The Best Knowledge: The Prophets of Allah
In this blog, we will be starting to talk about the Prophets of Allah and explain who they are, what they are ordered to do, what they are attributed with, and what is impossible to be among their attributes.
CREED
9/9/20252 min read
The Prophets of Allah, who are they?
Prophets are the greatest men to ever live.
Prophets are men who have received Revelation from Allah and conveyed it to the people. They received Revelations and conveyed them in the language that Allah ordered.
We have previously mentioned that, although the revealed scripture (i.e., the authentic scripture) is called the Speech of God (The Kalam of Allah) in the sense that it is an expression of His Eternal Speech, this revealed scripture is created. Allah's Eternal Speech, His attribute, is not created.
Many Prophets have lived in the past. Muhammad, who lived some 1400 years ago, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, is the last and greatest Prophet.
Some of the Prophets are: Adam, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Joseph (son of Jacob), David, Solomon, Moses, and Jesus, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon them all.
What is the difference between a Messenger and a Prophet?
Every Messenger is a Prophet, but not every Prophet is a Messenger.
The difference between them is that the Messenger is a man who has received Prophetic Revelation and received new law(s) abrogating law(s) of the previous Messenger. In this sense, abrogation means that the previous law is no longer applicable and the new one is to be applied.
An Example: At the time of Prophet Adam, the first human, there were no humans except him and Eve, may Allah raise their rank. Adam and Eve started having children, and Eve would give birth to twins, a boy and a girl, almost every time. So the brother of the first pregnancy was allowed to marry his sister from the second pregnancy. This was the law at the time of Adam, and if it wasn't the case, how would humans have populated? Then came Seth (Shith), the son of Adam, who was a Messenger, and his law abrogated the aforementioned law, and siblings from different pregnancies were not allowed to marry anymore.
A Prophet who is not a Messenger is a man who has received Prophetic Revelation but was ordered to follow the law of the previous Prophet, who was a Messenger.
What are all the Prophets attributed with?
Every Prophet is attributed with:
Intelligence
Trustworthiness
Truthfulness
Impeccability, i.e., they never leave Islam, never commit major sins (like adultery), and never commit minor sins that display low character or abject nature (like stealing a single grape, or staring lustfully at marriageable women).
What is impossible to be among the attributes of the Prophets?
None of the Prophets is attributed with:
Foolishness
Obtuseness
Vileness
Cowardice
Lying
Dishonesty
It is also impossible for any of them to commit a slip of the tongue, i.e., saying something other than what they intended to say.
What we have mentioned is an introduction to what an accountable person must know about Prophets. In our next blog, we will be explaining in detail what Prophets are attributed with and what is impossible to be among their attributes.
Stay tuned...