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Revelation and Prophethood in the Islamic Worldview

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 Revelation and Prophethood in the Islamic Worldview

Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu

Abstract
Belief in God’s message and messengers is a basic article of Islamic faith. Though it is
sent to all humankind, revelation is not communicable directly from God to everyone at
all times. The channel through which revelation became known to humankind is
prophethood. Both revelation and prophethood are thus intertwined; the explanation of
one will remain wanting without reference to the other. Following a textual analysis of
the major Islamic references, this study explores the meaningfulness of revelation and
prophethood, their function and place in the Islamic worldview, and their relevance to
the contemporary era. It examines whether the prophetic message has been supplanted
or subserved by humans’ intellectual enlightenment and their technological
advancement.
Introduction
Islam was inaugurated by the first revelation to Prophet MuÍammad
( ). In Islam, Almighty Allah, Who creates, also cares. He has created
everything, bestowed upon everything He created its due proportion and
appropriate faculties, and has then guided it to achieve its appropriate
purposes (Q: 20:50; 87:2-3). Divine guidance to humans comes in two
forms: intellectual faculty bestowed upon every human by which to
think, reflect and distinguish right from wrong; and divine revelation
sent to humans by virtue of their intellectual faculty through selected
individuals among their own species to guide them to the right courses
of action.
The centrality of prophethood is evident from the fact that it forms the
content of the second clause of the ShahÉdah (Testimony of Faith). It is
also one of the articles of Islamic faith. The source of legitimacy for
being a prophet is Allah (S.W.T) via His revelation. The prophets (peace
be upon them) functioned as a ‘channel’ to receive and transmit the
divine revelation to humankind. Though revelation and prophethood are
not the same, they overlap and are very much interrelated.
In addressing this topic, several questions come to mind. What is it in
revelation which is or is not within human reach? How relevant is the
prophetic message to human socio-historical conditions? Why there
were many messengers, one succeeding the other? Would not the world

Assistant Professor, Department of General Studies, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed

Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia, e-Mail:
kabir@iiu.edu.my.

International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Journal of Islam in Asia, Vol. 6, No. 1
July 2009
168 Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu

be a better place to live, and would not human socio-historical problems

be better solved if revelation continued and prophethood remained open-
ended? These questions will be addressed in the light of the Islamic
worldview (ru’yat al-IslÉm lil-wujËd1), understood as “a metaphysical
survey of the visible as well as the invisible worlds, including the
perspective of life as a whole”2 or as “a unified and comprehensive view
of the world around us and man’s place within it.”3 Following a textual
analysis of the major Islamic references, this study examines the
meaningfulness of revelation and prophethood, their function and place
in the Islamic worldview, and their relevance to the contemporary era. It
aims to investigate whether the prophetic message has been supplanted
or subserved by humans’ intellectual enlightenment and their
technological advancement.
The Nature of Revelation and Prophethood
WaÍy (commonly translated into English as ‘revelation’) is a verbal
noun, which conveys two basic meanings: khafÉ’ (secrecy) and surÑah
(quickness). The Qur’Én uses it in this literal sense to convey a variety of
meanings, each of which indicates the main underlying idea of
inspiration or directing someone/something. It has been used to mean
natural human inspiration (Q: 28:7), instinct or inspiration for animals
(Q:16:68), a quick signal as a suggestion (Q: 19:11), whispering of the
Devil (Q: 6:112, 121), and communication with angels (Q: 8:12) and
with prophets (Q: 4:163-164). Technically, waÍy refers exclusively to
the revelation from God to His prophets concerning the fundamentals of
belief and action. An alternative explanation would be the act by which
God, having created the world, discloses Himself to His creation. It is a
phenomenon whereby a supra-human, or supernatural, communication is
transmitted from the divine to the human. Alternatively, it may be
thought of as an epiphany of the divine order which presents itself to

1
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Prolegomena to The Metaphysics of Islam: An
Exposition of the Fundamental Elements of the Worldview of Islam (Kuala Lumpur:
International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization, reprint. 2001, 1995), p. 2.
2
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, “The Worldview of Islam: An Outline,” in
Sharifah Shifa Al-Attas (ed.), Islam and the Challenge of Modernity: Historical and
Contemporary Contexts (Kuala Lumpur: International Institute of Islamic Thought and
Civilization, 1996), p. 27.
3
Calvin G. Rand, “Two Meanings of Historicism in the Writings of Dilthey, Troeltsch,
and Meineck,” in Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 25 (1964), p. 551.
 Revelation and Prophethood in the Islamic Worldview 169

human sight, hearing, sensibility and consciousness as an event out of

the ordinary course.4
God’s revelation has been channeled through one of three forms:
inspiration, or from behind a veil, or by sending an angel (Q: 42:51); it
was never in the form of personal contact or incarnation. In the Islamic
worldview, there has never been a time in history when God descended
or made a radical transformation in His divine nature. When it relates to
humankind, it is always a verbal communication, clothed in language,
but that language is not quite the same as that of ordinary human speech;
it has sublimity to it that is not usually within the compass of ordinary
speech.5
Prophethood, on the other hand, is the English translation of the
Arabic word nubuwwah. The Qur’Én uses the terms nabÊ and rasËl
several times, commonly translated into English as ‘prophet’ and
‘messenger’ respectively. NabÊ refers to a prophet who gives news from
God. RasËl generally refers to a human sent by God to
mankindDalthough sometimes it is also applied to the angel of
revelation, one who is sent by God to the prophets.6 Traditionally,
Muslim exegetes of the Qur’Én have distinguished between both terms,
saying that nabÊ means a divine envoy without a sharÊ’ah, and
presumably without a revealed book, while rasËl means one with a
sharÊ’ah and a revealed book. Modern Muslim scholars of the Qur’Én
agree that rasËl signifies something weightier than nabÊ, for a nabÊ can
be an auxiliary to a rasËl, as Prophet HÉrËn was to Prophet MËsÉ (Q:
19:51, 53); however, more than one rasËl can be jointly commissioned
(Q: 36:13, 16).7
The prophetic experience has been described by Muslim theologians
as something beyond ordinary experience. During his experience, a
prophet’s faculties are raised to acute heights; he is under the domination
of a divine power which he cannot resist, and his innermost belief, all the
4
MannÉÑ al-QaÏÏÉn, MabÉÍith fÊ ‘UlËm al-Qur’Én (Cairo: Maktabat Wahbah, 1997), p.
26-27; Thameem Ushama, “The Phenomenon of WaÍy,” Muslim Education Quarterly,
vol. 22, no. 1 (2005), pp. 68-68.
5
Yaqub Zaki, “The Concept of Revelation in Islam,” The Islamic Quarterly, vol. 27
(1983), p. 72; Sir Nizamat Jung, “Thoughts on Revelation,” Islamic Culture, vol. 11
(1937), p. 60; Ausaf Ali, “The Concept of Revelation and its Implications for
Theological Ethics in Judaism, Christianity and Islam,” Hamdard Islamicus, vol. 20,
no. 3 (1997), p. 23.
6
Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes of the Qur’Én (Minneapolis: Bibliotheca Islamica,
1994), p. 82.
7
Ibid.
170 Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu

