Prophethood (Ahmadiyya)
Encyclopedia
The view on the Prophets of God (Arabic
: نبي) in Ahmadiyya Islam differs with that of Christianity
, Orthodox Islam, Zoroastrianism
, Judaism
, and the Baha'i Faith
. Unlike Orthodox Islam
, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
considers the term Messenger (rasul
) and Prophet (nabi
) as being different aspects of the same office of a Khalifatullah [Representative of God on earth]. According to Ahmadiyya belief, the terms encountered in the Qur’an to signify divinely appointed individuals, namely, Warner (Nazir), Prophet (Nabi), Messenger (Rasul), are generally synonymous. Ahmadis however categorise prophets as law-bearing ones and non-lawbearing ones.
to re-establish His Divine Will, that is, for humans to worship Him and to observe the rights of his creation.
Prophets, and the true followers of Prophets, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
have always faced severe opposition and often persecution, especially so in the country/society in which they brought forth their Divine Message. This is in accordance with the history of the Prophets and also with the principle laid out in the Qur’an and parts of the Bible
to this effect.
. They also tell humans to be in service to each other and to humanity at a larger level. Thus, it is only natural that a Prophet’s teaching would include virtues of sympathy, affability, kindness etc. to human beings and in some cases, also to forms of life other than that of humans (animals, the environment etc.)
, inspire humans to such an extent that faith (eiman) translates into practical application of the faith (a’maal). The Prophets ‘magnetize’ and draw humans towards them and as a result of this, true faith – that is, eiman with a’maal (practical application) – is established amongst their followers.
It is written, however, that the ‘magnetism’ which draws forth people that a Prophet displays is for a limited time because, within a somewhat long time period after they die, the magnetism that the Prophet brought becomes less and less until it is absolutely non-existent. Thus, either God immediately appoints a Successor to the Prophet (who may be a Prophet himself) that has died or, after hundreds of years, when the magnetism is virtually non-existent, God sends forth another new Messenger to display that magnetism once more.
It is for this reason that, according to Ahmadiyya belief, followers of all faiths are not drawn to the magnetism of their founding Prophets because that has become non-existent over time. This also applies, according to Ahmadiyya belief, to Orthodox Islam because it has been centuries since the founding Prophet Muhammad
has died and centuries still since Muhammad’s
original Caliphate
had ceased to exist.
was sent by God
as a Prophet to bring back that magnetism that draws forth humans. After he
died in 1908, his first successor was elected and uptill the year 2008, this Ahmadiyya Caliphate, has spanned over a century, seen 5 Caliphs and is continuing, as opposed to the 30 years and 4 Caliphs of the pious Caliphate
of the Prophet Muhammad. However, the Ahmadiyya Caliphate
is seen as a re-establishment and continuation of the first Islamic Caliphate of the Prophet Muhammad and the Ahmadiyya Caliphs as Successors to the Promised Messiah as well as to the Prophet Muhammad
.
The Rightly-Guided Caliphs of Islam (Pious Caliphs and Ahmadiyya Caliphs) are thought to be chosen by God
through the agency of pious believers. The Rightly-Guided Caliphs are considered to be guided by God after their election to this office.
Thus, the present Ahmadiyya Khalifa
, Mirza Masroor Ahmad
and also all other Ahmadiyya Khulafa
are seen as Successors of both the Promised Messiah and Prophet Muhammad
, though human and in no way incarnations of God or any other status which would jeopardize the concept of the Unity of God
(see: Non-Divinity of Prophets). Nor are Ahmadiyya Caliphs thought to be infallible, for Caliphs are lesser than Prophets, and Prophets may also make human errors in judgement.
Ahmadiyya belief dictates that Prophethood is Qudrat Al-Awwal or the First Manifestation of God’s Omnipotence and Rightly-Guided Caliphate (usually taken to mean the Ahmadiyya Caliphate
) is a form of Qudrat Ath-Thaani or the Second Manifestation of God’s Omnipotence.
However, in no way does the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
deem the Ahmadiyya Caliphate to be better than the Pious Caliphate of the Prophet Muhammad because it has spanned a longer time or seen more Caliphs, however.
,who, according to Ahmadiyya belief died and his body is not currently in Heaven right now as according to Orthodox Islamic and Christian
belief). Each Messenger is seen to have been an ordinary human who displayed righteousness and honesty to a degree that was not found even remotely in his society of the time. Then, according to Ahmadiyya belief, God is thought to have selected this pious human and told him his divine station of Prophethood. God would then, invest the Holy Spirit (Arabic: rohil-Quddos) within the newly-appointed Prophet and the Prophet would become a Man/Manifestation of God, though still a human being and not Divine in his own right.
Prophets are not regarded as God, God’s Sons, incarnations of God, or in any other way which would put the Unity of God, the concept of Islamic (tawhid
) or the declaration of faith in jeopardy. The first part of the shahadah, the essential declaration of a Muslim, states: “There is no god but Allah
” and another version of the same is “There is none worthy of worship except Allah
”. The word Allah, according to Ahmadiyya belief, is a personal name of God, is a proper noun and is not a combination or a derivative of any other Arabic words. The second Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Movement made this abundantly clear in his ground-breaking commentary of the Qur'an. He writes: "In the Arabic language, the word Allah is never used for any other thing or being. No other language has a distinctive name for the Supreme Being. The names found in other languages are all attributive or discriptive and are often used in the plural, but the word 'Allah' is never used in the plural number. It is a simple substative, not derived. It is never used as a qualifying word.".
, only in spirituality (literally, “Nearness to God”) does one deserve any honour and that also usually only by God Himself and thus racism, sexism, nationalism and other ideologies such as these are condemned by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
.
The Prophets are seen to have resisted and overcome Satan, which is either Satan taking a corporeal form and inviting them to evil or the metaphorical Satan which is the base desires of humans (i.e. wealth, fame, lust, greed etc.).
The purpose of life, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
, and in principle with the Qur’an, is to worship God
. This worship is in two parts:
1.) Direct Prayer with God to establish communion with Him, Zikr-Illahi (Remembrance of God) and other spiritual exercises.
2.) Service to humanity. As humans are the creatures of God, service to them means that you are in part worshipping God. This service may be on any scale, from being polite or holding the door for people, to being a doctor or establishing/donating to a large humanitarian relief organization.
The only way to worship God completely is to mimic His Divine Attributes (though unlimited, 99 of which are told of in the Qur’an which is the literal Word of God, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
) which are able to be mimicked (i.e. some attributes such as Al-Khaaliq (the Creator) cannot be mimicked by humans). Thus God sends prophets to ease this task for humans because Prophets are those, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
, that have mimicked God’s Attributes and are thus Manifestations of God, or Manifestations of God’s Attributes. They are seen as representatives of God on earth and are invested with His Holy Spirit.
According to Ahmadiyya belief, out of all Prophets which are Manifestations of God, Muhammad
reflected God’s Attributes perfectly and was the Supreme Manifestation of His Attributes or the “Seal of the Prophets” as described in the Qur’an.
“Those who bear the Throne and those who are around it, proclaim the praise of their Lord and believe in Him, and ask forgiveness for those who believe…” (40:8)
The ‘Throne’ signified in this verse by the Arabic
word ‘Arsh means the transcendent Attributes of God (Arabic
: Sifāt Tashbīhiyyah) and thus, the Prophets are the manifestations of the attributes of God, or the Manifestations of God.
This is also shown in that once, Ayesha, the wife of the Prophet Muhammad
, was asked whether Muhammad
or the Qur’an was better. She replied that Muhammad
was the Qur’an personified (Qur’an in the flesh).
