Faith in the Prophets

Faith in the prophets is one of the principles considered mandatory in the Quran (Al-Baqarah 2/285; Al-i Imran 3/179; An-Nisa 4/136, 150, 152), by the sunnah (practices of the Prophet) (Bukhari, "Faith", 37; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, IV, 114) and by Islamic scholars. That is, one should have absolute faith in the fact that all the prophets from Adam, the first prophet, and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) were sent by Allah as intermediaries to people in order to convey His divine commands.

Faith in the prophets reveals itself as a complete acceptance of all the prophets. However, as is true for each of the principles of faith, there are also detailed aspects of belief in the prophets. In order to prevent ourselves from pursuing a wrong or deviated belief, detailed information is required. This information can be divided into such topics as the number of prophets, their names and attributes.

The Number of Prophets

In the Quran there is no information about how many prophets were sent to humanity in total, however it is stated that for each particular society and region prophets have been sent heralding heaven for those who believed and obeyed the divine commands of Allah and threatening those who deny His existence or those who rebel against Him with hell. The names of some of these prophets are mentioned in the Quran and their struggles with their tribes are explained, yet for some of the prophets no accounts are provided.

In some of the accounts associated with the Prophet Muhammad, it was stated that 124,000 prophets, 315 of whom were rasuls, had been sent to humanity (Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad V, 266). However, since there is no clear information, it would not be appropriate to determine an accurate number. With respect to these, belief in Prophet Muhammad and Islam involves believing in all the prophets that have been sent from the first prophet Adam and the last prophet Muhammad. However, it is necessary to have faith in each of the prophets mentioned in the Quran. The names of the prophets mentioned in the Quran are Adam, David, Elisha, Job,  Aaron, Heber, Abraham, Enoch, Elias, Jesus, Ishaq, Ishmael, Lot, Moses, Noah, Saleh, Solomon, Shoaib, Jacob, John, Jonah, Joseph, Zachariah, Dhu'l-Kifl and Muhammad. The prophethood statuses of Ezra, Luqman and Dhu'l-Qarnain are controversial.

Complete faith in the prophets is only possible by being able to perceive their qualities which are proven by the revelations. As a matter of fact, most of the time people embrace superstitious or false beliefs related to the prophets based on their own thoughts. It is known that the Jews and the Christians attribute supernatural qualities to some prophets, giving them characteristics of a deity. Islam persistently emphasizes the qualities of the prophets and provides clear information in order to prevent people from making these kinds of mistakes. It would be useful here to look at the qualities of the prophets in order to ground the issue of faith in the prophets on a more solid foundation.

The Qualities of the Prophets

Their Human Qualities

The first issue which is necessary to perceive about the prophets is that they were human beings. According to this, every prophet is born, grows, sleeps, becomes hungry, acquires nourishment by eating and drinking, has children, becomes affected by the conditions of nature, loves and hates, is happy or sad, becomes ill and dies, just like all other human beings. These are the aspects of the prophets that are common with all human beings. Their human nature necessitates these qualities. It is also very natural that they have human qualities, as they are the messengers that Allah sent to human beings. Human beings converse and establish relationships with other human beings and acquire information from one another, as well as treating other people as examples.

The prophets were assigned to teach and lead societies, thus they were granted with superior qualities which did not obviate the fact that they were human beings. Among these qualities are their intelligence, wisdom and lofty ethics; they were created without flaws and had beautiful bodies physically. In order to efficiently convey the divine messages and to struggle with people with argumentative characters it was necessary for them to be flawless and perfect physically and to have superior intelligence and wisdom in terms of their intellectual aspects. The captivating beauty of Prophet Joseph and the arguments of Prophet Abraham, which led him to defeat Nimrod and to come up with his intelligent plan to reveal the meaninglessness of idolatry, are remarkable examples of this issue.

