Prophethood

Compiled by: Shamana Munawar

Prophethood (Risalah)

• Linguistically, Risalaah or Nabuwah , both of

which literally means “to convey a message”.
• Nabi or Rasul is a noun that literally means
“the one who conveys the message”
• In Islmaic context “Risalaah or Nabuwah” is
“the medium of conveying Allah’s message to
the creation” and
• “Nabi or Rasul” is a “person who is chosen by
God to convey His message to His creation.”
 Difference between Nabi and Rasul

 Nabi is a messenger who

guides the people to the  Rasul is a messenger of
path of the Creator, in the special position, as Rasul
light of the message comes with new a shariah
already revealed to the  So every Nabi is not
Rasul before him.
necessary a Rasul but all
 In other words Nabi Rasul are Nabis also.
carries on the previously
revealed Shariah.
 Common Qualities of Prohethood

Human Beings:
It means that Prophets were neither partners nor incarnation (human form of god)
of God. They were only human beings selected for conveying God’s message to
His people. They were not even children of Allah but only His servants like us. It
comes in the Holy Quran;

“Their Messengers told them: "Indeed we are only human beings like you but
Allah bestows His favour on those of His servants whom He wills. It does not
lie in our power to produce any authority except by the leave of Allah. It is in
Allah that the believers should put their trust.” (14:11)
Chosen by God:
It means that it is not possible to become a nabi or a rasul by ones’ personal efforts
and struggle but it is totally God-gifted quality. So Allah chooses His messengers
out of His free-will.
Innocent:
The messengers like other human beings do have free-will but, they possess a lot
of control over their desires and emotions by the Grace of Allah that they do not
transgress his limits. They do not commit sins intentionally or out of rebellion to
their Lord. They are all sinless and blessed people of Allah.
Faith and Obedience :
It is the special status of all the messengers of Allah that they are to be believed, respected
and obeyed by the people. Their rejection is considered as the rejection of Allah Almighty
and it is liable to punishment in the Sight of Allah Almighty. People must also respect and
obey all of them without any discrimination. It comes in the Holy Quran;

And We did not send any messenger except to be obeyed by permission of Allah ....
(Al-Nisa:64)
 Special features of Prophet Muhammad (‫)ﷺ‬
Universality:
Prophet Muhammad (‫ )ﷺ‬is the prophet of Allah for the whole mankind while the
previous prophets were for their own particular region and nation.
• ‫ُقْل ٰۤی َاُّی َہ ا الَّن اُس ِاِّن ۡی َر ُس ۡو ُل ِہللا ِاَلۡی ُکْم َج ِم ۡی َۨع ا‬
“say (oh Muhammad) Oh people. I am the messenger of Allah to you all…”
(7:158)
Eternal:
His prophethood was not for particularly for his time period but for all the times
coming after him till the last day. The Book (Holy Quran) revealed to him will
never become out dated or expired. The teachings of this Book will remain
applicable to all coming times.
Special features of Prophet Muhammad (‫)ﷺ‬

Complete and Perfect religion:

‫َاْل َی ْو َم َاْک َم ْل ُت َلُکْم ِد ۡی َن ُکْم َو َاْت َم ْم ُت َع َلۡی ُکْم ِنْع َمِتۡی َو َر ِض ۡی ُت َلُکُم اِاۡلْس اَل َم ِد ۡی ًن ا‬
“This day I have perfected your religion for you and completed my favour
unto you and have chosen for you as religion Al-Islam”….(6:3)
It means that Islam is Deen that covers each and every aspect of
human life and every one can get guidance from this if he wills.
No other deen will be accepted except Islam.
Special features of Prophet Muhammad (‫)ﷺ‬

The Perfect Role Model: The life of Holy Prophet Muhammad (‫)ﷺ‬
is a complete Role Model of his teaching. His life is a practical example for
the believers in each and every sphere of life.
All his saying, action, approvals and disapprovals are recorded with great
care in the form of Hadith, which is second most authentic source of Islamic
Shariah after the Holy Quran.

