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Nubuwwah - Prophethood

Belief In Divine Guidance

This is the belief in the principle of Prophethood and Leadership, also termed as 'Divine Vicegerency' or the Central Authority over the universe focalized in man, bestowed by God. This action of ‘His’ is the manifestation of His Grace and Justice, which again are the manifestations of His Will and Might. His Will and Might are in turn the manifestation of His self-consciousness and Self-Love, which are the immediate manifestations of His Oneness and Infiniteness.

Cherishing implies planning and developing each part of the Plan. It means each part has been provided with all the necessary means to develop its full aptitude. Thus, God gives everything its distinctive limit and then guides it to develop its fullest aptitude. The Qur'an conveys this idea of Cherishing in the verse below:

قَالَ رَبُّنَا الَّذِي أَعْطَىٰ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَىٰ

“Said he (Musa): “Our Lord is He Who gave unto everything its (suitable) form, and then (also) guided it (aright).” (20:50)

In this way, God cherished matter to develop from its primal form into various complex forms of celestial and terrestrial bodies, and from the simplest form to more and more complex forms of elements (air, water, minerals etc.) and other inanimate beings, till the process of development progressively reached the ·stage of plant and animal, from its simple and less intricate form into more complex beings, and finally man - the most complex form of being - arrived.

The Lord Cherisher of the Universe thus brings forth man according to the Plan. As a rule, in this process of creation and manifestation, the Centre of every system or society of beings appears first on the scene, and then its satellites; so was the First Man caused to appear on the scene of Creation as the Central Personality, combining in him all the excellences to which he was apt.

Though those excellences might not have been in a developed form yet, there was not any defect in the First Man that unworthy of his position in the Order of Creation. The first man was the top in the hierarchy of the beings, and at the base was primal matter. Adam (‘a) carried in him the potentiality of all excellences, which had to manifest and develop in his issues later. The Qur'an asserts:

لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ

“Indeed, We created man in the best structure (mould)” (95:4)

ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَاهُ أَسْفَلَ سَافِلِينَ

“Then We reverted him to the lowest of the low.” (95:5)

إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ فَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ

“Save those who believe and do good deeds, for them shall be an incessant recompense.” (95:6)

This deterioration of man to the animal character is of secondary stage only, to which some of the issues of Adam are subjected. Otherwise, among his issues there are persons whose potentialities remained intact, as the exception clause in the above quoted verses asserts. They adhered to their best original mould (mind and body) in which they were created.

Here, it is necessary to clarify certain important points on this subject in order to maintain the continuity of right-thinking and remove the ambiguity resulting from wrong interpretations and assumptions.

Distinction Of Man As He Is Gifted With Free Will

Gifted with the ability for intellectual expression, the appearance of man on the scene of creation marked a new era in the history of the evolutionary course of Creation. That is to say, that he was created with the potentiality to receive impressions from the spiritual and material worlds surrounding him, and to reproduce these impressions in the same form as received, which is termed as 'discovery”, or in a new form, termed as ‘innovation'.

With the inherent intellectual faculty and the ability of 'discovery and innovation', man appeared on the scene of creation not to be governed by the laws of nature, but to subdue and employ all the natural resources in order to achieve the goal for which the process of Creation began.

That is to say that in order to develop his own Conscious Self as the focus of all that was in the Universe, hidden or apparent, man was ordained to be the most compact and comprehensive representative of God's attributes and excellences. This true representation of God's attributes and excellences by man is submission (‘Ubudiat or Islam). The various grades of status of vicegerency are in accord with it.

It is the creation of man, which the Qur’an terms as ‘the appointment of the Vicegerent of God on Earth’:

وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً قَالُوا أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَنْ يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ

“Recollect (O' Our Apostle Muhammad!) When said thy Lord unto the angels; 'Verily I (intend to) appoint a vicegerent on earth.” (2:30)

Although the angels (intellectual, physical forces functioning in the process of Creation) and all other material and non-material, celestial and terrestrial beings represent the 'Divine Attributes' in some way or the other, yet none of them is so compact and comprehensive in the representative status as man. That is why every other being has been termed as 'the sign of God' but none except man has been chosen and termed as 'the Vicegerent of God'.

Refutation Of The Fall Of Adam

The specific and precise quantity of matter - that carried the potentiality of becoming man - did not suffer any fall, reversal or shortcoming which might have prevented it from reaching its destiny. The first portion of matter that succeeded in assuming the form of man carried with it all the potentialities for the further development, awaiting the human species.

As mentioned earlier, the first man, without having any drawback or shortcoming, formed the central part or pivot of the human society. This centre, besides governing its own satellites, also governs all the subordinate centres of animal, plant and inanimate societies, on the principle that every higher centre in the evolutionary course of development governs the lower centres. Otherwise, the parts which form the universe as a whole will instantaneously disintegrate.

