48. COMPREHENSIVE BOOK OF THE STORIES OF PREVIOUS PROPHETS
Allah, Most High, says, {Those Messengers! We preferred some to others; to some of them Allah spoke (directly); others He raised to degrees (of honor); and to ‘Eesa, the son of Maryam, We gave clear proofs and evidences, and supported him with Rooh Al-Quds Jibra’eel} (Soorah Al-Baqarah 2:253)
And He, Most High, says, {Verily, We have inspired you (O, Muhammad) as We inspired Nooh and the Prophets after him; We (also) inspired Ibraheem (Abraham), Isma’eel (Ishmael), Ishaq (Isaac), Ya‘qoob, and Al-Asbat (the twelve sons of Ya‘qoob [Jacob]), ‘Eesa, Ayyoob (Job), Yoonus (Jonah), Haroon (Aaron), and Sulaiman (Solomon), and to Dawood (David) We gave the Zaboor (Psalms). And Messengers We have mentioned to you before, and Messengers We have not mentioned to you – and to Moosa Allah spoke directly. Messengers as bearers of good news as well as of warning in order that the mankind should have no plea against Allah after the Messengers. And Allah is Ever All-Powerful, Most Wise} (Soorah An-Nisa’ 4:163-165)
And it has been narrated on the authority of Jabir Ibn ‘Abdullah (May Allah be pleased with him) that he said, “The Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “I am the Seal of a thousand Prophets or more and there was no Prophet among them who did not warn his people against the Dajjal. And that which has not been made clear to any of those before me regarding him has been made clear to me: He is one-eyed, and your Lord is not one-eyed.” The isnad of this hadeeth is hasan and the hadeeth is understood to refer to the number of Prophets who warned their people against the Dajjal. However, another hadeeth states: “There is no Prophet who did not warn his nation against the Dajjal.” So Allah knows better.
And Al-Bukhari narrated on the authority of Abu Hazim that he said, “I sat with Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) for five years and I heard him narrate from the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) that: “The Prophets used to rule the Children of Isra’eel. Whenever a Prophet died another Prophet succeeded him, but there will be no Prophets after me; instead there will be Khulafa’ (Caliphs) and they will number many.” They asked, “What then do you order us to do?” He said, “Fulfill your allegiance to them, one after the other. Give them their dues. Verily Allah will ask them about that with which he entrusted them.”
And ‘Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ood (May Allah be pleased with him) said, “It is as if I am looking at the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) relating the story of one of the Prophets whose people have beaten and wounded him, and he was wiping the blood off his face and saying, “O, Lord! Forgive my people, for they do not know’.”
And Imam Ahmad narrated on the authority of Abu Sa‘eed Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) that he said, “A man put his right hand on the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) and said, “By Allah! I am unable to put my hand on you due to the severity of your fever.” The Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “For us, the community of the Prophets, the severity of the affliction is increased many times over, just as the reward for us is multiplied. If a Prophet from among the Prophets is afflicted with qummal, they afflict him so severely that it kills him. If one of the Prophets is afflicted with poverty, he may take his cloak and cut it (in order to fashion a kind of pocket for it). But they rejoice in their afflictions as they rejoice in ease and comfort.”
And Imam Ahmad narrated on the authority of Abu Mus‘ab Ibn Sa‘d, who reported on the authority of his father, that he said, “I said, “O, Messenger of Allah! Which of the people are most severely afflicted by trials?” He said, “The Prophets, then the righteous people, then those who are nearest to them in perfection, then those among the people who are nearest to them in perfection. A man is tried in accordance with his religiousness; if his faith is strong, his test is increased and if he is weak in religion, his test is reduced. A Believer will be tested until he walks on the earth sinless (i.e. until his sins have been erased by the series of afflictions that he has endured).”
