Human destiny, by Islamic teachings, is a matter of man having been placed on this earth by God, so that he may be put to the test—the test of his capacity to make correct moral choices. It is for this purpose that man has been given complete freedom, for without such freedom, the divine test would have no meaning, no validity. It is required of man that he should lead his life on earth following a regimen of strict self-discipline. Wherein should he find the guiding principles for such a course? The true source of guidance, according to Islam, is to be found in prophethood.
God has endowed man with a thinking mind so that he may understand. But this mind can only grasp things that are apparent. It cannot go beyond the perceivable, and there are many things to be apprehended, for which a superficial knowledge is insufficient. The higher realities of this world are beyond the scope of the human mind, and as far as God and the next world are concerned, they must remain forever invisible— beyond the reach of human perception.
The true source of guidance, according to Islam is to be found in prophethood.
What the Prophet does is to enlighten people so that they may overcome the human inadequacy of not knowing things beyond the scope of human mind. He tells of the reality of things here and now, and also gives tidings of the next world. He thereby enables the individual to formulate a plan for his entire existence in the full light of knowledge and awareness so that he may carve out a successful life for himself.
Throughout the history of mankind, God appointed certain human beings—prophets—who would be the recipients and conveyors of His guidance as sent through His angels. The last in the series was the Prophet Muhammad.
The Islamic concept of prophethood is totally different from that of incarnation. According to the concept of incarnation God Himself is re-born in human shape on earth in order to give succour to humanity. Prophethood, according to Islam, is of quite another order. A prophet is a man, just like any other human being: his uniqueness resides solely in his also being a messenger of God. A messenger is not an ‘inspired’ person in the simple sense of the word. By Islamic tenets, prophethood is dependent not on inspiration, but on divine revelation. Inspiration is a common psychological phenomenon, of the kind experienced by a poet, whereas revelation is direct divine communication. It was consciously sent and also consciously received by the Prophet.
The Prophet’s uniqueness resides solely in his also being a messenger of God.
The Prophet’s responsibility was to communicate the divine message to humanity. In doing so, if he received a negative response from the people, or even in extreme cases was persecuted, nevertheless, he had to follow a strict policy of avoidance of confrontation, and had unilaterally to adopt the path of patience and forbearance. He was responsible only in so far as the conveying of the message was concerned. As for the response to, or acceptance of the message, that was entirely dependent on the addressees. But clearly, the greater the number who accepted the message, the greater the sphere in which a practical system of guidance sent by God became established.
God’s messengers came in every age and to every region. According to a Hadith (words of the prophet)—starting with Adam and ending with the Prophet Muhammad—1,24,000 messengers were sent to different nations, time and again, to guide the people to the right path. The prophets mentioned by name in the Quran are about twenty four in number. The five well known prophets who came before Muhammad were Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. The Prophet Muhammad, the last in this long line of prophets, was known as the ‘Seal of the Prophets’.
All the prophets, according to Islam, brought the same basic truth: that there is only one God and that all human beings are accountable to God for their actions; On the Day of Judgement, they will be judged according to their good and bad deeds. Those who believe in God and His Prophet and do good deeds shall be rewarded in the next world. In contrast, those who disbelieve and do bad deeds shall be punished in the next world.
The prophets who were given divine revelations in the form of books were called rasul, while those who did not were called nabi. Of the holy books, four find mention in the Quran: the Sahifa or the scrolls given to Abraham; the Torah, the revelations to Moses; the Zabur, the psalms of David; the Gospel, the teachings given to Jesus. Each of these was originally a complete revelation, but unfortunately, these books and teachings were not properly preserved. Some, like the Sahifa, were lost completely. Others were changed in various ways by human intervention and are no longer in their original form. They could best be described as edited versions of divine revelations, which have been altered from time to time by editors and commentators.
In the past, the need for new prophets had arisen because God’s religion was no longer in its pristine form, having been distorted in a number of different ways. New prophets had to come to the world periodically in order to revive the true spirit of religion, and thus restore it to its original form. After the Prophet Muhammad, there was no need for another prophet, for the Book— the Quran— which he gave to the world has been preserved intact, in its original form. The Quran is a collection of the divine revelations which the Prophet received over a period of 23 years.
The records of all the prophets have been rendered historically unreliable by interpolations with the sole exception of Prophet Muhammad. Firstly, this is because the Prophet Muhammad was born in an age when the history of the world was already being extensively chronicled and secondly because of a strong team amongst his followers. This in itself made circumstances conducive to authentic records being kept of God's messages and the Prophet's exemplary life. The relevant facts were passed on from one generation to the next by both oral and written tradition, and with the advent of the printing press, came the modern guarantee that no changes would ever be made in the divine scriptures. This renders unassailable the position of the Prophet Muhammad as God's final messenger. Professor Philip Hitti has acknowledge this in the following words “Mohammad is born within the full light of history”.
Prophethood is one of the fundamental articles of faith in Islam. A Muslim should believe in prophethood and in all the prophets sent by God and make no distinction between them.
