Day 4

Video Introduction


Welcome to Day 4 of Islam Through its Scriptures.
As we saw in the story of Joseph, the prophets who preceded Muhammad
played a crucial role in the Quran.
From the Quranic perspective, humankind has a shared history.
This is the history of God's communication
with humanity through prophets, extending in a chain from Adam
down to the prophet Muhammad.
According to the Quran, God has sent a prophet to every people,
to every culture.
The prophet Muhammad is reported to have said
that the total number of his prophets was 124,000.
The Quran calls upon its listeners to affirm the truth of all these prophets.
Although each prophet lived in a particular time and place,
and manifested a specific relationship with God,
the Quran describes their messages as being fundamentally the same.
From a Quranic perspective, a Muslim is not
just someone who belongs to the community of Muhammad.
Rather, the Quran uses the word Muslim to indicate anyone
who has submitted to the will of God.
In this sense, all prophets and their followers are Muslim.
This is not to say that understandings of these prophets are the same.
For example, the Quranic depiction of Jesus
is different from the understanding of Jesus held by most Christians today.
The Quran warns against equating Jesus with God himself.
Yet in the Quran, Jesus is nonetheless a word of God, born of the Virgin Mary,
and one of the many prophets sent to humanity.
Today, we look at how the Quran depicts the prophets.
They are warners and givers of good tidings to humanity,
as well as guides to how we should live our lives in accordance
with God's will.
It is not surprising that the Quran gives special attention
to the prophet Muhammad.
We will therefore consider the depiction of Muhammad in the Quran
and explore similarities and differences with its depiction
of the prophets who preceded him.
In thinking about the prophet Muhammad, we introduce another fundamental aspect
of our course, namely that the Quran cannot be properly understood
in isolation.
It has to be read in light of the many contexts in which it
has been interpreted.
In this regard, the figure of Muhammad is crucial.
His sayings and actions are the most important complement
that Muslims have used to understand the divine message in the Quran.
Although all Muslims revere the prophet Muhammad,
they have understood him in diverse ways.
These diverse understandings have impacted
the ways different Muslim communities have interpreted
the Quran across time and place.
As you read the verses that follow, keep in mind
that they can be understood differently depending
on many other aspects of Muslim thought and culture.
We will gradually explore these aspects as the course develops.