SPIRIT OF ISLAM NOVEMBER 2019

27 Spirit of Islam Issue 83 November 2019 All the prophets brought the same basic truth: that there is only one God and that all human beings are accountable to God for their actions: when Doomsday finally comes, they will be judged by Him according to their good and bad deeds. Since the settlement of human beings on earth, the prophets have been coming one after another. In every age they have been the conveyors of God’s messages to human beings. However, whatever records of these ancient prophets that have survived, have been rendered historically unreliable by interpolations. The same is true of the books they brought to humankind. The sole exception was the case of the Prophet Muhammad, who was chosen by God as His Final Messenger. The Prophet was born in an age when the history of the world was already being extensively chronicled. This in itself made circumstances conducive to authentic records being kept of God’s messages and the Prophet’s exemplary life. The relevant facts were passed on from one generation to the next by both oral and written tradition, and with the advent of the printing press came the modern guarantee that no changes would ever be made in the divine scriptures. This renders unassailable the position of the Prophet Muhammad as God’s Final Messenger and His sole representative on earth till Doomsday. All the prophets, according to Islam, brought the same basic truth: that there is only one God and that all human beings are accountable to God for their actions: when Doomsday finally comes, they will be judged by Him according to their good and bad deeds. Those who believe in God and His Prophet shall be rewarded by God in the next world, while those who disbelieve shall be punished by God in the next world as befits the deeds they have performed on earth. God chooses for Himself whom He wills, and guides to Himself those who turn to Him in repentance. (42: 13) God’s messengers came in every age and to every region. According to a Hadith , starting with Adam and ending with the Prophet Muhammad, 1,24,000 messengers were sent in succession to guide the people to the right path. The prophets mentioned by name in the Quran are two-dozen in number. The five major Prophets who came before Muhammad were Adam, Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), and Isa (Jesus). The Prophet Muhammad, the last in this long line of prophets, was called the ‘Seal of the Prophets’. (33: 40)