In this way, the Biblical quotation referring to Jesus
is shown to mean the same thing:
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)
Thus, as “the Word of God becoming flesh” is applied for both Muhammad
and Jesus
, it signifies that they were metaphorical Manifestations of God, but not actually God or sons/incarnations of God in any way. (see: Non-Divinity of Prophets)
, founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
, to promote inter-faith dialogue and guide seekers of the truth, which is the longest running Muslim English language magazine in the world, elaborates in the Prospectus of its first issue under its first volume (1902) and gives a short overview of the points above concerning Prophets being ‘Manifestations of God’ and ‘Divine Magnetizers’. The Non-Divinity of Prophets, the Mirror Analogy, Sun and Lake Analogy and Prophets as the Reflection of Divine Attributes:
“…how to be enfranchised from the bondage of sin, and how to get out of the impurities of life? There is only one answer to this all-important question. Such a regeneration can only be effected by the one who comes with a magnetism from heaven, who on account of the extreme purity of his soul and the surpassing cleanliness of his heart is metaphorically called a Manifestation of God.
“He (the Prophet) removes the poisonous matters, gives the elixir vitae in their stead, burns the carnal passions and low motives of worldly life and ennobles the soul with the pure and exalted divine morals.”
“Look at the sun and the moon: each new day requires a new appearance of the glorious orb of light.”
“The holy one that rose in the days of Pilate among the Jews (Jesus
) was, no doubt, a sun of righteousness, but only so long as his magnetism attracted the hearts and his light worked a heavenly transformation in the souls of his followers. He is now a sun but one that has passed below the horizon. The radiant light which shone from his face and the brilliant luster which he cast around him is shorn of its beams and grown quite obscure, not the least trace of it being visible among those that call themselves after his name.”
“The holy one that sheds such light is not and cannot be God, but there is no doubt that he is one with God (this is in accordance with John 10:30 of the Bible
where Jesus
stated ‘I and the Father are one’) and his soul is in constant and close communion with God. He is the fountainhead of the divine powers, and the rare and hidden manifestations of the powers of the Almighty which are not generally disclosed, are revealed through him. Such persons are called the manifestations, ‘incarnations’ and representatives of God. In the manifestation of the divine powers they sit on the throne of God’s glory.”
“God is One and without any partner or rival, but persons of this type, the elect of God, whom the world has seen, may be counted by thousands. We may see a single face reflected in a thousand looking-glasses, and yet there are not really a thousand faces but only one face of which there are so many reflections. This world is a grand reflector; in other words, it is a place of glasses for the reflection of the ‘face’ of God and the face of Satan. God, so to speak, stands against some of the mirrors and therefore the ‘image’ of God is seen in them. Against others, Satan makes his appearance and his likeness is consequently witnessed in them. But from these reflections it should not be imagined that the images are so many different gods. There are thousands of the Manifestations of God, and thousands of those of the Devil.”
“God made Adam
in His image and after His likeness, and the Prince of the Devils manifested himself in the person of Cain. The manifestations of the Deity and the Devil have since then been appearing in the world…”
“Every age stands in need of new light and a new representative. Whenever this light grows dim in a people and the influence of a heavenly magnetizer is not felt among them, they bend down solely to the earth and its mean cares. They are carried away by the current of carnal desires and drown in a flood of sins and impurities, unable to get out of it. History bears strong evidence to it.”
, Avesta
, Torah
, Qur’an etc.
Ahmadiyya belief states that some original Holy Scriptures such as the Scrolls of Abraham, are not to be found in contemporary times and that all Holy Scriptures, have undergone some form of interpolation or extraction by the followers of each independent faith and thus they are not reliable today as they were when they were fist revealed.
Only the Qur’an, has not undergone any interpolation/corruption and it is the same Book in its entirety which is exactly as it was when revealed to Muhammad
. It is labeled, like Muhammad’s
status of ‘Seal of the Prophets’ as the ‘Seal of the Books’ (Arabic
: Khatam-ul-Kutub).
(see, Evolution of Religion), are suited for the specific time, place and societal needs of their independent civilizations. Thus, they would differ in minor details but remain with the essential principles of the One World Religion, Islam
, that are, Unity and worship of God and service to humanity and/or all life on earth. Noah
, Moses
and Muhammad
are examples of Law-bearing Prophets. Non law-bearing Prophets/Messengers do not bring forth any new revelation but are followers of a previous revelation given by a Law-bearing Prophet. They are usually Successors (Arabic: Khulafa) of the previous Law-bearing Prophets in which they follow. Sometimes, they are not Successors of previous Prophets and are thus just contemporaries of Law-Bearing Prophets. The Prophets of the Old Testament
(David
, Solomon
etc.) are examples of Successor-Prophets of Moses
and follow his Mosaic Law. Hud
, a Prophet mentioned exclusively in the Qur’an, is an example of a contemporary of a Law-bearing Prophet, who in this case is Noah.
Religion is taught to be progressive and the Prophets reveal teachings either more advanced than their preceding religions or suited for each specific time, place and society. If one were to strip all religions of their innovative teachings, one would find that they are all essentially identical, according to Ahmadiyya belief.
All religions, according to the Ahmadiyya teaching of the Evolution of Religion, were part of Islam
and were revealed in parts like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. But then, according to Ahmadiyya belief, God
fully revealed the whole of Islam, in its perfect form, to Muhammad
. Islam was thus called the ‘Seal of the Religions’ (Arabic
: Khatam-ud-Din) just as Muhammad
was called ‘Seal of the Prophets’.
One of the earliest recorded expressions of this religious perennialism is found in the Bhagavad-Gita, which the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
acknowledges as of Divine origin:
"I come, and go, and come. When Righteousness declines, O Bharata! When Wickedness is strong, I rise, from age to age, and take visible shape, and move a man with men, succouring the good, thrusting the evil back, and setting Virtue on her seat again." (Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter IV)
“And We have, indeed, made mansions of stars in the heaven and have adorned it for beholders.” (15:17)
“Blessed is He Who has made in the heaven mansions of the stars and has placed therein a Lamp producing light and a moon that reflects light.” (25:62)
“…And He created the sun and the moon and the stars – all made subservient by His command…” (7:55)
The above verses of the Qur’an, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
, have many interpretations, one in which the verses reveal key astronomical knowledge about the stars, planets and other celestial bodies. Another interpretation of these verses (and the one used for the subject at hand) made by the Ahmadis is that the universe is the ‘spiritual universe’, the celestial beings (i.e. stars, planets etc.) as the Prophets, the sun as the Prophet Muhammad
and the moon as the Prophet Ahmad
.
The moon is taken to be the Prophet Ahmad
because in every verse above where the moon is signified, the word Qamar is used and that word distinctly means Full Moon (see: ‘Moon of the Prophets’ below).
“By the heaven having mansions of stars. And the Promised Day, And the Witness and he to whom witness is borne.” (85:2-4)
According to the Ahmadiyya interpretation of the above verse, the stars signify Prophets and the ‘Promised Day’ as the day of the coming of the Promised Messiah
(it is also interpreted as the Day of Resurrection). The Witness in this verse signifies Prophet Ahmad
as he was a Shahid (Witness) as all other Prophets were and was a witness to the truth of the ‘one to whom witness is borne’ in this verse, or the Prophet Muhammad
as he was a Mashhud (One to whom witness is made) as all other prophets were.
Rejection of even one of the Prophets, results in the rejection of all prophets, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
.
as the “Seal of the Prophets” (Arabic
: Khatam-un-Nabiyeen). In the Qur’an, he is also known by the term ‘Khatam-ul-Mursaleen’ (Seal of the Envoys). Orthodox Muslims
take this to mean that Muhammad
was the final Prophet and that no prophet after him would be able to come at all. Ahmadis interpret this differently. According to Ahmadiyya belief, Muhammad
is the “Seal of the Prophets” in that his law, as opposed to the nationalist laws of the preceding Prophets, was not aimed at a specific part of the world but to all of mankind, as according to the Qur’an:
“And We have sent thee (Muhammad) not but as a mercy for all peoples.” (21:108)
Thus, Muhammad
was the most perfect Prophet out of all Prophets, and his law, Islam
, was perfect. All religions, according to the Ahmadiyya teaching of the Evolution of Religion, were part of Islam
and were revealed in parts like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. But then, according to Ahmadiyya belief, God
fully revealed the whole of Islam to Muhammad
. This religion was to be the final religion for humans on earth, chosen by God
to establish His Unity.