while, is that the message of guidance and salvation has come directly
from God as a ‘revelation’ and must be conveyed at once to his fellow
beings.8 According to Ibn KhaldËn (732–808/1332–1406), prophetic
experience is essentially a kind of trance, a sudden leap from the human
level of consciousness to that of the divine order. In this trance the
ordinary human cognitive powers are drastically transformed so that the
subject undergoing the experience becomes overwhelmed. This
transformation is a momentary exchange between human consciousness
and pure angelic consciousness, uninhibited by the mediation of the
human body. As a result of this exchange or transformation, the subject
becomes totally immersed in the spiritual medium of the angelic realm
and becomes capable of perceiving and understanding the divine
message. At the termination of the prophetic experience, the subject
returns to the ordinary human condition. However, he does not lose or
forget the experience and the perception he attained whilst in that higher
realm. He retains them in an exceptionally vivid manner as if engraved
on his heart. The prophet is then charged with communicating the
content of his experience to the people rationally. This communication
of divine guidance to the people is the very essence of the prophetic
role.9
Once it becomes clear that a person is a true prophet of God, it
follows that his message should be accepted. It is imprudent and illogical
to accept a man as God’s true prophet and yet not to believe in what he
says and not follow what he orders. Undoubtedly, obedience to him in
religious matters is obedience to God; conversely, disobedience to him is
tantamount to disobedience to God, as stated in the Qur’Én (4:64-65;
4:80).
The prophets were extraordinary men who shook people’s
consciences from a state of tradition-bound hypomoral placidity into one
of alertness in which they could clearly see God as God and Satan as
Satan.10 They are distinguished by their superb moral characters. Even
before receiving revelation, the prophets-to-be were recognizable as
good and innocent persons, naturally averse to any reprehensible or
sinful action. They were disposed to avoid and shun blameworthy
actions, as if such actions were the negation of their very nature. Such

8
Jung, “Thoughts on Revelation,” p. 61.
9
See Ibn KhaldËn, The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History, trans. Franz
Rosenthal (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986), vol. 1, pp. 184-185.
10
Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes of the Qur’Én, p. 80.
 Revelation and Prophethood in the Islamic Worldview 171

dispositions were necessary for their souls to be capable of receiving

revelation and of bearing the grand responsibility they were to
undertake. According to Muslim theologians of the Sunni school of
thought, there are six essential characteristics of Prophethood:
truthfulness, trustworthiness, communication of God’s commands,
intelligence, infallibility, and lack of any mental or physical defect.11
As a special gift for chosen individuals, prophecy is ultimately a
divine favour which cannot be acquired by sheer effort. The Qur’Én
states: “Allah chooses messengers from angels and from men, for Allah
is He Who hears and sees (all things)”12 (22:75; see also 6:124; 42:52).
Prophet MuÍammad’s opponents disparaged his prophethood partly
because he was underqualified in their view. They exclaimed
disapprovingly “Why was this Qur’an not sent down to some leading
man in either of the two (chief) cities [of Makkah and ÙÉ’if]?” (43:31)
“‘What! Has the Message been sent to him (of all persons) among us?’”
(38:8). MuÍammad ( ) had no conscious desire to become a prophet,
nor did he make efforts to that end; rather his experience of revelation
was sudden, as stated in the Qur’Én: “And you (MuÍammad) had not
expected that the Book would be inspired to you, but it is a mercy from
your Lord” (28:86). To de-naturalize prophecy, ImÉm al-GhazÉlÊ (450-
505 AH/1058-1111) explains that prophecy is not a matter of pure
chance to be given to everyone, nor is it attained by pure effort such that
anyone who cares to apply himself may have it. But it is a divine favour
bestowed on those whom God had prepared through their actions for the
reception of revelation.13
It must be added that in the Islamic worldview the status of
prophethood is the highest position any human being can reach. No man
rises above the status and rank of a prophet or messenger of God, who
himself remains a creature and servant of God. The Qur’Én reiterates that
the messengers of God cannot be more than humans.

11
Ibn KhaldËn, The Muqaddimah, vol. 1, pp. 185-186; M. Fethullah Gulen, Essentials
of the Islamic Faith (Fairfax, Va.: The Fountain, 2000), p. 206; also available online:
http://fethullahgulen.org/a.page/books/essentials.of.the.islamic.faith/c155.html.
12
The translation of Qur`Énic verses in this study relies chiefly on Abdullah Yusuf
Ali’s work, with a few occasions where Shakir’s, Asad’s and Pickthall’s translations
are adopted.
13
AbË ×Émid al-GhazÉlÊ, Ma‘Érij al-Qudus fÊ MadÉrij Ma‘rifat al-Nafs, 2nd ed. (BeirËt:
DÉr al-ÓfÉq al-JadÊdah, 1975), p. 130; see also Fazlur Rahman, Prophecy in Islam:
Philosophy and Orthodoxy (Chicago: the University of Chicago Press, 1958), p. 96.
172 Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu

It is not (possible) that a man to whom the Book, the Wisdom and the
prophetic office are given should say to people: “Be my worshippers rather
than Allah’s;” on the contrary (He would say) “Be worshippers of Him Who is
truly the Cherisher of all; for you have taught the Book and studied it
earnestly.” Nor would he instruct you to take angels and prophets for lords and
patrons. (3:79-80; see also 21:7-8).
The humanity of the prophets has another practical implication. The
Qur’Én relates the argument put forward by the kuffÉr (those who are
ungrateful to God/unbelievers) in which they disparaged the humanity of
the messengers. They demanded that a messenger from God should be
supernatural, akin in nature to the angels, or even that God should
communicate with them directly (Q:17:90-93; 15:6-9; 25:21).
As guidance to humankind, revelations came to humans through the
channel of their own species; otherwise, people would have taken the
supernatural status of the messages as an excuse for not being able to
implement the teachings of revelation. For the messengers to be
approachable, they must be humanlike. Even if they were to be angels,
as stipulated by the kuffÉr, they would have to be in human shape having
human qualities, so that, by implementing the revelation practically, the
messengers would demonstrate to people that humans are capable of
living by its teachings (Q:6:8-9; 33:21; 60:4,6). In other words, the
messengers of God are trained to be exemplars of decorum, dignity and
integrity.
While the concepts of divine revelation and prophethood are common
to the Abrahamic faiths, namely Judaism, Christianity and
IslamDsetting them apart from other world religionsDit is these same
concepts that make Islam unique among other Abrahamic faiths. Similar
to the Arabic term, the Hebrew term ‘navi’ or ‘nabi’ (prophet) is widely
thought to have originally meant ‘one who is called’ or ‘speaker’,
‘spokesman of God’, or ‘proclaimer’.14 As a concept, however, it
acquires different characteristics in the Biblical context.
The designation ‘prophecy’ refers to one of the various forms of
divination widely practiced in ancient Israel to gain information from the
supernatural world in order to minimize the unpredictability and
uncontrollability inherent in man’s experience of the world.15 In Judeo-

