Was Confucius a prophet?

[Darth Ultor]

In Islam, it's said that a prophet was sent to every nation before Muhammad gave the last message. Confucius was around before Jesus. Why do I ask? Well, the code of ethics is very similar to those the Abrahamic religions use. "Do unto others what you want done unto yourself" is something Confucius said, and the same wording is in the scriptures.

 

[GodIsAll]

I would have to believe Confucius did God's will.

 

[M.I.A.]

im sure there have been a lot of people who had differing amounts of the same knowledge.

gods laws are never changing.

..i have not read much of anything on Confucius, is there anything on the mercy of allah? forgiveness and suchlike?


id like to ask,

if it is always tit for tat, what happens when a party is not prepared to retaliate?

does karma actually work?

..if it did, it would point strongly to a creator. much bigger than man and his ego.

 

[Al-manar]

Greetings Darth

There is consensus among scholars that, whether or not it is religious, Confucianism is definitively non-theistic. Confucianism is humanistic, and does not involve a belief in the supernatural or in a personal god..

I think the same can be appllied on Buddha and buddhism .....

 

[Scimitar]

Confucius worshipped his ancestors - he was not a prophet of God.

Scimi

 

[ardianto]

In Islam, it's said that a prophet was sent to every nation

Greeting Darth Ultor.

The correct word is : A prophet was sent to every ummah (folk). this is not based on ethnic/place/region, but based on age/era/time. Prophet Nuh (as) was sent to ummah in his era, prophet Musa (as) was sent to ummah in different era. And Muslims believe, prophet Muhammad (saw) is the last prophet that sent for ummah in the end of time.

 

[ardianto]

Confucius is not a prophet in Abrahamic, but a prophet in Ru Jiao, ancient Chinese belief that has been exist since around 2500 B.C, which not a branch of Abrahamic faith.

There were some prophets in Ru Jiao before Confucius, like Fu Xi, Nu Wa (female), Shen Nong, Huang Di, Lei Zhu (female), which what they have taught are documented in Wu Jing book. Then Tang Yao, Yu Shun, Gao Yao, Xia Yu, Yi, Cheng Tang, Yi Yin, Zhong Hui, Yue Ming, Ji Chang, Bo Yi, Shu Qi, Zhou Gong Dan (4th son of Ji Chang),Liu Xia Hui. And the last is Zhi Sheng Kong Zi, who we know as Confucius. What he taught is documented in Si Shu book.

When Confucius was born in 551 B.C, belief and worship method in Chinese society was not organized well. In that time, royal and elite society embraced Ru Jiao, while the other people embraced Ning Jiao that worshiped many gods like the sun god, earth god, etc, also worshiped the spirits of the ancestors.

Then Confusius taught Ru Jiao to people who embraced Ning Jiao, also introduced the right method of worship. He taught them to worship "Tian", that rule and arrange the universe. He also taught them to worship only selected spirit of the ancestors, not random spirit.

However, concept of Tian in Chinese beliefs (Ru Jiao/Confucianism and Taoism) is not same like concept of God in Abrahamic faith. It's based on ancient Chinese cosmology. Tian itself literally means "heaven" or "sky", or interpreted as "the power in heaven". Tian and Di (earth) are "two poles of the three universes" which in the middle is Ren (human).

 

[Ali Mujahidin]

Assalam mulaikum.

Consider this angle.

If we were to look at Jesus from the way Christians worshiped him, would we believe that he is a prophet? I am not saying that Confucius is or is not a prophet. I am just saying that what he actually taught and what we are told that he told are most likely not to be the same thing. Think of Jesus to understand what I am saying.

 

[Hulk]

There's no way we can say for sure whether he was a prophet or not, because it was never specifically mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah. I suppose we can assume that a prophet of God would probably be held in high regards by their people, perhaps sometimes even glorified. One interesting example I came across a few years back is a the similarities between Hinduism's Brahma and Saraswati, notice how Brahma sounds very similar to Abraham/Ibrahim(alayhisalam) and Saraswati sounds similar to Sarah(alayhisalam). Perhaps a case of Prophets being glorified?

 

[Al-manar]

Assalam mulaikum.

I am not saying that Confucius is or is not a prophet. I am just saying that what he actually taught and what we are told that he told are most likely not to be the same thing. Think of Jesus to understand what I am saying.

alaikomassalam

Though we as muslims know that not everything in the new testament represent accurately what Jesus taught as the original inspired Injeel ,yet acording to the quran many of what we have in the new testament belongs to the true Injeel (eg; the saying gospel etc...) ......

assuming Confucius as a prophet in Abrahamic sense,then we are forced to believe that nothing of what he originally preached and taught is recorded ........

also nothing in the words attribute to him ,where he claims to be a prophet receiving inspiration from the God of Abraham ,any reference to Torah ,previous prophets belonged to Abrahamic faith ,no mention of basic lines eg;resurrection, paradise , hell ,rewards punishment etc.....

Confucius was a social reformer ,no more .....

 

[ardianto]

Confucius is the great and last prophet in Ru Jiao that 'reformed' the Ru Jiao, but not a person that introduced Ru Jiao. Confucian people do not worship him.

Confucians worship Tian. Ritually they also worship many gods like kitchen god, door god, etc. However, these gods are under Tian and as 'mediator' between Tian and human.

 

[ardianto]

One interesting example I came across a few years back is a the similarities between Hinduism's Brahma and Saraswati, notice how Brahma sounds very similar to Abraham/Ibrahim(alayhisalam) and Saraswati sounds similar to Sarah(alayhisalam). Perhaps a case of Prophets being glorified?

It's just a trick to attract Hindus to convert to Islam, or Christianity. But I totally disagree with trick like this.


If they want to invite other people to Islam, just tell the truth about Islam.