According to Ahmadiyya belief, thus, non law-bearing prophets may come after Muhammad
but only if they follow his final law of Islam
.
found in the world is in part corrupted and is not the same Islam as was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad
.
For this reason, Prophet Ahmad
came in the 14th Islamic century, according to Ahmadiyya belief, to fulfill prophecies regarding eschatological reformers found in the world religions, as a Prophet and the Promised One of all religions. He was to re-establish true Islam on earth and reveal more fully the truth.
He was called the “Moon of the Prophets” by his wife at his funeral and also in many revelations of his, namely:
“The Moon of the Prophets will arrive and your affair will become manifest”
Ahmadis take this to apply to many verse of the Qur’an, namely:
“By the sun and the time when it begins to radiate, And by thy moon when it follows it (the sun).” (Surah Al-Shams 91:2-3)
According to the following verses, the sun is the Prophet Muhammad
and the moon that follows it is the Prophet Ahmad
. The sun is luminous while the moon is not; it reflects light from the sun. In this verse, the word for ‘moon’ in Arabic is not Hilal as is the word commonly used for ‘moon’ in Arabic and means ‘crescent moon’ but in this verse, the word used is Qamar or ‘Full Moon’. The Full Moon
usually comes on the 14th day of the lunar month and reflects the light of the sun. Thus, according to Ahmadiyya belief, Ahmad
did not create his own law (i.e. ‘light’), reflected the law (i.e. ‘light’) of Muhammad
(who was the sun) as he was a Muslim and did not bring forth a new law and finally, came on the 14th Islamic (lunar) century as the full moon comes on the 14th day of the lunar month.
of the Prophet Muhammad
reveals that “124,000 Prophets” came before his advent . This is in accordance with many Qur’anic verses, namely:
“And there is no people to whom a Warner (Nazir) has not been sent.” (35:25)
“And there is a guide for every people.” (13:8)
“There are no people (in the world) to whom We have not sent a Warner.” (32:25)
Each prophet brought forth a message suited for his own societal needs, time period and specific place on earth, i.e. it is inconceivable that an Australian at the time of Moses
be a Jew.
This is also in accordance with the Qur’anic verse:
“And We sent Messengers before thee among parties of ancient peoples.” (15:11)
In accordance with this Qur’anic principle, there is the following verse of the Qur’an:
“We sent some Messengers whom We have already mentioned to thee and some Messengers whom We have not mentioned to thee” (4:165)
Thus, as the Qur’an only mentions 24 Prophets, these Prophets whom God
has not mentioned in the Qur’an, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
, would be the Prophets of the Bible
not mentioned in the Qur’an and the Founders of the World Religions and other religious personages sent throughout the world.
The Promised Son
who was also the Second Khalifa-tul-Masih of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
writes:
“According to this teaching there has not been a single people at any time in history or anywhere in the world who have not had a warner from God, a teacher, a prophet. According to the Holy Quran there have been prophets at all times and in all countries. India, China, Russia, Afghanistan, parts of Africa, Europe, America - all had prophets according to the theory of divine guidance taught by the Holy Quran. When, therefore, Muslims hear about prophets of other peoples or other countries, they do not deny them. They do not brand them as liars. Muslims believe that other peoples have had their teachers. If other peoples have had prophets, books, and laws, these constitute no difficulty for Islam.” Ahmad
, founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
wrote in his book “A Message of Peace”:
“Our God has never discriminated between one people and another. This is illustrated by the fact that all the potentials and capabilities (Prophets) which have been granted to the Aryans (Hindus) have also been granted to the races inhabiting Arabia, Persia, Syria, China, Japan, Europe and America.”
Ahmad
also wrote within the same book:
“God also made it clear in several places in the Holy Qur’an that His Messengers have been appearing in different lands all over the world. In fact He did not neglect any people or any country.”
“We make no distinction between any of His Messengers.” (Qur’an 2:286)
Sometimes, however, Prophets are ranked higher or lower than other ones, as shown in the Qur’an:
“These Messengers have We exalted some of them above others; among them there are those whom Allah spoke; and some of them He exalted in degrees of rank...” (2:254)
and their respective statuses. There may be other prophets believed in by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
though those may not be written of here, for whatever reason.
and many of these Prophets were very highly ranked, such as Jesus
.
Khalifa-tul-Masih IV
writes in his book Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth
:
“This description of Hinduism (contemporary Hinduism) is in all probability born out of human fancy. Man always interpolates, misconstrues or misappropriates Divine teachings after the prophets have come and gone. No wonder then that the messages of the Hindu prophets were also distorted by the future generations of those who followed. When we suggest that the Vedas must have been interpolated, we do not mean that all the Vedic teachings underwent a complete man-made transformation. This is never permitted to happen to Divine scriptures by God. There is always retained some of the original truth, untouched and unadulterated.”
Adam
is a very important Prophet for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
as he is the initiator of the present Prophetic cycle, which started with him as the first Prophet.
The world has passed through different cycles of creation and civilization, and Adam, the progenitor of the present human race, is only the first link in the present cycle, and not the very first man in God’s
creation, as according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
.
The Muslim mystic, who is taken by many Muslims to be a Mujaddid
(Divine Reformer) of Islam
, Muhyud-Din Ibn Arabi, says that once he saw himself in a dream performing a circuit of the Ka'aba in Mecca
. In the dream a man who claimed to be one of his ancestors appeared before him. Ibn Arabi asked his ancestor, “How long is it since you died?” “More than forty thousand years,” the man replied. Ibn Arabi replied, “But this period is much more than what separates us from Adam
!” The man replied, “Of which Adam are you speaking? About the Adam who is nearest to you or of some other?” “Then I recollected,” says Ibn Arabi, “a saying of the Holy Prophet Muhammad
to the effect that God
had brought into being no less than a hundred thousand Adams, and I said to myself, “Perhaps this man who claims to be an ancestor of mine was one of the previous Adams.””
Thus, Adam
was the first Prophet of the present cycle and there were civilizations (and most probably also Prophets) before him, including what Muhyud-Din Ibn Arabi refers to as “Adams”, which may have been initiators of their respective Prophetic Cycles in ages past before the present Adam
.
According to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
, the story of the Deluge is unique in the sense that some variation of it is to be found in almost all countries of the world. The reason is that when the descendants of Noah
and those of his companions who were the founders of human civilization spread to other lands (as they were more powerful than the people already living there) they either exterminated the indigenous inhabitants or absorbed them. Thus they must have introduced into all the countries they subjugated their own traditions and customs. Subsequently the tradition about the Deluge must also have come to be introduced into other lands. With the lapse of time, however, the immigrants ceased to have any connection with their original home and the catastrophe consequently came to be regarded as a local occurrence, with the results that local names of persons and places came to be substituted for the original names. So the deluge was not a universal visitation, nor should the traditions of different lands be taken to point to separate floods.
