Each and every one of the Prophets (May peace and mercy of God be upon them all) is a manifestation of Divine Names and Attributes. As there is no repetition in Divine Manifestation, there is no repetition in the story of the Prophets. The story of every Prophet is unique in its style.
What happened with Prophet Noah (as), Prophet Ibrahim (as), Prophet Moses (as), and Prophet Jesus (as) did not repeat for any other Prophet, nor did what happen with other Prophets happen for these Prophets.
For, every Messenger of God demonstrates a particular divinity, unlike the man-made stories in which their themes are nearly the same. We all know that Iranian and Indian movies must end with a marriage ceremony. The theme of Hollywood movies is nothing other than sex or violence.
All Prophets are the Signs of Allah and the shadow of ‘The Light of the heavens and the earth”. Nonetheless, the holy Messenger of Islam (S) was the shadow of ‘and there is none like Him.
Thus, the story of the life of Prophet Muhammad (S) overshadows the stories of all the previous Prophets, as he is the ring and the seal of all of them.
The Ranks of the Prophets
When the Almighty Allah chooses a human being for His great divine mission, he must enjoy the highest degrees of virtues. Hence, the Messengers of Allah are the most virtuous of people on earth.
Are there any degrees in rank amongst the Prophets themselves?
The holy Quran confirms that whilst the Messengers of Allah are more virtuous than other people, there are degrees in rank and preference in virtues amongst them.
The Almighty Allah states:
“Those Messengers! We preferred some of them to others; to some of them Allah spoke (directly); others He raised to degrees (of honour); and to Jesus, the son of Mary, We gave clear proofs and evidence and supported him with the Holy Spirit.” (1)
And,
“And indeed, We have preferred some of the Prophets above others, and to David, We gave the Psalms.” (2)
Whist the demonstrative pronoun ‘those’ (Telka in Arabic) is utilized in the first Ayah to express their higher status in comparison to other people; the rest of the Ayah clearly indicates the degrees of the Prophets are not equal.
Although the ranks of the Prophets are not the same in the sight of God, they are all His Messengers, absolute obedient servants, and as such, we should not make any distinction in that sense between any of them.
Thus, Islam denotes the wrong dogma of the divinity of Christ and blames Christians for exaggerating the personality of the Prophet Jesus.
The Holy Quran as such teaches the Muslims:
“Say (O Muslims), We believe in Allah and that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent down to Ibrahim, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and to the offspring of the twelve sons of Jacob, and that which has been given to Moses, and Jesus, and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him, we have submitted.”(3)
The different degree of the Prophets in their ranks does not also mean they differed between themselves. The Prophets were like teachers of one school teaching one subject (Islam) for different grades. Should all the Prophets descend on earth and live in one city, there will be no disagreement among them whatsoever.
Thus, the Almighty Allah in explaining the degrees of the Prophets states:
“We preferred some of them above others”. But to state the different opinions between ordinary humans, He states: “If Allah had willed, succeeding generations would not have fought against each other, after clear Signs of Allah had come to them, but they differed – some of them believed and others disbelieved.”(4)
Muhammad: The Most Preferred Prophet
“Amongst all the Prophets and the Messengers of Allah, the last and the Seal of the Prophets, Prophet Muhammad is the most preferred of all and the highest in rank in the sight of Allah. The Almighty Allah states:
‘Those Messengers! We preferred some of them to others; to some of them Allah spoke (directly); others He raised to degrees.”(5)
The phrase ‘others He raised to degrees’ is meant for Prophet Muhammad (S). There are several reasons why the Almighty Allah has raised the degrees of His last Messengers above all other Prophets.
The following are some examples: The Almighty Allah sent Prophet Muhammad (S) but as a mercy for the world. Thus, he must be the most virtuous of all creation, material and immaterial. Allah states:
“And We have sent you (O Muhammad) not but as a mercy for the worlds”. (6)
The Almighty Allah elevated the name of Prophet Muhammad (S) to be declared five times a day after the Name of Allah during Adhan and Iqama:
“And have We not raised high your fame?” (7)
The holy Quran considers the obedience to Prophet Muhammad equal to obedience to God:
“He who obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allah.” A covenant with Prophet Muhammad is a covenant with God. “Verily, those who give a pledge to you (O Muhammad) they are giving pledge to Allah.” (8)
Satisfaction of Prophet Muhammad is coupled with the satisfaction of Allah:
“It is more fitting that they should please Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad).” (9)
Answering the call of Prophet Muhammad is regarded the same as answering the call of the Almighty Allah:
“O you who believe! Answer Allah and (His) Messenger when he calls you.” (10)
The Almighty Allah honoured Moses (as) by granting him nine Signs (miracles) (11) but Allah established every sentence of the Quran –which was granted to Prophet Muhammad- as a Sign (miracle) and calls for a challenge upon all the humans and the jinn’s if they could produce something like unto it.
The main miracle of Prophet Muhammad, i.e. the holy Quran is more virtuous than the miracles of the previous Prophets, because not only it is the verbatim Word of God, it is an everlasting miracle.