‫َلَقْد َک اَن َلُکْم ِفۡی َر ُس ۡو ِل ِہللا ُاْس َو ٌۃ َح َس َن ٌۃ‬

“Surely, there is an excellent example in (the life of ) the Prophet of
Allah(S.A.W) for you”… (Al-Ahzab:21)

And certainly you have best of the morals.

(Al-Qalam:4)
Special features of Prophet Muhammad (‫)ﷺ‬

Last Prophet of Allah:

Prophet Mohammad (‫ )ﷺ‬is the last and final messenger of Allah and there will
be no messenger after him till the Last Day.

‫َّم ا َك اَن ُمَح َّم ٌد َأَب ا َأَح ٍد ِّم ن ِّر َج اِلُك ْم َو َلِكن َّر ُس وَل ِهَّللا َو َخ اَت َم الَّن ِبِّي يَن َو َك اَن ُهَّللا ِبُك ِّل َش ْي ٍء َع ِليًم ا‬

“Muhammad (‫ )ﷺ‬is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the
Messenger
of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all
things.” (33:40)
Constitution of Pakistan forbids inslut to the Holy Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬
The law says that any “derogatory remarks, etc, in respect of the Holy Prophet
[Muhammad] either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any
imputation, innuendo or insinuation, directly or indirectly shall be punished with
death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine”. (Article 295-C)
Obedience and Love of Prophet (SAWW) is a
measure of Faith
 Obedience and Love of Prophet (SAWW) is a
measure of Faith

The Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬himself declared: “None of

you can be a believer until I am more
dearer to you than your parents, children
and the rest of humanity” (Bukhari).
Arguments about the Truthfulness and finality of
Prophet Muhammad (‫)ﷺ‬
We will discuss three broad categories of arguments about the truthfulness of
Prophet Mohammad (S.A.W.W) i-e
1. Arguments regarding his character 2. Arguments about his message and
3. Arguments regarding others prophecies about him
1) Arguments regarding his character: here we will discuss different qualities
of the Messenger Mohammad (S.A.W.W) in the light of different historical
facts such as;
i) Being famous as Al-Sadiq and Al-Amin among the people of Makkah
even before the advent of Islam. (qualities of truthfulness and honesty)
ii) Event of fixing the “Black Stone” in the wall of Holy Kabah (quality of
wisdom and justice)
iii) Incident of the Mount of Safah regarding open preaching of Islam (his
trustworthiness)
iv) Incident of migration to Medina (honesty)
v) Incident of treaty of Hudabiyah (fulfillment of promise)
vi) Incident of Conquest of Makkah (mercy and forgiveness)
2) Authenticity of his Message: The message that he delivered through out his
time of prophet hood was the teachings of The holy Quran. So here we will
discuss the authenticity of the Holy Quran.
i) The Language of the Holy Quran is Arabic which is the most rich language of
the world and still is an alive language.
ii) Style of Quran is very unique and miraculous .
iii) Open challenge in Quran “to make something like it.” (ref : 2:23-24)
iv) Scientific facts told in Quran 1400 years ago which are now confirmed through
science.
v) Predictions made by Quran and proved historically later on.
vi) Consistency within the text of the Holy Quran. “Had this Quran been from
somebody other than Allah you would certainly have found a lot of
inconsistency” (4:82)
vii) Same version of the Holy Quran through out the world.
viii) Preservation of the Holy Quran both in writing as well as in memories of the
memorizers right from the period of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.W) till today.
ix) The Holy Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬did not know how to read and write.
3) Arguments regarding others prophecies about him: Here we will discuss a- the
prophecies made in the religious books of other faiths about the arrival of Prophet
Muhammad and b- opinions of some scholars of the today's world in the
praise and truthfulness of Prophet Mohammad (‫)ﷺ‬
A- prophecies made in the religious books of other faiths about the arrival of
Prophet Muhammad

Prophecy found in the Bible: THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY 18:18

I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren,
like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and
he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him

And also in The Book of Acts 3:22

For Moses truly said unto the fathers,
A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto
you of your brethren
, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever h
e shall say unto you
In these two verses there is the prophecy of arrival of a
prophet who would resemble to Prophet Musa (A.A) about
whom there are two claims that either he was Prophet Isa
(A.S) or he was Prophet Muhammad (‫)ﷺ‬
Comparison among three of them
Prophet Musa (A.S) Prophet Isa (A.S) Prophet Mohammad
(‫)ﷺ‬
Natural birth (Mother + Miraculous birth (without Natural birth (Mother +
Father) a father) Father)

