Lesson Four
How are Prophets chosen?
What are the Prophets' responsibilities towards God? What is the social,
cultural and intellectual background in which the Prophets appear? To answer
these questions, we analyze the following statements of the first Sermon of the
Nahj-ul-Balagha. „From his progeny (Adam), God chose (istafa) Prophets and took
their pledge for His revelation and for carrying His message as their
trust."
Istafa (to choose the best) is a very important and fundamental issue. In
Arabic, not all selections are indicated by this word. Only when a pure element
is recognized and chosen from amongst a collection of elements is the 'istafa'
used. It is actually employed when the pure and the impure are separated in a
collection of things and the pure portion is extracted.
As far as physical and spiritual aspects of humanity are concerned, the
Prophets have been ordinary human beings but, at the same time, they have
possessed the competence needed for gaining high ranks and positions.
Accordingly, they have been selected, distinguished individuals, born of
parents none of whom have been involved in polytheism and human Corruption Thus
'istqfa' in its general sense implies that a trained and educated Generation
deliver a more trained Generation to society.
As an example, the Prophet of Islam was born in a pure and holy family, from a
father and mother who were, in turn, distinguished from the point of
spirituality and morals (and not on the basis of race, blood, wealth and
aristocratic privileges). In fact, 'Abdullah was superior to all fathers and
Amina was superior to all mothers. These two spiritually trained beings married
and provided society with a child nobler to all children, a better
spiritually-trained being.
So much is certain that the Prophets who appeared before Moses; peace be upon
him, enjoyed lesser spirituality than those who came after him and after Jesus
Christ, peace be upon him, for every Prophet has been the product of the
training and education brought by the Prophets before him, i.e. the prevailing
divine and spiritual training provided by past Prophets have been quite
influential for the growth of the coming ones. Thus, the Commander of the
Faithful uses the word 'istafa' to indicate that God has appointed those beings
to prophethood who have had this spiritual training.
„... and took their ledge for His revelation and for carrying his message as
their trust." Here the Commander of the Faithful mentions the Prophets'
commitments and says that they are committed in two respects: First they have a
commitment towards the divine revelation, meaning that they are obliged to say
merely what they receive as revelation and not to intermix their personal views
with the divine message. Second, they are obliged to deliver the message they
have received and not to bury it with themselves.
„in the course of time many people perverted God's trust with them and ignored
his position and took partners along with Him. Satan turned them away from
knowing him and kept them aloof from his worship." In five short
sentences, the Commander of the Faithful provides us with a precise account of
the mental, practical, social and cultural background of the people at the time
of the Prophets' appearance.
In the first sentence he uses the Phrase 'aktharu khalqihi' (the majority of
His creatures) to indicate that not all the people, but a great many of them,
had perverted God's prescription and commands because absolute darkness or
ignorance has never had dominance over a society, that is, in no age and era
People have been left without heavenly guides, teachers and messengers who have
themselves had some faithful followers. In tact he refers to a society and a
time in which people ignored God's orders, changed the general principles
delivered through the chain of prophethood and deviated the course and program
of life determined by the Prophets through the application of prejudices,
perversions and Personal grudges.
He continues with the phrase 'facahiluhaqqah' (thus they ignored His Position),
meaning that people forgot about God's power and providence in administering
the affairs of society (the same situation is dominant today among the
westerners who do not feel the absence of God in their lives, because they have
remained far away from their true nature. They have forgotten the existence of
God although they apparently believe in God and hear His name repeatedly. They
actually do not know God's Position and status in society).
What is God's trust and covenant (ahd)? Almighty God has provided human beings
with a general pattern of life and a specific course within which people should
move. This course or pattern is the very reality to which all the Prophets have
invited people throughout history, i.e. monotheism, respect for humanity and
moral , natural and legal quality of human beings. This is the divine program,
a command and covenant.
Satans try to pervert this course and command and to induce people to obey and
worship God's creatures instead of God. God calls people to honor the human
being and satans invite them to humiliate and belittle him. Thus, the
perversion of the divine covenant is to deviate from the mentioned course and
pattern, to ignore God's position and to transform society into a satanic one
in which partners are taken along with God.
Taking partners along with God is not merely confined to worshipping an object.
