THE PROPHETS OF ALLAH (GOD): The Quran states that God sent a warner and guide to every people and it mentions the names of many of them. At the beginning of the line was Adam (Adam in Arabic, the first human being). Adam and his wife Eve (Hawwa), originally in a state of primal innocence, exercised the human attribute of freedom of choice and disobeyed Gods command Through this they learned the hard lesson of the consequence of disobedience to the divine command in the loss of their innocent state and life of peace and tranquillity. But, the Quran states, they repented and God forgave them. He then bestowed prophethood upon Adam, giving him guidance for himself and his descendants. The first true human beings on earth were thus believers in the One God, submitting to His guidance. But gradually over a period of time their accurate perception of Reality deteriorated and they became animists or idolaters, until God raised a new messenger among them to recall them to the truth. The Quran mentions Noah (Nuh), who brought a message of warning and the need for reform to his totally corrupted people. When they refused to take heed, God destroyed them in the flood. The next major prophet whose history is narrated in the Quran is Abraham (Ibrahim). Although he grew up among idolaters, he reasoned out the folly of believing in the divinity of any finite thing, especially of those made by human hands. He surrendered himself to God with such total submission that God made him an example for people of all times. The Quran calls him muslim, and so indeed all the prophets were mus/im — that is, those who submit themselves to God alone. From Abraham came a long line of prophets through his two sons, Ishmael (Ismail) and Isaac (Ishaq). Ishmael was the progenitor of the Arab peoples and Muhammad (peace be on him) was among his descendants. From Isaac came a number of prophets, including his son Jacob (Yaqoob), his grandson Joseph (Yusuf), Moses (Musa), David (David), Solomon (Sulayman), John the Baptist (Yahya) and Jesus (Isa). Of these, Moses, David and Jesus (Gods blessings and peace be on them) brought written scriptures revealed by God, although today only scattered portions of the originals remain, intermixed with what people have added, as is clear from an objective study of the format and content of the Biblical text. Islam asserts that Jesus was one in the line of prophets sent to the Children of Israel. The Message he brought reiterated the necessity of submission to God and obedience to His law given through Moses, emphasizing purity of heart and sincerity of intention instead of mere formalism and empty adherence to ritual. The Quran states, as does the Bible, that Jesus was born of a virgin mother by the power of God. However, this in no way makes hint of divine nature or Gods son any more than it makes Adam, who was born without the agency of parents, divine. Jesus was a human being who was created in a special and unique manner by God, Who is able to create what He wills as and how He pleases. The notion of the divinity or sonship of Jesus, the Quran asserts, is completely contrary to the true message which Jesus (peace be on him) brought of the Oneness and Uniqueness of God, and his insistence that God alone not himself was to be worshiped and obeyed, Muhammad (may Gods peace and blessings be on him) was born nearly six hundred years after Jesus (570-632 AD) in Mecca, Arabia. He lived at a time when his people were in the grip of the worst form of idolatry and their society was in a state of marked corruption and decay. Within Arabia, Jews had formed tribes and settlements, but they did not propagate the message of the Oneness of God and the human beings responsibility to Him outside their own community. Christianity was splintered into many diverse feuding sects and its stronghold, the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium), was in a state of decline. When, in the midst of this decadent society, a Messenger arose in the city of Mecca with the earnest, burning call to repentance and reform. He issued to the leaders of paganism a challenge which they could not afford to ignore if they were to retain their grip on the people. Arise and warn was the message with which God charged him. But his warning was met with the most intense hostility. At first he was ridiculed and opposed. Then with his small group of followers progressively exposed to abuse, defamation, torture, boycott and ultimately the threat of assassination. Every means the pagans could devise to induce him to give up his mission and force the early Muslims to abandon Islam was attempted. All of the early Muslims remained firm and constant, however, for their certainty of the truth of the Message was so strong that the mere threat of physical harm or death could not deter them from believing in it, proclaiming it and living it. Some of the first Muslims died under torture, and others migrated to Abyssinia to escape persecution, a country under the rule of a devout Christian king who subsequently secretly embraced Islam. At length, after thirteen years of patient preaching and bearing with constancy all these trials, God opened to the Prophet and his followers the possibility of migration to the city of Yathrib (Medina) some three hundred miles distant, at the invitation of its inhabitants who had embraced Islam. They pledged their loyalty to the Prophet and swore to live and if necessary to die for Islam. The Muslims left Mecca in small groups and made their way across the desert to the city which had opened its heart to the new faith. When they had all gone, the Prophet put his cousin, Ali ibn Abi Talib, in his bed to fool the pagans (thinking that the Prophet was still in his bed) while together with his closest friend, Abu Bakr, the Prophet left Mecca, by Gods guidance, avoiding the pagans attempts to assassinate him in Mecca and hunt him down on his journey.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 01:08:55 +0000
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