If the miracle of Prophet Muhammad is more virtuous than the miracles of the previous Prophets, then Prophet Muhammad himself must also be more virtuous than other Prophets.
The Almighty God addressed the Prophets with their names. For instance, He says: “O Moses!”, (12) or “O Adam!”, (13) or “O Ibrahim!”. (14)
But He is addressing the Prophet of Islam with his title ‘O Messenger!” or “O Prophet!” which indicates a special honour.
The Almighty Allah ordered the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam out of respect for him but ordered the angels to give their Salat to Prophet Muhammad (S) in order for them to be nearer to Allah.
Also, Salat for Prophet Muhammad continues until the Day of Judgment, whereas the prostration for Adam (as) had to be offered only once.
Moreover, Allah ordered the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam (as) in respect of the light of Muhammad (S) that Adam (as) had on his forehead.
In short, all the virtues of the previous Prophets were also given to Prophet Muhammad (S) in addition to his own unique virtues.
Unique Characteristics of Prophet Muhammad
As mentioned earlier, the Prophets of Allah are the manifestation of divine beauty and names, and the Prophet of Islam demonstrates the divine attribute of ‘there is none like unto Him’.
Meanwhile, the following are some of the unique characteristics of Prophet Muhammad (S).
1. The light and spirit of Muhammad were the first creation of Allah.
2. Universal Mission: The most we can say about the scope of the mission of the previous Prophets is that their mission included all people of their time across the globe and remained in force until the advent of the next law-making Prophet.
The mission of the Prophet of Islam, however, was for the whole of mankind across the globe and until the Day of Judgment. The Almighty Allah states: “And We have not sent you (O Muhammad) except as a giver of glad tidings and a Warner to all mankind.” (15)
3. He is mercy for the whole world: “And We have not sent you but as a mercy for the worlds.” (16)
4. The seal of the Prophets: “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last (end) of the Prophets.” (17)
5. His Scripture is a protector and a guard over all the previous scriptures, safeguarding the truth in them which has been perverted by man throughout history. “And We have sent down to you (O Muhammad) the Book in truth, confirming the Scripture that came before it and Muhayman (a protector and controller) over it.”(18)
The religion of Prophet Muhammad (S) was Islam in its complete form with no perversion in it, and hence it is the right and straight (Qayyem) religion. “So set you (O Muhammad) your face on the straight and right religion.” (19)
The World of al-Thar (Particles)
Has there been any world before this physical world? Or to be more precise, is there any world other than the world of matter? Did creation begin with the creation of the physical world or are there other types of life beyond this matter?
Many verses in the Qur’an and numerous Ahadith indicate that there has been a world of spirit prior to this physical world. All humans had a form of existence in that world.
It was in that world that the Almighty Allah introduced Himself to mankind and took a covenant from them not to worship other than Him. Mankind in that world testified to the Lordship of the Almighty God.
The late Allamah Tabatabai suggested in his al-Mizan that the world of al-thar does not have a temporal preceding to this, our physical, world rather it does exist with it and encompasses it.
It is the world of Sovereign (malakout) that the Almighty Allah showed to Prophet Ibrahim (20) (as); it was in the world where the instinct of knowing God was enforced in man’s nature.
The following verses reveal the existence of the world of al-Thar:
“And when your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed and made them testify as to themselves (saying): Am I not your Lord? They said: Yes! We testify lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection: Verily, we have been unaware of this.” (21)
And,
“How can you disbelieve in Allah? Seeing that you were dead and He gave you life. Then He will give you death, then again will bring you to life and then unto Him you will return.” (22)
One of the most complicated philosophical issues is about the relation of a changeable to the Unchangeable, i.e. the relation between the creation and the Creator. Muslim philosophers have dealt with this issue under the topic of ‘actuality and potentiality’.
It is proven in Islamic mysticism as well as transcendental metaphysics of Mulla-Sadra that the Almighty Allah is the Extended Existence (wujud munbasit) in all respects.
The first being who appeared by God and became His first manifestation, must be the nearest to God and demonstrate the most possible divine Names and Attributes.
NOTES:
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- The Quran 2:253
- The Quran 17:55
- The Quran 2:136
- The Quran 2:253
- The Quran 2:253
- The Quran 21:107
- The Quran 94:4
- The Quran 48:10
- The Quran 9:62
- The Quran 8:24
- Refer to 27:12: “Now put thy hand into thy bosom, and it will come forth white without stain (or harm): (these are) among the nine Signs (thou wilt take) to Pharaoh and his people: for they are a people rebellious in transgression.”
- The Quran 20:10
- The Quran 2:35
- The Quran 37:104
- The Holy Quran 34:28
- The Holy Quran 21:107
- The Holy Quran 36:40
- The Holy Quran 5:48
- The Holy Quran 30:43
- Refer to 6:75: “So also did We show Ibrahim the power and the laws of the heavens and the earth, that he might (with understanding) have certitude.”
- The Holy Quran 7:172
- The Holy Quran 2:28