Got Married Never got married Got Married

Had children Had no children Had children
Migrated with his people Never migrated Migrated with his people
Fought against the Never took part in any Fought against the
enemy fight enemy
Died natural death Disputed yet Died natural death
Next part of Deuteronomy (18:18) says that God said to Moses that
“I will put my words in his mouth”
History bears witness to the fact that Prophet Muhammad (‫ )ﷺ‬was unlettered and
Holy Quran, the exact word of Almighty Allah revealed to him through Angel
Jibrael.
It is also mentioned in the book of Isaiah 29:12 as below;

"And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read
this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.“
There are many authentic narrations which tell that when Archangel Jabrael
commanded Mohammad (S.A.W.W) by saying “Iqra” - "Read“ at the time of very
first revelation of the Holy Quran, and he replied, "I am not learned.”
Then, angel Jabrael took hold of him, sequeezed him and then released. he
repeated it thrice and then revealed the holy verses to him.

And the last part of the above quoted verse of the Bible ( THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY 18:18)
says that “he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him” is also clear as the
Prophet Mohammad (S.A.W.W) communicated the message of Allah Almighty to the
mankind and nothing kept hidden.
Another historical witness about truthfulness of the Holy Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬is his
being recognized as number 1 among the list of most influential person by
Michael Hart in his book “The 100” . He says,
“My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential
persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he
was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both religious
and secular level.”

Conclusion:
In a nutshell we can say that the Holy Prophet’s (‫ )ﷺ‬truthfulness is evident
through his character, his message and others prophecies about him. The only
need is to look into the reality impartially and neutrally rather than to behave
like prejudiced people.
He is truly the last Messenger of Almighty Allah and the only perfect role
model. His Message i-e the Holy Quran is preserved, free of corruption and
ultimate source of guidance in all matters of life.
The Last day and Life Here-after
The Last day and Life Here-after
Belief in the Last Day and Resurrection
“To believe that one day this universe and whatever is in it, would be
destroyed and after a temporary death all of us will be resurrected.Then
we will be held accountable before Allah Almighty for all our deeds
whether good or bad and we will face our reckoning accordingly. ”

“Every soul will taste death. And you will only receive your full
reward on the Day of Judgment. Whoever is spared from the Fire
and is admitted into Paradise will indeed triumph, whereas the
life of this world is no more than the deception of enjoyment”
 The Last day and Life Here-after
Some important concepts related to the day:
First Blowing of the Trumpet by angel Israfil

“And the Trumpet shall be blown, and then whoever is in the heavens
and whoever is in the earth will faint except whom Allah wills,
(Az-Zumar:68)
 The Last day and Life Here-after
Second Blowing of the Trumpet and Resurrection
“...then it shall be blown for the second time, henceforth they shall stand looking
on.” (Az-Zumar:68)

Handing over the Records (Nama-e-Amaal)

“Then as to one who is given his record in his right hand.

He will soon have an easy reckoning.
And he will return to his household joyfully.
And as to him who is given his record behind his back.
He will soon call for death.
And he shall enter the blazing fire.” (Al-Inshiqâq:7-12)
 The Last day and Life Here-after
Weighing of deeds

“Then those whose scales are heavy,

they would reach to their goals.

And those whose scales are light,

these are they who put their souls in loss,
forever they will remain in the Hell.”
(Al-Mu`minûn:103)
 The Last day and Life Here-after
Intercession (Shafaat)
These conditions are:
1. The permission of Allah to the intercessor to intercede.
2. Allah’s being pleased with the intercessor.
3. His being pleased with the one for whom intercession is made.

