FAQ: Prophets And Muhammad Tuesday, February 21, 2012

PROPHETS

10. How do the stories of the prophets in Islam compare with those in Christianity and Judaism?

That depends on which prophet we are talking about. In many cases, the stories of the prophets in the Qur’an are similar to the stories in the Bible. Some examples include:

• the story of Noah and his ark;
• the story of Abraham and Sarah and the birth of their son Isaac, who is also considered a prophet in the Qur’an;
• the story of Jacob and his twelve sons, including Joseph, who is also considered a prophet in the Qur’an; and
• the most oft-mentioned prophet in the Qur’an, Moses, and the story of his mission in Egypt to rescue his people.

Some of the major differences between the biblical account of some of these prophets and the Qur’an stem from the fact that the Qur’an holds that all prophets were immune from major sins. The stories of the Prophet Jesus are close to the Bible in their descriptions of his virginal birth and miracles but differ sharply in their account of the divinity of Jesus and his crucifixion; the Qur’an states that Jesus was only a man, not divine, and that before the crucifixion Jesus was taken up to heaven and replaced by a person who looked like him.

11. Were there female prophets?

While most Muslim theologians historically consider all the prophets to have been men, some hold the view that there were female prophets, especially in view of the fact that only two dozen of the 124,000* prophets are identified in the Qur’an. Four of the women regarded by these scholars as prophets are Eve, the first female created by God; the mother of Moses, who is not named in the Qur’an; Asiyah, the wife of Pharaoh who in the Qur’an is the one who adopts Moses as her son, as opposed to the daughter of Pharaoh who does so in the Bible; and Mary, the mother of Jesus, because they all received direct divine revelation. In either case, Muslims revere them as among the many righteous and saintly women mentioned in the Qur’an.

*According to one hadith, there were 124,000 prophets; in other hadith, there were 224,000 prophets. Muslims believe every group of people was sent a prophet to convey the message of God.

MUHAMMAD

12. Why do Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad is the final prophet?

Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad is the final prophet on the basis of statements in Islamic scripture, including the following Qur’anic verse: “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of God, and the Seal of the Prophets and God has full knowledge of all things.” (Qur’an, 33:40) There are also various Hadith (prophetic sayings) which designate Muhammad as “the Seal of the Prophets.” Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad was preceded by a long succession of prophets before him that include Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, and Jesus. Muslims believe that all the prophets were sent by God and that some of them foretold the coming of the Prophet Muhammad.

13. Why can’t you display images of the Prophet Muhammad?

The general consensus among scholars is that physical representations of the Prophet Muhammad are discouraged on the grounds that, since the prophets are exemplars, they should not be presented in a manner that either is disrespectful or might lead to idolatry. However, one can find representations of Muhammad and other prophets in different periods of Islamic history, mainly in the form of manuscript illustrations known as Persian miniatures, in which Muhammad’s face is often obscured by light.

14. Why did some Muslims respond with protest and violence against portrayals of Muhammad in cartoons and film?

This question refers to protests, sometimes erupting into lethal violence, as in the 2015 Paris attacks in response to cartoons published in a French satirical weekly and in the 2012 Benghazi attack against two American government facilities in Benghazi, Libya, purportedly in response to the film The Innocence of Muslims which was derogatory to the Prophet Muhammad.

Muslim leaders and organizations worldwide, even in countries that restrict the publication of such offensive material, vigorously condemned these instances of violence. The great majority of Muslim Americans and many Muslims elsewhere affirm the right to freedom of expression.

In addition, it is important to stress that these violent reactions have generally been fueled by political issues that compounded anger at the offensive images. Investigations into the Benghazi attack found that it was in fact long planned by militants, while the Paris attacks were the work of militants who may have been trying to recruit French Muslims to al-Qaeda by creating an incident that would isolate them from other French people. In both cases, the offensive representations served as a pretext.

At the same time, many Muslims find the lack of respect in many secular societies for sacred symbols, regardless of the religion involved, to be offensive. The Prophet Muhammad respected other religions and their sacred symbols, and the Qur’an prohibits reviling the followers of other religions and that which they hold sacred.

15. Jesus was a non-violent reformer while Muhammad fought in wars. Why is there a difference between Jesus and Muhammad in terms of their approach?

Muhammad’s outlook and actions were initially similar to those of Jesus if one compares Muhammad’s strategy during the first part of his mission in Mecca when he, like Jesus, sought change as a non-violent reformer. However, their tactics diverged due to a change in circumstances once Muhammad and his followers were expelled from Mecca and migrated to Medina. While Jesus and his community of believers remained politically powerless throughout his mission, Muhammad in Medina, as the head of a new political community, was required to serve as a political and even military leader as he finally fought back against the Meccans after years of persecution. As the head of the new community in Medina, he also had to deal with internal conspiracies and rebellions in addition to external threats.

This question, as posed, also assumes that there is only one way of looking at these figures, which is misleading. For instance, while Jesus is commonly viewed today as a “non-violent reformer,” this has not always been the case. In his book Jesus through the Centuries, church historian Jaroslav Pelikan depicts and analyzes the varied views of Jesus at different times and in different cultures and devotes a whole chapter to Jesus as both “Prince of Peace” and instigator of divine warfare—sometimes at one and the same time. The representations of Muhammad are likewise varied. In her book The Lives of Muhammad, Kecia Ali writes, “Far from being uniform or non-changing, both non-Muslim and Muslim views of Muhammad have been diverse, multifaceted, and subject to dramatic changes over the centuries.” However, Muslims uniformly love and respect both men not only as prophets and messengers, descended from noble families, but also as exemplars of the most perfect character. Prophet Jesus is described in the Qur’an as one who is “held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and of those nearest to God.” Prophet Muhammad was known even before his prophethood as “al-Ameen,” “the Trustworthy,” and his praiseworthy characteristics and actions are the topic of books (known as Shamail), poems, and songs through the centuries.

16. Why did the Prophet Muhammad marry so many women?

Polygamy was common in seventh-century Arabia, as it has been in many other cultures, especially for a political leader; for instance, the patriarchs in the Hebrew Bible are described as having multiple wives, and the kings of Israel are depicted as having harems numbering in some cases into the hundreds. According to Muslim historians, the Prophet Muhammad’s marriages were contracted to assist needy widows and divorcees and to solidify the nascent community of Muslims by forging alliances among the tribes in and around Medina. In light of the time and place, there was nothing unique or unusual about Muhammad marrying several women. It is also noteworthy that he married a woman fifteen years his senior during his young adulthood and remained in a monogamous relationship with her for twenty-five years until her death when he was nearly fifty years old.

17. Why did the Prophet Muhammad marry a nine-year old? If she was not nine, how old was she?

The actual age of Aisha at the time of her marriage to Muhammad is disputed, but the marriage could not have been consummated until she reached puberty. In many cultures, women are or were married years before a marriage is consummated. The custom of early betrothal and marriage continued until the late 19th and early 20th century in much of the world, including Europe and North America, where there are still many states that allow for underage marriage.

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