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BELIEF in the PROPHETS

BELIEF in the PROPHETS. Outline. Prophets and Prophethood Divine Purposes for Sending the Prophets Characteristics of the Prophets The essentials of Prophethood How many Prophets have been sent to mankind? Prophets Conveyed the Same Message

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BELIEF in the PROPHETS

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  1. BELIEF in the PROPHETS

  2. Outline • Prophets and Prophethood • Divine Purposes for Sending the Prophets • Characteristics of the Prophets • The essentials of Prophethood • How many Prophets have been sent to mankind? • Prophets Conveyed the Same Message • What are the differences between saints and Prophets? • What is a ‘miracle’? • Why are Prophets human? • Were there any woman prophets?

  3. Who are Prophets and What is Prophethood? • Prophethood is the institution of bringing message from God to His servants • Prophets were chosen men through whom God manifested Himself to illuminate the way of mankind so that mankind might be guided to the truth and be purified of sins “God was gracious to the believers when He raised up among them a Messenger from themselves who recites to them the verses (of His Book) and shows them His signs [in their selves and in the universe], purifies them [of their sins and their deviations of thought and belief], and instructs them in the Book and the Wisdom. They were evidently in manifest misguidance before.” [Quran, 3:164]

  4. Who are Prophets ?, cont’d. • A prophet has brilliant intelligence and pure soul • Prophethood is not a position acquired through brilliance of intelligence and purity of soul. A Prophet is specially brought up by God. • No prophet was divine. • Prophethood is the highest rank and a honor a man can receive from God. No ordinary man can achieve the rank of any prophet.

  5. Who are Prophets ?, cont’d. • A Prophet is protected by God against all kinds of sin, whether major or minor, because he is created for a special purpose. He is protected from falling, since his going astray even an inch could result in great deviation of his people. • The Prophets never speak as a result of whims and fancies “Nor does he speak of (his own) desire. It is no less than revelation sent down to him.” [Quran 53:3-4]

  6. Adam Idris (Enoch) Nuh (Noah) Hud Saleh Ibrahim (Abraham) Isma'il (Ishmael) Ishaq (Isaac) Lut (Lot) Ya'qub (Jacob) Yousef (Joseph) Shu'aib Ayyub (Job) Musa (Moses) Harun (Aaron) Dhu'l-kifl (Ezekiel) Dawud (David) Sulaiman (Solomon) Ilias (Elias) Al-Yasa (Elisha) Yunus (Jonah) Zakariyya (Zechariah) Yahya (John) Isa (Jesus) Muhammad Prophets mentioned in the Qur’an

  7. Prophets are NOT oracles!!! • Prophets have divine message. They are MESSENGERS of GOD. • Prophets have miracles which are done by God through them. • Prophets work for the good of mankind. • Prophets never lie. • Prophets do not ask for wages or power and status.

  8. What is the Divine Purpose for Sending the Prophets? The Prophets were sent • to illuminate the way of mankind   •   to guide people to the service of God  • to teach people the meaning of creation • to teach God’s laws   • to be examples • to establish the balance between this world and the next • to be God’s witnesses

  9. Some characteristics of the Prophets The Prophets •  depended on revelation •  were sincere in every action  • were very patient in faces of adversity • were very compassionate toward all living beings • called people wisely and with kindness •  called humankind to God’s Unity

  10. The essentials of Prophethood The essentials of Prophet hood common to all of the Prophets are, according to the theologians, as follows: • Truthfulness • Trustworthiness • Convey the message • Intellect • Infallibility

  11. An important point! • The prophets were all trustworthy and asked no wage for calling to God • “I am for you a trustworthy Messenger, so serve you God, and obey you me. I ask of you no wage for this; my wage falls only upon the Lord of the Worlds.”[Quran 26:107–9, 125–7, 143–5, 162–4, 178–80]

  12. How many Prophets have been sent to mankind? • No region or people has been altogether deprived of Divine enlightenment through God’s chosen servants, His prophets. • Directly or indirectly, all people of all periods have, at some time in their history, known or been aware of a prophet and of his teaching. There never was a people without a Warner having lived among them. (Quran 35:24) And We assuredly sent among every people a Messenger. (Quran 16:36) • The Qur’an mentions 25 out of 124,000 (or perhaps 224,000) prophets. We do not know exactly where and when many of them lived. We did in times past send Messengers before you; of them there are some whose stories We have related to you, and some whose story We have not related to you. (Quran 40:78)

  13. Prophets Conveyed the Same Message • All the prophets called humankind to God's unity. • In their teachings, differences might have happened in minor matters depending on the conditions of their peoples. However, all these teachings are the same in essence. E.g., stealing is evil and a sin in all; yet, the way a thief is punished might differ. For We assuredly sent amongst every people an Messenger (with the command), ‘Serve God and eschew evil.’ (Quran 16:36) • Whenever people fell into darkness after a Prophet by forgetting, changing and distorting his message, God sent another one to enlighten them again. This continued until the coming of the Last Prophet.

  14. What are the differences between saints and Prophets? • Prophets are chosen by God but saints struggle to gain sainthood. • Prophets are infallible while saints may sin. • Saints just confirm the message of the Prophets. • Saints never reach the level of the Prophets. • Saints may display acts of marvel but only Prophets may perform miracles.

  15. What is a ‘miracle’? • A miracle is an extraordinary event that God Almighty brings about at the hands of a Prophet to prove his Prophethood, strengthen the believers' faith, and break the unbelievers' obstinacy. • Examples: • The Staff of Moses • Healing of Jesus • The Holy Qur’an

  16. Why are Prophets human? • If Prophets came from angels, people would object to this saying, “We cannot be like them so we cannot follow them.” • The Prophets’ being human helps convey the message easily and in a more understandable way.

  17. Were there any woman prophets? • Prophets were from men. • “And before thee also the messengers We sent were but men, to whom We granted inspiration: if ye realise this not, ask of those who possess the Message.” [Qur’an 16:43]

  18. Thank you for your patience!

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