But when God's position remains unknown and the people do not know that
creation and Legislation belong to God (i.e. in the same way as the laws of
creation - laws relating to the movement of heavens and the earth, day and
night, man, birth and death - are in possession of God alone, Legislation or
administration of the society and life, too, is under His authority. This is
the meaning of God's position in human life). They accept certain lines of
thought as their guide, certain human beings as their rulers and certain false
customs and traditions as their manners of living. They thereby replace God
with ignorance, unawareness and satans (which only in our limited minds are regarded
as rivals to God for, in reality, God has no rival). For example, Egyptians
were actually taking a Pharaoh like Anwar Sadat as a partner along with God
when they left their destinies in his hands.
The Commander of the faithful continues with the statement, „Satan turned them
away from knowing Him.." to emphasize that when God's position remains
unknown in a society, satans try to fill up the human mind, which is bereft of
the knowledge of God in some way or other. Sometimes one lacks something and he
knows that he lacks it, but more painful is the case when one lacks something
and he knows it is not due to the fact that the empty place of what he lacks
has been filled with something else of his thirst has been quenched with muddy
water. (This is the greater oppression the victims of human beings, i.e.
suppression of man's God seeking sense or imposition of unawareness on man).
Later on we shall see that Prophets have the responsibility to remove this
oppression and compensate for it.
It is to be noted here that Satan (shaitan), referred to in Ali's sermon,
should not be mistaken for Iblis, the creature who, according to the text of
the Qur'an, refused to bow down to Adam and then implored God to keep him alive
till the Day of Judgment but God promised only to keep him alive, . This
creature should not in any way be assimilated with other creatures. We should
grow accustomed to accepting the exact concepts of the Qur'anic statements, and
not merely what our prejudices warrant.
Satan has a different meaning. Generally speaking according to the Qur'an, it
is applied to those forces which, create corruption, wickedness and deviation.
On this ground, we have in the Qur'an" satans among men and jinns», i.e.
satans among humankind who put on clothes, walk and do the like, and satans of
the kind of jinns. These satans who sometimes dwell within the human being and
are called selfishness, carnal desire, avarice, Aggression, negligence and so
forth. Sometimes they dwell outside the human being and are titled king, ruffian
refractory, corrupt religious leader, aphrodisiac scene, etc.
Now, should we not develop satans within ourselves, outside satans cannot
influence us. For the very reason we cannot put the blame of our own deviations
on social conditions or on those who have led us to negligence. It is in the
Qur'an that the arrogant and the deprived will quarrel on the Day of Judgment.
The deprived accuse the arrogant of having misled them but the arrogant deny it
and argue that they themselves should not have listened to them. Both of them
tell the truth and at the same time, both are condemned.
"... and kept them aloof from His worship." By this statement the
Commander of the Faithful means that when human beings do not know God, it is
quite natural for them not to worship Him and not to serve Him (servitude is
submissive action before God).
Summary
* God has chosen the best of His servants (istafa) as His Prophets.
* He has bound the Prophets to two responsibilities: To tell people only what
they received as revelation and to hide not any part of revealed matters.
* At the time of the Prophets' appearance, the people had taken partners along
with God due to lack of knowledge concerning Gods position, and thus satans had
led them away from God - seeking course towards the negligence of God.
Lesson Five
The Continuity of Prophethood
Continuity is one of the main points in the discussion of prophethood. In the
first Sermon of the Nahj-ul-Balagha, the Commander of the Faithful aims at
picturing the line of prophethood as a consistent and continuous line in the
course of history extending to the time of the Prophet of Islam. In fact, never
in the course of history has there been a time or place devoid of a Prophet or
signs of a Prophet in the past, i.e. either a Prophet has lived among people
appointed by God to provide them with good tidings or to make them fear (God's
wrath) or there has been something left behind by a Prophet, which the people
obeyed as they obeyed the Prophet himself.
Thus, believing in the fact that the earth has never been devoid of a 'proof'
(of God) does not necessarily mean that in a given nation or community, a
Prophet has always lived who has been immediately taken, over by another
Prophet at the time of death. It rather implies that after a prophet's death
and before the advent of the next prophet there was something (a book or a
faithful disciple) which the people followed and obeyed as the successor of the
dead Prophet.
