Essentials of Islam
Chapter 1 – Articles of Faith
4- Belief in Messengers of Allah
Anyone having faith in the Merciful God must also believe in all the Messengers sent by Him for the guidance of mankind, without discrimination. The Quran states in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 285:
آَمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ رَبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ كُلٌّ آَمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِنْ رُسُلِهِ وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ
The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], "We make no distinction between any of His messengers." And they say, "We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination."
(2: 285)
It means that a person cannot believe in some and disbelieve in other Messengers and still remain a Muslim. Similarly, his belief in Allah, the Beneficent, is not complete if at the same time he does not believe in the Messengers sent down by Him.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَكْفُرُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يُفَرِّقُوا بَيْنَ اللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَيَقُولُونَ نُؤْمِنُ بِبَعْضٍ وَنَكْفُرُ بِبَعْضٍ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يَتَّخِذُوا بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ سَبِيلًا
أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ حَقًّا وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابًا مُهِينًا
Those who deny Allah and His Messengers, and those who draw a line between Allah and His Messengers, saying: “We believe in some but deny others”, thus seeking a way in between; these indeed are the unbelievers.
(4 : 150 – 151)
Allah in His infinite wisdom has chosen to send down Messengers to each and every people to guide them to the right path:
إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ بِالْحَقِّ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَإِنْ مِنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلَّا خَلَا فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ
Indeed, We have sent you with the truth as a bringer of good tidings and a warner. And there was no nation but that there had passed within it a warner.
(35: 24)
Purpose of Sending Messengers:
The purpose behind sending down the Apostles is that the people are left with no excuses for going astray on the Day of Judgment:
رُسُلًا مُبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنْذِرِينَ لِئَلَّا يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَى اللَّهِ حُجَّةٌ بَعْدَ الرُّسُلِ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًا
[We sent] Messengers as bringers of good tidings and warners so that mankind will have no argument against Allah after the Messengers. And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise. (4 :165)
It is for this reason that we have been given no count of exact number of the Messengers raised by Allah. Even to His last Prophet, Allah recounted the names of some and withheld from him the names of other Prophets. The Quran, accordingly, makes mention of just twenty-five Prophets and Messengers, namely, Adam, Nuh (Noah), Hud, Salih, Shu’ayb, Lut (Lot), Ibrahim (Abraham), Isma’il (Ishmael), Ishaq (Issac), Ya’qub (Jacob), Yusuf (Joseph), Musa (Moses), Harun (Aaron), Dawud (David), Sulaiman (Solomon), Al-Yasa (Elisha), Dhul-Kifl, Zakariyya (Zacharias), Yahya (John), Ayyub (Job), Yunus (Jonah), Ilyas (Elias), Idris (Enoch), ‘Isa Ibn Maryam (Jesus the son of Mary), and the Seal of all Prophets Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (on them all be peace and blessings of Allah). Of these Prophets, five have been termed as “Apostles of inflexible purpose,” namely, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (Allah’s blessings and peace be on all of them).
Allah has chosen these Prophets from among men like us; they eat, drink, sleep, and marry. They are not different in their human needs. What distinguishes them from others is their being chosen by God for the bestowing of His revealed message. Allah says in Surah Al-Kahf, verse 110:
قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُكُمْ يُوحَى إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ فَمَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُوا لِقَاءَ رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا
Say (O Muhammad): I am but a human being like all of you (but) I have been given the Revelation …
(18: 110)
These Prophets are not only models of the highest moral virtues, such as truthfulness, honesty, wisdom, immunity from sin, and knowledge bestowed by Allah, but are also commissioned to carry Allah’s Message to His Servants, the human beings. They have a four-fold mission, as cited in the following verse:
فَهَزَمُوهُمْ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَقَتَلَ دَاوُودُ جَالُوتَ وَآَتَاهُ اللَّهُ الْمُلْكَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَعَلَّمَهُ مِمَّا يَشَاءُ وَلَوْلَا دَفْعُ اللَّهِ النَّاسَ بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ لَفَسَدَتِ الْأَرْضُ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ
Just as We have sent among you a messenger from yourselves reciting to you Our verses and purifying you and teaching you the Book and wisdom and teaching you that which you did not know.
