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One might well ask:
How many prophets has God sent to humanity? We are only
sure of what is clearly mentioned in the Quran, that God has sent a messenger
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 Quran mentions the names of 25 prophets and indicates that
there have been others who were not mentioned to Prophet Muhammad, may the
mercy and blessings of God be upon him. These 25 include Noah, Abraham, Moses,
Jesus, and Muhammad (may God praise them all). 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. All the prophets came from the same One God, for the same
purpose: to lead mankind to God. Hence, 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 a racial bias. The Muslims are the only people in
the world who consider the belief in all the prophets an article of faith. Thus
the Jews reject Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them), and the Christians
reject Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him. The Muslims
accept them all as messengers of God who brought guidance to mankind. However,
the revelations which those prophets before Muhammad, may the mercy and
blessings of God be upon him, brought from God have been tampered with in one
way or another.
The belief in all the prophets of God is enjoined upon
the Muslims in the Quran:
“Say (O Muslims): We believe in God and that which is revealed
to us and that which was revealed to Abraham and Ishmael, 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.” (Quran 2:136)
The Quran 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 in 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 they are
rightly guided. But if they turn away, then they are in disunity, and God will
suffice you against them. He is the Hearer, the Knower. This is God’s
religion and who is better than God in religion?” (Quran 2:137-138)
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 them) as prophets, who are usually misunderstood.
The Quranic 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 Quran makes it clear that the birth of Jesus
without a father does not make him the son of God and mentions, in this
respect, Adam, who was created by God without a father or mother.
“Truly, the likeness of Jesus, in God’s sight, is as Adam’s
likeness; He created him of dust, them said He unto him “Be”, and he was.” (Quran
3:59)
Like other prophets, Jesus also performed miracles. For
example, he raised the dead and cured the blind and 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, peace be upon
him, found a way among his followers because the Divine message he preached was
not recorded during his presence in the world. Rather, it was recorded after a
lapse of about one hundred years. According to the Quran, he was sent to the Children
of Israel; he confirmed the validity of the Torah, which was revealed to Moses,
peace be upon him, 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…” (Quran 61:6)
(The “praised one” is the translation of “Ahmad”, which
is Prophet Muhammad’s name.)
However, the majority of the Jews rejected his ministry.
They plotted against his life and in their opinion, crucified him. But the Quran
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 Quran which implies
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, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him.
The last prophet of God, Muhammad, 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 idolaters of Makkah to worship
the one and only God and accept him (Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of
God be upon 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 leaf, leather, etc. Thus the Quran that is found today is the same
that was revealed to him, not a syllable of which has been altered, as God
Himself has guaranteed its preservation. This Quran claims to be the book of
guidance for all of humanity for all times, and mentions Muhammad, may the
mercy and blessings of God be upon him, as the last Prophet of God.
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