Thus, the truth is established that man is the topmost among all creatures and foremost in the progressive movements towards the Absolute Perfection (which is the Absolutely Perfect One), Allah. So, it is not justifiable to associate the term original sin with Adam and conceive it as inherited or inheritable by his issues. He is, therefore, the link between the Creator and all His other creatures.

The Concept Of Miracle

When such a man has to appear on the scene of human society and introduce himself to the people as the divine teacher and the representative of God on earth, it is necessary that he should have sufficient evidence to bear testimony to the truth of his declaration; that is, he should utter such words and exhibit such deeds which could not be uttered or performed by any natural means within the ability of a finite being. This is termed as a miracle.

The whole conception, from the oneness of God down to the necessity for prophethood and leadership and the indispensability of the prophets and leaders having sufficient evidence to bear the testimony to the truth of their claim, has been forwarded in the Qur'an:

لَٰكِنِ الرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ مِنْهُمْ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ وَالْمُقِيمِينَ الصَّلَاةَ وَالْمُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ أُولَٰئِكَ سَنُؤْتِيهِمْ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا

“But the well-grounded in knowledge among them and the believers (who) believe in what hath been sent down unto thee and what hath been sent down (unto Our apostles) before thee; and those who establish prayer, and those who give the poor rate (charity) and those who believes in God and the Last Day (of Judgment); These (it is whom) soon We will give a great recompense.” (4:162)

إِنَّا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ كَمَا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ نُوحٍ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَالْأَسْبَاطِ وَعِيسَىٰ وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُونُسَ وَهَارُونَ وَسُلَيْمَانَ وَآتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ زَبُورًا

“Verily, We have revealed unto thee (O' Our Apostle Muhammad) as we did reveal unto Noah and the Apostles after him; We did reveal unto Abraham and Ismael and Isaac and Jesus and Job and Jonah, and Aaron, and Solomon, and gave We to David the Psalms.” (4:163)

وَرُسُلًا قَدْ قَصَصْنَاهُمْ عَلَيْكَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَرُسُلًا لَمْ نَقْصُصْهُمْ عَلَيْكَ وَكَلَّمَ اللَّهُ مُوسَىٰ تَكْلِيمًا

“And apostles We have (already) mentioned unto thee before, and Apostles We mentioned not unto thee; and God spoke unto Moses directly discoursing.” (4:164)

رُسُلًا مُبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنْذِرِينَ لِئَلَّا يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَى اللَّهِ حُجَّةٌ بَعْدَ الرُّسُلِ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًا

(We sent) apostles as givers of glad tidings and warns, so that there may not remain any argument for people against God, after the messages, (apostles), And God is Mighty, Wise.” (4:165)

لَٰكِنِ اللَّهُ يَشْهَدُ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ إِلَيْكَ أَنْزَلَهُ بِعِلْمِهِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ يَشْهَدُونَ وَكَفَىٰ بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا

“But God (Himself) heareth Witness, through what He hath sent down unto thee (O' Our Apostle Muhammad), sent He that down, with His knowledge; and the Angels (too) bear witness: and sufficient is God for a Witness” (4:166)

لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلَنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأَنْزَلْنَا مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْمِيزَانَ لِيَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ وَأَنْزَلْنَا الْحَدِيدَ فِيهِ بَأْسٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَنْصُرُهُ وَرُسُلَهُ بِالْغَيْبِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ

“Indeed, sent We our Apostles with clear proofs, and sent We down with them the Book and the Scale that people may establish in justice; and sent We down iron wherein is latent (in its use) mighty power and also benefits for mankind and that God may prove who helpeth Him and His apostles in secret; Verily God is All-Strong and the Ever-Prevalent.” (57:25)

Knowledge Of The Names Accorded Adam Superiority Over The Angels

The knowledge of the names gave Adam superiority over the angels. The first man had been given - and he carried with him - the names (symbols) of that intellectual beings who were to appear on the scene of creation as the highest forms of human perfection. The appearance of these intellectual beings is inevitable for the realization of divine object by man.

They are the excellent names representing all the 'divine names’ in view or their nearness to Allah, and are manifestations of the names of all beings on the account of their 'infallible nature' (i.e. absence of all natural defects). It was due to knowledge of the names of these beings that the reason for Adam, the first man, to be made the Vicegerent of God on earth, and the angels were commanded to prostrate before him.

