Volume - IV / CHAPTER - 1 / LESSON NO: 2
BELIEFS CONCERNING THE PROPHETHOOD
Q 1. What wisdom is there in the descent of the Prophets?
A. There is a great wisdom and blessing in the descent of the Prophets. Through the Prophets and Messengers, Allah Almighty has informed His creatures (mankind) about the works which please or displease Him. It is a fact that nobody can know the correct ideas of the other until he is informed by the latter so how the mankind could have known the pleasure and displeasure of Allah Almighty without being told by His Prophets and Messengers. Nobody could have known about the torment and reward, the world hereafter, the correct mode of worship and the fundamentals, pre-requisites and manners of worship etc. what to talk of an access to Him or understanding His Self and Attributes.
The Prophets and Messengers who are chosen servants of Allah Almighty are intermediary between Him and His servants (mankind). They were created and sent down by Him to guide and invite the mankind towards Him, so that no humanbeing could make any excuse on the Doomsday that he was not given His message.
Those who follow and obey Allah's Prophets are the blessed ones and those who oppose them are the accursed.
Q 2. Can the mind alone guide humanbeing or not?
A. Had Allah Almighty left us at the mercy of our mind then we would not have fully attained to the path of blessing and salvation. We have examples of intellectuals and thinkers before us who have no concurrence and consensus on even a simple point despite possessing expertise in their respective field of activity.
It is, therefore, established that the mind alone could not have helped man to correctly know about the spirituAlity, invisible world and the next world and it were only the Prophets who led him to the path of blessing and salvation.
Q 3. All the Prophets were humanbeing. What was the divine wisdom therein?
A. It is also a great wisdom and blessing of Allah Almighty that He chose all the Apostles, Messengers and Prophets from amongst the humanbeings. If He had sent the Prophets from amongst the angels or other creature they would not have understood human nature, psyche, failings and nor they had any affection for us as a man has for his fellow-beings. We also had no inclination towards him and could not follow him too.
Q 4. What is "Wahee"?
A. The literal meaning of "Wahee" is "instillment of a point in the heart" and according to Shari'ahh "Wahee" means Divine revelation to the Prophets for the guidance of mankind. It is a Divine practice that Allah Almighty does not directly speak to His servants (humanbeings) and for this purpose He has created His chosen servants (Prophets) to whom He reveals His commands and then these Prophets teach and inform His servants about the good and bad.
Q 5. How many ways of the revelation of "Wahee" are there?
A. There are four ways of the revelation of "Wahee" to the Prophets:
1. To hear any Divine voice.
2. To have any point spontaneously instilled in the heart.
3. To have the true dreams. Whatever is shown or told to the Prophet in dream is undoubtedly true.
4. Communication of the Divine message through angel in the guise of humanbeing.
Q 6. What does "Ilhaam" mean?
A. Sometime Allah's saint (Walee) is divinely inspired either in the waking or in dream which is called "Ilhaam" (divine inspiration).
Q 7. What is "Wahee Shaitaani"?
A. Inculcation of some evil things in the hearts of his accomplices like sorcerers, wizards, unbelievers and "Faasiq" (wicked,transgressors) by devil, the outcast, are literally called "Wahee Shaitaani" (devilish prompting).
These wicked souls teach one another how to inveigle and drag people into the mire of disbelief, sins and in their devilish activities. However, the pious servants of Allah are not prone to their inveiglings who immediately recite "Laa-haul" i.e. "Laa haula walaa Quwwata Illaa Billaa-hil 'Alee-yil 'Azeem" (there is no power in me to save myself from sin and I have no power to do good but with the help of Allah, the Most High, the Most Great) on facing any devilish onslaught and busy themselves in good deeds.
Q 8. How many Prophets did Allah Almighty send?
A. A particular number about the descent of the Prophets should not be fixed or determined as there are varied traditions to this effect. Besides, there is a great apprehension of denial of the Prophethood of any Prophet or inclusion of any non-prophet into the fold of Prophethood due to fixation or determination of a specific total number of the Prophets, which is infidelity. That's why we must believe in all the Prophets of Allah sans any fixation of total number.
Q 9. Were the Prophets sent for every state and every nation?
A. It is proved by the Holy Qur-aan that Allah Almighty has sent His Prophets to every state and every nation who invited them to the true faith and commanded them to worship Allah alone so that infidels and deniers could not claim that no Prophet had communicated them the true faith. The Communicator of Allah's commands (faith) to His servants may either be Prophet or his vice regents i.e. 'Ulama (religious scholars).
Q10. Can we call "Raam" and "Kirshan" whom Hindus believe Prophet or not?
A. We believed (in detail) in those Prophets about whom Allah Almighty and His Prophet have informed us or about whose names and lives the Holy Qur-aan and the Prophet's traditions (Ahaadees) have told us in detail and in the remaining other Prophets of Allah we believed in brief. It is not essential for us to unnecessarily search out whether such and such was the prophet or not.
There is no mention of Raam and Kirshan in the Holy Qur-aan and Ahaadees and also we have no proof whether they were really some persons or are only the figment of Hindus' imagination. If it is, for the sake of argument, accepted that there is some mention of them in Hindus' books then we will also have to accept that the said books also speak of their sinfulness, impiety, bad character and debauchery. Hence, they can not be prophets because the Prophets are innocent and impeccable and they are free from sins on being looked after and taught by Allah
Almighty Himself.
Briefly, we can not determine about anybody's prophethood unless and until proved by the Holy Qur-aan and Ahaadees.
Q 11. Do Allah's Prophets have 'Ilm-e-Ghaib (the knowledge of the unseen)?
A. Undoubtedly, Allah Almighty has endowed His Prophets with the knowledge of unseen. Each and everything in the heavens and on the earth is in their knowledge. This knowledge of unseen is not their own but a divine gift to them. "Nabi" (Prophet) means the communicator of "Ghaib" (the news and knowledge of unseen). The communication of the news of unseen like Paradise, Hell, Doomsday, torment and reward etc. which are beyond human agency and reason, is the demand of the exalted status of Prophet. Some saints had/have also Ilm-e-Ghaib which Allah Almighty grant(ed) to them through the Prophet whose Ummah (community) they belong(ed) to.