Prophethood or Nubuwwah (in Arabic) is a high honour prestigious assignment, a refined status, and a great bounty that Allah the Exalted, bestows on some selected personalities among His creatures to deliver the divine messages. Thus, in this article, we shall discuss the concept of Prophethood (i.e., Nubuwwah) from the viewpoint of Islam and focus on issues such as the logic and doctrine of prophethood, and prophethood is divine grace.
Introduction
While independent in every respect, the Almighty Allah, with His immense power, has created the world of existence and its various creatures, allowing them to enjoy His countless blessings. From the first day of creation till the last day of existence, man and other creatures are fostered by Allah. They are each led toward a known and determined goal with a particular order and system. They proceed towards their ends while being exposed to His noteworthy blessings.
If we study and deliberate upon our lifetime, namely the period of infancy, childhood, youth, and old age, our conscience will testify Allah’s complete favours to us. When we become more aware of this matter, our wisdom will undoubtedly judge that the Creator of the world is more compassionate to His creatures than anyone else is.
Due to this compassion and favour, Allah always considers their interests and never consents to the corruption and defect of their affairs without wisdom and expediency. Mankind is one of the creatures of Allah. We know that man’s interest and prosperity depend upon his being realistic and benevolent; that is to say, he must possess true beliefs, praiseworthy ethics, and good deeds.
One may say that with his Allah-granted wisdom, man can distinguish between good and bad and can recognize a well from a path.
It should be known, however, that wisdom alone cannot resolve this difficulty and lead man to realism and benevolence. All these indecent characteristics and unjust actions witnessed in human society are committed by those who possess wisdom and discernment, however, as a result of selfishness, profit-seeking, and voluptuousness, their wisdom has been overcome by their sentiments and they have succumbed to their carnal desires, leading them astray. Therefore, the Almighty Allah must lead and invite us to prosperity through some other ways and through means which can never be overcome by carnal desires and which never make blunders or mistakes in their guidance. This path is nothing but the path of Prophethood.
The Logic in Prophethood
From what we have discussed about monotheism, it becomes evident that since Allah creates everything, its fostering also depends upon Him. In other words, the Almighty Allah is the organizer and leader of the movement of any worldly creature or phenomenon that from the very beginning of existence endeavours for its survival, strives to remove its imperfections, eliminates its needs and shortcomings one after another, makes itself independent and self-sufficient as much as possible, and moves in an orderly manner in its path of survival and existence.
A definite conclusion can be drawn from this concept. That is to say, any one of the various kinds of phenomena of the world has a specific evolutionary process for its survival which is done by its special endeavours. In other words, in the path of their survival, worldly creatures of each particular group have a series of specific functions assigned to them by Allah. As the Holy Qur’an, with reference to this fact, states: “…Our Lord is He Who gave to everything its creation, then guided it (to its goal). (1)
This order applies to all components of creation without any exceptions. It includes the stars, the earth, their components, and compositions that generate primary phenomena, plants, and animals. Man’s condition is the same as others, in this universal guidance, but there is a difference between him and others.
Doctrine of Prophethood
We [Shi’a Muslims] believe that prophethood is a Divine duty and a mission from Allah; He appoints to it those whom He selects from among His good servants, from those who are exalted among mankind. He sends them to the rest of humanity to be a guide to what is of benefit to them and is in their interest in this world and the next; to purify them from immorality, evil deeds and harmful customs, and also to teach people wisdom and knowledge and the ways of happiness and goodness until they attain to the perfection for which they were created, and reach the highest position in both worlds.
We believe that the Grace of Allah [lutf] requires that He send His messengers to His servants to guide them, to carry out reforming work, and to be intermediaries between Allah and his gerents. For we believe that Allah does not allow mankind to appoint, nominate or select a person as a prophet; indeed only Allah can choose and appoint someone as a prophet, because: “Allah knoweth best with whom to place His message” (2)
It follows that people have no right to dispute over those whom Allah sends as guides, bringers of good tidings and warners of what is to come, nor over that which they bring, the commandments and religious laws.