Then through1 Adam that the angels came to know those 'symbolic names of the intellectual beings’ the knowledge of which made man superior to them. This point is explicitly expressed in the Qur'an as quoted below:

وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلَائِكَةِ فَقَالَ أَنْبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاءِ هَٰؤُلَاءِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ

“And He taught Adam the names, all of them, and then set them unto the angels and said: Declare ye unto Me the names of these if ye be truthful.” (2:31)

قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ

“They said: “Glory be to Thee (O’ Lord!) we have no knowledge save what thou hast taught us, verily Thou (alone) art All-Knowing, the All-Wise.” (2:32)

قَالَ يَا آدَمُ أَنْبِئْهُمْ بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ فَلَمَّا أَنْبَأَهُمْ بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكُمْ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ غَيْبَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَأَعْلَمُ مَا تُبْدُونَ وَمَا كُنْتُمْ تَكْتُمُونَ

“Said He: ‘O’ Adam, inform thou unto them their names’, and when he had informed unto them their names; Said (the Lord): ‘Said I not unto you that verily, I know the secrets of the heavens and the earth and know that which ye declare and that which ye conceal?’.” (2:33)

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ أَبَىٰ وَاسْتَكْبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ

“And when said We unto the angels “Prostrate ye before Adam” they all prostrated save Iblis, he refrained and was puffed with pride and was turned into one of the reprobates.” (2:34)

The Qur'an As The Everlasting Miracle

Of the numerous evidence forwarded by the Holy Prophet as the proof of his claim, the most important and everlasting is the Qur’an itself:

وَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَسْتَ مُرْسَلًا قُلْ كَفَىٰ بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكُمْ وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ

“And say those who disbelieved, Thou art not the Apostle of god. Say thou (O' Our Apostle Muhammad!): ‘Suffice it is God a witness between me and you, and he is with whom is the knowledge of the book’.” (13:43)

It is proved by the Holy Book that it is not only a testimony of Muhammad (S) being the last of all prophets and foremost in the sequence of divine leadership, but also of Muhammad (S) being in himself a proof of the authenticity of other divine religions and prophets. The personality, excellences and the divine guidance of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S) are supreme in the series of divine leadership and every word of his is final.

The specific titles that the Holy Prophet has given to the divine leaders who preceded him and those who would come after him should be accepted as the only testimonial for their divine excellence. Whoever has been addressed by the Holy Prophet with the title of 'Nabi’, ‘Rasool', ‘Imam’, ‘Mawla’, ‘Siddique’, ‘Khalifa’ or ‘Mu’min’ will be considered as such.

Among all the divine books the Qur'an is signified by the title or 'Muhaimin' which is one of the excellent names of God meaning the 'authoritative Guardian'. The Qur'an is forwarded to mankind as the unchallengeable word of God and the greatest of all miracles of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S) till eternity.

لَوْ أَنْزَلْنَا هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنَ عَلَىٰ جَبَلٍ لَرَأَيْتَهُ خَاشِعًا مُتَصَدِّعًا مِنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ وَتِلْكَ الْأَمْثَالُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

“Had We sent down this Qur’an, on the mountain, thou (O’ Our apostle Muhammad) wouldst certainly have seen it (the mountain) humbled itself and rent asunder for the fear2of God; And We set forth similitudes unto mankind that they may reflect.” (59:21)

The Qur'an, as the word of God, is a prodigious dynamic force and has been working in the minds of mankind by producing revolution and evolution in the human society. It has cured the blind and deaf in heart by feeding them with new thought and knowledge.

By applying even only a very negligible portion of this dynamic force - and that too in not quite a proper manner - the Muslims succeeded in establishing the great civilization and culture known to historians as Islamic. If the force of the Qur’an were to be put into action in its entirety with all the precision implied in it, it will not only totally change the face of human civilization, but it will at the same time change the relation of every part and component of this apparent whole universe.

The spiritual appreciation of the point that the Holy Prophet Muhammad is the in the series of prophethood and the first and topmost in the order of Leadership, is beautifully expressed in the Persian quatrain:

پیش از همه شاهان غیور آمده

هر چند که آخر بظهور آمده

انے ختم رسل قرب تو معلوم شد

دیر آمده از راه دور آمده

“Thou hast come before all the proud kings of the world, though has appeared last of all. O' Last of the Prophets, thy nearness (to God) has become known to me: Thou comest last, as thou comest from the farthest distance (which distance is nearest to God).”

Divine Law Of Selection

Ever since his appearance on the scene, Adam too did not suffer any fall, drawback or shortcoming in his progressive course. Adam propagated, and his issues began to multiply, but it was necessary that in the lineage of his issue there should be a 'line' carrying with it this potentiality further and further, and at no stage in this lineage diminishing or defect should occur which would mar its progress.

This is termed as the 'Divine Law of Selection 'Istafa’ ( إصطفىء)3 which is synonymous with Ismat Khalqi (عصمت خلقي) i.e. infallibility of nature in recipiency of the chosen issues of this lineage which is the basis of the infallibility of their will-power - Ismat al-Khulqi (عصمت خلقي) when they reach a conscious stage. This is the source of their action, which is completely submissive to the will of God.

