Your Questions Answered (volume 5)

Q. 20: How Many Ulul''azm?

How many ulul- 'azm Messengers were there?

A. We know of five. They were Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), 'isa (Jesus) and Muhammad. Only the shari'ah brought by Muhammad (which is generally known as Islam) is valid now; it has abrogated all the previous shari'ah.

Q21: THE RELATION BETWEEN NABII (PROPHET) AND RASUL (MESSENGER)

"The dictum 'Every Messenger was a Prophet', deserves this comment:

The Prophet (Nabii) is a helping class, and the messenger (Rasul) is a class that is helped. "And when Allah made a covenan 'with the prophets: Certainly what I have given you of Books and Wisdom - then a messenger comes to you verifying that which is with you, you must believe in him and you must aid him." (Qur'an, 3:81).

Moreover, the messengers (Rasuls) need help even in the Akhirat: "Most surely we help our messengers and those who believe, in this world's life and on the day when the witnesses shall stand up." (40:51).

A. First of all, the verse 3:81 refers to the covenant taken from all the prophets about the Holy Prophet of Islam - that they would believe in him and help him by giving his good news to their nations and telling them to believe in him when he comes along.

This Is generally agreed explanation found both in Sunni and Shi'a books and traditions. Second: Even this verse shows that the prophets were required to "believe in" and help the messenger. Evidently it shows the higher status of the messengers.

Third: Prophets and messengers were not two mutually exclusive classes. According to general Islamic belief, based on prophetic traditions, there were 124,000 prophets- out of which 313 or 300 were messengers (among whom, 5 were ulul-'azm). Thus, every messenger was a prophet but not every prophet was a messenger.

Fourth: Your observation that prophets were a helper class and messengers the helped ones, is amusing. Do you mean to say that they were two mutually exclusive groups? Then what will you say about those messengers who have been called "messenger prophet"? Were they the helpers or the helped ones? Vide Qur'an, 7:157, 7:158, 19:51, 19:54, etc.

You say that the messengers (Rasuls) need help even in the Akhirat, and quote this verse: "We will without doubt help our messengers and those who believe, in this world's life and on the day when the witnesses shall stand up." (40:51).

I fail to understand what do you want to prove by this verse. How does it affect the relationship between Prophethood and messengership? And who does not need Allah's help in this life and in the next? The "believers" will be helped by Allah in Akhirat-does not this word cover the prophets too?

Q. 22:AMIN?

WHY THE QUR'AN DOES NOT CALL THE HOLY PROPHET AS AL- The article, 'The Prophet Muhammad through non-Muslim eyes', by Prof. Bomoklishna Poo, published in the Light contains the following sentence: "Muhammad has been admitted by friends and foes as Al-Amin (the trustworthy)."

The question is: "Why does not the Holy Qur'an call him by that title when: Nuh (Qur'an 26:107), Hud (Qur'an 26:125, 7:68), Salih (Qur'an 26:143), Lut (Qur'an 26:162), Shu'aib (Qur'an 26:178), Yusuf (Qur'an 12:54), Musa (Qur'an 28:26, 44:18) and even the Jinn 'Ifrit (Qur'an 27:39) have that epithet attached to their names in the Holy Qur'an?"

Could you please point out any ayat of the Holy Qur'an wherein the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) is called Al-Amin? I do accept the Holy Prophet as Al-Amin as it is.

A. A very interesting question. You are right that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) has not been mentioned with this title in the Qur'an. We do not know why. May be it is because his trustworthiness was an established fact which was undisputably recognised even by his enemies; and as such it needed no vouching by the Qur'an.

For example, the Qur'an does not mention about mother of any prophet, except Hazrat Maryam, that she was chaste. It was because only Hazrat Maryam needed this vouching.

Q. 23: SOME SPECIAL OBLIGATIONS AND PRIVILEGES OF THE HOLY PROPHET

I have read in "Your Questions Answered' that the Prophet had nine wives when he died. Aren't all Muslims supposed to have not more than four wives at a time?

A. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) had some special duties and some special privileges. For example, it was wajib for him to pray tahajjud; to cleanse the teeth before every wuzu, etc. etc. Likewise, he was allowed to marry more than four wives (with many conditions).

Q. 24: THE BOOK REVEALED TO PROPHET MUHAMMAD (SA.WA.)

Was Prophet Muhammad given any book by God? A. Yes. He was given the Qur'an by Allah. As he is the Final Prophet, his Book is the last Book revealed by Allah. It was revealed to Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) as the Guidance for mankind.

Q. 25: SHI'A BELIEF ABOUT QUR'AN

What is the belief of the Shi'a about the Qur'an?

A. We believe that the Qur'an is the word of Allah which was revealed to His last Prophet, Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) as a miracle and guidance for the mankind. It is truth, around which falsehood cannot reach. It is the foundation of Islamic shari'ah. It is the Complete Book of God - nothing has been added to it, nothing has been removed from it, nothing has been changed in it.

Even non-Muslim scholars admit that the Qur'an is free from all types of interpolation, change and defect-since the days of the Prophet to this day. In this respect, it differs from previous revealed books which have been extensively changed and altered.