(2: 151)
Thus, the duties entrusted to the Messengers were:
a. Recitation of Allah’s Revelations and conveyance of His Messages.
b. Instructing people in the principles of faith expressed in the Heavenly Books.
c. Teaching people wisdom and the use of intellect as well as the principles of good behavior.
d. Purifying the innerselves and directing the hearts toward piety and virtue such as would please Allah.
As evidence of their truthfulness and as proof of the genuineness of their claim to Prophethood, Allah has always armed His beloved Prophets with miracles that defy all natural laws and surpass all premises of ordinary logic.
It must, however, be recognized that in the essentials of faith, all the Prophets are one. There is complete unanimity among them as far as the basic requirement of inviting people to (i) belief in Allah, (ii) His Angels, (iii) His Books, (iv) His Messengers, (v) the Last Day, and (vi) the Divine Destiny – the good and the evil thereof – is concerned.
In matters of detailed laws and ordinances, however, they could differ with each other, especially if the ministry of a Messenger was specific to his people and age. As for the Last Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم , his Shari’ah (religio-legal code) has superseded all previous ones that were not in tune with the changing times and climes. His ministry is, therefore, as relevant and as comprehensive today as it was yesterday and will continue to be so for all times to come.
Hence, it is that every Prophet of Allah has affirmed his faith in all the Prophets before him and given tidings of those to follow. Each Prophet had also invariably urged upon his followers to believe in the Last Prophet and follow the path of Islam charted out by him, should they be witnesses to his advent at any time in the future.
Ali-Imran, verse 81:
وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَاقَ النَّبِيِّينَ لَمَا آَتَيْتُكُمْ مِنْ كِتَابٍ وَحِكْمَةٍ ثُمَّ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مُصَدِّقٌ لِمَا مَعَكُمْ لَتُؤْمِنُنَّ بِهِ وَلَتَنْصُرُنَّهُ قَالَ أَأَقْرَرْتُمْ وَأَخَذْتُمْ عَلَى ذَلِكُمْ إِصْرِي قَالُوا أَقْرَرْنَا قَالَ فَاشْهَدُوا وَأَنَا مَعَكُمْ مِنَ الشَّاهِدِينَ
And remember when Allah took the solemn pledge…
(3: 81)
The final Messenger of Allah Muhammad (Peace be upon him) has also acknowledged the contribution made by the Prophets before him and said:
My likeness with the Prophets that have gone before me is as the likeness of a man who built a house and built it beautifully and well, except for a missing brick in a corner. People go round and round the house, admire it and say, “Why is there no brick in place here?” I am that brick and I am the last of the Prophets. (Reported by Muslim)
This hadith asserts that Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم is the last and final Prophet and Messenger of Allah and that there will be no other Messenger /Prophet after him.
It must be emphasized here once again that belief in all the Prophets of Allah is a religious imperative in Islam, conceding of course at the same time that some of them rank higher than others in the estimation of Allah. The Quran states in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 253:
تِلْكَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ مِنْهُمْ مَنْ كَلَّمَ اللَّهُ وَرَفَعَ بَعْضَهُمْ دَرَجَاتٍ وَآَتَيْنَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ الْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأَيَّدْنَاهُ بِرُوحِ الْقُدُسِ وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا اقْتَتَلَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَتْهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ وَلَكِنِ اخْتَلَفُوا فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ آَمَنَ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ كَفَرَ وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا اقْتَتَلُوا وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَفْعَلُ مَا يُرِيدُ
Those messengers - some of them We caused to excel others. Among them were those to whom Allah spoke, and He raised some of them in degree…
(2: 253)
This article of Faith (Belief in the Messengers of Allah) will, however, be jeopardized if a person:
i. Denies the Prophethood of even one of the Prophets mentioned in the Quran.
ii. Ascribes even one of the attributes of Divinity or the status of sonhood of God to any one of the Prophets and Messengers.
iii. Imputes falsehood, dishonesty or other acts of immorality to any one of the Prophets of Allah.
iv. Denies the finality of Prophethood for Muhammad (Peace be upon him), whether overtly or covertly.
v. Invents falsehood on the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) knowingly and willingly.
Note: Taken from the book Essentials of Islam published by Islamic Foundation for Education, Dubai.