This is the perfect submission that the will of the creature should be the manifestation of the Will of the Creator and his action should be in complete obedience to His order. The principle of Divine Selection is explained in the following Qur'anic verses:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَىٰ آدَمَ وَنُوحًا وَآلَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَآلَ عِمْرَانَ عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ

“Verily, God did choose Adam and Noah and the descendants of Abraham and the descendants of Imran above all the worlds,” (3:33)

ذُرِّيَّةً بَعْضُهَا مِنْ بَعْضٍ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

“Offspring, one from the other; and verily God is All-Hearing; All-Knowing.” (3:34)

Continuity Of Vicegerency In The Form Of Prophethood Or Imamah (Divine Leadership) - Finality Of Prophethood And Continuity Of The Latter

From Adam to Noah, from Noah to Ibrahim and his descendants in two branches - the Ismailites and Israelites - this potentiality began to actualize in the form of many apostles and leaders different from each other in the limitation or the nature of the task entrusted to them by God and to the extent of the time and space of their jurisdiction.

Along with the progress of the human intellectual faculty of discovery and innovation in the spiritual and material spheres, the task and jurisdiction of vicegerency had to on one hand end, while on the other hand it had to develop from particularity to universality. The divine guidance - which started with Adam and was conducted by the successive vicegerents of God in the course of its progress towards universality - should reach its final stage.

This does not mean the end of progress. It means that mankind does not require any new guidance and instruction to be imparted by the medium of a new divine teacher. It implies that the guidance and instructions already acquired by man are now sufficient for him, in the course of his further progress.

The above point has an example in the system of education which begins with the primary schools and reaches its finality at the university level. But the attainment of the highest degree will not mean that there is no more room left for any further attainment, in theory, or in practice, for a degree-holder.

Applying Man’s Intellectual Faculty

All that is required at this stage is the application of man’s intellectual faculty to the guidance acquired by him in order to find out the implications of that divine guidance. In other words, when revelation reaches its final stage of universality and comprehensiveness, there shall be no room left for any new divine messages to be revealed to man.

The subsequent phases will be as follows:

  1. The consolidation period or the codification of revelation.

  2. The rationalization of revelation

  3. The implementation of rationalized revelation throughout the sphere of humanity.

Thus, the very conception of prophethood and apostleship has in it the implication of finality when human intellectual faculty reaches its maturity; maturity the sense of being able to grasp denotation, connotation and implications of revelation through rational approach. Man may not always remain incapable of grasping divine guidance through his power of reasoning.

The question of non-recipiency does not arise in relation to the rationalization of revelation because the continuity of life and rationalization are inseparable. The perfection of life is a guarantee for the perfection of the rationalization of revelation, and these stages of perfection belong to the period of implementation of revelation that we are now passing through. Thus, there is no necessity for a new revelation. Divine revelation in this sense came to end with the departure of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S), the last of all prophets.

However, humanity is, indeed, in perpetual need of and is dependent on divine blessings and cherishing, and it cannot survive without being nurtured by these divine blessings. The divine leadership or medium, in his role of receiving blessings from God and diffusing the same to the world, has no finality in this sense.

  • 1. There is no precise declaration in the Qur’an about Adam being 'Nabi' (prophet) or 'Rasool' (divine messenger), but the relevant verses in Chapter 2 (al-Baqarah) assert clearly that God directly taught Adam ‘names’, and Adam taught these names to the angels. The angels prostrated before Adam due to his knowledge of the names, and Satan rebelled against Him and was inflicted by the wrath of Allah.
    Adam, after his descent, received a word of prayer from God directly and turned towards Him to redress his destitution and was blessed. In light of these verses, it is an undeniable fact that Adam was khalifatullah (divine vicegerent) and divine prophet.
  • 2. ‘Fear’ means ‘awe’ felt due to the gravity and grace of the object. Khashiat ( خَشْيَةِ) in the Qur’an almost always conveys the above sense.
  • 3. The process of divine selection (istifa’) begins with Adam and reaches Noah and Ibrahim and from Ibrahim it divides into two branches of Ibrahim’s progeny - Aali Ibrahim and Aali Imran (Israelites). Though the name of Ibrahim is not mentioned in this verse, Muhammad (s) being in the lineage of Ibrahim, the process of divine selection can rightly be attributed to him (Ibrahim).
    Here, in our discussion of this point it should be borne in mind that every member in the line of Muhammad-e-Mustafa (s) is not Mustafa (i.e. divinely selected person) because of the law of inheritance whereby the excellence of posterity is the result of the ancestor’s excellence (i.e of root’s). But the excellence of ancestors (i.e. the root) is not a guarantee for the excellence of the posterity (branches).
    At various places in the Qur’an, it is narrated that Aali Ibrahim are divinely selected beings, but this particular phrase in this particular context refers to the infallible persons from Aali Ibrahim (i.e. the fourteen Ma’soomin).