14
David Edward Aune, Prophecy in Early Christianity and the Ancient Mediterranean
World (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1991), p. 83; David J.
Zucker, Israel's Prophets: An Introduction for Christians and Jews (New York: Paulist
Press, 1994), p. 15.
15
Aune, Prophecy in Early Christianity, p. 82.
 Revelation and Prophethood in the Islamic Worldview 173

Christian tradition, prophets were primarily regarded as predictors of the

future and as miracle workers. As predictors of the future, they were
considered to be divinely inspired spokesmen of God or the God of
Israel. Their predictions were thought to consist primarily of enigmatic
descriptions of events that would unfold in the future, to herald the
fulfillment of the ancient oracles and to foretell impending events.16
Prophetic speech is based on the revelatory trance experience, when an
external supernatural being or power is believed to have taken control of
a person or when the soul is believed to have left the body and
experienced visions and hallucinations of various kinds. The revelatory
trance or ‘ecstasy’, as noted in the Jewish experience of revelation and
prophecy, can come naturally or can be induced through the rhythmical
beat of music, dancing, group excitement, self-flagellation or by the use
of hallucinogens. Partly due to this variety of revelatory trance, the
behavior of prophets was sometimes described as ‘drunkenness’ and
‘madness’.17
In contrast, the Qur’Énic conception of prophethood has nothing to do
with prophesying in the sense of predicting the future. In Islam, a
prophet is one who is charged to bring the news of and from the ghayb
(unseen), the content of which may relate to the past, present or future.18
Claiming independent knowledge of the future or of the ghayb in general
is categorically condemned in the Qur’Én (6:50, 59; 7:188; 11:31; 27:65;
72:26-27) and is not part of the functions of prophets.19
The Proofs of the prophets
Central to the concept of prophethood is the phenomenon of
miracles. Known in Arabic as ‘muÑjizah’ or in Qur’Énic terms as ‘Éyah’
(sign) or bayyinah (evidence), a miracle refers to that which proved the
truthfulness of the person who said he was a prophet. It is a deed
performed by a prophet, by God’s permission (Q: 13:38; 40:78), in order
to demonstrate the truth of his claim to prophethood. The proof
constituted by the miracle is without any doubt an indication of a
prophet’s relationship with the source of revelation, the Creator of being.

16
Ibid., pp. 83-86, 153; Zucker, Israel’s Prophets, p. 7.
17
Aune, Prophecy in Early Christianity, pp. 86-87.
18
Toshihiko Izutsu, God and Man in the Qur’an: Semantics of the Qur’anic
Weltanschauung (Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust, reprint. 2008, 2002), pp. 196-197.
19
For a descriptive, comparative study of the concept of ‘prophecy’ in Judaism and
Islam, see Fred Miller, “Prophecy in Judaism and Islam,” Islamic Studies, vol. 17, no. 1
(1978), pp. 27-44.
174 Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu

One who claims to be on a mission from God and to be in contact with

the transcendental and supernatural must perform a deed that transcends
the confines of nature, so that it would serve as his letter of credentials
from the Creator and confirm his claim to be in contact with revelation.
Just as the form of the entire scheme of being is a clear proof of the
existence of God and His primordial unity, the miracle is a clear and
manifest proof of the relationship of the prophet with the source of
revelation.20
The Qur’Én describes and explicitly endorses the miracles of many of
the prophets, such as those brought by NËÍ, IbrÉhÊm, LËÏ, SÉliÍ, MËsÉ
and ‘ÔsÉ (peace be upon them). However, since all previous prophets
were sent to their own nations, their miracles were related to the
widespread arts or crafts of their time. The miracles would come in areas
that were in each age the object of special attention, so that those
specialized in each area might know that the thing in question was
beyond the limits of human capacity. For example, since at the time of
Moses sorcery enjoyed great prestige in Egypt, God Almighty caused his
staff to change into a snake and swallow those of the sorcerers. At the
time of Jesus it was the healing arts that enjoyed great prestige; thus
most of his miracles involved healing. As for Prophet MuÍammad ( ),
since his prophethood is universal and he is the last prophet, his miracles
are very diverse and connected with nearly all aspects of creation.21
The final miracle is an immortal miracle, sent as a Book in order to
have the quality suitable to the Seal of Prophethood: the Last Messenger
with the everlasting miracle. As history evolves and science and
civilization progress, some of the wonders of the Qur’Én which were not
clear before or were not possible to know have come to light. Although
many of the early prophets (peace be upon them) had brought heavenly
Books, the basis of their miracles was different from their Books. By
contrast, the Qur’Én is proffered as the grand miracle of MuÍammad’s
prophethood. It stands as both divine revelation and the miraculous proof
of that revelation. As Ibn KhaldËn explains, the Qur’Én “is its own
proof....It is the clearest proof that can be because it unites in itself both
the proof and what is to be proved.”22 On these dual functions of the
Qur’Én, the Prophet ( ) says: “Every Prophet was given miracles

20
Ibn KhaldËn, The Muqaddimah, pp. 188-192; Lari, The Seal of the Prophets and His
Message, p. 36-37.
21
Gullen, Essentials of the Islamic Faith, p. 226.
22
Ibn KhaldËn, The Muqaddimah, p. 192.
 Revelation and Prophethood in the Islamic Worldview 175

because of which people believed, but what I have been given, is divine
Inspiration (the Qur’Én) which Allah has revealed to me. So I hope that
my followers will outnumber the followers of the other prophets on the
Day of Resurrection.”23 No other revealed book is described in the
Qur’Én as a miracle in this way except the Qur’Én itself. It follows that
not all embodiments of revelation are miracles, even though the event of
revelation is itself a kind of miracle.24
It remains to be addressed why there should be revelation in the first
place and what it is in revelation that is or is not accessible to human
reason. The following section will explore the necessity of revelation
and the roles it could partake in human socio-historical contexts.
Revelation and Human Ultimate Concerns
Humankind is faced with broad questions of “life understanding”.
These questions are lifelong concerns, some of which are sources of
great expectation while others are sources of anxiety. They involve
fundamental matters, expressed in the form of queries: How did the
universe come into existence? Did it have a beginning and will it have an
end? How was it that we humans came about here on earth? Does life
have a purpose? If it does, what can give meaning to my life? Does my
daily conduct matter in the long run? What happens to me after my
death? What is good and what is bad and how can I know them? How
should I treat others? How can I know?25
Humankind needs means that will provide, with certainty and clarity,
satisfactory answers to such questions which concern their ultimate
welfare. There is no doubt that science has broadened human horizons as
far as knowledge of the natural world is concerned. However, it has not
resolved most of the fundamental questions faced by man. It has been
pointed out that the universe, about which science is making constant
discoveries, is today the most mysterious issue in the entire history of
intellectual thought, and although our present knowledge of nature is