Mosaic Period
Apparently, in the Bible
, it states “No man knoweth the sepulcher of Moses unto this day.” (Deuteronomy 34:6). His burial place remains unknown even today to the Jewish and Christian faiths. It is only Islam
which reveals the slightest answer. 2,000 years after the death of Moses
, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
, his “Second Advent” so to speak, the Prophet Muhammad
revealed the whereabouts of the tomb of Moses
. Muhammad
said:
“If I were there I would have shown you his sepulcher, situated near the roadside, at the foot of a russet hued hillock.” (Sahih Al Bukhari
, Vol. 2, 191 Egypt 1932)
This tomb is known to the Muslims as Qabr Nabi Musa or the “Tomb of the Prophet Moses” which is located in Palestine. Dr. Phillip writes in his book:
“The grave of Moses is located between the Dead Sea and Mar Saba. It is marked by the Mosque of Nabi Musa and is a great resort of Muslim pilgrims at the Easter season. I saw a vast picturesque procession passing through St. Stephen’s Gate in Jerusalem to the valley of the Kedron and on the tomb of the Prophet Musa (Moses).” (“Through Bible Lands” page 303 footnote, by Dr. Phillip Schabb, London, James Nisbet & Co., New Edition, September 1888)
This is in accordance with the fact that the tomb of Jesus
remains unknown to the world until about 2,000 years after the death of Jesus
, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
, the “Second Coming
” of Jesus
, the Prophet Ahmad
revealed the location of the tomb of Jesus
. (See: “Jesus” and also “Ahmad”)
The Kingdom Prophets
Northern Kingdom of Israel
Southern Kingdom of Israel
The Prophets in the Period of Restoration
In 586 BC, Jerusalem fell to the people of Babylon
and the Israelites were exiled. In 539 BC the Israelites returned to Jerusalem and started the restoration of the city. In this period, the following Prophets were bestowed upon the Jewish people:
The Silent Years
For 400 years, no known Prophets were bestowed upon the Israelites.
The Christian Era
According to Ahmadiyya
belief, he did not bring forth a new law but rather, was a non law-bearing Prophet in the sense that he followed the Mosaic Law. Jesus
states in the New Testament
:
““I did not come to change the prophets or the law but to fulfill it. Even an iota of the law shall not be added or subtracted.” (Matthew 5:17-18).
He was according to Ahmadiyya
belief, nailed to the cross though he survived death on the cross. He later was in a state of unconsciousness in the sepulcher and came out of the tomb after 3 days and 3 nights, alive. Thus, no resurrection occurred. Then, he visited his companions and traveled East.
Jesus
said:
“"I am not sent hut unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24)
Apparently, out of these 12 lost tribes of Israel, only 2 were in Judea
at the time of Jesus
. The others had long since been exiled to Eastern countries a few hundred years before the birth of Jesus
in countries like Afghanistan
, Kashmir
and India
. As a result of this, many of the local Jews living in those areas had, over time, converted to various polytheistic faiths that were dominant in those regions at the time. Some had also converted to Buddhism
. Thus, Jesus
traveled East to fulfill his mission of preaching to the 12 lost tribes of Israel that he was the Messiah and many Buddhists, upon his arrival to India
, incorporated Jesus’ teaching in their own Scripture. Jesus
, then died, according the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
, at the age of 120 and was buried in Srinigar within Kashmir
. His tomb is to be found uptill this day (www.tombofjesus.com)
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
, founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
wrote in his book “A Message of Peace”:
“Our God has never discriminated between one people and another. This is illustrated by the fact that all the potentials and capabilities (Prophets) which have been granted to the Aryans (Indians) have also been granted to the races inhabiting Arabia, Persia, Syria, China, Japan, Europe and America.”
“India, China, Russia, Afghanistan, parts of Africa, Europe, America - all had prophets according to the theory of divine guidance taught by the Holy Qur’an.”
The Promised Son
wrote:
“India, China, Russia, Afghanistan, parts of Africa, Europe, America - all had prophets according to the theory of divine guidance taught by the Holy Qur’an.”
“And We sent Messengers before thee among parties of ancient peoples.” (15:11)
The Promised Son
wrote:
“India, China, Russia, Afghanistan, parts of Africa, Europe, America - all had prophets according to the theory of divine guidance taught by the Holy Qur’an.”
, founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
wrote in his book “A Message of Peace”:
“Our God has never discriminated between one people and another. This is illustrated by the fact that all the potentials and capabilities (Prophets) which have been granted to the Aryans (Hindus) have also been granted to the races inhabiting Arabia, Persia, Syria, China, Japan, Europe and America.”
The Promised Son
wrote:
“India, China, Russia, Afghanistan, parts of Africa, Europe, America - all had prophets according to the theory of divine guidance taught by the Holy Qur’an.”
“And We sent Messengers before thee among parties of ancient peoples.” (15:11)
Socrates
(469-399 BC) gave an emphasis on ethics
and the acquisition of knowledge
. He is considered to be a monotheist as he always referred to God
as "the God" (the singular form) as opposed to the other Greeks who always said "the gods". He was moreover, persecuted as all other Prophets and sentenced to death (like Jesus
). Although a patriot and a man of deep religious conviction, Socrates
was nonetheless regarded with suspicion by many of his contemporaries, who disliked his attitude toward the Athenian state and the established religion of Greek Mythology
. He was charged in 399 BC with neglecting the gods of the state and introducing new divinities, a reference to the daemonion, or “mystical inner voice”, to which Socrates
often referred. He always acted upon this inner voice and this could be reference to the application of revelation
. His students and contemporaries tried to save him from death, but Socrates
preferred to die for his cause, that is, the belief in One God Who had sent him revelation
. He was also charged with “corrupting the minds of the youth” which would sound like a charge made against a Prophet as Prophets introduce ideas not found in the societies in which they project their respective message.
wrote:
“India, China, Russia, Afghanistan, parts of Africa, Europe, America - all had prophets according to the theory of divine guidance taught by the Holy Qur’an.”
Ahmad
, founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
wrote in his book “A Message of Peace”:
“Our God has never discriminated between one people and another. This is illustrated by the fact that all the potentials and capabilities (Prophets) which have been granted to the Aryans (Hindus) have also been granted to the races inhabiting Arabia, Persia, Syria, China, Japan, Europe and America.”
, Fourth Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
believed that Prophets had projected the message of One Supreme Creator amongst all tribes of the Aborigine
people in Australia
. Though secluded from each other, they were all united in the belief of this One God. Mirza Tahir Ahmad
elaborates in the chapter called “The Concept of God among the Aborigines of Australia” in his book “Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth
”:
“The central idea of one eternal Supreme Creator remains unadulterated by whatever other superstitions they may have entertained. The superstitions change from tribe to tribe, but not their belief in one God…
…The Wiimbaio tribe, for instance, believed that while engaged in the process of the creation of earth, God remained close at hand but having finished His work He ascended back to the loftiness of the constellations. Similarly, the Wotjobaluk tribe believed Bunjil to be a Supreme Being, who once lived on the earth as a great man but eventually ascended to the sky. (Similar to the Prophet Jesus
)”
Also, the Aborigine
tribes in Australia
have an essential teaching of “dreams” in their faith. Mirza Tahir Ahmad
states:
“A tradition of the Holy Prophet, is worthy of note here because it speaks of Divine dreams to be one-fortieth part of prophethood.”
Again, he writes:
“Moreover, no power of creation whatsoever is attributed to these mythical figures, hence they cannot be perceived as sharing Divinity with High Gods, the only Creator. Again it is quite likely that this belief may have been wrongly categorized as mythical. It may well have been a slightly changed version of the paradise concept common to all major Divinely revealed religions. The description of the Supreme Dweller of paradise being emu-footed and that of His wife and children as dog-footed are the only foreign elements to the concept of paradise found elsewhere, otherwise the same Eden-like gardens, eternally green, abounding in fruits and vegetables, with no fear of drought etc., are very close to metaphoric description of paradise presented by the Holy Qur’an.”
The Messiah, Ahmad
also revealed the whereabouts of the tomb of Jesus
after about 2,000 years just as Muhammad
had revealed the whereabouts of the tomb of Moses
after about 2,000 years. (see: “Moses”, above)
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: نبي) in Ahmadiyya Islam differs with that of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, Orthodox Islam, Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...
, Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and the Baha'i Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
. Unlike Orthodox Islam
Prophets of Islam
Muslims identify the Prophets of Islam as those humans chosen by God and given revelation to deliver to mankind. Muslims believe that every prophet was given a belief to worship God and their respective followers believed it as well...
, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
considers the term Messenger (rasul
Rasul
In Islam, an Apostle or Messenger is a prophet sent by God.According to the Qur'an, God sent many prophets to mankind. The five universally acknowledged messengers in Islam are Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad, as each is believed to have been sent with a scripture...
) and Prophet (nabi
Prophets of Islam
Muslims identify the Prophets of Islam as those humans chosen by God and given revelation to deliver to mankind. Muslims believe that every prophet was given a belief to worship God and their respective followers believed it as well...
) as being different aspects of the same office of a Khalifatullah [Representative of God on earth]. According to Ahmadiyya belief, the terms encountered in the Qur’an to signify divinely appointed individuals, namely, Warner (Nazir), Prophet (Nabi), Messenger (Rasul), are generally synonymous. Ahmadis however categorise prophets as law-bearing ones and non-lawbearing ones.
Definition
Ahmadis believe that when the world is filled with unrighteousness and immorality, or rather, when a specific part of the world displays these attributes, or when the followers of a certain law (religion) become corrupt or incorporate innovative and corrupted teachings into the faith (Bid‘ah), thus making the faith obsolete or in need of a Divine Sustainer, then a Prophet of God is sent to Earth by GodGod
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
to re-establish His Divine Will, that is, for humans to worship Him and to observe the rights of his creation.
Prophets, and the true followers of Prophets, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
have always faced severe opposition and often persecution, especially so in the country/society in which they brought forth their Divine Message. This is in accordance with the history of the Prophets and also with the principle laid out in the Qur’an and parts of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
to this effect.
Purpose of Prophets
The Prophets, according to Ahmadiyya belief, establish a living relationship with God among humans and project a strong message of monotheismMonotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...
. They also tell humans to be in service to each other and to humanity at a larger level. Thus, it is only natural that a Prophet’s teaching would include virtues of sympathy, affability, kindness etc. to human beings and in some cases, also to forms of life other than that of humans (animals, the environment etc.)
Prophets as Divine Magnetizers
The Prophets, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityAhmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
, inspire humans to such an extent that faith (eiman) translates into practical application of the faith (a’maal). The Prophets ‘magnetize’ and draw humans towards them and as a result of this, true faith – that is, eiman with a’maal (practical application) – is established amongst their followers.
It is written, however, that the ‘magnetism’ which draws forth people that a Prophet displays is for a limited time because, within a somewhat long time period after they die, the magnetism that the Prophet brought becomes less and less until it is absolutely non-existent. Thus, either God immediately appoints a Successor to the Prophet (who may be a Prophet himself) that has died or, after hundreds of years, when the magnetism is virtually non-existent, God sends forth another new Messenger to display that magnetism once more.
It is for this reason that, according to Ahmadiyya belief, followers of all faiths are not drawn to the magnetism of their founding Prophets because that has become non-existent over time. This also applies, according to Ahmadiyya belief, to Orthodox Islam because it has been centuries since the founding Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
has died and centuries still since Muhammad’s
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
original Caliphate
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
had ceased to exist.
Caliphate
Thus, according to Ahmadiyya belief, the Promised MessiahMirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
was sent by God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
as a Prophet to bring back that magnetism that draws forth humans. After he
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
died in 1908, his first successor was elected and uptill the year 2008, this Ahmadiyya Caliphate, has spanned over a century, seen 5 Caliphs and is continuing, as opposed to the 30 years and 4 Caliphs of the pious Caliphate
Rashidun
The Rightly Guided Caliphs or The Righteous Caliphs is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the first four Caliphs who established the Rashidun Caliphate. The concept of "Rightly Guided Caliphs" originated with the Abbasid Dynasty...
of the Prophet Muhammad. However, the Ahmadiyya Caliphate
Khalifatul Masih
Khalifatul Masih sometimes simply referred to as Khalifah is the elected spiritual leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and is the successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian...
is seen as a re-establishment and continuation of the first Islamic Caliphate of the Prophet Muhammad and the Ahmadiyya Caliphs as Successors to the Promised Messiah as well as to the Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
.
The Rightly-Guided Caliphs of Islam (Pious Caliphs and Ahmadiyya Caliphs) are thought to be chosen by God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
through the agency of pious believers. The Rightly-Guided Caliphs are considered to be guided by God after their election to this office.
Thus, the present Ahmadiyya Khalifa
Khalifatul Masih
Khalifatul Masih sometimes simply referred to as Khalifah is the elected spiritual leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and is the successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian...
, Mirza Masroor Ahmad
Mirza Masroor Ahmad
His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad is Khalifatul Masih V, the spiritual leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He was elected as the fifth successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on April 22, 2003, a few days after the death of his predecessor Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the fourth Caliph for the Ahmadiiya...
and also all other Ahmadiyya Khulafa
Khalifatul Masih
Khalifatul Masih sometimes simply referred to as Khalifah is the elected spiritual leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and is the successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian...
are seen as Successors of both the Promised Messiah and Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
, though human and in no way incarnations of God or any other status which would jeopardize the concept of the Unity of God
Tawhid
Tawhid is the concept of monotheism in Islam. It is the religion's most fundamental concept and holds God is one and unique ....
(see: Non-Divinity of Prophets). Nor are Ahmadiyya Caliphs thought to be infallible, for Caliphs are lesser than Prophets, and Prophets may also make human errors in judgement.
Ahmadiyya belief dictates that Prophethood is Qudrat Al-Awwal or the First Manifestation of God’s Omnipotence and Rightly-Guided Caliphate (usually taken to mean the Ahmadiyya Caliphate
Khalifatul Masih
Khalifatul Masih sometimes simply referred to as Khalifah is the elected spiritual leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and is the successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian...
) is a form of Qudrat Ath-Thaani or the Second Manifestation of God’s Omnipotence.
However, in no way does the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
deem the Ahmadiyya Caliphate to be better than the Pious Caliphate of the Prophet Muhammad because it has spanned a longer time or seen more Caliphs, however.
Non-Divinity of Prophets
The Prophets of God are not seen as incarnations of God but are seen as mortal humans, as they have all died, according to Ahmadiyya belief (including JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
,who, according to Ahmadiyya belief died and his body is not currently in Heaven right now as according to Orthodox Islamic and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
belief). Each Messenger is seen to have been an ordinary human who displayed righteousness and honesty to a degree that was not found even remotely in his society of the time. Then, according to Ahmadiyya belief, God is thought to have selected this pious human and told him his divine station of Prophethood. God would then, invest the Holy Spirit (Arabic: rohil-Quddos) within the newly-appointed Prophet and the Prophet would become a Man/Manifestation of God, though still a human being and not Divine in his own right.
Prophets are not regarded as God, God’s Sons, incarnations of God, or in any other way which would put the Unity of God, the concept of Islamic (tawhid
Tawhid
Tawhid is the concept of monotheism in Islam. It is the religion's most fundamental concept and holds God is one and unique ....
) or the declaration of faith in jeopardy. The first part of the shahadah, the essential declaration of a Muslim, states: “There is no god but Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
” and another version of the same is “There is none worthy of worship except Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
”. The word Allah, according to Ahmadiyya belief, is a personal name of God, is a proper noun and is not a combination or a derivative of any other Arabic words. The second Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Movement made this abundantly clear in his ground-breaking commentary of the Qur'an. He writes: "In the Arabic language, the word Allah is never used for any other thing or being. No other language has a distinctive name for the Supreme Being. The names found in other languages are all attributive or discriptive and are often used in the plural, but the word 'Allah' is never used in the plural number. It is a simple substative, not derived. It is never used as a qualifying word."