Despite their human qualities, what distinguishes the prophets from other people is the fact that they were created with a natural disposition that led them to perform their duties as divine messengers and to receive revelation from Allah. As a matter of fact, this issue is mentioned in the Quran and it is stated that the prophets were humans just like us, yet they received revelations. (Al-Kahf 18/110) It was only through the revelations imparted by Allah that the prophets were able to perceive this information, which otherwise is impossible to acquire through the senses or mind.  It would be impossible for the prophets to know about the future unless they had received revelations. In the Quran it is clearly stated that the prophets, as human beings, were unable to predict the future, unless informed about it by Allah (Al-Anaam 6/50; Al-Araf  7/187; Al-Hud 11/31), and that they would be considered normal human beings if the revelations had not been imparted to them. It is only through the revelations that the prophets were able to perceive the future (Al-Jinn 72/26). They possessed no divine powers.

One of the qualities of the prophets is that they were all men. In the Quran the prophets were all mentioned as "men". (Joseph 12/109; An-Nahl 16/42; Al-Anbiyaa 21/7). Although it is stated that mothers of prophets, such as Mary (Jesus) and Asiyah (Moses) received revelations, these women were not assigned to convey these revelations to the people. Since prophethood is a strenuous duty which required undergoing great difficulties and because women were not physically strong enough to bear these hardships, nor did they have the position in society required to fulfill the role of prophethood, women were not given the role of prophets.

The Assignment of Prophets by Allah

The prophets were people chosen by Allah. No prophet ever acquired prophethood via their own efforts. In this context, prophethood is not acquired, but divinely granted. That is to say, Allah created the person who was to become a prophet as an efficient human in terms of their spiritual and physical structure and announced who was to be a prophet (Al-Anaam 6/124). This decision is completely in the hands of the Creator. The prophethood is not passed on from father to son. The fact that the son of Prophet Noah and the father of Abraham were idolaters is proof that prophethood was not hereditary.

Their Immunity to Sin (Infallibility)

The prophets were exemplary people on all the issues, particularly on the issue of obedience to divine commands, and in accordance with the purpose of the duty of prophets Allah granted them immunity to sins (infallibility). It was only through their infallibility that the prophets, under divine protection from the beginning of their prophethood, abstained from evil and pursued good deeds and led people in all issues, such as worship, Islamic laws and ethics by obeying the divine commands. As a result of their human characteristics, it would be impossible for them to completely avoid making mistakes. This is because total infallibility is a quality which solely belongs to Allah. Since the prophets were human beings they were subject to making mistakes, yet such behavior was prevented by warnings from Allah. As a consequence, they ascended to a superior human level by being granted immunity to mistakes and sins.

Adam's eating from the Tree of Knowledge, violating the divine prohibition, and Moses' killing a person occurred in the periods before their prophethood. However, no prophet committed a sin while they were prophets; during this time they were under divine protection and supervision. They were warned against their small errors and told if their behavior was not right. For instance, Prophet Muhammad granted permission to the hypocrites who presented their apologies when he set out for campaign to Tabuk (Al-Tawba, 9/117); Prophet Muhammad almost came into a state which could have been affected by the suggestions of other people (Al-Isra, 17/73-74), but was warned about this. Islamic scholars call these insignificant sins zalla. Except for the zalla, it can be seen that the prophets are different from other people with their superior morality and virtues. Moreover, being infallible is the only way for their messages to affect people. It can be understood by examining the lives of the prophets that they were protected from sin. This infallibility only applies to the prophets. No human apart from them has this characteristic.

Their Trustworthiness (Amanat)

Prophets are trustworthy people, not only in performing their prophetic duties, but also in the worldly acts they carry out. As a matter of fact, a breach of trust would not suit a prophet. "Whosoever embezzled will bring what he embezzled with him on the Day of Resurrection" (Al-i Imran, 3/161). The fact that prophets, who were to be exemplary figures for human beings and who were thus protected against committing sins, were trustworthy people is a result of their infallibility. Their quality of being trustworthy in every aspect is both supported by dogmas, and there is a common acceptance of this fact among people, believers or otherwise. This feature of the prophets is known as amanat.