In the Arabian Peninsula, for example, it took a very long time before the Prophet
of Islam appeared. There was a long transition between the disappearance of
Jesus Christ, peace be upon him and the appearance of Muhammad, peace and the
mercy of God be upon him and his descendants. In Sermon No. 88 of the
Nahj-ul-Balagha, the Commander of the Faithful points out this matter saying,
„God sent the Prophet when the mission of other Prophets had ended and people
had fallen into".
Now we pursue our discussion concerning the continuity of prophethood with
regard to his words in the Nahj-ul-Balagha. In Sermon no. 1 he says, God never
allowed His creation to remain without a Prophet (nabi) deputed by Him, or a
book sent down from Him or a binding argument (proof) or a standing plea.
The difference between nabi and rasul is that a nabi merely receives the
message from God but a rasul in addition to receiving the message, has the
mission to propagate it and deliver it to the people. This is, of course, not
totally acceptable because the aim of receiving a message is nothing but
propagating and the deliverance of it to others. However, we might suppose that
a nabi takes the message but it is not the time to deliver it, just as the
Prophet of Islam received the message (revelation) on the 'Night of Power' „We
have indeed revealed this Message in the Night of Power." but it took
twenty-three years before he could fulfill the duty of conveying it to the
people.
In the Sura Ta Ha, verse 114, the Holy Qur'an addresses the prophet, saying:
"... Be not in haste with the Qur'an before its revelation to thee is
completed .. » Accordingly, nabi mursal (the deputed prophet),as the Commander
of the Faithful puts it, is referred to as a Prophet who actually conveys his
message to the people.
What is the meaning of 'Kitabun munzal (a book sent down)? Does this sending
down refers to a place? The fact is that to send down a book actually means to
transform the book into letters and words (language) which humanity
understands, i.e. to adapt the high heavenly concepts and realities to the
level of one's thoughts and understanding.
In fact, God, the exalted, inspired the Prophet with the highly complicated
facts and learnings in the form of the most simple words and expressions which
could be understood by all and which later came to be called the Qur'an, just
as a teacher simplifies difficult matters and gives them to his students. This
comparison may, however, be wrong, for in any case there is a logical and
ordinary connection between a teachers' mind and heart and those of his
students, whereas there is a great gap between an ordinary man's heart and the
divine lofty teachings. The Commander of the Faithful asserts that in the
absence of Prophets and heavenly books, there was either a 'binding argument'
(an unfading proof by which people could convince the enemies) or a 'standing
plea' (a clear and permanent way) on which people could depend.
On the whole, every nation in the course of history has enjoyed one of the
following: First a Prophet (like Moses, Jesus, Abraham, etc.). According to a
Tradition there has been 124,000 Prophets, the first of them being Adam and the
last one being Muhammad, peace and the mercy of God be upon him and his
descendants.
Second, a heavenly Book, left behind by a Prophet. In this very Sermon (Sermon
No. 1) he speaks of the Last Prophet, saying, „... The Prophet left among you
the same (the Book) which other Prophets lefts among their peoples..." By
'Book' he means a collection of written teachings and commandments which all
the Prophets possessed. Some of these books were, however, descended to the
Prophets themselves (these are not more than a few) but others were those left
behind by previous Prophets, either distorted or misunderstood, which the
Prophets after them undertook to correct or interpret.
As an example, after Moses, the Torah was misunderstood by some, even mingled
with polytheistic ideas, and thus such Prophets as Salomon, David, etc., who
succeeded Moses, tried to provide the people with the true meanings and
concepts of this Book.
This is also true with the Qur'an. That is to say that there is a considerable
difference between our understanding of the Qur'anic teachings and that of the
past generations (taking into account the fact that the text of the Qur'an and
its concepts and realities have remained untouched). In the past, these
teachings were considerably misunderstood because distorted matters and wrong
ways of thinking obsessed the people's minds and prevented them from the
correct understanding of the Qur'an. But today, the Qur'an is correctly
understood and it is likely that in the future some Qur'anic realities be
unveiled that we do not perceive today (According to some traditions, when
eventually Imam-Mahdi reappears, he will introduce a new religion-the true
Islam. Today, some Sunni and non-Sunni jurists have announced that the religion
which people follow in Iran is not Islam. They tell the truth because this is
not that Islam in which they believe-that distorted Islam which contains
idolatry, polytheistic and anti-Islamic ' values. Our Islam is different from that
Islam whose mosque is inaugurated by the President of America and whose Qur'an
is printed by the Shah of Iran. There is a great and changing distance between
these two forms of Islam).