“He knows what is before them, and what is behind them, and they cannot intercede
except for him with whom He is pleased. And they stand in awe for fear of Him” [Al-
Anbiya 21:28]
“And who can intercede with Him (Allah) except by His permission.” (Al-Baqarah:255)

Who will be given permission:

• Holy Prophet Muhammad (‫ )ﷺ‬will be given persmission of intercession and He will have the greatest
share of intercession.
• IOther prophets, the martyrs, the scholars, the righteous people and the angels will also be given
permission for intercession.
• A man’s righteous deeds may also intercede for him.
 The Last day and Life Here-after
Holy Prophet Muhammad (‫ )ﷺ‬will intercede for forgiveness of people because
Allah has permitted him for it.

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “I will be the
leader of mankind on the Day of Resurrection. Do you know why that is? Allah will
gather mankind, the first and the last of them, in one place, so that the caller will be
able to make them all hear his voice and the watcher will be able to see them all. The
sun will be brought close and the people will suffer such distress and trouble that they
will not be able to bear it or stand it. The people will say, ‘Don't you see in the state
you are in and the condition you have reached? Why don't you look for someone who
can intercede for you with your Lord?’ The people will say to one another: ‘Go to your
father, Adam.’ So they will go to Adam (peace be upon him) … I will go and prostrate
beneath the Throne. Then I will be given words of praise that have never been given to
anyone before me, then it will be said, ‘O Muhammad! Raise your head; ask, for it will
be given to you, and intercede, for your intercession will be accepted.’ I will raise my
head and say, ‘My ummah, O lord! My ummah, O Lord!’ It will be said, ‘O
Muhammad, admit from among your ummah those who will not be brought to account
from the right-hand gate of Paradise, and they will share the other gates with the
people.’ He said, By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, the distance between two of
 The Last day and Life Here-after
Types of Intercession:
•Intercession which will be accepted.

1. The greatest intercession, which is al-maqam al-mahmud, which the earlier and later generations
will ask the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬to intercede for them with their Lord so that He might relieve them of the
horrors of the Day of Judgement. This has been explained above.
2. Intercession for those among the monotheists who committed major sins and entered Hell, that they
may be brought forth from it. It was narrated that Anas said: The Messenger of Allah (‫ )ﷺ‬said: “My
intercession will be for those among my ummah who committed major sins.” (Sunan al-Tirmidhi).
3. The intercession of the Messenger for people whose good deeds and bad deeds are equal, that they
may enter Paradise, and for others who had been ordered to Hell, that they may not enter it.
4. Intercession that some people may enter Paradise without being brought to account.
5. Intercession of the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬for his paternal uncle Abu Talib, so that the torment of the Fire be
reduced for him. This applies only in the case of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) and his paternal uncle Abu Talib.
6. The intercession of the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬ that the believers might be granted permission to enter
Paradise.
The Last day and Life Here-after
• Intercession which will be rejected
The kind of intercession that will be rejected is intercession that does not meet the
conditions required of permission from Allah .
• Such as the intercession which the people of shirk believe that their gods will
achieve. They only worship them because they believe that they will intercede for
them with Allah, and that they are mediators or intermediaries between them and
Allah. Allah says in the Holy Quran;
“Surely, the religion (i.e. the worship and the obedience) is for Allah only. And those
who take Awliya (protectors, helpers, lords, gods) besides Him (say): ‘We worship
them only so that they may bring us near to Allah.’ Verily, Allah will judge between
them concerning that wherein they differ. Truly, Allah guides not him who is a liar,
and a disbeliever” [Al-Zumar 39:3]
• Intercession will not be acceoted for disbelievers.
Allah did not accept the intercession of His Close Friend Ibrahim for his father Azar
who was a mushrik.
 The Last day and Life Here-after
The Prophet’s (S.A.W.W)Pool (Hoze-Kaousar)
This is a pool which is bestowed to the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.W) and its drink
will be sweeter than honey , whiter than milk and its fragrance better than the musk.
Whosoever will drink out of it will never feel thirsty afterwards.
The Straight path
It will be a path that everyone will have to cross to enter to the paradise and there are pits
of hell underneath it. The people will cross it crawling, walking or running depending
upon the validity of their deeds
.

