Week 5

February 24, 2005

Dr. Sefik Hikmet Toprak

IDSA at UTD

Topic: "As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?" Alphanso de Lamartine

Summary: Today, we talked about the merits of belief and started a discussion of the institution of prophethood and the main characteristics of prophets in general. The particular case of Prophet Muhammad will be investigated next time.

     For the significance and virtues of belief, the following wonderful article should be studied:

http://www.saidnursi.com/words/w23.html.

     Excerpt from the “Living In The Shade of Islam” by Ismail Buyukcelebi:

The Meaning of Prophethood and Their Mission

God creates every community of beings with a purpose and a guide or a leader. It is inconceivable that God Almighty, Who gave bees a queen, ants a leader, and birds and fish each a guide, would leave us without Prophets to guide us to spiritual, intellectual, and material perfection.

Prophethood is the highest rank and honor that a man can receive from God. It proves the superiority of that man’s inner being over all others. A Prophet is like a branch arching out from the Divine to the human realm. He is the very heart and tongue of creation, and possesses a supreme intellect that penetrates into the reality of things and events.

Moreover, he is the ideal being, for all of his faculties are har¬moniously excellent and active. He strives and progresses steadily toward Heaven, waits upon Divine inspiration or Revelation for the solutions to the problems he faces, and is the connecting point between this world and the Beyond. His body is subject to and follows his heart, figuratively the seat of spiritual intellect, as does his heart. His perceptions and reflections are always directed to Names and attributes of God. He goes to what he perceives, and arrives at the desired destination.

A Prophet’s perception, developed to the full -- seeing, hearing, and thus knowing -- surpasses that of all other people. His percep¬tion cannot be explained in terms of different light, sound, or some other wavelengths. Ordinary people cannot acquire a Prophet’s knowledge.

Although we can find God by reflecting upon natural phe¬nomena, we need a Prophet to learn why we were created, where we came from, where we are going, and how to worship our Creator properly. God sent Prophets to teach their people the meaning of creation and the truth of things to unveil the mysteries behind historical and natural events and to inform us of our rela¬tionship, and that of Divine Scriptures, with the universe.

Everything in the universe tries to exhibit the Names and Attributes of the All-Mighty, All-Encompassing Creator. In the same way, the Prophets note, affirm, and are faithful to the subtle mysterious relation between God and His Names and Attributes. As their duty is to know and speak about God, they enter into the true meanings of things and events and then convey it directly and sincerely to humanity.

Without Prophets, we could not have made any scientific progress. While those who adopt evolutionary approaches to explain historical events tend to attribute everything to chance and deterministic evolution, Prophets guided humanity in intellectual — and thus scientific — illumination. Thus, farmers traditionally accept Prophet Adam as their first master, tailors accept Prophet Enoch, shipmakers and sailors accept Prophet Noah, and clock makers accept Prophet Joseph. Also, the Prophets’ miracles marked the final points in scientific and technological advances, and urged people to them.

Prophets guided people, through personal conduct and the heavenly religions and Scriptures they conveyed, to develop their inborn capacities and directed them toward the purpose of their creation. Had it not been for them, humanity (the fruit of the tree of creation) would have been left to decay. As humanity needs social justice as much as it needs private inner peace, Prophets taught the laws of life and established the rules for a perfect social life based upon justice.

The Qur’an explicitly declares: We sent among every people a Messenger (with the command): “Serve God and avoid evil” (16:36). But many people gradually forgot these Divine teachings and fell into such errors as deifying the Prophets and others or engaging in idolatry. Even accepting that there must be a tremendous difference between the original and the current form of many religions, it is quite impossible to understand the conditions that caused Confucius to appear in China and Brahma and Buddha in India. It is equally difficult to guess what their original messages were and to what degree they have been corrupted.

If the Qur’an had not introduced Prophethood to us, we would not have an accurate idea of the character, lives, missions, and teachings of many Prophets. One accurate hadith says: “A Prophet’s disciples will carry out his mission after his death, but some of his followers will later upset everything he established.” This is a very important point. Many of the religions we now consider false turned to falsehood, superstition, and legend over time through the delib¬erate malice of their enemies (or the mistakes of their followers), despite their possible origin in the purest, Divine source.