The Books of the Prophets were, however, sufficient as long as they remained
untouched, their concepts were rightly expounded and they were correctly
interpreted. In the case of Moses, for example, his Book remained perfect and
undistorted after he died, during the time when the Children of Israel were in
a state of bewilderment and sought to reach Jerusalem, and guaranteed the
victory of Israelites as well as the establishment of the Mosaic community.
(This community, which was powerful and enjoyed a government, came into being
after Moses' death. In fact, Moses made preparations for the revolution and
provoked the people but he did not live long enough to witness the
establishment of his ideal community, and it was the people who accomplished
this task). The Torah was actually preserved and kept aloof from distortion by the
successors of Moses (Yusha ibn Nun and Kalib ibn Yuhanna) who succeeded in
pursuing that heavenly, Islamic and monotheistic dynamism, i.e. the genuine
Torah.
Third, a fixed and undeniable proof. This can be seen in the period after Jesus
Christ ascended to the heavens (he was not killed), during which time
Christians were subjected to manifold oppression; namely, the oppression of the
Roman Empire whose foundations were based on polytheism, which severely
persecuted the followers of this progressed monotheistic religion; and the
oppression of non-Christian Israelites (the Jews) who did not believe in the
Message of Jesus Christ. As a result, Orthodox Christian Israelites lived for
many years in concealment and in a state of strangulation without the opportunity
to gather together or convey the prophetic legacy to one another freely. The
famous disciples of Jesus Christ had to tolerate a great deal of distress in
traveling between the cities and lands in order to propagate Jesus' Message.
To say the least, the prevailing state of oppression kept the true Bible of
Jesus Christ far away different versions of this heavenly Book; namely, the
four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, none of them containing the exact
words, sayings and signs of Jesus Christ. Thus, the original Book (the Bible)
was not among the people, yet the existence of the Torah's commandments, which
Jesus Christ had announced to be valid and practicable if modified, the
existence of the mentioned calamities and the existence of Jesus' guidelines
were all an undeniable proof preventing people from refuting the prophecy of
Jesus Christ and provoking them to transfer Christian teachings to the coming
generations who could, in turn, move and act on the basis of such teachings.
Fourth, a clear and manifest way, i.e. the means and decrees which are not
found in the Book but the people possess. It is in a Tradition related from
Imam Hassan al'Asgari, peace be upon him, in which he has explained the
qualities and Attributes of Islamic jurisprudents. Someone asked the Imam why
the learned men of the Christians and the Jews (priests and monks) are
reproached in the Qur'an whereas the learned men of Islam are praised. What is
the difference between the two? The Imam gave a detailed answer, the epitome of
which is that the learned men of Islam, too, are not unconditionally praised.
They are praised provided they possess the Attributes that Islam has
determined. But should they contrarily follow the same perversions and
disgraces adhered to by priests and monks, they will also be blameworthy.
Priests and monks were actually dependent on the powerful and supported them.
Although the realities had reversely been manifest in the people's eyes, they
did not take action to provide the people with a true portrait of their
religion. But the people could discern, on the basis of a series of natural
(primordial) principles, the perverseness of the way to which they had been
led. Basically, at any age there is a set of accepted natural principles among
the people, resulting from the continuous instructions of the Prophets in the
course of centuries, which enables them to distinguish the truth from falsehood
(for example, when a religious scholar or a man of God compromises with the
enemies of God, it can be said without reasoning that he is in the wrong. It is
quite obvious and natural that he goes the wrong way, for one cannot obey God
and His enemies simultaneously).
People can, in effect, distinguish the right way from the wrong by a reference
to their hearts and according to their intrinsic beliefs which are the very
'standing pleas' and manifest ways.
These four elements (this clear way) always existed in man's life before the
advent of Prophet of Islam. It sometimes happened, however, that two Prophets
were living at the same time in different corners of the world or two heavenly
Books were followed by two different nations. But the important point was that
heavenly guidance made its appearance in all places and at all times (even
among the wild, primitive people). Yet, more important of the number of those
who denied them never caused the Prophets to neglect fulfilling their
obligations.