And we have already mentioned the hadeeth which states: “We, the community of the Prophets, are paternal brothers and their Religion is one; but their mothers are different.” This means that the Law given to them is one Law, even though there might be differences in the applied Jurisprudence given to each Prophet, and some of them abrogated others, until all of them ended in the Law that Allah gave to Muhammad (peace be upon him and upon all of them). But the Religion of every Prophet whom Allah sent was Islam, and that is to affirm Allah’s Oneness (Tawheed) and to worship Him, Alone, without ascribing partners to Him, as He, Most High, says, {And We did not send any Messenger before you (O, Muhammad) but We inspired him (saying), La ilaha illa Ana (there is none who has the right to be worshipped but I [Allah]), so worship Me (Alone and no one else).”} (Soorah Al-Anbiya’ 21:25). And He, Most High, says, {And ask (O, Muhammad) those of Our Messengers whom We sent before you, “Did We ever appoint alihah (gods) to be worshipped besides the Most Beneficent (Allah)?”} (Soorah Az-Zukhruf 43:45). And He, Most High, says, {And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a Messenger (proclaiming), “Worship Allah (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) the taghoot (all false deities, etc. (i.e. do not worship the taghoot besides Allah).” Then of them were some whom Allah guided and of them were some upon whom the straying was justified. So travel through the land and see what was the end of those who denied (the truth)} (Soorah An-Nahl 16:36). Paternal brothers means that they share the same father, but their mothers are different. So the father represents the Religion, and that is to affirm the Oneness of Allah (Tawheed). The mothers represent the Divine Laws, which differ in matters of jurisprudence, as He, Most High, says, {To each among you, We have prescribed a Law and a Clear Way} (Soorah Al-Ma’idah 5:48). And He, Most High, says, {For every nation We have ordained religious ceremonies (e.g. slaughtering of the sacrificial beasts during the three days of stay at Mina (in Makkah) during the Hajj [pilgrimage]) which they must follow} (Soorah Al-Hajj 21:67). And He says, {For every nation there is a direction to which they face} (Soorah Al-Baqarah 2:148) – according to one of the two sayings regarding its explanation. And what is meant is that the Laws, though they differed in the times at which they were revealed, all of them commanded that Allah be worshipped Alone, without partners – and that is the Religion of Islam, which Allah ordained for all of the Prophets; and it is the Religion besides which Allah will accept none on the Day of Resurrection, as He, Most High, says, {And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers} (Soorah Ali ‘Imran 3:85). And He, Most High, says, {And who turns away from the religion of Ibraheem (i.e. Islamic Monotheism) except he who befools himself? Truly, We chose him in this world and verily, in the Hereafter he will be among the righteous. When his Lord said to him, “Submit (i.e. be a Muslim),” he said, “I have submitted myself (as a Muslim) to the Lord of the ‘Alameen.”} (Soorah Al-Baqarah 2:130,131). And He, Most High, says, {Verily, We did send down the Tawrah (to Moosa), therein was guidance and light, by which the Prophets, who submitted themselves to Allah’s Will, judged the Jews} (Soorah Al-Ma’idah 5:44). So the Religion of Islam is the worship of Allah, Alone, without partners; and that is sincere devotion to Him, Alone, without any other besides Him, and ihsan means to do so in the manner legislated (by Allah) at that time. This is why Allah, Most High, does not accept a deed from anyone which is contrary to what Allah ordained for Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) after He has sent him, as He, Most High, says, {Say (O, Muhammad), “O, mankind! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah.”} (Soorah Al-A‘raf 7:158). And He, Most High, says, {“And this Qur’an has been revealed to me that I may therewith warn you and whomsoever it may reach.”} (Soorah Al-An‘am 6:19). And He, Most High, says, {and before it came the Book of Moosa, a guidance and a mercy, they believe therein, but those of the sects (Jews, Christians and all the other non-Muslim nations) that reject it (the Qur’an), the Fire will be their promised meeting place.} (Soorah Hood 11:17) And the Messenger of Allah (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “I have been sent to the red and the black.” It was said that the red and the black refers to the Arabs and the non-Arabs. It was also said that it refers to mankind and the jinn. The Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, “By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, if Moosa (Peace be upon him) appeared among you, then you followed him and abandoned me, you would surely have gone astray.” The ahadeeth bearing this meaning are very numerous. And what is meant is that the brotherhood of al-‘allat means that they are from one father, but their mothers are different. The word is derived from the expression: “…drinking from al-‘alal (the tributaries) after (drinking from) the source. As for the brotherhood of al-akhyaf, it is the opposite of that, i.e. that their mothers are one, but their fathers are different. The brotherhood of al-a‘yan means they are brothers from the same father and mother. And Allah, Most High, knows better.
In another hadeeth, the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “We, the community of the Prophets, do not bequeath what we leave, for it is (given in) charity.” This is one of the special characteristics of the Prophets, that they do not bequeath anything. The reason for this is that the material things of this world are held in too much contempt by the Prophets for them to bequeath their worldly goods. In addition, their trust in Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful regarding their offspring is too great and too positive for them to need to leave their property to their heirs, to the exclusion of the rest of the mankind. Rather, all of what they leave is a charity for the poor people, to alleviate their poverty and fulfill their needs. We shall mention all of the characteristics peculiar to the Prophets, including the characteristics of our Prophet (peace be upon all of them) at the beginning of the Book of Marriage, in the Great Book of Rulings, where the Imams usually write them, in emulation of Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Ash-Shafi‘i (may Allah have mercy on all of them).
By Ibn Katheer
Comments
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.