23
MuÍammad ibn IsmÉ‘Êl al-BukhÉrÊ, ØaÍÊÍ al-BukÍÉrÊ, Arabic-English, trans.
MuÍammad MuÍsin KhÉn (Lahore: Kazi Publications, 1983), the Book of Virtue of the
Qur’Én, Chapter: How the Divine Inspiration Used to be revealed, vol. 6, p. 474; AbË
al-×usayn Muslim ibn al-×ajÉj, ØaÍÊÍ Muslim, trans. ÑAbdul ×amÊd SiddÊqÊ (BeirËt:
DÉr al-ÑArabiyyah, 1972), The Book of Faith, Chapter: The Prophethood of our
Apostle MuÍammad, vol. 1, p. 90.
24
Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes of the Qur’Én, p. 104.
25
Ibrahim Husain, “The Prophethood in Islam,” al-IttiÍÉd, vol. 19, no. 1 (January-March
1982), p. 5.
176 Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu

much richer than in any previous epoch, even this is insufficient because,
no matter where we turn, we are faced with ambiguities and
contradictions.26
Attempts by material science to discover the secrets of life have been
such pathetic failures that they leave us with more doubt than ever
before. We are curious to know about our destiny. As we resort to
science for the right, ultimate answer, we are left with more questions
and doubts. If the reality of life is to remain unknown, how are we ever
to function satisfactorily as individuals and as communities? This state
of affairs is indeed a proof that man is badly in need of revelation from
an external source.27
Some of the questions that have occupied human minds from time
immemorial, as indicated above, are more important than others; and
some are more easily discoverable by human reason than others. The
entire range of human concerns that might call for external intervention
may be classified into three ascending categories of importance: what
human reason can generally discover/solve; what human reason can
discover/solve but may err; and what falls beyond the human rational
ambit.
To relate revelation to the first category, we must first acknowledge
that humans are endowed with enormous potentialities to help them
adapt to the environment and the world in which they live. Almost every
newborn child arrives in the world with eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose
to smell and breathe, hands to touch, feet to walk and a mind to think.
By the power of reason humans have acquired an important, a unique
and strategic position in the cosmos. With the assistance of these
faculties humans have come out with a modus vivendi to answer or solve
some of those questions. To be kind to one’s parents, not to kill an
innocent soul, to give a hand to those in need are among the things about
which unassisted reason can be very illuminative. Regarding the first
category, the function of revelation is then to confirm rational dictates.28
It is a well established axiom in Islam that revelation and reason
cannot contradict one another. Since both ultimately emanate from the

26
See Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, God Arises: Evidence of God in Nature and in
Science (New Delhi: Maktaba al-Risala, 1987), p. 145.
27
AbË al-Hasan al-MÉwardÊ, AÑlÉm al-Nubuwwah, (ed.) Khalid ÑAbd al-RaÍman al-
ÑAk (BeirËt: DÉr al-NafÉ’is, 1994), pp. 65-66; Khan, God Arises: Evidence of God in
Nature and in Science, pp. 144-146.
28
AbË al-×asan al-MÉwardÊ, AÑlÉm al-Nubuwwah (BeirËt: DÉr al-KitÉb al-ÑArabÊ,
1987), p. 51.
 Revelation and Prophethood in the Islamic Worldview 177

same source, AllÉh, the AlmightyDrevelation being the Word through

which God is known, and reason being a God-given faculty or fiÏrah29
(innate disposition) (Q:30:30) that can acquire knowledge of GodDthey
complement one another. That is why ImÉm al-GhazÉlÊ states that “al-
shar’ ‘aql min khÉrij wa-al-‘aql shar‘ min dÉkhil” (revelation is reason
from without, and reason is revelation from within).30
Regarding the second category of human concernsDi.e., what human
reason can discover/solve, but about which it may also errDit is to be
noted that different people have come out with different answers at
different ages. At certain points of time, people fell short of reaching the
right solutions. However, their successors provided better solutions to
the same problems/concerns, only to be succeeded by subsequent
generations who attempted to deconstruct the previous solutions
altogether. What makes a meaningful life, what constitutes happiness,
and how to lead a happy life are matters to which different people have
responded differently.
There is no doubt that human socio-history poses various challenges
in the course of its evolution. A behaviour popular in one period may be
condemned in another period, which, in its turn, may be superseded by
subsequent novelties in other periods. In such an historical context,
where truth may get overwhelmed by falsehood and where fact and
fiction are mixed and equally celebrated, there must be guidance from
without to show us the right path.
The guiding force cannot solely sprout from or develop within human
faculties. True, the human thinking faculty has attained a high degree of
intellectual power and maturity. But its conclusions are all relative, not
absolute; and it is not capable of solving all the problems it has spawned.
While man’s technological capacities are likely to increase in the future,
we must also accept that the difficulties and problems with which he will
be faced will also increase and grow more complex, just as his present
problems are greater than those that confronted him in the past.31
Social cohesion cannot be assured simply by a high standard of
technology or education, or by the existence of highly developed
disciplinary mechanism. Modern technology has failed to curb our social
problems. While some develop new systems to curb or detect a
29
Al-GhazÉlÊ, Ma‘Érij al-Qudus, p. 58.
30
Ibid., pp. 57-58.
31
Sayyid Mujtaba Musavi Lari, The Seal of the Prophets and His Message: Lessons on
Islamic Doctrine, trans. Hamid Algar (Potomac MD: Islamic Foundation Center,
1989), pp. 10, 19.
178 Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu

particular crime, others work out ways of manipulating the system to

escape detection; and to crown it all, others are advancing the very
system for a more sophisticated crime. Like an unending succession of
waves, the circle of social maladies continues unabated. Though it brings
prosperity to man in some respects, modern technology is not the saviour
of all our human problems, particularly the social ones.
Following a breach of privacy of a Malaysian MP by unidentified
persons, it was widely acknowledged that with advances of technology,
everyone is at risk of falling victim to invasion of privacy and that the
existing laws are inadequate for dealing with such transgressions. The
Malaysian Bar Council admitted that “[t]hose who abuse the technology
can get away with their crime easily, and existing laws are too general or
lenient.”32
Similarly, in 1889 Britain, one of the highly developed countries in
science and technology, was proud of its prison management system. A
significant reduction in the prisoner population of England and Wales
was attributed to “the application of the methods of civilization to the
treatment of the criminal population.”33 As the pace of civilization
proceeds unabated and modern man continues to rely more and more on
its civilizational mechanisms at the expense of divine teachings, the
prisoner population grows in the same proportion. Today an influx of
offenders has overcrowded Britain’s large, ‘magnificent’ prisons.
According to recent statistics, 143 people per 100,000 in Britain are in
prison. With its civilization, British jails today are declared “absolutely
full” for the first time in history, rising above the critical 82,000 mark.34
To tackle the problem, the government has resorted to several solutions
(or is planning to do so). This includes early release of prisoners, jailing
only the most dangerous villains, opening more jails, evicting prison
officers from their (State-owned) homes and moving convicts into them,
and sending foreign offenders home early. Still, the prison population is