Q. 26: SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SURAH AL-KAUTHAR

I wish to enquire from you about the translation of the Qur'anic verse, Surah 108, verse 3. In the Holy Qur'an, by M.H. Shakir, the translation is: "Surely your enemy is the one who shall be without posterity."

And in the Holy Qur'an, by Yusuf Ali, the translation is: "For he who hateth thee-he will be cut off (From future Hope).Of the two translations which is more correct. Because the word, "posterity", means descendant. In the New Webster's Dictionary this word means all future or succeeding generations A. You have asked about the correct translation of the last verse of the chapter 108 (al- Kauthar), which has been translated by M.H. Shakir as follows:

"Surely your enemy Is the one who shall be without posterity." And which Abdullah Yusuf Ali translates in the following way: "For he who hateth thee - He will be cut off (From future hope)."

In fact Shakir's translation is correct. It is not possible to write the details in a letter. Still, it is necessary to explain that the word al-abtar is used in Arabic for one whose progeny is cut off, is discontinued.

When Qasim and 'Abdullah, the sons of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) died in their infancy, 'Asi ibn Wa'il taunted him that now he (the Prophet s.a.w.a.) had become al-abtar, i.e. he had lost his sons and now he was without a progeny. The Arabs did not give women-daughters, mothers, wives etc. - any importance. In their eyes, only the sons could perpetuate the name of the progenitor. The polytheists of Mecca (and especially 'Asi ibn Wa'il, who boasted that he hated the Prophet s.a.w.a, and was his bitter enemy) thought that because the Prophet had lost his sons, his mission would be finished after him.

In reply to this taunt, this shortest chapter was revealed. And it says that; "Surely your enemy is the one who shall be without posterity." The verse uses the same two words shani' (enemy) and abtar (without progeny) which 'Asi ibn Wa'il had used. And this prophecy was proved right, because soon all his progeny became extinct.

The Muslim rulers of the early centuries of Islam, for their own political reasons, wanted to erase the name of the family of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) from people's minds. For this purpose they hired scholars and writers who tried to give new interpretations to those Qur'anic verses which had any connection with the progeny of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.). And by passage of time those mis-interpretations became a part of Islamic literature. This chapter too was interpreted and re-interpreted in many ways, one example of which you have seen in Yusuf Ali's translation.

The first verse of the chapter contains the word, al-Kauthar,which they have interpreted in not less than twenty-six ways. But no meaning gives this short chapter of three verses any coherent connotation. al-Kauthar in Arabic means "abundance." If you keep the meaning of the third verse in view, then clearly the first verse refers to the abundance of his descendants which the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) was promised in this chapter. Now, read the whole chapter in this light:

"Surely we have given you abundance of progeny. Therefore, pray to your Lord and make a sacrifice. Surely your enemy is the one who shall be without progeny."

Also, al-Kauthar is the name of the heavenly reservoir in the Paradise which belongs to the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and from which 'Ali (a.s.) will give water to the Prophet's true followers. Thus, we may say that the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) was promised "abundance" in this world as well as in the next. In the hereafter it is the heavenly reservoir of abundant grace; and in this world, it is the increase in progeny.

This prophecy too has proved correct. There is hardly a place now where the descendants of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) are not found. They are called "Sayyid" or "Sharif"; and you will not find anyone claiming any relationship with 'Asi ibn Wa'il or other hateful enemies of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.).

The interpretation and the background is found not only in the Shi'a books but in Sunni writings too.

Q. 27: SYSTEM OF GUIDANCE AFTER THE PROPHET

Did the Prophet make any arrangement for guidance of people after his departure? A. Yes. He has left two things for this purpose: the Qur'an and his sinless progeny. He has said: "I am leaving behind among you two precious things, one of them is greater than the other: the Book of Allah which is the covenant of Allah from the heavens upto the earth, and my Descendants who are my family members. So look how you deal with them, and surely they both will not be separated from each other..."

Q. 28:WHO ARE THE FAMILY MEMBERS OF THE PROPHET?

Who are those Family Members who have been given the responsibility of guiding the mankind to the right path?

A.First of them is 'Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet (s.a.w.a.), whose name was declared at a huge gathering at Ghadir Khum, when the Prophet was returning from his last pilgrimage. There the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) delivered a long Khutba (lecture) at the end of which he asked the Muslims: 'Do not I have more authority upon you than you have got upon yourselves?".

All of them responded by saying. "Surely, O Messenger of Allah!" Then the Prophet took the arms of 'Ali, and showing him to the audience, declared: "He whose Master am I, this 'Ali is his Master."

Q. 29: WHAT DOES IMAMAT MEAN?

And the fourth Root, Imamat?

A. To lead the people to the Straight Path, and to preserve the religion of Islam, Allah appointed twelve successors-one after another-of the Prophet of Islam. They were from the progeny of the Prophet. Those successors are called Imams. Imam literally means leader. As mentioned above, first of them was 'Ali, son of Abu Talib, and the last one is al- Mahdi (a.s.).