The Prophets of Allah (Peace be upon them all) [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

The Prophets of
Allah

( Peace be upon them
all )

Infallibility
of the Prophets and the Inerrability of their Guidance

The prophets of God were men who propagated the call of
revelation and prophecy and brought definitive proofs for their
call. They propagated among people the elements of the religion of
God (which is the same divine law that guarantees happiness) and
made it available to all men. Since in all periods of history the
number of persons endowed with the power of prophecy and revelation
has been limited to a few individuals, God--the Most Exalted--has
completed and perfected the guidance of the rest of mankind by
placing the mission of the propagation of religion upon the
shoulders of His prophets. That is why a prophet of God must possess
the quality of inerrancy ('ismah). In receiving the revelation from
God, in guarding it and in making possible its reaching the people,
he must be free from error. He must not commit sin (ma's yah).

The reception of
revelation, its preservation and its propagation are three
principles of ontological guidance; and error in existence itself is
meaningless. Furthermore, sin and opposition to the claims of the
religious call and its propagation are impossible in a prophet for
they would be a call against the original religious mission; they
would destroy the confidence of the people, their reliance upon the
truth and the validity of the call. As a result they would destroy
the purpose of the religious call itself.

God, the Exalted,
refers in His word to the inerrancy of the prophets, saying, "And We
chose them and guided them unto a straight path" (Qur'an, VI, 88).
And also, "(He is) the Knower of the Unseen, and He revealeth unto
none His secret, save unto every messenger whom He hath chosen, and
then He maketh a guard to go before him and a guard behind him, that
He may know that they have indeed conveyed the messages of their
Lord" (Qur'an. LXXII. 26-28).

The
Prophets and Revealed Religion

What the prophets
of God received through revelation and as a message from God and
conveyed to mankind was religion (din), that is, a way of life and
human duties which guarantee the real happiness of
man.

Revealed religion in
general consists of two parts:

doctrine

practice or method.

The doctrinal part of
revealed religion conconsists of a series of fundamental principles
and views concerning the real nature of things upon which man must
establish the foundations of his life. It is comprised of the three
universal principles of:

unity (tawhid)

prophecy
(nubuwwat)

eschatology
(ma'ad).

If there is any
confusion or disorder in one of these principles the religion will
not be able to gain any following. The practical part of revealed
religion consists of a series of moral and practical injunctions
covering the duties man has before God and human society. That is
why the secondary duties which have been ordered for man in
different Divine laws are of two kinds: morals (akhlaq), and actions
(a'mal). The morals and actions related to the Divine are of two
kinds, such as: first, the quality of faith. sincerity, surrender to
God, contentment and humility; and second. the daily prayers,
fasting, and sacrifice (called acts of worship and symbolising the
humility and servitude of man before the Divine Throne). The morals
and actions related to human society are also of two kinds, such as:
first, the quality of love for other men, wishing well for others,
justice and generosity; and second, the duty to carry out social
intercourse, trade and exchange, etc. (called
transactions).

Another point that
must be considered is that since the human species is directed
toward the gradual attainment of perfection, and human society
through the passage of time becomes more complete, the appearance of
a parallel development must also be seen in revealed laws. The Holy
Qur'an affirms this gradual development, which reason has also
discovered. It can be concluded from its verses that each Divine Law
(Shari'ah) is in reality more complete than the Shari'ah before; for
instance, in this verse where He says, "And unto thee have We
revealed the Scripture with the truth, confirming whatever Scripture
was before it, and a watcher over it." (Qur'an, V,
48)'3

Of course, as
scientific knowledge also confirms and the Qur'an states, the life
of human society in this world is not eternal and the development of
man is not endless. As a result, the general principles governing
the duties of man from the point of view of doctrine and practice
must of necessity stop at a particular stage. Therefore, prophecy
and the Shari'ah will also one day come to an end when in the
perfection of doctrine and expansion of practical regulations they
have reached the final stage of their development. That is why the
Holy Qur'an, in order to make clear that Islam (the religion of
Muhammad) is the last and most complete of the revealed religions,
introduces itself as a sacred book that cannot be abrogated (naskh),
calls the Prophet the "Seal of the Prophets" (khatam al-anbiya'),
and sees the Islamic religion as embracing all religious duties. As
He says, And lo! it is an unassailable Scripture. Falsehood cannot
come at it from before it or behind it" (Qur'an, XLI, 41-42). 14 And
also, "Muhammad is not the father of any man among you but he is the
messenger of Allah and the Seal of the prophets" (Qur'an, XXXIII,
40).'5 And, "We reveal the scripture unto thee as an exposition of
all things" (Qur'an. XVI. 89) l6