32
“Need for Tougher Laws against Invasion of Privacy,” The Star, Sunday 22 February
2009, pp. 1, 14.
33
“British Prison Reform; Great Improvement in Recent Years. The Prison System a
Strong, Well-Managed Machine–Local and Convict Prisons,” The New York Times, page
2, August 12, 1889.
34
“Thousands of Criminals to be Freed as Jails are Declared ‘Absolutely Full’ for First Time in
History,” Daily Mail, February 22, 2008; Prison ships: an answer to overcrowded jails? BBC
Dorset, retrieved March 29, 2008 from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dorset/content/articles/2007/01/29/portland_prison_ship_feature.shtml.
 Revelation and Prophethood in the Islamic Worldview 179

already outstripping all projected gains from such policies.35 Jails are
being built not only on land but also on sea. The British government has
considered the prison ship, accepting that floating jails could help solve
the problem of overflowing cells.36 Flattered by his scientific progress,
modern man may, in the near future, consider prisons in space.
The guiding force cannot be solely based on human-made laws. If
everyone was left alone in the world with his own hopes, everyone
would judge on the basis of his own temperament; he would do whatever
he found pleasing and comfortable to his inclinations and interests, no
matter how harmful it might be to others. The result would be a clash of
desires and interests, leading to the severance of individual and social
relations and unending corruption and anarchy.
The ultimate guidance must thus be transcendental in nature. One of
the missions of the prophets, as attested to in the Qur’Én (2:213), is to
bring people of different strata and ideologies to good terms and end
their disputes. Addressing himself to the inadequacies of various schools
of thought on human advancement and welfare, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(1712-1778) makes the following remarks in his book The Social
Contract:
In order to discover the rules of society best suited to nations, a superior
intelligence beholding all the passions of men without experiencing any of
them would be needed. This intelligence would have to be wholly unrelated to
our nature, while knowing it through and through; its happiness would have to
be independent of us, and yet ready to occupy itself with ours.37
From this account, revelation came to guide humans and show them
the right course of action through the example of prophets’ behavior. It
brings a complete code of conduct useful for personal, inter-personal and
societal relations.
There is still a third category of questions which transcend human
rationality. This includes metaphysical and eschatological questions. The

35
Ibid.
36
“Is this the first prison ship?” The Sun, retrieved March 29, 2008, from
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article68964.ece; “Prison Ship Sought as
Crowding Crisis Grows” Times Online, retrieved March 29, 2008, from
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article608134.ece#cid=OTC-
RSS&attr=Britain; Bryan Finoki, “Floating Prisons, and Other Miniature Prefabricated
Islands of Carceral Territoriality,” retrieved March 29, 2008, from
http://subtopia.blogspot.com/2008/01/floating-prisons-and-other-miniature.html.
37
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract and Discourses, trans. G. D. H. Cole
(New York : E. P. Dutton, 1950), p. 37.
180 Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu

unity of God, the existence of angels, the creation of the universe, and
the coming of the hereafter are matters that transcend unassisted
reason.38 As Said Nursi (1873-1960) points out, the eternity of God
cannot be known without revelation sent through the prophets:
It is the prophets and revealed books that make manifest the words and
decrees of the Being Who, from behind the world of the unseen that is veiled
by the cosmos, speaks, talks, and emits His commands and prohibitions. Just
as the life existent in the cosmos bears decisive witness to the necessary
existence of the Living and Eternal One, so too does it point to and indirectly
confirm the pillars of belief in the sending of messengers and the revelation of
scriptures, for these are the rays, the manifestations, and the relations of that
eternal life.39
Regarding this category, the function of revelation is to inform and
provide ultimate answers.40
At all three levelsDconfirmation, guidance and informationD
revelation is necessary. If humans are not led by revelation into a right
way of using their reason, in arguing from effects to causes, etc., they
would forever remain in the most doubtful situations and uncertainties.
Without it, mankind will perpetually remain in the most woeful doubt,
especially with respect to those things beyond the rational ambit. That is
why the essence of revelation and prophethood has been described as a
blessing for humankind “We have not sent you except as a mercy for the
whole world” (21:107). As Fazlur Rahman (1919-1988) remarks, “God’s
mercy reaches its logical zenith in ‘sending Messengers,’ ‘revealing
Books,’ and showing man ‘the Way’.”41 Said Nursi explains that critical
questions of the existence of the universe and human destiny cannot be
known without revelation from God to humankind through His
messengers:
Is it at all possible that the Lord of the cosmos should not solve, by means of a
messenger, the complex talisman of the aim and purpose of all the changes
that take place in the cosmos, and the riddle contained in the three difficult
questions posed by all beings: “What is our origin? What is our destination?
What is our purpose?” Is it at all possible that the Glorious Maker Who makes
Himself known to sentient beings by means of His fair creation, and Who
makes himself loved by means of His precious bounties, should not also
communicate to sentient beings, by means of a messenger, what His pleasure

38
Al-MÉwardÊ, AÑlÉm al-Nubuwwah, p. 51.
39
Said Nursi, The Words, Tenth Word, trans. Sukran Vahide (Cagaloglu, Turkey:
Sozler Publications, 1992), p. 122.
40
On these three categories, see al-GhazÉlÊ, Ma‘Érij al-Qudus, pp. 57-58.
41
Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes of the Qur’Én, p. 9.
 Revelation and Prophethood in the Islamic Worldview 181

