Prophets

In religion, a prophet is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on that entity's behalf, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the supernatural source to other people. The message that the prophet conveys is called a prophecy.

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Prophets . Man

Why were all the Prophets and Messengers men?

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 6 years ago

The burden of prophet hood is very heavy and Allah (SWT) who can carry it . Only 124000 prophets were among billions of human beings which means that most of people can not carry such heavy burden.

Women can never carry the responsibility of prophet hood not only because that it is very heavy, and because of the physiology of menstruation and pregnancy, but also because of the fact that prophets are sent to men and women, yet men opposed and denied , and woman can not deal with men especially when there is a challenge against those who deny the message and try to eliminate the prophet or his message. We read in Quran about prophets who were killed ( Is it that whenever a messenger came to you with what yourselves do not desire, you grew arrogant, some of them you denied and some you killed ) (Al-Baqarah ; 87).

Most pious ladies in human history (Lady Fatimah, Khadija, Zainab, Maryam and Asiya ) who suffered a lot in the way of Allah, were never prophets simply because arrogant men will not accept a message from Allah through them.

Wassalam

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Prophets . Pledge of the Tree

Is Bay'ah an Islamic concept starting from Bay'at Rizwan or has it existed during the time of the previous Prophets as well?

Bay’ah is promising to follow and obey. It did happen during the time of pervious prophets like when Easa Jesus (AS) asked people from Bani Israel : Who are my supporters? His disciples replied: We are the supporters of Allah (3:52). That was just an example of Bay’ah.

wassalam

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Prophets . Paradise

What are the different levels of Jannah as explained by the Prophets?

Levels of Jannah (Paradise) are too many according to the good deeds and the sincerity in achieving them. Every good deed has a degree n Paradise according to the level of sincerity of the person in doing it.

We have Hadeeth (The levels of Jannah are like the number of the verses of Quran, that is why, the Momin who recited Quran wil be told in the Paradise, Go up in the degrees of Jannah as much as you recited from Quranic verses.

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Praise . Ahl al-Bayt . Prophets . Shi'a

Why do the Shi'a praise the Imams (AS) more than the Prophets (PBUH)?

Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 6 years ago

Thank you for your question. I think that this is a misconception as all of the beauty and greatness of the Imams (as) is derived and inherited from the Prophet (saw) and so when the Shia praise the Imams (as) that is not separate from their appreciation of the Prophet (saw). From a theological perspective, the Shia need to discuss the qualities of the Imams to understand how they are rightful inheritors of the Prophet (saw) and for this reason, they spend time trying to understand those qualities.

May you always be successful.

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Prophets . Qur'an . Middle East

Out of 124,000 Prophets, how come the Quran only talks about the ones sent to the Middle East, when surely there were Prophets sent to other parts of the world as well?

Zaid Alsalami, Shaykh Dr Zaid Alsalami is an Iraqi born scholar, raised in Australia. He obtained a BA from Al-Mustafa University, Qom, and an MA from the Islamic College in London. He also obtained a PhD from... Answer updated 6 years ago

Bismihi ta'ala

As Muslims we believe in the infinite wisdom of Almighty God and we do not really know the absolute real reasons as to why certain things occurred in certain ways throughout the history of mankind.

According to one strong view, there are only the names of 25 Prophets mentioned in the Quran. And so this leaves another 123, 975 Prophets, in which some have been mentioned in Hadith, and many have not been discussed (See: Surah al-Nisaa`, verse 124).

Please ponder on these points:

The first principle is there is no group of people without God having sent to them a "warner" (Surah Fatir, verse 24/ Surah al-Nahl, verse 36).

Another problem is many Prophets were sent, but their people rejected them, calling them magicians or insane. (Surah al-Dhariyat, verse 52). If throughout the Prophet that was sent to them was rejected or killed, then the next generations will not have any information about him.

Why is it that in the history of mankind we only have written material reaching us from certain areas in the world. Not to say that other parts of the world did not have civilisations, but they do not have a written heritage in this particular meaning.

Based on narrations we cannot say that Prophets were only limited to the Middle East, but as to why the Quran speaks about this particular area of the world, one reason we can present is that it needed to have been relevant to the message of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and information on personalities that people of that time can relate to.

Furthermore, many Prophets came from the lineage of Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.), so naturally they would be in this particular region.

And Allah knows best.

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God (Allah) . Prophets . Ahl al-Bayt . Divine Justice

Isn't it unfair of Allah that only a few people were selected out of so many to be Prophets and Imams and given special privileges such as Imams Hasan and Hussain being the leaders of the youth in paradise?

Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 6 years ago

The narrations say that there have been 124,000 prophets sent to mankind, which I take to mean 'an uncountable number'. The Qur'an says 'some of them you know, and some of them you don't know', so there have certainly been more than a selected few in the history of humanity.

With every station (or 'privilege') comes responsibility. How would you have felt having to face the army of Yazid, with the full responsibility of keeping the true Islam alive for humanity and for ever after?

Many people envy other people's positions or stations, but don't realise the intense difficulties and burdens that go with the station.

The Imams have said that it is possible for other human beings to come awliya'. The station of a waliyullah is very close to that of an Imam (see Usul al-Kafi), but again, it requires solid self-discipline and sacrifice.

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Prophets . Politics

How did the Prophets in their time deal with manipulation in politics?

Mahmood Abu Maryam, Trying to make sense of it all... Answered 6 years ago

The Prophets of God were divinely appointed and tasked with bringing people to the path of righteousness, honesty and integrity. They were not known to be manipualtive or believe that the end justifies the means as is common in politics.

A good example is that of Prophet Yusuf (a) who suffered from the consequences of the cunning conduct of some women of Egypt.

So when he saw that his shirt was torn from behind, he said, ‘This is [a case] of you women’s guile! Your guile is indeed great! (Surah Yusuf, Verse 28)

The way he dealt with that trial is exemplary. Later, when he acquired political power, he continued to exhibit the just and righteous conduct that was suitable for a Divinely appointed leader.

There is a really well-made multi-episode TV serial on the life of Prophet Yusuf (a) that I would recommend you watch.