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Prophethood

PROPHETHOOD
Question:

What is the second fundamental from among the fundamental beliefs in Islam?

Answer:

It is prophethood. This means that God Almighty has sent prophets to mankind in order to guide him to the truth and the right path.

Question:

Who is the first prophet?

Answer: 

The first prophet is our father Adam (peace be upon him). God created him from clay; then created him a companion Hawa (Eve)  - peace be upon her. Then God blessed Hawa with two sons Habil (Abel) and Qabil (Cain).  Then God created two girls, not from the stock of Adam and Hawa, but as a new creation.  Habil and Qabil married these two girls and from them children were created, and consequently cousins married each other and so the human race started to increase.

Question:

Who is the last of all the prophets?

Answer:

The last prophet is the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (God’s blessings and peace be upon him and his progeny).

Question:

How many prophets are there?

Answer:

Their number is 124,000. From among them are Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses) and ‘Isa (Jesus).  These four prophets together with the Prophet of Islam are superior to the rest of mankind.

Question:

What is the difference between prophets and other human beings?

Answer:

The difference is that the prophets receive direct revelation from God Almighty and are given commands either concerning their own affairs or commands to be proclaimed to other people.  The rest of humanity do not receive such divine revelations. On the contrary, they are charged to follow the prophets.

Question:

How do we know that one who claims prophethood is telling the truth?

Answer:

We know the truthfulness of the claimant of prophethood by means of miracles. Miracles consist of supernatural feats that a prophet performs which indicate that he is from God, since if he were not he could never perform such acts.

Question:

Give examples of miracles.

Answer:

For example:

1- Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was cast into the fire but did not get burnt.

2- Musa (peace be upon him) would throw down his staff and it would turn into a huge serpent. Then when he picked it up it would return to its original condition.

3- ‘Isa (peace be upon him) would heal the blind and lepers and by the will of God would bring the dead to life.

4- Muhammad (God’s blessings and peace be upon him and his progeny) split the moon into two and brought the Qur’an the like of which man has been incapable of producing.

Question:

How is it that man has been incapable of producing something like the Qur’an?

Answer:

The Qur’an itself has challenged mankind and invited him to bring forth something like itself. “Say: If men and jinn should meet together to bring the like of this Qur’an, they could not bring the like of it, even if they came to the aid of one another” [17: 88].

And when they were incapable of producing the like of the whole Qur’an, they were challenged to produce only ten suras (chapters) like the suras in the Qur’an: “Bring you then ten forged suras like it…”[11: 13].

And when again they remained incapable, they were challenged to bring forth only one sura like a Qur’anic sura: “Then produce a sura like it”[2: 23].

But men of that day, even though they were eloquent and spoke the purest Arabic and were outstanding poets and masters of rhetoric could not meet these challenges and in the end fought the Prophet since they could not produce even the like of the smallest sura, al-Kawthar [no. 108], which says:

“In the Name of God, the most Merciful, the most Compassionate.

Verily, we have granted you [Oh Muhammad] al-kawthar.

Therefore turn in prayer to your Lord and sacrifice [to Him].

For he who makes you angry will be cut off.”

Question:

What are the special attributes of the prophets?

Answer:

Prophets, Imams and angels all share the same quality, namely they are free from error and every transgression or sin.  Throughout their entire life they never disobey God Almighty  or commit a sin, since they are aware of the majesty of God Almighty, and at the same time are also utterly  aware of the detestable nature of disobedience: both these factors prevent them from committing any transgression.  Similarly the Prophets and the Imams possess the finest of virtues like courage, generosity, sense of honour, noble-mindedness and so on and they are free from every ignoble trait.  They have to be absolutely the best of the people of their time and therefore it is incumbent upon people to follow them.

Question:

Do Prophets and Imams possess some degree of divinity just as Christians have claimed regarding Christ?

Answer:

Absolutely not, for Prophets and Imams are human. However they receive guidance from God Almighty and possess the quality of freedom from error and from every transgression  and sin as well as possessing all  the other virtues. Christ too was nothing but a human being: Almighty God created him from his mother without a father, just as God Almighty created Adam and Hawa without father or mother.

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