desires of them in exchange? Is it at all possible that God should create

mankind in a form predisposing it to suffer the consciousness of multiplicity
but also containing the ability to engage in universal worship, without at the
same time wishing to turn it away from multiplicity to unity, by means of a
teacher and guide42?
Therefore, the purpose of the prophetic mission is to guide people to
the right path as well as to bring them happiness, salvation, goodness
and prosperity. The Qur’Én underscores two important responsibilities of
the prophets. The first is to inform about the nature of God, His
attributes, His acts of creation, and the shape of things to come at the end
of the days. The purpose of this part is recognition of the unity of God
and growing closer to Him. On the general mission of all prophets, the
Qur’Én says:
For We assuredly sent amongst every People a messenger, (with the
Command), "Serve Allah, and eschew Evil". Of the People were some whom
Allah guided, and some on whom error became inevitably (established). So
travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who denied (the
Truth (16:36; see also 39:65-66).
The prophets came to convey to human beings divine knowledge, free
of all forms of illusion and error. They proclaimed a series of truths
which a person would never have attained with his unaided reason. The
supreme ideal of the prophets ( ) is to nurture the human spirit in such a
way that it reaches a higher truth and ascends toward ethical values,
guiding him to a path that leads to eternity. Shining forth in the darkness,
they have come forth to struggle against the sources of corrupt belief and
misguidance, and to guide the most sacred and beautiful manifestation of
the human spirit to its true and proper course. They rescue the human
being from shameful forms of worship that are not worthy of his lofty
station, and hold him back from all forms of erroneous thought and
deviance that arise in his search for God. They liberate him from the
confines of ignorance to the region of light and perception.43 The Qur’Én
states:
O People of the Book! There has come to you our Messenger, revealing to you
much that you used to hide in the Book, and passing over much (that is now
unnecessary): There has come to you from Allah a (new) light and a
perspicuous Book. With it Allah guides all who seek His good pleasure to
ways of peace and safety, and leads them out of darkness, by His will, unto the

42
Nursi, The Words, Tenth Word, Introduction, p. 73.
43
Lari, The Seal of the Prophets and His Message, pp. 11-12.
182 Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu

light, and guides them unto a straight path. (5:15-16; see also 14:1; 14:5;
2:257; 33:43; 57:9; 65:11).
Unity of Revelation and Indivisibility of Prophethood
Universality of the phenomenon of prophethood is unique to the
Islamic conception of it. According to the Qur’Énic narration, the human
race began from one man: Ódam ( ) from whom the family of man
grew and multiplied (4:1). Ódam, being the first man on earth, was also
the first prophet of God ( ). He received revelation from God, to be
conveyed to his descendants. Among his progeny there were some who
followed the divine teachings, and there were others who were swayed
away from their father’s teachings. This latter group of people
worshipped different forces of nature. Some began to worship the stars,
the moon and the sun, while others took to the worship of trees, animals,
rivers, etc. Every kind of evil custom grew; many evils began to be
considered right, and many right things were either ignored or
condemned as wrong.44
The fact is that, after a long break of revelation, humankind tends to
be forgetful and overwhelmed with superstitions, myths and all types of
false notions.45 Within such circumstances, God raised prophets among
every nation. “To every people (was sent) a messenger” (Q: 10:47), “and
there never was a people without a warner having lived among them (in
the past).” (Q: 35:24).
It is obvious that the Qur’Én does not give an account of all God’s
messengers and, by implication, their messages. Some of them were
mentioned in the Qur’Én while others were not “And certainly We sent
messengers before you; there are some of them that We have mentioned
to you and there are others whom We have not mentioned to you” (Q:
40:78). But it is clear that the most celebrated prophets are those whose
own stories and those of their people have been told and retold in the
Qur’Én.46 It must be added that although prophecy is indivisible (Q:
2:136), the Qur’Én makes it clear that not all prophets are equal, for “We
have made some messengers more excellent than others” (Q: 2:253).

44
Ibn AbÊ al-‘Izz al-×anafÊ, SharÍ al-‘AqÊdah al-ÙaÍÉwiyyah (Beirut: al-Maktab al-
IslÉmÊ, 1391 AH), p. 77; Abul AÑlÉ MawdËdÊ, Towards Understanding Islam (London:
Islamic Foundation, 1990), pp. 37-39.
45
Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu, “Understanding the Qur’Én in the Light of Historical
Change,” Islamic Studies, vol. 42, no. 3 (2003), p. 402.
46
Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes of the Qur’Én, p. 82.
 Revelation and Prophethood in the Islamic Worldview 183

The temporal nature of revelation embodies the concept of

progressive disclosure as well as periodic reaffirmation.47 Each
messenger of God reminded his people of the lesson they had forgotten;
and each brought legal codes tailored to the needs and the stage of
culture of the people to whom he was sent. In other words, the particular
teachings of each prophet were determined by the kind of predicaments
he was trying to tackle. For example, Prophet LËÏ combated the perverse
acts of sodomy of his nation (11:77-83; 15:61-74), Prophet ShuÑayb
fought the economic and social corruption of the people of Madyan
(7:85-86; 11:84-86) and Prophet MËsÉ fought the socio-political
corruption and infanticide of FirÑawn and his minions (28:40).
Despite their relative differences, their messages were the same in
their fundamentals. All messengers of God did away with all customs of
ignorance and taught their people the right course of action. They
preached adherence to a life of piety, goodness and peace. They also
preached belief in life after death with its just mechanism of reward and
punishment and, most important of all, belief in the unity of God, the
only entity with a right to be worshipped. All others are “false gods”
who can claim no share in divinity; anyone else is God’s servant (Ñabd)
and necessarily under His law and command.48 Speaking on behalf of
God’s messengers, Prophet MuÍammad ( ) declares the universal
divine unity: “The best thing I and the prophets before me have said is:
‘There is no god but Allah, alone, without any partner’.”49 Therefore, no
true prophet ever called others to worship him or to worship other gods
besides the One True God, known in Qur’Énic terminology as ‘Allah’
(S.W.T).
The unity of religion and indivisibility of prophethood are central to
Islamic teachings. The Qur’Én maintains that the message brought by all
messengers of God was Islam, the unconditional submission and
surrender to the Will of God. (See, for example: 2:128-136; 3:52, 65-67;
5:111; 10:72, 84; 12:101, 27:31, 38, 44; 51:35-36). That is why, after
mentioning the names of eighteen prophets in SËrat al-AnÑÉm, Prophet
MuÍammad ( ) was asked to follow their guidance and way of
submitting to God, (Those were the (prophets) who received Allah’s

47
Zaki, “The Concept of Revelation in Islam,” p. 73.
48
AÍmad bin ‘Abd al-×alÊm Ibn Taymiyyah, KitÉb al-NubuwwÉt (Beirut: DÉr al-
Qalam, n.d.), p. 188; Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes of the Qur’Én, p. 83.
49
ImÉm MÉlik, al-MuwaÏÏa’, ed. MuÍammad Fu’Éd ÑAbd al-BÉqÊ (Egypt: DÉr IÍyÉ’ al-TurÉth
al-ÑArabÊ, n.d.), KitÉb al-Qur’Én, BÉb MÉ JÉ’a fÊ al-DuÑÉ’, vol. 1, p. 214; BÉb JÉmiÑ al-×ajj,
vol. 1, p. 422.
184 Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu

guidance, so follow their guidance) (Q: 6:90). Not only that, but also all
Muslims are required to believe in all messengers of God as well as their
scriptures: “The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him
from his Lord, and (so do) the believers; they all believe in Allah and
His angels and His books and His messengers; We make no difference
between any of His messengers” (Q: 2:285, see also Q: 2:136; 3:84).
However, since the true personalities of these prophets (peace be upon
them) and the content of the scriptures they were sent with are often at
variance with those presented in the Old and New Testaments, Muslims
are obliged to uphold the Qur’Én’s account of these prophets.
On this divinely based frame of reference, prophethood was brought
to an end through Prophet MuÍammad ( ). The revelation of the Qur’Én
began to come to him on a lonely and meditative night in the Cave of
×irÉ’ on Jabal al-NËr (the Mount of Light) in Makkah. The archangel
Gabriel stood before him and commanded him to read (96:1-5). The
revelation to Prophet MuÍammad continued for approximately 23 years.
Though he was one out of many messengers of God, Prophet
MuÍammad is declared in the Qur’Én to be the last prophet:
“MuÍammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the
Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets” (33:40). Prophet
MuÍammad ( ) himself testifies to this finality: “The chain of
messengers and prophets has come to an end. There shall be no
messenger nor prophet after me;”50 “I am the last in line of the prophets
of God.”51
With the closure of the office of prophethood, divine revelation to
humankind, too, came to an end. That is because to be a messenger of
the divine revelation (rasËl), one has to be a prophet first, as the divine
revelation is not communicable to any ordinary man. Islam firmly
upholds that divine revelation began with God’s revelation to Prophet
Ódam for the guidance of human beings and continued through the ages,
to be stopped finally and forever with God’s revelation to Prophet
MuÍammad because God has completed His Will and perfected His true
religion to humankind. History bears witness that no global religious
movement has arisen since IslamDnot that there have been no

50
MuÍammad ibn ‘ÔsÉ al-TirmidhÊ, Sunan al-TirmidhÊ, ed. AÍmad MuÍammad ShÉkir et al.
(DÉr IÍyÉ’ al-TurÉth al-ÑArabÊ, n.d.), KitÉb al-Ru’yah, BÉb dhahabat al-Nubuwwah, vol. 4,
p. 533.
51
Muslim, ØaÍÊÍ Muslim, ed. MuÍammad Fu’Éd ÑAbd al-BÉqÊ (Beirut: DÉr IÍyÉ’ al-
TurÉth al-ÑArabÊ, n.d.) KitÉb ×ajj, BÉb FaÌl al-ØalÉh bi-MasjÊday Makkah wa al-
MadÊnah), vol. 1, p. 1012.
 Revelation and Prophethood in the Islamic Worldview 185

claimants, but there have been no successful claimants.52 The claim to

prophethood and continuous revelation until the Last Day as proclaimed
by, for example Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (1835-1908)53 and
Ayah Pin (b. 1940),54 is heretical, untenable and off course.
By bringing prophethood and revelation to a close, Islam has not
deprived the world of divine blessing which was available to previous
generations. As stated above, the purpose of sending a prophet to a
nation was to make known the divine will. That purpose has been

52
Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes of the Qur’Én, p. 81.
53
Born in Qadian, India, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908), the founder of the
Ahmadiyya Community, believed that Prophet MuÍammad was the Last law-bearing
prophet, but that non-law-bearing prophethood, subservient to Prophet MuÍammad’s
law remained open. He claimed to be a prophet, a follower of Prophet MuÍammad and
the Promised Messiah who constantly received revelation from God. See Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad, ÖarËrat-ul-Imam [The Need for the Imam] (Islamabad: Islam
International Publications Ltd, 2007, Urdu text first published in 1898), pp. 42, 51-52,
Retrieved February 1, 2009 from
http://www.alislam.org/library/books/TheNeedForTheImam.pdf; Khataman Nabiyyeen
(London, 1982), pp. 1-4, Retrieved February 1, 2009 from
http://www.alislam.org/library/books/Khataman-Nabiyyeen-20080611MN.pdf. For
more on Ahmadiyya’s doctrines, see Prophecy Continuous: Aspects of Ahmadi
Religious Thought and Its Medieval Background (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1989); S. Abul Hasan Nadwi, Qadianism:A Critical Study, trans. Zafar Ishaq
Ansari (Islamabad: Da'wah Academy, International Islamic University, reprint 1990,
1965); Abul AÑlÉ MawdËdÊ, The Qadiani Problem (Lahore: Islamic Publications,
1979).
54
Born in 1940 in Kampung Besar Bachok, Kelantan, Malaysia, Ayah Pin, formerly
known as Ariffin Mohammed, is the founder of the "Sky Kingdom", a quasi-religious
commune located in the eastern Malaysian state of Terengganu. He claimed to be a
prophet, the Mahdi, having been visited several times by the holy angel Gabriel, and to
be the reincarnation of the holy figures in the world’s major religions: Hinduism,
Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. Ayah Pin’s ideology focuses largely on spiritual
matters. In his sermons, he declared that the Sky Kingdom had given him the power
and right to unite people of the “whole world” irrespective of their religions. Ayah Pin
was declared an apostate for leaving Islam and spent 11 months in jail in 2001 for his
activities. In 2005 his commune was demolished by the government of Malaysia. As of
2008, he remained in exile in Narathiwat, southern Thailand. See “Ayahpin,” Retrieved
February 1, 2009 from http://www.theskykingdom.blogspot.com; “Sky Kingdom,”
Retrieved February 1, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Kingdom; Steven
Daniel, “Elusive Cult Leader Ayah Pin in south Thailand (Update), The Star Online,
Thursday November 13, 2008, Retrieved February 1, 2009 from
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/11/13/nation/20081113163048&sec=nation.
For more on Ayah Pin’s ideology, see Wan Mohd Azam Wan Mohd Amin, Ajaran
Sesat [Deviant Teaching] (Kuala Lumpur: International Islamic University Malaysia,
2008), pp. 12-24.
186 Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu

brought to perfection through the World Prophet, whose message has

met the requirements not only of seventh-century Arabia but also of all
succeeding generations. Signalling the completion of heavenly religions,
the Qur’Én unequivocally declares: “This day have I perfected your
religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for
you Islam as your religion” (5:3).
The perfection of religion and the completion of the prophethood and
revelation thus go hand in hand. It is untenable to argue, however, that
this leaves humanity without the blessing of God. That is because the
continuous existence of the Qur’Én in its original form, besides the
authentic Prophetic ÍadÊth, assures continuous divine providence to
humanity. Moreover, it is this availability of the Qur’Én in its original
form that makes a new religion or code of life unnecessary; that is, as
long as the Qur’Én continues to remain in its pure form, its social and
ethical teachings can be reinterpreted and then extrapolated to the
unfolding events in human social history.55 The Prophet ( ) is reported
to have said “There are two things by whichDif you adhere to both of
themDyou will never go astray: the Book of God and the Sunnah of His
Prophet.”56 While the divine message continues to be relevant, a new
prophet is no longer needed, as will be demonstrated in the next section.
The Relevance of the Prophetic Message to the Modern Age
Several Muslim intellectuals have suggested that with and through
Islam and its revealed book, humanity has reached rational maturity and,
therefore, is no longer in need of further revelation. Prophets were
appointed only to fulfil a special need. Abul AÑlÉ MawdËdÊ (1903-1979)
identifies four conditions under which the prophets have been sent to the
world. Firstly, there was need for a prophet to be sent unto a certain
nation to which no prophet had been sent before and no message brought
by the prophet of another nation could have reached those people.
Secondly, there was a need to appoint a prophet because the message of
an earlier prophet had been forgotten by the people, or the teachings of
the former prophets had been corrupted and hence it had become
impossible to follow the message brought by that prophet. Thirdly, the

