Theological Instructions

LESSON TWENTY-NINE: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROPHET

The plurality of the prophets

So far, three fundamental issues related to prophecy and the recognition of leaders have been discussed. Moreover, it was realised that due to the deficiencies of human wisdom in acquiring the information necessary for the welfare of this world and the hereafter, it is necessary for Divine wisdom to select a Prophet or prophets to teach them the necessary facts. These prophets will in turn, present those facts to others in the most perfect and intact form. Furthermore, it is necessary (for Divine wisdom) to introduce the prophets to the public so that no excuse remains (for the unbelievers).

The most general way to accomplish this is the presentation of miracles.

I used intellectual evidence to prove the above point; however, such pieces of evidence do not deal with the necessity of the plurality of the prophets, their Books or Divine religions. Therefore, if for instance the conditions of man’s life were so, that one Prophet could cater for all of humanity’s needs up until the end of time, and every individual or group of people throughout history could find his/their responsibilities, by referring to what the same Prophet had proposed, no contradiction would then evolve with the requisites of those pieces of (intellectual) evidence.

However, first we know that every human being, including the prophets, have a limited life and Divine wisdom has not found it necessary to keep the first Prophet alive for all time.

Secondly, the conditions of people’s lives in different places and at different times are not the same; such differences and specifically the gradual complications of social relationships can influence the quality as well as the quantity of social rules and regulations. Furthermore, in some cases new regulations should be issued and if such regulations are advertised by a Prophet who had been appointed thousands of years ago, it would make no sense; similarly, the protection of those regulations and handling of them with specific cases would be very difficult.

Thirdly, in ancient times, it was not possible to advertise the invitations of the prophets and for the entire world to be informed of their message would be impossible.

Fourthly, with the process of time, and due to various factors, the instructions given by a Prophet to the people of his time would face alterations (to familiarise with such alterations refer to:

Al-Huda ila Dīn al- Mustafa, by ‘Allamah Shaykh Muhammad Javād Balāghī) and incorrect interpretations, so that after some time the original religion would change into a deviated one. The same thing has happened to the monotheistic religion presented by Jesus (a), which later changed into the concept of the trinity.

The above discussion makes the reason for the plurality of prophets and the differences in some devotional and social instructions of the Divine religions clear (refer to al-Māi’da:48, al-Hajj:67). This is in line with the fact that all Divine religions are not only the same in their principles of

belief and ethical foundations, but they have also been in agreement with reference to their personal and social instructions (refer to al-Baqarah:131-137,285, Āl-‘Imrān:19-20). For example, Prayers (salāt) have existed in all religions, although the way to perform them and the direction towards which they were performed (qiblah) have been different. There has also been poor-rate (zakāt) in all religions; however, its amount and the cases for which it would be necessary have not been the same.

Therefore, it is a necessity to believe in all of the prophets and to admit their prophecy without any discrimination, aswell as accepting their messages and information provided by them, and recognising them as being unique individuals (refer to al- Shūra:13, al-Nisā’:136,152, Āl-‘Imrān:84-85). Moreover, it is not permissible to deny any of the prophets (a) or any of their instructions, because denying one Prophet is tantamount to the denial of all the instructions issued by God (refer to al-Nisā’:150, al-Baqara:85). However, the practical duties of every Prophet’s nation at any time are to obey the instructions provided by the same Prophet and at the same time.

It is worth mentioning that although human intellect due to the aforementioned points realises the rational behind the plurality of the prophets and the differences between Divine religions, it cannot discover the exact formula for the number of prophets and Divine religions, and cannot decide when and where a new Prophet would be appointed and a new religion introduced. It is however, understood from the above points that while the conditions of man’s life are so, that the Prophet’s invitation can reach all the people of the world and his message can be protected and secured for future generations, as long as the social regulations do not need fundamental changes, no new Prophet would be necessary.

The number of prophets

As I discussed above, our intellect cannot decide about the number of prophets and Divine Books; such points can only be proved through traditions. Even in the case of the Holy Qur’an, although it emphasises that Almighty God has sent a Prophet for every nation (refer to Fātir:24, al-Nahl:36), it does not clarify the number of the nations or their prophets.

However, more than twenty prophets have been mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and the stories of some others have been narrated without referring to their names (refer to al- Baqarah:246, 256). On the other hand, in some traditions from the Prophet’s family members (a), it has been stated (refer to Risālat I’tiqādāt al-Sadūq, Bihār al-Anwār, vol.11, p. 28,30,32,41) that Almighty God has appointed one hundred and twenty four thousand prophets (a), and that the chain of prophets began with Adam (a) and ended with Muhammad (s) the son of Abdullah.

God’s prophets (a) have had various characteristics:

They have been guides (nabi), which is the main responsibility for this Divine position, ‘warners’ (nadhīr or mundhir), and ‘providers of glad tidings’ (bashīr or mubashshir) (refer to al- Baqarah:213, al-Nisā’:165). They have also been known as the best (salihīn) and the most pious (mukhlasīn) people some of whom have held the position of ‘Messengers of God’ (rasūl) aswell. In some sayings, the number of Divine messengers is said to be three hundred and thirteen (refer to Bihār al-Anwār Vol.11, p, 32).

