BELIEF in the PROPHETS

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BELIEF in the PROPHETS
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Outline

• Prophets and Prophethood
• Divine Purposes for Sending the Prophets
• Characteristics of the Prophets
• The essentials of Prophethood
• How many Prophets have been sent to mankind?
• Prophets Conveyed the Same Message
• What are the differences between saints and
  Prophets?
• What is a miracle?
• Why are Prophets human?
• Were there any woman prophets?

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Who are Prophets and What is Prophethood?

• Prophethood is the institution of bringing
  message from God to His servants
• Prophets were chosen men through whom God
  manifested Himself to illuminate the way of
  mankind so that mankind might be guided to the
  truth and be purified of sins

God was gracious to the believers when He
raised up among them a Messenger from themselves
who recites to them the verses (of His Book) and
shows them His signs in their selves and in the
universe, purifies them of their sins and their
deviations of thought and belief, and instructs
them in the Book and the Wisdom. They were
evidently in manifest misguidance before.
Quran, 3164
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Who are Prophets ?, contd.

• A prophet has brilliant intelligence and pure
  soul
• Prophethood is not a position acquired through
  brilliance of intelligence and purity of soul. A
  Prophet is specially brought up by God.
• No prophet was divine.
• Prophethood is the highest rank and a honor a man
  can receive from God. No ordinary man can achieve
  the rank of any prophet.

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Who are Prophets ?, contd.

• A Prophet is protected by God against all kinds
  of sin, whether major or minor, because he is
  created for a special purpose. He is protected
  from falling, since his going astray even an inch
  could result in great deviation of his people.
• The Prophets never speak as a result of whims and
  fancies

Nor does he speak of (his own) desire. It is no
less than revelation sent down to him. Quran
533-4
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Prophets mentioned in the Quran

• Musa (Moses)
• Harun (Aaron)
• Dhu'l-kifl (Ezekiel)
• Dawud (David)
• Sulaiman (Solomon)
• Ilias (Elias)
• Al-Yasa (Elisha)
• Yunus (Jonah)
• Zakariyya (Zechariah)
• Yahya (John)
• Isa (Jesus)
• Muhammad

• Adam
• Idris (Enoch)
• Nuh (Noah)
• Hud
• Saleh
• Ibrahim (Abraham)
• Isma'il (Ishmael)
• Ishaq (Isaac)
• Lut (Lot)
• Ya'qub (Jacob)
• Yousef (Joseph)
• Shu'aib
• Ayyub (Job)

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Prophets are NOT oracles!!!

• Prophets have divine message. They are MESSENGERS
  of GOD.
• Prophets have miracles which are done by God
  through them.
• Prophets work for the good of mankind.
• Prophets never lie.
• Prophets do not ask for wages or power and status.

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What is the Divine Purpose for Sending the
Prophets?

• The Prophets were sent
• to illuminate the way of mankind  
•   to guide people to the service of God 
• to teach people the meaning of creation
• to teach Gods laws  
• to be examples
• to establish the balance between this world and
  the next
• to be Gods witnesses

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Some characteristics of the Prophets

• The Prophets
•  depended on revelation
•  were sincere in every action 
• were very patient in faces of adversity
• were very compassionate toward all living beings
  
• called people wisely and with kindness
•  called humankind to Gods Unity

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The essentials of Prophethood

• The essentials of Prophet hood common to all of
  the Prophets are, according to the theologians,
  as follows
• Truthfulness
• Trustworthiness  
• Convey the message
• Intellect
• Infallibility

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An important point!

• The prophets were all trustworthy and asked no
  wage for calling to God
• I am for you a trustworthy Messenger, so serve
  you God, and obey you me. I ask of you no wage
  for this my wage falls only upon the Lord of the
  Worlds. Quran 261079, 1257, 1435, 1624,
  17880

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How many Prophets have been sent to mankind?

• No region or people has been altogether deprived
  of Divine enlightenment through Gods chosen
  servants, His prophets.
• Directly or indirectly, all people of all periods
  have, at some time in their history, known or
  been aware of a prophet and of his teaching.

There never was a people without a Warner having
lived among them. (Quran 3524) And We assuredly
sent among every people a Messenger. (Quran 1636)

• The Quran mentions 25 out of 124,000 (or perhaps
  224,000) prophets. We do not know exactly where
  and when many of them lived.

We did in times past send Messengers before you
of them there are some whose stories We have
related to you, and some whose story We have not
related to you. (Quran 4078)
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Prophets Conveyed the Same Message

• All the prophets called humankind to God's unity.
• In their teachings, differences might have
  happened in minor matters depending on the
  conditions of their peoples. However, all these
  teachings are the same in essence. E.g., stealing
  is evil and a sin in all yet, the way a thief
  is punished might differ.

For We assuredly sent amongst every people an
Messenger (with the command), Serve God and
eschew evil. (Quran 1636)

• Whenever people fell into darkness after a
  Prophet by forgetting, changing and distorting
  his message, God sent another one to enlighten
  them again. This continued until the coming of
  the Last Prophet.

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What are the differences between saints and
Prophets?

• Prophets are chosen by God but saints struggle to
  gain sainthood.
• Prophets are infallible while saints may sin.
• Saints just confirm the message of the Prophets.
• Saints never reach the level of the Prophets.
• Saints may display acts of marvel but only
  Prophets may perform miracles.

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What is a miracle?

• A miracle is an extraordinary event that God
  Almighty brings about at the hands of a Prophet
  to prove his Prophethood, strengthen the
  believers' faith, and break the unbelievers'
  obstinacy.
• Examples
• The Staff of Moses
• Healing of Jesus
• The Holy Quran

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Why are Prophets human?

• If Prophets came from angels, people would object
  to this saying, We cannot be like them so we
  cannot follow them.
• The Prophets being human helps convey the
  message easily and in a more understandable way.

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Were there any woman prophets?

• Prophets were from men.
• And before thee also the messengers We sent were
  but men, to whom We granted inspiration if ye
  realise this not, ask of those who possess the
  Message. Quran 1643

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Thank you for your patience!