The Best Knowledge: The Attributes of the Prophets

The Honorable Prophets

In our previous blog, we began our discussion by explaining who the Prophets and Messengers are. We highlighted that they are the greatest men to ever live, then clarified the difference between a Prophet and a Messenger. Then, it concluded by mentioning the attributes necessary to be among their attributes and what is impossible to be among their attributes.

In this blog, we will be briefly explaining the attributes of the Prophets and what is impossible to be among their attributes.

The attributes of the Prophets

Let it be known that the Prophets are perfect; their attributes are the best attributes among humans.

1. The Prophet ﷺ said to His companions, which means: "All the Prophets that Allah sent are beautiful and have beautiful voices, and your Prophet is the most beautiful and has the most beautiful voice among them".

   Some people claim that the first human was in the shape of a monkey, which is incorrect. The first human and the father of humans is Adam, peace be upon him. Adam was very beautiful, as are all other Prophets.

2. All of the Prophets are truthful, even before they receive the Prophetic Revelation. Prophet Muhammad was given the nickname even by the non-Muslims around him with the "As-Sadiq and Al-'amin", which literally translates to the Truthful and Trustworthy person.

3. All of the Prophets are trustworthy; they never cheat people seeking advice from them.

4. They are intelligent; they are all able to establish proofs against non-believers immediately and refute them.

5. They are attributed with impeccability, i.e., they never leave Islam, never commit major sins (like fornication), minor sins that display low character or have an abject nature (ex. sneaking lustful looks at marriageable women or steal even a single grape), they never commit any of the aforementioned in any point in their life; be it before Prophethood or after the Prophetic Revelation. As for minor sins that do not display an abject nature or reflect low character, then they might commit such sins, given that they are guided by Allah to repent immediately, as they are the role models. So, they repent before anyone imitates them.

   It should be clarified that some people exaggerate the sin of Prophet Adam and say he was kicked out of Paradise for his sin. When in reality Adam's sin was a minor sin that he repented from, and none of his children bear the sin that Adam did, as falsely claimed by some people. Every accountable person is judged according to what he or she acquires, be it a good or bad deed.

   It is important to note: we do not say that Adam was “kicked out” of Paradise. That term applies to Satan. As for Adam, Allah sent him to Earth to begin populating it with his honorable wife, Eve.

6. Prophets are the bravest creatures to ever exist.

What is impossible to be among their attributes

It is impossible for all Prophets to be attributed with:

1. foolishness; Acting unwisely. All of them are wise.

2. obtuseness; being slow to understand, all of them are fast in perception and able to establish proofs against non-believers on the go.

3. Vileness; character of the degenerate people, they do not sneak lustful looks at marriageable women, and none steal, not even a single grape.

4. Cowardice, as for natural fear, such as an aversion to snakes, when surprised by them, is not impossible for them to have.

5. lying and dishonesty, none of them lies, cheats, betrays, or deceives. They do not cheat people when asked for advice, nor do they unjustly consume the money of others.

6. It is impossible for them to commit a slip of the tongue, i.e., saying what they didn't intend to say.

7. It is also impossible for Prophets to have any unbefitting and unprophetic quality that repels people from accepting the call from them, such as repulsive ailments like worms coming out of the body, which was falsely attributed to Prophet Ayyoob, peace be upon him.

With this, we have briefly explained what are the attributes that must be among the attributes of the Prophet, and what is impossible to be among their attributes.

In our next blog, we will start mentioning some of the men companions of the Prophet, who faced severe torture because they followed him, peace be upon him.

Stay Tuned...