The
Prophets and Proof of Revelation and Prophecy

Many
modern scholars who have investigated the problem of revelation and
prophecy have tried to explain revelation, prophecy and questions
connected with them by using the principles of social psychology.
They say that the prophets of God were men of a pure nature and
strong will who had great love for humanity. In order to enable
mankind to advance spiritually and materially and in order to reform
decadent societies, they devised laws and regulations and invited
mankind to accept them. Since people in those days would not accept
the logic of human reason, in order to make them obey their
teachings the prophets, according to such modern scholars, claimed
that they and their thoughts came from the transcendent world. Each
prophet called his own pure soul the Holy Spirit; the teachings
which he claimed came from the transcendent world were called
"revelation and prophecy"; the duties which resulted from the
teachings were called "revealed Shari'ah"; and the written record of
these teachings and duties were called a "revealed
book."

Anyone who views with
depth and impartiality the revealed books and especially the Holy
Qur'an, and also the lives of the prophets, will have no doubt that
this view is not correct. The prophets of God were not political
men. Rather they were "men of God," full of truthfulness and purity.
What they perceived they proclaimed without addition or diminution.
And what they uttered they acted upon. What they claimed to possess
was a mysterious consciousness which the invisible world had
bestowed upon them. In this way they came to know from God Himself
what the welfare of men was in this world and the next, and
propagated this knowledge among mankind.

It is quite clear
that in order to confirm and ascertain the call of prophecy there is
need of proof and demonstration. The sole fact that the Shari'ah
brought by a prophet conforms to reason is not sufficient in
determining the truthfulness of the prophetic call . A man who
claims to be a prophet, in addition to the claim of the truth of his
Shari'ah, claims a connection through revelation and prophecy with
the transcendent world, and therefore claims that he has been given
by God the mission to propagate the faith. This claim in itself is
in need of proof. That is why (as the Holy Qur'an informs us) the
common people with their simple mentality always sought miracles
from the prophets of God in order that the truthfulness of their
call might be confirmed.

The meaning of this
simple and correct logic is that the revelation, which the prophet
claims is his cannot be found among others who are human beings like
him. It is of necessity an invisible power which God miraculously
bestows upon His prophets, through which they hear His word and are
given the mission to convey this word to mankind. If this be true,
then the prophet should ask God for another miracle so that people
would believe the truth of his prophetic call.

It is thus clear that
the request for miracles from prophets is according to correct logic
and it is incumbent upon the prophet of God to provide a miracle at
the beginning of his call, or according to the demand of the people,
in order to prove his prophecy. The Holy Qur'an has affirmed this
logic, relating miracles about many prophets-at the beginning of
their mission or after their followers requested them. Of course
many modern investigators and scientists have denied miracles, but
their opinions are not based upon any satisfactory reasons. There is
no reason to believe that the causes which until now have been
discovered for events through in: investigation and experiment are
permanent and unchanging, that no event ever occurs for reasons
other than those which usually bring it about. The miracles related
about the prophets of God are not impossible or against reason (as
is, for example, they claim that the number three is even). Rather
they are a "break In what is habitual" (kharq-i 'adat), an
occurrence which, incidentally, has often been observed in a lower
degree among people following ascetic practices.

The
Number of the Prophets of God

It is known through
tradition that in the past many prophets appeared, and the Holy
Qur'an affirms their multitude. It has mentioned some of them by
name or by their characteristics, but has not given their exact
number. Through definitive traditions also it has not been possible
to determine their number except in the well-known saying which Abu
Dharr Ghifari has recited from the Holy Prophet, according to which
their number has been set at 124,000.

Some of the
Prophets (A.S.) Mentioned in the Holy
Qur'an.