READING: PROPHECY IN THE QUR'AN

READING: PROPHECY IN THE QUR'AN

After the Unity of God (tawhīd), prophecy (nubuwwa) is generally considered the second most important teaching of the Quran. This is evident in the Islamic profession of faith, the shahāda: "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God;" to which Shi'i Muslims add, "And 'Ali is the walī (Friend) of God."

You have already encountered an important story involving Joseph and Jacob, who are both considered prophets in the Islamic tradition. The verses below have been selected to extend your knowledge about the Quranic perspective on prophecy, before we turn to the figure of the Prophet Muhammad in particular. 

Note that the terms prophet, messenger, and apostle are used interchangeably in some translations of the Quran. Technically, within the Islamic intellectual tradition there is a distinction made between the roles and functions of a prophet (nabī) and those of a messenger/apostle (rasūl), and a good translation will keep that distinction in the target language. Messenger/apostle (rasūl)  usually refers to prophets who have received revelation in the form of scripture. In the translations below  (by Muhammad Asad), "apostle" is used for rasūl, and "prophet" for nabī. For the sake of this course and the content and discussions that follow, you may elide the understanding of a prophet and an apostle-messenger into a single unit. 

2:253

Some of these apostles have We endowed more highly than others: among them were such as were spoken to by God [Himself], and some He has raised yet higher.' And We vouchsafed unto Jesus, the son of Mary, all evidence of the truth, and strengthened him with holy inspiration.

And if God had so willed, they who succeeded those [apostles] would not have contended with one another after all evidence of the truth had come to them; but [as it was,] they did take to divergent views, and some of them attained to faith, while some of them came to deny the truth. Yet if God had so willed, they would not have contended with one another: but God does whatever He wills.

2:285

THE APOSTLE, and the believers with him, believe in what has been bestowed upon him from on high by his Sustainer: they all believe in God, and His angels, and His revelations, and His apostles, making no distinction between any of His apostles; and they say: "We have heard, and we pay heed. Grant us Your forgiveness, O our Sustainer, for with You is all journeys' end!

21:85-88

85 AND [remember] Ishmael and Idris, and every one who [like them] has pledged himself [unto God]: they all were among those who are patient in adversity,
86 and so We admitted them unto Our grace: behold, they were among the righteous!
87 AND [remember] him of the great fish - when he went off in wrath, thinking that We had no power over him! But then he cried out in the deep darkness [of his distress]: "There is no deity save You! Limitless are You in Your glory! Verily, I have done wrong!"
88 And so We responded unto him and delivered him from [his] distress: for thus do We deliver all who have faith.

6:84-87

84 And We bestowed upon him Isaac and Jacob; and We guided each of them as We had guided Noah aforetime. And out of his offspring, [We bestowed prophethood upon] David, and Solomon, and Job, and Joseph, and Moses, and Aaron: for thus do We reward the doers of good;
85 and [upon] Zachariah, and John, and Jesus, and Elijah: every one of them was of the righteous;86 and [upon] Ishmael, and Elisha, and Jonah, and Lot. And every one of them did We favour above other people;
87 and [We exalted likewise] some of their forefathers and - their offspring and their brethren: We elected them [all], and guided them onto a straight way.

7:73

AND UNTO [the tribe of] Thamud [We sent] their brother Salih. He said: "O my people! Worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Clear evidence of the truth has now come unto you from your Sustainer. This she-camel belonging to God shall be a token for you: so leave her alone to pasture on God's earth, and do her no harm, lest grievous chastisement befall you."

7:85

AND UNTO [the people of] Madyan [We sent] their brother Shu'ayb. He said: "O my people! Worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Clear evidence of the truth has now come unto you from your Sustainer. Give, therefore, full measure and weight [in all your dealings], and do not deprive people of what is rightfully theirs; and do not spread corruption on earth after it has been so well ordered: [all] this is for your own good, if you would but believe.

26:123-127

123 [AND the tribe of] 'Ad gave the lie to [one of God's] message-bearers
124 When their brother Hud said unto them: "Will you not be conscious of God?
125 Behold, I am an apostle [sent by Him] to you, [and therefore] worthy of your trust:
126 be, then, conscious of God, and pay heed unto me!
127 And no reward whatever do I ask of you for it: my reward rests with none but the Sustainer of all the worlds."

42:13

In matters of faith, He has ordained for you that which He had enjoined upon Noah - and into which We gave you [O Muhammad] insight through revelation - as well as that which We had enjoined upon Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus: Steadfastly uphold the [true] faith, and do not break up your unity therein.

[And even though] that [unity of faith] to which thou callest them appears oppressive to those who are wont to ascribe to other beings or forces a share in His divinity, God draws unto Himself everyone who is willing, and guides unto Himself everyone who turns unto Him.