Therefore, in this part, I will explain the definition of prophet and messenger aswell as the differences between them.

Prophets and God’s Messengers

The word ‘Messenger’ (Rasūl) means the one who brings a message, and the word Prophet (Nabi), if derived from the root (Naba’) means important news, and if derived from (Nabu) means holding an outstanding position.

Some have thought that the word ‘Prophet’ includes the meaning of the word ‘Messenger’; therefore, they claim that a Prophet is a person who receives revelation from Almighty God, whether or not he has the responsibility of advertising it to other people, whereas a ‘Messenger’ is a person who holds the responsibility of advertising God’s message to the public.

However, it is not right, because in some verses of the Holy Qur’an, the word ‘Prophet’ is used after the word ‘Messenger’ (refer to Maryam:51,54). Whereas, according to the above interpretations, the more general word ‘Messenger’ should have preceded the specific one ‘Prophet’. Furthermore, there is no reason for allocating the responsibility of advertising revelation to messengers.

In some traditions, it has been stated that the requisite for the position of Prophet, is that the person should visit the Angel of revelation only in his dreams and when he is awake he would just hear the Angel’s voice; while, the Messenger visits the Angel in his wakefulness (refer to Usūl al-Kāfi, vol 1, p.176).

However, this can not be due to the interpretation of the word, as the acceptable point is that the word ‘Prophet’ with reference to those to whom it refers -rather than the way it is interpreted - is a more general term than the word ‘Messenger’. In other words, all prophets have held the position of prophecy; nevertheless, the position of a Messenger of God applies to only a group of them. As mentioned before, the number of God’s messengers is three hundred and thirteen. Their position has certainly been higher than that of prophets; however, there has been some degree of hierarchy with reference to the ‘position’ and ‘excellence’ amongst the messengers’ aswell (refer to al-Baqarah:253, al-Isrā’:55). Some of them, for example, had the honour of holding the position of Imamah (refer to al-Baqarah:124, al-Anbiyā’:73, al-Sajdah:24).

The prominent prophets

The Holy Qur’an introduces some of God’s prophets as ‘Those messengers with a strong will’ (ūlu al-‘azm) (refer to al-Ahqāf:35); however, their particularities have not been clarified. Moreover, according to the sayings of the Prophet’s family members (a), there have been five prominent prophets:

Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (refer to Bihār al-Anwār vol. 11, p. 33-4, Ma’ālim al-Nubuwwah, p.113). They not only had a distinctive level of patience and tolerance, which has been referred to in the Qur’an, but each of them had a specific religion and a particular Book, and their contemporary or succeeding prophets obeyed their religions until

another prominent Prophet was appointed, and a new Book and a new religion were introduced.

It was also clarified that the co-existence of two prophets at the same time has been possible as Lot (a) was contemporary to Abraham and Aaron was appointed at the same time when Moses (a) was appointed a Prophet. Also John (a) lived with Jesus (a) simultaneously.

Some Points

At the end of this lesson, some points are briefly discussed:

A) God’s prophets have confirmed each other and each one predicted his successor (refer to Āl-‘Imrān:81). Therefore, if a person claimed to be a Prophet and denied his preceding or succeeding prophets, he would be a liar.

B)God’s prophets did not request any payment or reward for performing their duties (refer to al-An’ām:90, Yāsīn:21, al-Tūr:40, al-Qalam:46, Yūnus:72, Hūd:29,51, al-Furqān:57, al-Shūra:109,127,145,164,180); only the Prophet of Islam (s) has recommended his nation to be friends with the knowledgeable people (refer to al-Shūra:23) and has considered it as the reward for his endeavour. In this way, he urged his nation to obey the (instructions given by the Islamic) scholars. The benefits of such obedience will in fact return to the nation themselves (refer to Saba’:47).

C) Some prophets have had other exalted positions such as ‘Judge’ and ‘Governor’ (David and Solomon). In addition, verse al-Nisā’:64 have necessitated the unconditional obedience of every Prophet. Therefore, it can be inferred that all the prophets (a) have had the same Divine positions.

D) The Jinn, who have the freedom of decision-making and are responsible for their deeds, and in normal conditions are invisible, were aware of the invitations made by some of God’s prophets. The pious Jinn believed in them, Moses (a) and Muhammad (s) each having some followers from among them.

However, there also existed a group of Jinn who obeyed Satan and disbelieved in God’s prophets (refer to al-Jinn:1-14).

Questions

  1. Discuss the reasons for the plurality of the prophets (a).

  2. What is the Prophet’s duty with respect to the invitations and instructions made by all other prophets?

  3. When is it not necessary for a new Prophet to be appointed?

  4. Discuss the plurality of the prophets and messengers.

  5. What is the difference between a Prophet and a messenger? What is their relationship with respect to the meaning and application of these terms?

  6. With reference to their Divine positions, what are the priorities of the prophets (a) to each other?

  7. Who are the prominent prophets? What are their characteristics?

  8. Is it possible to have more than one Prophet at the same time? If yes, can you provide some examples?

  9. What other characteristics of God’s prophets (a) do you know?

  10. How did the Jinn react regarding the acceptance or rejection of the prophets’ invitations?