Reflections of Divine Attributes
Although Prophets are regarded as human beings, they are seen as having attained the highest rank of spirituality among all humans. According to the Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityAhmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
, only in spirituality (literally, “Nearness to God”) does one deserve any honour and that also usually only by God Himself and thus racism, sexism, nationalism and other ideologies such as these are condemned by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
.
The Prophets are seen to have resisted and overcome Satan, which is either Satan taking a corporeal form and inviting them to evil or the metaphorical Satan which is the base desires of humans (i.e. wealth, fame, lust, greed etc.).
The purpose of life, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
, and in principle with the Qur’an, is to worship God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. This worship is in two parts:
1.) Direct Prayer with God to establish communion with Him, Zikr-Illahi (Remembrance of God) and other spiritual exercises.
2.) Service to humanity. As humans are the creatures of God, service to them means that you are in part worshipping God. This service may be on any scale, from being polite or holding the door for people, to being a doctor or establishing/donating to a large humanitarian relief organization.
The only way to worship God completely is to mimic His Divine Attributes (though unlimited, 99 of which are told of in the Qur’an which is the literal Word of God, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
) which are able to be mimicked (i.e. some attributes such as Al-Khaaliq (the Creator) cannot be mimicked by humans). Thus God sends prophets to ease this task for humans because Prophets are those, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
, that have mimicked God’s Attributes and are thus Manifestations of God, or Manifestations of God’s Attributes. They are seen as representatives of God on earth and are invested with His Holy Spirit.
According to Ahmadiyya belief, out of all Prophets which are Manifestations of God, Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
reflected God’s Attributes perfectly and was the Supreme Manifestation of His Attributes or the “Seal of the Prophets” as described in the Qur’an.
Manifestations of God
Prophets are viewed as ‘representatives’ of God. This is in accordance with the following Qur’anic verse:“Those who bear the Throne and those who are around it, proclaim the praise of their Lord and believe in Him, and ask forgiveness for those who believe…” (40:8)
The ‘Throne’ signified in this verse by the Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
word ‘Arsh means the transcendent Attributes of God (Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: Sifāt Tashbīhiyyah) and thus, the Prophets are the manifestations of the attributes of God, or the Manifestations of God.
This is also shown in that once, Ayesha, the wife of the Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
, was asked whether Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
or the Qur’an was better. She replied that Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
was the Qur’an personified (Qur’an in the flesh).
In this way, the Biblical quotation referring to Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
is shown to mean the same thing:
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)
Thus, as “the Word of God becoming flesh” is applied for both Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
and Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, it signifies that they were metaphorical Manifestations of God, but not actually God or sons/incarnations of God in any way. (see: Non-Divinity of Prophets)
Ahmadiyya Writings
The Review of Religions, a magazine started by Mirza Ghulam AhmadMirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
, founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
, to promote inter-faith dialogue and guide seekers of the truth, which is the longest running Muslim English language magazine in the world, elaborates in the Prospectus of its first issue under its first volume (1902) and gives a short overview of the points above concerning Prophets being ‘Manifestations of God’ and ‘Divine Magnetizers’. The Non-Divinity of Prophets, the Mirror Analogy, Sun and Lake Analogy and Prophets as the Reflection of Divine Attributes:
“…how to be enfranchised from the bondage of sin, and how to get out of the impurities of life? There is only one answer to this all-important question. Such a regeneration can only be effected by the one who comes with a magnetism from heaven, who on account of the extreme purity of his soul and the surpassing cleanliness of his heart is metaphorically called a Manifestation of God.
“He (the Prophet) removes the poisonous matters, gives the elixir vitae in their stead, burns the carnal passions and low motives of worldly life and ennobles the soul with the pure and exalted divine morals.”
“Look at the sun and the moon: each new day requires a new appearance of the glorious orb of light.”
“The holy one that rose in the days of Pilate among the Jews (Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
) was, no doubt, a sun of righteousness, but only so long as his magnetism attracted the hearts and his light worked a heavenly transformation in the souls of his followers. He is now a sun but one that has passed below the horizon. The radiant light which shone from his face and the brilliant luster which he cast around him is shorn of its beams and grown quite obscure, not the least trace of it being visible among those that call themselves after his name.”
“The holy one that sheds such light is not and cannot be God, but there is no doubt that he is one with God (this is in accordance with John 10:30 of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
where Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
stated ‘I and the Father are one’) and his soul is in constant and close communion with God. He is the fountainhead of the divine powers, and the rare and hidden manifestations of the powers of the Almighty which are not generally disclosed, are revealed through him. Such persons are called the manifestations, ‘incarnations’ and representatives of God. In the manifestation of the divine powers they sit on the throne of God’s glory.”
“God is One and without any partner or rival, but persons of this type, the elect of God, whom the world has seen, may be counted by thousands. We may see a single face reflected in a thousand looking-glasses, and yet there are not really a thousand faces but only one face of which there are so many reflections. This world is a grand reflector; in other words, it is a place of glasses for the reflection of the ‘face’ of God and the face of Satan. God, so to speak, stands against some of the mirrors and therefore the ‘image’ of God is seen in them. Against others, Satan makes his appearance and his likeness is consequently witnessed in them. But from these reflections it should not be imagined that the images are so many different gods. There are thousands of the Manifestations of God, and thousands of those of the Devil.”
“God made Adam
Adam
Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
in His image and after His likeness, and the Prince of the Devils manifested himself in the person of Cain. The manifestations of the Deity and the Devil have since then been appearing in the world…”
“Every age stands in need of new light and a new representative. Whenever this light grows dim in a people and the influence of a heavenly magnetizer is not felt among them, they bend down solely to the earth and its mean cares. They are carried away by the current of carnal desires and drown in a flood of sins and impurities, unable to get out of it. History bears strong evidence to it.”
Prophet’s Relation to Divine Scriptures
God would, according to Ahmadiyya belief, reveal the Prophet some knowledge of the unseen if He so wills, tell the Prophet to project his message across the people of his society, tell the Prophet to establish a gathering of his followers and continuously give the Prophet revelation expressing His Divine Will. Some, most or all of the revelation given to a Prophet is sometimes recorded as a Holy Scripture and thus, Ahmadis also believe in all those Books regarded as such, i.e. the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, Avesta
Avesta
The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.-Early transmission:The texts of the Avesta — which are all in the Avestan language — were composed over the course of several hundred years. The most important portion, the Gathas,...
, Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, Qur’an etc.
Ahmadiyya belief states that some original Holy Scriptures such as the Scrolls of Abraham, are not to be found in contemporary times and that all Holy Scriptures, have undergone some form of interpolation or extraction by the followers of each independent faith and thus they are not reliable today as they were when they were fist revealed.
Only the Qur’an, has not undergone any interpolation/corruption and it is the same Book in its entirety which is exactly as it was when revealed to Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. It is labeled, like Muhammad’s
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
status of ‘Seal of the Prophets’ as the ‘Seal of the Books’ (Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: Khatam-ul-Kutub).
Law-Bearing and Non Law-Bearing Prophets
Prophets are divided into either ‘law-bearing’ or ‘non law-bearing’ categories. Law-bearing Prophets are known as those Prophets/Messengers that brought forth a new revelation by God, and a new Holy Scripture, thus often making the previous religion obsolete. Their laws, though essentially all part of the One and only religion by God, IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
(see, Evolution of Religion), are suited for the specific time, place and societal needs of their independent civilizations. Thus, they would differ in minor details but remain with the essential principles of the One World Religion, Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, that are, Unity and worship of God and service to humanity and/or all life on earth. Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
, Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
are examples of Law-bearing Prophets. Non law-bearing Prophets/Messengers do not bring forth any new revelation but are followers of a previous revelation given by a Law-bearing Prophet. They are usually Successors (Arabic: Khulafa) of the previous Law-bearing Prophets in which they follow. Sometimes, they are not Successors of previous Prophets and are thus just contemporaries of Law-Bearing Prophets. The Prophets of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
(David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
, Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
etc.) are examples of Successor-Prophets of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and follow his Mosaic Law. Hud
Hud (prophet)
Hud is the name of a prophet of ancient Arabia, who is mentioned in the Qur'an. The eleventh chapter of the Qur'an, Hud, is named after him, though the narrative of Hud comprises only a small portion of the chapter.-Historical context:...
