being of mankind. He also confirmed 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 in essence and for the same purpose.
Therefore, it should not deviate from what was revealed before him or what might come after him.
The Message of Prophethood
Being Divinely chosen, the Prophets were supported by God Almighty and instructed by Him to affirm the continuity of the message.
The content of each of the Prophets’ message to mankind can be summarised as follows:
- Clear concept about God: His attributes, His creation, what should and should not be ascribed to Him.
- Clear idea about the unseen world: the Angels, Jinn (spirits), Paradise and Hell.
- Why has God created us? What does He want from us and what is the reward or punishment for obeying or disobeying Him?
- A clear drive in developing spirituality rather than materialism. Expounding the clear belief in the fact that this life is but temporal and the greater the attachment to the material the more difficult it will be to develop the spiritual.
- An unequivocal declaration of the need to fulfil mutual rights between and amongst fellow human beings at all levels of social inter actions and dealings.
- How to run our societies according to His will? That is, clear instructions and laws that, when applied correctly and honestly, will result in the development of a happy and ideal society.
It is clear from the above discussion that there was no substitute for Messengers/Prophets. Even with the advancement of science, etc. the only authentic source of information about the supernatural world is the Divine Revelation which was bestowed through the Divinely chosen Messengers/Prophets. True and conclusive guidance cannot be obtained from science nor from mystical experience.
The first is too materialistic and too limited; the second is too subjective and frequently too misleading.
(to be continued)
- For further information on Islam or a free copy of the Holy Qur’aan, please contact: Majlisul Ulama Zimbabwe, Council of Islamic Scholars.
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