Paradise and Hell

“As for the Righteous, they will be in bliss; And the
Wicked, they will be in the Hell-Fire.”
(Al-Infitâr :13,14)
Signs of Qiyammah
 Minor Signs  Major Signs
 Birth of Holy Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬ i. Arrival of Imam Mehdi
 Death of Holy Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬ ii. Arrival of Dajjal
 Disappearance of Knowledge
iii. Arrival of Hazrat Esa
 Episode of sudden death
(A.A)
 Popularity Musical Instrument
 Rejection of Hadith iv. Gog Magog
 Paying zakah becomes a burden v. The smoke
 Earthquake, Interest, Shirk vi. The rising of sun from the
 Women will be out number men west
 Mass Killing vii. The fire
 Taking Pride on high raising
viii. Appearance of an animal
buildings
 Spy, envy, backbiting, etc, etc
Arguments about the Last Day

Argument No.1. Every thing is created in pairs according to the verse;

“And We have made pairs of everything that you may reflect” (Az-
Zâriyât:49)
This verse points to an important fact that every thing of this universe is
created in the form of pairs and a careful investigation of these tells us that
each part of the pair is in complete without the other but at the same time
each of tem is a superb piece of creation e.g earth & sky, Sun & moon, day
& night, male and female etc. This also shows that there are some good and
some bad aspects of each part of the pair and they overcome each others
deficiencies and render beauty to one another and thus give the sense of a
Whole.
So one is made to think through these evidence that there must be a counter
part of this world i-e another world that will complete the pair because there
also some deficiencies (like injustice, temporary life, life full of tests and
worries etc.) of this worldly life that demand for another life to complete the
pair and overcome its deficiencies. That life will be permanent , carefree for
the righteous ones and there would be display of absolute justice and mercy.
Argument No.2. Man’s free will points to the reality of the day of
accountability;

Accountability is necessary outcome of the freedom. When one is given

freedom of an act he is also provided with some limitations and in order to
counter check the observation of the desired limitations there comes
accountability. It is so because absolute freedom may lead to many
undesirable acts that can result into great disaster. For example, if a man is
given authority in an institute, he is also provided with a code of conduct
regarding use of the authority and finally he is counter checked by some
one higher in authority to him in order to see that whether or not he is
following the desired code of conduct. Then if he is proved to be fair he is
rewarded and if he fails to fulfill the requirements of his role, he is penalized
for that in one or the other way.
If we think profoundly we will come to know that man is made in charge of
running the affairs of this world, he is also given free-will by his Creator and
told about a code of conduct to spend his life on the planet earth. Then how
it is possible that there will not be any mechanism of accountability to
check use or misuse of his free-will.
It points to the reality of the Day of Judgment when that accountability
will be held and then the righteous and the wrong-doers will receive their
reward and punishment in accordance with their deeds. As it comes in
the Holy Quran;
“He(Allah) has decreed mercy for Himself and will gather you on the Day
of JUDGEMENT which is sure to come.” (Al-An’am:12)
Argument No.3. Examples of Fall of previous nations when they as
a nation became rejecters of Allah’s sings;
According to the Quran certain moral laws (communicated to them by
the messengers) govern the rise and fall of the nations.
“Say (unto the disbelievers): Travel in the land, and see
the nature of the consequence for the rejecters!”
The historical records bear witness to this Quranic fact that many nations
of the past ruled the world until they in their collective capacity adhered
to the desired moral code and they soon vanished away from the face of
earth when they in their collective capacity started disobeying that moral
code. There are many such example like that of the Greek and Room,
Ancient Egyptian civilizations, civilizations of Mohenjo-Daro and
Harappa. Etc.
So it shows that if, later nations will also deviate from the right course of
action in their collective capacity and they will not pay heed to past
examples, they also will face the harsh consequences . They will also be
vanished from the face of earth one day and then all will be held
accountable to their one Supreme Lord. Allah says in the Holy Quran;
“And how many towns We destroyed that they were
unjust, so now they are fallen down on their roofs, and
how many wells are lying neglected and how many
places are deserted.
Have they not traveled in the land that they should have
hearts with which to understand, or ears with which to
hear? Certainly, it is not the eyes that are blind, but
blind the hearts, which are in the breasts.”
(Al-Hajj :45-46)
Conclusion:
It is concluded that the Day of Judgment is sure to come and no one
will be able to escape it. All of us must try to prepare ourselves in
order to meet an easy reckoning and to have a blissful life here-after.