To say that someone is a Prophet when he is not is unbelief, as is the case with refusing to believe in a true Prophet. We should consider what Buddhism or Brahmanism may have been in their true, original forms, as well. as the doctrines attributed to Confucius or the practices and beliefs of Shamanism. Maybe they still have some remnants of what they originally were.

Many once-pure religions have been distorted and altered. Therefore, it is essential to accept the purity of their original founda¬tion. The Qur’an says: There never was a people without a warner having lived among them (35:24), and: We sent among every people a Messenger (16:36).

These Revelations declare that God sent Messengers to each group of people. The Qur’an mentions the names of 28 Prophets, out of a total of 124,000. We do not know exactly when and where many of them lived. But we do not have to know such information, for: We did in times past send Messengers before you; of them there are some whose stories We have related to you, and some whose sto¬ries We have not related to you (40:78).

Recent studies in comparative religion, philosophy, and anthropology reveal that many widely separated communities share certain concepts and practices. Among these are moving from polytheism to monotheism, and praying to the One God in times of hardship by raising their hands and asking something from Him. Many such phenomena indicate a singular source and a sin¬gle teaching. If primitive tribes cut off from civilization and the influence of known Prophets have a sure understanding of His Oneness, though they may have little understanding of how to live according to that belief, a Messenger must have been sent to them at some time in the past: For every people there is a Messenger. When their Messenger comes, the matter is judged between them with justice, and they are not wronged (10:47).

As pointed out above, whenever people fell into darkness after a Prophet, God sent another one to enlighten them again. This con¬tinued until the coming of the Last Prophet. The reason for send¬ing Prophets Moses and Jesus required that Prophet Muhammad should be sent. As his message was for everyone, regardless of time or place, Prophethood ended with him.

Due to certain sociological and historical facts, which require a lengthy explanation, Prophet Muhammad was sent as “a mercy for all worlds (21: 107).” For this reason Muslims believe in all of the Prophets and make no distinction among them:

The Messenger believes in what has been sent onto him by his Lord, and so do the believers. They all believe in God and his angels, His Scriptures and His Messengers: “We make no distinction between any of His Messengers” — and they say: “We hear and obey. Grant us Your forgiveness, our Lord; to You is the journeying.” (2:285)

That is why Islam, revealed by God and conveyed to humanity by Prophet Muhammad, is universal and eternal.

     Common characteristics of prophets can be listed as follows: For a more detailed explanation, I recommend the following important reading: http://en.fgulen.com/a.page/books/prophet.muhammad.aspects.of.his.life.1/c157.html.

Truthfulness is the pivot of Prophethood. It could not be otherwise, for if a Prophet were to lie, everything connected with the Divine religion would be upset.

Total Dependence on Revelation and Submission To God

Prophets, particularly when asked about the essentials of belief, would wait for Revelation.  

Trustworthy and Asked No Wage

Prophets never thought of material gain, spiritual reward, or even Paradise—they strove only for God's good pleasure and to see humanity guided to the truth.  

Complete Sincerity

They were commanded only to serve God, making the religion His sincerely, men of pure faith, and to perform the prayer, and pay the alms. (al-Bayyinah, 98.5) 

Calling People Wisely and with Kindness

Those taught by the Prophets acquired certainty, and their view of things differed from those with limited external sight and devoid of insight and spiritual vision.

Calling Humanity to God's Unity

The fact that all of them, regardless of time or place, agree on one basic principle shows that they did not speak or act on their own; rather, they did no more than teach the Message received from God. 

Communication

God's Messengers persevered, enduring relentless and increasingly harsh derision, degradation, beatings, and expulsion from the fairs.

Intellect

A composite of reasoning power, sagacity, intelligence, sound judgment, and wisdom far surpassing the ability of ordinary people through a sublime power of understanding.

Infallibility

The infallibility of Prophets is an established fact based on reason and tradition. This quality is required for several reasons. 

No Bodily or Mental Defects