تويت
Preface
Each and every one of the Prophets (May peace and mercy of God be upon them all) is a manifestation of Divine Names and Attributes. As there is no repetition in Divine Manifestation, there is no repetition in the story of the Prophets. The story of every Prophet is unique in its style.
What happened with Prophet Noah (as), Prophet Ibrahim (as), Prophet Moses (as), and Prophet Jesus (as) did not repeat for any other Prophet, nor did what happen with other Prophets happen for these Prophets. For, every Messenger of God demonstrates a particular divinity, unlike the man made stories in which their themes are nearly the same. We all know that Iranian and Indian movies must end with a marriage ceremony. The theme of Hollywood movies is nothing other than sex or violence.
All Prophets are the Signs of Allah and the shadow of ‘The Light of the heavens and the earth’. Nonetheless, the holy Messenger of Islam (S) was the shadow of ‘and there is none like unto Him’. Thus, the story of the life of Prophet Muhammad (S) overshadows the stories of all the previous Prophets, as he is the ring and the seal of all of them.
The Ranks of the Prophets
When the Almighty Allah chooses a human being for His great divine mission, he must enjoy the highest degrees of virtues. Hence, the messengers of Allah are the most virtuous of people on earth.
Are there any degrees in rank amongst the Prophets themselves? The holy Quran confirms that whilst the messengers of Allah are more virtuous than other people, there are degrees in rank and preference in virtues amongst them. The Almighty Allah states:
“Those Messengers! We preferred some of them to others; to some of them Allah spoke (directly); others He raised to degrees (of honour); and to Jesus, the son of Mary, We gave clear proofs and evidences and supported him with the Holy Spirit.”(1)
“And indeed, We have preferred some of the Prophets above others, and to David We gave the Psalms .”(2)
Whist the demonstrative pronoun ‘those’ (Telka in Arabic) is utilized in the first Ayah to express their higher status in comparison to other people; the rest of the Ayah clearly indicates the degrees of the Prophets are not equal.
Although the ranks of the Prophets are not the same in the sight of God, they are all His Messengers, absolute obedient servants, and as such we should not make any distinction in that sense between any of them.
Thus, Islam denotes the wrong dogma of the divinity of Christ and blames Christians for exaggerating about the personality of Prophet Jesus. The Holy Quran as such teaches the Muslims:
“Say (O Muslims), We believe in Allah and that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent down to Ibrahim, Ishmael, Isaa, Jacob, and to the offspring of the twelve sons of Jacob, and that which has been given to Moses, and Jesus, and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have submitted.”(3)
The different degree of the Prophets in their ranks does not also mean they differed between themselves. The Prophets were like teachers of one school teaching one subject (Islam) for different grades. Should all the Prophets descend on earth and live in one city, there will be no disagreement among them whatsoever.
Thus, the Almighty Allah in explaining the degrees of the Prophets states:
“We preferred some of them above others”. But to state the different opinion between the ordinary humans, He states: “If Allah had willed, succeeding generations would not have fought against each other, after clear Signs of Allah had come to them, but they differed - some of them believed and others disbelieved.”(4)
Muhammad, the Most Preferred Prophet
“Amongst all the Prophets and the Messengers of Allah, the last and the Seal of the Prophets, Prophet Muhammad is the most preferred of all and the highest in rank in the sight of Allah. The Almighty Allah states: ‘Those Messengers! We preferred some of them to others; to some of them Allah spoke (directly); others He raised to degrees’.”(5)
The phrase ‘others He raised to degrees’ is meant for Prophet Muhammad (S). There are several reasons as to why the Almighty Allah has raised the degrees of His last Messengers above all other Prophets. The following are some examples:
The Almighty Allah sent Prophet Muhammad (S) but as a mercy for the worlds. Thus, he must be the most virtuous of all creation, material and immaterial. Allah states: “and We have sent you (O Muhammad) not but as a mercy for the worlds”.(6)
The Almighty Allah elevated the name of Prophet Muhammad (S) to be declared five times a day after the Name of Allah during Adhan and Iqama: “And have We not raised high your fame?”(7)
The holy Quran considers the obedience to Prophet Muhammad equal to the obedience to God: “He who obeys the Messenger, has indeed obeyed Allah.” A covenant with Prophet Muhammad is a covenant with God. “Verily, those who give pledge to you (O Muhammad) they are giving pledge to Allah.”(8).
Satisfaction of Prophet Muhammad is coupled with the satisfaction of Allah: “It is more fitting that they should please Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad).”(9)
Answering the call of Prophet Muhammad is regarded the same as answering the call of the Almighty Allah: “O you who believe! Answer Allah and (His) Messenger when he calls you.”(10)
The Almighty Allah honored Moses (as) by granting him nine Signs (miracles)(11) but Allah established every sentence of the Quran –which was granted to Prophet Muhammad- as a Sign (miracle) and calls for a challenge upon all the humans and the jinns if they could produce something like unto it. The main miracle of Prophet Muhammad, i.e. the holy Quran is more virtuous than the miracles of the previous Prophets, because not only it is the verbatim Word of God, it is an everlasting miracle.
If the miracle of Prophet Muhammad is more virtuous than the miracles of the previous Prophets, then Prophet Muhammad himself must also be more virtuous than other Prophets. The Almighty God addressed the Prophets with their names.
For instance, He says: “O Moses!”,(12) or “O Adam!”,(13) or “O Ibrahim!”.(14) But He is addressing the Prophet of Islam with his title ‘O Messenger!” or “O Prophet!” which indicates a special honour.
The Almighty Allah ordered the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam out of respect to him, but ordered the angels to give their Salat to Prophet Muhammad (S) in order for them to be nearer to Allah. Also, Salat for Prophet Muhammad continues until the Day of Judgment, whereas the prostration for Adam (as) had to be offered only once.
Moreover, Allah ordered the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam (as) in respect of the light of Muhammad (S) that Adam (as) had on his forehead. In short, all the virtues of the previous Prophets were also given to Prophet Muhammad (S) in addition to his own unique virtues.
المصدر
Aalulbayt Global Information Center-موقع الشيعة