Prophethood is a Divine Grace [lutf]
Man is a changeable creature, a complex structure containing his being, his nature, soul and intelligence. Every individual personality is similarly of a complex nature, in which there are causes of good and evil. On the one hand, man has been created with emotions and instincts, such as self-love, desire and pride; he obeys the call of his desires, has a natural disposition to show his superiority over others, to own things, and to take for himself that which belongs to others; he rushes recklessly at the objects and ornaments of this world.
As Allah has said:
“Lo! Man is in the way of loss” (3)
Also,
“Surely man waxes insolent, for he thinks himself self-sufficient” (4)
And,
“Surely the soul of man incites to evil” (5)
There are other verses which clearly talk about and point to the desires and feelings of the human soul which was created by man. On the other hand, Allah has given intelligence [Aql] to man to guide him to what is in his interest and to the way of goodness, and He has also bestowed on him a conscience which prevents him from doing evil and oppressing others, and which also upbraids him when he has sinned.
There is continual enmity and struggle between man’s desires and his intelligence. One whose intelligence overcomes his desires will attain the highest position among mankind and a perfect spirituality, but one whose desires to conquer his intelligence will be among the great losers, the lowest of mankind and comparable in nature to the beasts.
The desires and their legions are stronger than intelligence and its armies, and this is why most people go astray and wander far from the straight path of guidance, by obeying their desires and answering the call of their emotions. As is said in the Qur’an:
“And though thou try much, most men will not believe” (6)
Besides, man is reluctant and unaware of all the facts and secrets of the world around him, and since he is also ignorant of his own self, how can he know all that will make him prosperous and what will make him suffer; how can he know everything that is in his own interest or in the interests of mankind as a whole? Whenever he advances with a new discovery, he sees his own ignorance and realizes that he knows nothing.
It is because of this that man has an insistent need for someone to show him the clear, straight path to prosperity and to give support to his intelligence, so that it may overcome its unruly, persistent enemy, and so that he may prepare to fight his emotions.
Man is desperately in need of someone to help him to the path of goodness and happiness, especially when his emotions deceive him, disguising his bad actions as good and his good actions as bad, as a result of which his intelligence is confused and cannot find the right path to prosperity and distinguish between the real good and the real evil. Every one of us has succumbed on this battlefield, either consciously or unconsciously, except the man whom Allah protects. It is difficult for an enlightened, civilized man to attain the way of goodness and happiness, so how much more difficult is it for an ignorant, unschooled man?
When all people co-operate and consult with one another and deliberate together they are still unable to understand what is useful and what is harmful to themselves and to society. So Allah through His Grace and Mercy for mankind sends them a messenger. The Qur’an says:
“He it is who sent among the unlettered ones a messenger of their own, to recite unto them His signs, and to purify them and to teach them the Book and Wisdom.” (7)
The giving of, this Grace is necessary for Allah, because it is a sign of His Perfection, and He is Kind and Generous to His servants. When a man deserves His Mercy and Grace, Allah must grant it to him, because there is no deficiency or withholding in the Being of Allah. The meaning of “necessary for Allah” is not that anyone forces Him to act in this way and that it is necessary for Him to obey, rather, it means that this is an inseparable attribute of Allah, i.e. Mercy and Grace cannot be separated from Him, in the same way as we say that His Existence is inherent in Him, or that He is Necessarily Existent, i.e. His Existence is co-existent (with Him) and cannot be separated (from Him).
Sources:
Islamic Teachings in brief – By Allamah Seyyid Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai.
The faith of Shi’a Islam – By Muhammad Ridha Al-Muzaffar
Notes:
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1. Qur’an 20:50.
2. Qur’an 6:125.
3. Qur’an 103:2.
4. Qur’an 96:6 and 7.
5. Qur’an 12:53.
6. Qur’an 12:103.
7. Qur’an 62:2.
