RESPECT FOR PROPHETS

Jafar Wafa

In the wake of the worldwide protests against the blasphemous sketches, it has come to light that the ignorance, real or feigned, of the enlightened West regarding Muslim belief about the Prophet of Islam Mohammad (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam), as also about Prophets of other religions, is tragic and disappointing.

Those who caused such a grave offence to Muslim sensitivity globally were so pathetically ill-informed not only about the person of Prophet Muhammad (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) but also about how the Muslims are required by their faith to revere and respect other Prophets of Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa), specially those named in the Bible and Quraan.

It appears that the present-day Christian Europe has not shed from its collective consciousness the vulgar, indecent and entirely unfounded accounts about the Holy Prophet (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam), whose name was deliberately and derisively distorted and circulated by the Christian clergy in mediaeval Europe to ignite the Crusades that lasted for well over two centuries. If it is so, then it is most unfortunate, as it belies the West’s tall claim that it has discarded the religious baggage of yore, having embraced secularism which stands for the belief that the state machinery, moral values, citizens’ mindset and educational system should be independent of religious prejudices and predilections.

In Islam, a Prophet, such as Prophet Muhammad (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam), is neither God’s offspring, nor His incarnation, nor even His shadow on earth. They were all mortals like other human beings except that they the highest status because they, being prophets, received revelation from their Creator. The Prophet of Islam (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) declared many a time, as can be seen in the text of the Quraan:

“Say: I am only a mortal like you. My Lord inspirethin me that our God (Ilaah) is one and only God (Ilaah)” (18: 110 & 41:6).

And, as desired by the Almighty Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa), he proclaimed:

“Say: My Lord be glorified! I am naught save a mortal Messenger”. (17:93)

The one attribute common to all Prophets of Allah that distinguishes them from ordinary folks is that they received ‘revelation’ from the Divine Being through a spiritual or ‘angelic’ medium. And, it is entirely Allah’s prerogative to choose Prophets to convey the Divine dictation to fellow humans for guidance on the right path. The Quraan confirms this in these words:

“He sends down the angels with the Spirit of His command to whom He wills”. (16:2)

Such being the status of all the Divinely-inspired Prophets, the Muslims are required to treat all of them as equally respectable and ven-erable. The Quraan records this fact:

“……..we (Muslims) make no distinction between any of His Messenger”…….. (2:285)

But, what is not permissible for the believers — differentiation between Prophets — is the Almighty Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa)’s prerogative. He can, and He did, distinguish and differentiate. In this regard the Quraan states:

“Out of the Prophets, some have been caused by god to excel others — some to whom He spoke, while some of them He exalted in degree, and some, like Jesus son of Mary He supported with the Holy Spirit”. (2:253)

In this excerpt from the Scripture, there is reference, evidently, to three Abrahamic Prophets — Moses to whom God spoke, Jesus Christ who was provided support through the holy Ghost and Prophet Muhammad (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) whom He ‘exalted in degree.’ This particular excellence of the Prophet of Islam (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) is also confirmed by an earlier Makkan Surah 94 addressed to him while he was facing tyrannical opposition from Makkan polytheists:

“Have We not caused your bosom to open up? And eased you of the burdensome weight that had (metaphorically) bent your back? And exalted your fame?”

Commenting on the phrase: ‘exalted your fame’ Marmaduke Pickthal, the blue-blooded British Muslim, observes (vide his transla-tion of the Glorious Quran) that “speaking of his fame as exalted must have seemed particularly misplaced at that time of humiliation and persecution, but today from every mosque in the world, the Prophet’s name is cried as that of the Messenger of God five times a day and every Muslim prays for blessings on him when his name is mentioned.”

The point arises as to why Muslims pray for Allah’s blessings on him when he, according to his own statement preserved in the Quraan, was no more than ‘a mortal messenger’ and had announced, right in the beginning of his apostleship as recorded in the Quraan, that he “neither possessed the treasure of Allah nor had knowledge of the Unseen, nor was an angel, but followed only what was inspired in him” (6:50). Not only this. He had, at the same time, declared that “he had no power to benefit, nor power to hurt, except that which Allah willed” (7:188).

Then what are the reasons for such extraordinary attachment of his followers with his memory and devotion to his name by generations after generations of believers throughout the world?

For the answer, just consider the facts: An unlettered person born and brought up in a family and place not familiar with formal education, attaining manhood in a country devoid of literacy and learning traditions where there was no study circle like that of the Greek philosophers and where lived no consummate genius who knew the history of the rise and fall of nations, or had studied various theological systems, or was well-versed in ethics and social sciences, or was an authority on law and legal doctrines and so on and so forth.

A person with no formal education having spent 40 years of his life amongst his townsmen, mostly in public and partly in the seclusion of a cave, one fine morning comes out of the cave, stands on the summit of a hill and gives a clarion call to his elders, chieftains of tribes and ordinary folks to listen to his words that were inspired in him by the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. And then the stream of inimitable verses of the Quraan shedding light on all conceivable topics that concern human life — from creation to culture, from ethics to criminal law and social justice, from worship to trade and commerce, from waging war in self-defense to making peace with stubborn foes and sworn enemies.

The stream kept flowing for a little over two decades and in the words of Lane Poole, “his doctrine falling upon a people prone to quick impulses and susceptible of strong impressions worked a revolution” (‘Moors in Spain’).

But it was not oratory and erudition alone that had attracted his fellow citizens’ attention to him. It was also his pragmatism, practicality and unmatched ability to implement, by personal example, all the precepts that he preached. This rare quality acted as a magnet and bound to him all who come close to him who are till today remembered with utmost deference by Muslims, wherever they are, as the Prophet (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam)’s Companions (May Allah be pleased with them).

None of them disobeyed him while he was there and none of them even thought of betraying him. They all accepted him as their leader in this life and their intercessor in life hereafter. Not because they had seen him performing miracles but because they saw in him the signs of a miraculous person, a Divinely-inspired holy man, who was not a recluse, but more active and more involved than others in all the affairs of an ideal society which he established with the collective efforts of his followers. He succeeded in his mission in his life time although he had not even a quarter of a century to work his way through hardships and adversity to accomplish what he was destined to attain.

It is such a person who has inspired and guided the past and present generations of believers and, InshaaAllah (God willing), the scripture and the example left by him will continue to inspire and guide generations to come till time ceases to tick.

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