SIGNS OF PROPHETHOOD
Since Prophethood is a means by which the noblest of all knowledge can be acquired and the greatest and most honourable deeds can be carried out; it is of Allah’s mercy to give these Prophets the signs by which they could be known and through which they could be identified, though, every one of those who claimed to have a mission has some signs and conditions that could indicate his truthfulness if he is truthful or otherwise if he is a liar. Theses signs are many, the most important of which are:
1. The Messenger should call to the worship of Allah alone and to the abandonment of worshipping others besides Him. For this is the purpose for which Allah created the creation.
2. The Messenger should call people to believe in him, and put his message into practice. Allah commands His messenger, Muhammad to say, “O mankind! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah.” (Al-A’raf 7:158.)
3. Allah strengthens him with various kinds of signs of prophethood. Among these signs are the verses that the Prophet Muhammad brought from Allah and which his people could not repudiate or produce its like. Another example is the sign of Prophet Mousa when his rod turned to a snake; the sign of Prophet Eesaa who healed the blind and the leper by the permission of Allah, and the sign of Muhammad which is the Great Qur’an, in spite of the fact that he was an illiterate who could neither read nor write among many other signs of the Prophets.
Among these signs is the clear and vivid truth which the Prophets and Messengers brought and which their opponents could not disprove or deny. Rather, their opponents knew that what the Prophets had brought was the truth that could not be resisted.
Among the signs also are perfect conditions, beautiful traits and magnanimous conduct with which Allah distinguished the Prophets.
4. His message should agree in fundamentals with the fundamentals to which all Messengers and Prophets called. (See: Majmoo ‘Fatawa Ibn Taymiyyah Vol. 4 p. 212-213.)
5. He should not call others to the worship of himself or to direct any act of worship to him. He should also not call to the glorification of his tribe or clan. Allah commands His Prophet Muhammad to tell people,
“Say: I do not tell you that with me is the treasure of Allah, nor (that) I know the Unseen; nor I tell you that I am an angel. I but follow what is revealed to me.” (Al-An’am 6:50.)
6. He should not ask from people any of the things of this world as a wage for his mission. Allah says, informing us about His Prophets Noah, Hood, Salih, Loot and Shuaib, that they told their people,
“No reward do I ask of you for it (my message of Islamic Monotheism); my reward is only from the Lord of all that exists.” (Ash-Shuaraa 26:109, 127, 145, 164, 180.)
Prophet Muhammad also told his people,
“No wage do I ask of you for this (the Qur’an), nor am I of those who pretend and fabricate things.” (Sad 38:86.)
These Prophets and Messengers whom I have told you something of their qualities and signs of their prophethood, are many. Allah says,
“And verily, we have sent among every nation a Messenger (proclaiming): Worship Allah (alone) and avoid all false deities.” (An-Nahl 16:36.)
These Messengers have made mankind happy; the history recorded their stories and the injunctions of their religion were repeatedly transmitted, that they are the truth and just. Likewise, repeatedly narrated is the victory with which Allah honoured them and destruction of their enemies, like the destruction of the people of Noah with flood, drowning of Pharaoh, punishment for the people of Loot; and the victory of Muhammad over his enemies and the spread of his religion. Whoever knows this will know certainly that they brought for mankind good and guidance; that they directed them to all that could benefit them and warn them against all that could be harmful. The first of them is Adam and the last is Muhammad.
By Dr. Muhammad bin Abdullah As-Suhaym
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