In Sermon No. 1 of the Nahj-ul-Balagha the Commander of the Faithful says,
„These Messengers were such that they did of not feel little because of the
smallness of their number or of largeness of the number of their
falsifiers."
In fact, none of the Prophets fell victim to disappointment but rather all of
them succeeded in achieving their aims although the number of them was small (124,000
in proportion to the world population from the very beginning till now) and the
number of their falsifiers was large. Falsifiers were the ones who spread out
falsely the point that the Prophets' way, message and prophethood were wrong.
They were great in number and in some cases they even killed some of the
Prophets. yet the Prophets never fell short in pursuing their general and
ultimate aim, i.e. prosperous community, and never became hopeless in
accomplishing their mission.
They not only struggled for the spiritual elevation of the people of their own
time but they also tried to attain the total prosperity and historical
evolution of human beings as a whole. And they were successful in this respect.
Even those Prophets who were killed had the opportunity beforehand to convey
their message and introduce their heavenly lines of thought which although were
kept hidden for some time, were finally unveiled and practiced again.
Muddarres, as a follower of the Prophets, had a message to convey at the time
of the strangulation of Reza Shah's reign. He believed in the policy of,
„Negative Equilibrium" or in his own terms "adami", meaning that
we shall neither pay tribute to the West nor to the East. He said, „Religion
should not be separated from politics." For the deliverance of such a
social and political message, he was arrested, exiled and finally poisoned and
choked by stuffing his own turban in his mouth (his grave is now besides a
small farm in Kashmar).
He departed and was buried in the remote deserts, but gradually one of his
beliefs, „Negative Equilibrium" (before the announcement of this policy by
Muddarres, Russian and British governments were equally privileged in Iran. For
example, in 1919, Vuthuq ad-Dulih granted the western part of Iran to Britain
under a treaty. Russians objected to it, and he granted the north to
them.«Positive Equilibrium») was revived eighteen or twenty years later, at the
time of Dr. Mussadiq.
Muddarres, Seyyid Jamal (of Asadabad) and others, all being messengers of truth
and justice and compassionate lecturers of their own time, were so devoted and
courageous that they expressed their views and left behind their lines of
thought. But it could be much better if they themselves could have the
opportunity to materialize their messages in a better manner and could witness
the overthrow of the Pharaoh and the freedom of the people after they had been
exposed to so much trouble and distress. However, their names, actions and
messages are recorded in history despite their untimely death. They did not
neglect their aims and duties and history will not neglect them either.
Questions and Answers
Q. Will Jesus Christ appear after the reappearance of Imam Mahdi?
A. Yes, the Traditions attest this.
Q. We know that the Torah and the Bible have been subjected to distortion. Why
has the Qur'an been an exception?
A. It has been proved with sound reasonings that not even a "," (and)
has been deleted from or added to the Qur'an. During the time of the third
Caliph (Uthman) someone recited the following verse of the Qur'an but
intentionally omitted the «,» before „alladhin" which changed the meaning
of the verse to a great extent, implying that only those priests and monks who
bury gold and silver are condemned, whereas the verse refers to two groups of
people - priests and monks who devour the substance of men in falsehood and the
people(they may be by priests and monks or not)who pile gold and silver. The
verse reads as follow, "0 ye who believe! There are indeed many among
priests and anchorites, who in falsehood devour the substance of men and hinder
(them) from the way of God. And there are those who bury gold and silver and
spend it not in the way of God.- announce unto them a most grievous penalty ...
» (9: 34)
At this event, 'Abdullah ibon Mas'ud, who was present there, put his sword on
his shoulder and said angrily, „If you do not recite the verse with the
"," you deleted, I will secede from Islam." They were this
sensitive. They themselves had heard the Prophet reciting the verses of the Qur'an
and had recorded them in their hearts and writings and, thus, they preserved
them at the expense of their life. In this way, the Qur'an, which came down to
the Prophet was preserved in the original form by the retentives and recitors
who permanently recited the Qur'an and kept it from additions and deletions.
Q. What is the difference between „bayyeneh" and „hujjat"?
A. Bayyeneh is a clear and manifest proof which merely convinces a person but
hujjat is a proof or reasoning by which a person disputes with his enemies.