Their Conveyance of the Revelations

Although this feature must be mentioned along with the trustworthiness of the prophets, it is regarded as a separate feature, known as conveyance. The fact that the prophets, who speak of heaven but also warn of hell, accurately conveyed the revelations of Allah was due to the duty which had been given them. Because it would be inappropriate for them to show indolence or negligence while performing this duty, they were given the ability to convey the revelations. As a matter of fact, the Quran clearly states that the prophets are responsible for conveying the revelations (Al-Maida, 5/67), that they fear nobody (Al-Ahzab, 33/39), that they never convey anything apart from the revelations (Al-i Imran, 3/79-80), and, in addition to their accuracy in conveying the revelations, they never show indolence or weakness while fighting in the name of Allah (Al-i Imran, 3/146). In view of these, one of the quintessential features of the prophets is their conveyance of the revelations. For this reason, every prophet that was sent conveyed revelations in the language of their people, so that they could make the message clear for them (Ibrahim 14/4).

Ranks of the Prophets

All prophets are reputable and superior humans. There is nobody among the people or spirits that is superior to the prophets. Although all prophets were sent revelations and assistance, there is an order of superiority among themselves in terms of the way in which the revelations were sent, the period of the prophethood and the geography to which they were sent. Some prophets were sent holy books while others were sent pages (suhuf); some prophets received revelation by speaking directly with Allah, while others prophets received revelation via Gabriel or in other ways. Some prophets were sent to a certain tribe, some of them are assigned to help other prophets, but the last prophet, Muhammad, was sent to all people. In view of this, it is natural to have a ranking among the prophets. The Quran mentions this issue as follows: "Of those messengers, some of whom We have caused to excel others, and of whom there are some unto whom Allah spoke, while some of them He exalted above others in degree" (Al-Baqarah, 2/253; Al-Isra, 17/35). In consideration of this, the last Prophet Muhammad is the superior prophet due to the fact that his prophethood was universal; in addition, he, brought information that will be valid for humans until the Day of Judgment, he brought a valuable book and accordingly he brought the perfection of the religion. Prophets that were sent with a new book or a new form of the religion come in ranking after Prophet Muhammad. These prophets are David, Moses and Jesus. In the verses that state a superiority among the prophets (Al-Baqarah, 2/253; Al-Isra, 17/35), the names of the prophets that are superior are given. Aside from these prophets, it is reported that Noah and Abraham are also prophets with high ranks (Al-Anaam, 6/83; Al-Ahzab 33/7). These prophets, including Prophet Muhammad, are called the ulu al-azm, meaning prophets that determinedly faced great obstacles (Al-Ahqaf, 46/35).

Duties of the Prophets

Although the prophets, who tried to lead humans to bliss in this world and the afterlife with the information they brought, who never charged a fee for this information and who risked their lives, fearing no threats, were called names by people such as: "liar, slanderer, wizard, madman, crazy" (Al-Yunus, 10/12; Al-Mu'minun, 23/24-25; An-Nur, 24/43; As-Sa'd, 38/4-5; Ad-Dukhan, 44/13-14), they still continued to perform their duties. In a general framework, their basic duties included the conveyance and practice of the revelations sent by Allah to humans. More specifically, we can summarize their duties as follows:

• To report that there is no god but Allah. To invite people to believe only in Allah and to worship Him alone. After teaching them how to worship, the prophets remind people to worship only Allah, not to worship any inanimate objects, animals, humans or angels. Although many people believe in Allah, they also call on other beings as holy, referring to them as divine and worshipping them (An-Nahl, 16/36; Az-Zumar, 39/3; Al-Yusuf, 12/106, 109). Additionally, the prophets explain the fundamental principles that must be believed, they notify people about the existence of the afterlife and to tell them how to prepare for there.
• After conveying and explaining the divine orders of this world and the afterlife, the prophets become exemplary figures for humans by practicing these divine orders.
• The prophets refer to the divine orders in all issues, act according to them and do not pay attention to human desires (An-Nahl, 16/36; Az-Zumar, 39/3; Al-Yusuf, 12/106, 109).
• They give advice to humans, thus helping them reduce their devotion to worldly things and making them decent and virtuous people.
• They constitute absolute proof of Allah with the messages they have brought from the unknown world and from beyond the physical world.