55
Solihu, “Understanding the Qur’Én in the Light of Historical Change,” p. 401; n.a.,
“Perfection of Religion and Completion of Prophethood,” Majallat al-Azhar, vol. 46, no iii
(1974), p. 8.
56
Ibn ÑAbd al-Barr al-NumayrÊ, al-TamhÊd, eds. MuÎÏafÉ ibn AÍmad al-ÑAlwÊ and
MuÍammad ÑAbd al-KabÊr al-BakrÊ (Morocco: WizÉrat ÑUmËm al-AwqÉf wa al-Shu’Ën
al-IslÉmiyyah, 1387 AH), vol. 24, p. 331.
 Revelation and Prophethood in the Islamic Worldview 187

people had not received the complete mandate of Allah (S.W.T) through
a former prophet; hence succeeding prophets were sent to fulfil the task
of completing the religion of Allah (S.W.T). Fourthly, there was need for
a second prophet to share the responsibility of office with the first
prophet.57
None of the needs mentioned above remains to be fulfilled after the
advent of Prophet MuÍammad. The Qur’Én acknowledges that every
prophet was sent to a single nation (14: 4-6; 35: 24; 10: 47). Though
prophethood was a universal phenomenon, in each particular case the
scope of preaching of every prophet was limited to his own people. With
the advent of Prophet MuÍammad, however, the day of national prophets
was over. The Qur’Én says that Prophet MuÍammad ( ) has been sent as
a bearer of instructions for the whole mankind, “We have not sent you
but as a universal (Messenger) to men, giving them glad tidings, and
warning them” (34:28); “And We have not sent you but as a mercy to the
worlds” (21:107; see also 25:1; 7:158). The cultural history of the world
bears testimony to the fact that since the advent of Prophet MuÍammad
( ) up to the present time such conditions have always prevailed in the
world which were conducive to transmitting his message to all nations at
all times. It follows, therefore, that different nations no longer need
different prophets after the time of Prophet MuÍammad ( ).
Furthermore, the divine message of the Qur’Én brought by Prophet
MuÍÉmmad ( ) is extant in its original and pure form. The message has
suffered no process of distortion or falsification. Not a single word has
been added to or expunged from the Qur’Én which the Prophet brought
unto the world from Almighty Allah (S.W.T), nor can anyone make
additions to or delete anything from it. The eternal preservation of the
Qur’Én has been divinely assured “We have, without doubt, sent down
the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption” (15:9).
In this way the second need that causes prophets to be sent unto the
world has also been fulfilled.
Thirdly the Qur’Én clearly affirms that God has finally completed His
divine Mission through the agency of Prophet MuÍammad ( ) (5:3).
Hence, there is no room for a new prophet to carry the divine mission to
completion, which makes the third condition inapplicable.
As regards the fourth condition, if a partner were really needed he
would have been appointed in the time of Prophet MuÍammad to share

57
Abul AÑlÉ MawdËdÊ, Towards Understanding Islam, pp. 58-60.
188 Abdul Kabir Hussain Solihu

the burden of his ministry. Since no co-prophet was appointed, this

condition is also inoperative.58
Therefore, all possible needs for the transmission of divine
revelations have now been fulfilled. Neither a law-bearing prophet nor a
non-law-bearing prophet is needed after Prophet MuÍammad ( ). What
is needed instead is reformation of religion and religious thought in the
light of the Qur’Én and authentic Prophetic ÍadÊths. The onus of this
regeneration has been shifted onto the shoulders of reformers. In one
ÍadÊth, the Prophet says: “God will send to this Ummah at the beginning
of every century a scholar (or scholars) who will regenerate their religion
for them.”59
As there is no need for a new message or a new messenger from God,
the message brought by Prophet MuÍammad ( ) is still relevant and as
sorely needed today as it ever was. As man’s moral maturity lags behind
his intellectual enlightenment, which in turn is outstripped by his
technical and material achievements, he is constantly in need of divine
guidance. Indeed, man has not become mature in the sense that he can
dispense with divine guidance.
True, the Qur’Én was revealed in concrete historical settings
where/when people were immersed in all types of immoralities.
Polytheism, malpractice in trade, exploitation of the poor, and general
irresponsibility toward family and society were the order of the day. The
Qur’Én proffered practical solutions to those problems and laid down
foundations upon which ultimate human concerns can be properly
addressed. While it is true that the Qur’Én was directly dealing with the
ongoing issues of the Arabian peninsula of the seventh century CE, it is
also true that these acute problems were not peculiar to that context
alone. They happened in the past and are still happening now in the
present time (though in a more complex way); and there is no indication
that they will cease to exist in the future. They are the human
predicament. On this ground, the Qur’Én is a response to the ultimate
concerns of humankind.
Conclusion
Revelation in Islam is a blessing and mercy to humankind. Its content
is not irrational. Had it been unintelligible or incomprehensible, it would

58
Ibid.
59
AbË DÉwËd SulaymÉn bin al-Ash‘ath, Sunan AbÊ DÉwËd (BeirËt: al-Maktabah al-
ÑIlmiyyah, 2001), vol. 4, p. 108.
 Revelation and Prophethood in the Islamic Worldview 189

not have been sent to rational beings, which humans are. Revelation is
not intended to mislead, misguide or mystify. It is a hudan (guidance)
and bayÉn (explanation), intended to chart a course leading to the
spiritual and material wellbeing of individuals and societies in this
worldly life and to the eternal falÉÍ (felicity) in the Hereafter. If properly
studied, scrupulously extrapolated, and meticulously applied to socio-
historical problems faced by humans, revelation is capable of solving
human predicaments and uplifting their morale. Human advancement in
science and technology has not come forth with conclusive answers to
humanity’s ultimate concerns. On the contrary, it raises more questions,
the answers to which lie beyond its domain.
The Qur’Én declares the universality of the phenomenon of
prophethood, giving a concise account of the messengers and the
messages sent to early nations, narrating what later generations need to
know about their affairs. The Islamic concept of revelation is likewise
all-encompassing; it incorporates all messages sent to the early prophets.
To bring the succession of the messages and messengers to an end, the
Qur’Én is declared to be the last message sent through the last messenger
to the last human community in the last phase of world history.

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