, a Prophet mentioned exclusively in the Qur’an, is an example of a contemporary of a Law-bearing Prophet, who in this case is Noah.
Religious Evolution
The Ahmadiyya Writings reveal that Prophets have always been sent by God in the past to all nations of the world, as part of the single religion from God, which is Islam.Religion is taught to be progressive and the Prophets reveal teachings either more advanced than their preceding religions or suited for each specific time, place and society. If one were to strip all religions of their innovative teachings, one would find that they are all essentially identical, according to Ahmadiyya belief.
All religions, according to the Ahmadiyya teaching of the Evolution of Religion, were part of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and were revealed in parts like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. But then, according to Ahmadiyya belief, God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
fully revealed the whole of Islam, in its perfect form, to Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. Islam was thus called the ‘Seal of the Religions’ (Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: Khatam-ud-Din) just as Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
was called ‘Seal of the Prophets’.
One of the earliest recorded expressions of this religious perennialism is found in the Bhagavad-Gita, which the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
acknowledges as of Divine origin:
"I come, and go, and come. When Righteousness declines, O Bharata! When Wickedness is strong, I rise, from age to age, and take visible shape, and move a man with men, succouring the good, thrusting the evil back, and setting Virtue on her seat again." (Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter IV)
Prophets as Celestial Beings
“We have adorned the lowest heaven with an adornment – the planets.” (37:7)“And We have, indeed, made mansions of stars in the heaven and have adorned it for beholders.” (15:17)
“Blessed is He Who has made in the heaven mansions of the stars and has placed therein a Lamp producing light and a moon that reflects light.” (25:62)
“…And He created the sun and the moon and the stars – all made subservient by His command…” (7:55)
The above verses of the Qur’an, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
, have many interpretations, one in which the verses reveal key astronomical knowledge about the stars, planets and other celestial bodies. Another interpretation of these verses (and the one used for the subject at hand) made by the Ahmadis is that the universe is the ‘spiritual universe’, the celestial beings (i.e. stars, planets etc.) as the Prophets, the sun as the Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
and the moon as the Prophet Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
.
The moon is taken to be the Prophet Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
because in every verse above where the moon is signified, the word Qamar is used and that word distinctly means Full Moon (see: ‘Moon of the Prophets’ below).
“By the heaven having mansions of stars. And the Promised Day, And the Witness and he to whom witness is borne.” (85:2-4)
According to the Ahmadiyya interpretation of the above verse, the stars signify Prophets and the ‘Promised Day’ as the day of the coming of the Promised Messiah
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
(it is also interpreted as the Day of Resurrection). The Witness in this verse signifies Prophet Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
as he was a Shahid (Witness) as all other Prophets were and was a witness to the truth of the ‘one to whom witness is borne’ in this verse, or the Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
as he was a Mashhud (One to whom witness is made) as all other prophets were.
Rejection of even one of the Prophets, results in the rejection of all prophets, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
.
Seal of the Prophets
The Qur’an refers to MuhammadMuhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
as the “Seal of the Prophets” (Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: Khatam-un-Nabiyeen). In the Qur’an, he is also known by the term ‘Khatam-ul-Mursaleen’ (Seal of the Envoys). Orthodox Muslims
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
take this to mean that Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
was the final Prophet and that no prophet after him would be able to come at all. Ahmadis interpret this differently. According to Ahmadiyya belief, Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
is the “Seal of the Prophets” in that his law, as opposed to the nationalist laws of the preceding Prophets, was not aimed at a specific part of the world but to all of mankind, as according to the Qur’an:
“And We have sent thee (Muhammad) not but as a mercy for all peoples.” (21:108)
Thus, Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
was the most perfect Prophet out of all Prophets, and his law, Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, was perfect. All religions, according to the Ahmadiyya teaching of the Evolution of Religion, were part of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and were revealed in parts like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. But then, according to Ahmadiyya belief, God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
fully revealed the whole of Islam to Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. This religion was to be the final religion for humans on earth, chosen by God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
to establish His Unity.
According to Ahmadiyya belief, thus, non law-bearing prophets may come after Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
but only if they follow his final law of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
Moon of the Prophets
As according to Ahmadiyya belief, Islam was the final and perfect religion for man, this religion, as all other religions, underwent corruption over-time. Thus, according to Ahmadiyya belief, contemporary IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
found in the world is in part corrupted and is not the same Islam as was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
.
For this reason, Prophet Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
came in the 14th Islamic century, according to Ahmadiyya belief, to fulfill prophecies regarding eschatological reformers found in the world religions, as a Prophet and the Promised One of all religions. He was to re-establish true Islam on earth and reveal more fully the truth.
He was called the “Moon of the Prophets” by his wife at his funeral and also in many revelations of his, namely:
“The Moon of the Prophets will arrive and your affair will become manifest”
Ahmadis take this to apply to many verse of the Qur’an, namely:
“By the sun and the time when it begins to radiate, And by thy moon when it follows it (the sun).” (Surah Al-Shams 91:2-3)
According to the following verses, the sun is the Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
and the moon that follows it is the Prophet Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
. The sun is luminous while the moon is not; it reflects light from the sun. In this verse, the word for ‘moon’ in Arabic is not Hilal as is the word commonly used for ‘moon’ in Arabic and means ‘crescent moon’ but in this verse, the word used is Qamar or ‘Full Moon’. The Full Moon
Full Moon
Full moon is a lunar phase.Full Moon may also refer to:- Literature :* Full Moon , a novel by P. G. Wodehouse* Full Moon o Sagashite or Full Moon, a manga* Full Moon Press, an American small-press publisher...
usually comes on the 14th day of the lunar month and reflects the light of the sun. Thus, according to Ahmadiyya belief, Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
did not create his own law (i.e. ‘light’), reflected the law (i.e. ‘light’) of Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
(who was the sun) as he was a Muslim and did not bring forth a new law and finally, came on the 14th Islamic (lunar) century as the full moon comes on the 14th day of the lunar month.
Prophets Sent to All Nations
A HadithHadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
of the Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
reveals that “124,000 Prophets” came before his advent . This is in accordance with many Qur’anic verses, namely:
“And there is no people to whom a Warner (Nazir) has not been sent.” (35:25)
“And there is a guide for every people.” (13:8)
“There are no people (in the world) to whom We have not sent a Warner.” (32:25)
Each prophet brought forth a message suited for his own societal needs, time period and specific place on earth, i.e. it is inconceivable that an Australian at the time of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
be a Jew.
This is also in accordance with the Qur’anic verse:
“And We sent Messengers before thee among parties of ancient peoples.” (15:11)
In accordance with this Qur’anic principle, there is the following verse of the Qur’an:
“We sent some Messengers whom We have already mentioned to thee and some Messengers whom We have not mentioned to thee” (4:165)
Thus, as the Qur’an only mentions 24 Prophets, these Prophets whom God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
has not mentioned in the Qur’an, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
, would be the Prophets of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
not mentioned in the Qur’an and the Founders of the World Religions and other religious personages sent throughout the world.
The Promised Son
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad , was Khalifatul Masih II, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife, Nusrat Jehan Begum...
who was also the Second Khalifa-tul-Masih of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
writes:
“According to this teaching there has not been a single people at any time in history or anywhere in the world who have not had a warner from God, a teacher, a prophet. According to the Holy Quran there have been prophets at all times and in all countries. India, China, Russia, Afghanistan, parts of Africa, Europe, America - all had prophets according to the theory of divine guidance taught by the Holy Quran. When, therefore, Muslims hear about prophets of other peoples or other countries, they do not deny them. They do not brand them as liars. Muslims believe that other peoples have had their teachers. If other peoples have had prophets, books, and laws, these constitute no difficulty for Islam.” Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
, founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
wrote in his book “A Message of Peace”:
“Our God has never discriminated between one people and another. This is illustrated by the fact that all the potentials and capabilities (Prophets) which have been granted to the Aryans (Hindus) have also been granted to the races inhabiting Arabia, Persia, Syria, China, Japan, Europe and America.”
Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
also wrote within the same book:
“God also made it clear in several places in the Holy Qur’an that His Messengers have been appearing in different lands all over the world. In fact He did not neglect any people or any country.”
Unity of Prophethood
All prophets are regarded as the One and of having the same essential message and disbelief in one of the Prophets is tantamount to disbelief in all of the Prophets.“We make no distinction between any of His Messengers.” (Qur’an 2:286)
Sometimes, however, Prophets are ranked higher or lower than other ones, as shown in the Qur’an:
“These Messengers have We exalted some of them above others; among them there are those whom Allah spoke; and some of them He exalted in degrees of rank...” (2:254)
List of Prophets
Here is a list of Prophets believed in by the Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityAhmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
and their respective statuses. There may be other prophets believed in by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
though those may not be written of here, for whatever reason.
Asia
The greatest concentration of Prophets in the world came/brought forth messages to AsiaAsia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and many of these Prophets were very highly ranked, such as Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
.
India
- KrishnaKrishnaKrishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
, A Prophet (he brought revelation but was not the founder of HinduismHinduismHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
) and greatest law-bearing Prophet of HinduismHinduismHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
. He was a monotheist but later, his teachings became corrupted. This is apparent as HinduismHinduismHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
is considered by many to be the oldest religion on earth so it would have the most time, in the myriad of religions, to undergo interpolations, eventually leading to idolatry. Some parts of the VedasVedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
(Holy Hindu Scripture) however, remained intact and did not go through any interpolation as GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityAhmadiyya Muslim CommunityThe Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
, never allows a Scripture to be fully interpolated.
Khalifa-tul-Masih IV
Mirza Tahir Ahmad
Mirza Tahir Ahmad was Khalifatul Masih IV, Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and fourth successor to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad...
writes in his book Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth
Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth
Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth is a book written by Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the fourth Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. It was published in 1998, originally written in English, and subsequently translated into the Urdu and Arabic. The book explores religious thought throughout...
:
“This description of Hinduism (contemporary Hinduism) is in all probability born out of human fancy. Man always interpolates, misconstrues or misappropriates Divine teachings after the prophets have come and gone. No wonder then that the messages of the Hindu prophets were also distorted by the future generations of those who followed. When we suggest that the Vedas must have been interpolated, we do not mean that all the Vedic teachings underwent a complete man-made transformation. This is never permitted to happen to Divine scriptures by God. There is always retained some of the original truth, untouched and unadulterated.”
- Rama ChandraRamaRama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
, non law-bearing Prophet. - The HinduHinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
RishiRishiRishi denotes the composers of Vedic hymns. However, according to post-Vedic tradition, the rishi is a "seer" to whom the Vedas were "originally revealed" through states of higher consciousness. The rishis were prominent when Vedic Hinduism took shape, as far back as some three thousand years...
s, though not considered as Prophets are considered pious saints. - BuddhaGautama BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
, considered a Prophet, known as Siddhartha Gautama Buddha. He was not an atheist, but a monotheist and believed in Heaven and Hell and also the Devil, according to the Mirza Ghulam AhmadMirza Ghulam AhmadMīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
.
Mesopotamia
- AdamAdamAdam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
, (6,000 BC) law-bearing Prophet who was the first prophet of this Prophetic Cycle, that is, the first time in the present Prophetic Cycle (which includes ZoroasterZoroasterZoroaster , also known as Zarathustra , was a prophet and the founder of Zoroastrianism who was either born in North Western or Eastern Iran. He is credited with the authorship of the Yasna Haptanghaiti as well as the Gathas, hymns which are at the liturgical core of Zoroastrianism...
, KrishnaKrishnaKrishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
, MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
) that GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
wished to express His Divine Will through revelation. AdamAdamAdam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
is not believed in by the Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityAhmadiyya Muslim CommunityThe Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
to have been the first human on earth as that would be contradictory to the theory of evolutionEvolutionEvolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
, in which it believes. Many civilizations and stages of the evolution of life passed before him. He lived only about 6,000 years ago.
Adam
Adam
Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
is a very important Prophet for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
as he is the initiator of the present Prophetic cycle, which started with him as the first Prophet.
The world has passed through different cycles of creation and civilization, and Adam, the progenitor of the present human race, is only the first link in the present cycle, and not the very first man in God’s
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
creation, as according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
.
The Muslim mystic, who is taken by many Muslims to be a Mujaddid
Mujaddid
A Mujaddid , according to the popular Muslim tradition, refers to a person who appears at the turn of every century of the Islamic calendar to revive Islam, remove from it any extraneous elements and restore it to its pristine purity...
(Divine Reformer) of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, Muhyud-Din Ibn Arabi, says that once he saw himself in a dream performing a circuit of the Ka'aba in Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
. In the dream a man who claimed to be one of his ancestors appeared before him. Ibn Arabi asked his ancestor, “How long is it since you died?” “More than forty thousand years,” the man replied. Ibn Arabi replied, “But this period is much more than what separates us from Adam
Adam
Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
!” The man replied, “Of which Adam are you speaking? About the Adam who is nearest to you or of some other?” “Then I recollected,” says Ibn Arabi, “a saying of the Holy Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
to the effect that God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
had brought into being no less than a hundred thousand Adams, and I said to myself, “Perhaps this man who claims to be an ancestor of mine was one of the previous Adams.””
Thus, Adam
Adam
Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
was the first Prophet of the present cycle and there were civilizations (and most probably also Prophets) before him, including what Muhyud-Din Ibn Arabi refers to as “Adams”, which may have been initiators of their respective Prophetic Cycles in ages past before the present Adam
Adam
Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
.
- NoahNoahNoah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
, law-bearing Prophet, who lived in IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
(Genesis 11:19). He appeared about ten centuries after AdamAdamAdam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
. It is believed by most Christians and Orthodox Muslims, that the DelugeNoah's ArkNoah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
or Flood which happened in Noah’s time was a worldwide event. However, the Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityAhmadiyya Muslim CommunityThe Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
sees no justification to why it would be a worldwide event if only the small group of people to whom NoahNoahNoah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
proclaimed his Message, disobeyed him and, consequently, deserved the Deluge by GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityAhmadiyya Muslim CommunityThe Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
. It is also within the principle of the Qur’an that the Deluge was not a worldwide event.
According to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
, the story of the Deluge is unique in the sense that some variation of it is to be found in almost all countries of the world. The reason is that when the descendants of Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
and those of his companions who were the founders of human civilization spread to other lands (as they were more powerful than the people already living there) they either exterminated the indigenous inhabitants or absorbed them. Thus they must have introduced into all the countries they subjugated their own traditions and customs. Subsequently the tradition about the Deluge must also have come to be introduced into other lands. With the lapse of time, however, the immigrants ceased to have any connection with their original home and the catastrophe consequently came to be regarded as a local occurrence, with the results that local names of persons and places came to be substituted for the original names. So the deluge was not a universal visitation, nor should the traditions of different lands be taken to point to separate floods.
- EnochEnoch (ancestor of Noah)Enoch is a figure in the Generations of Adam. Enoch is described as Adam's greatx4 grandson , the son of Jared, the father of Methuselah, and the great-grandfather of Noah...
, non law-bearing Prophet, who was the descendant of NoahNoahNoah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
came in the period of the DroughtDroughtA drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
, inflicted by GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
to punish the people of the world who had forgotten God. EnochEnoch (ancestor of Noah)Enoch is a figure in the Generations of Adam. Enoch is described as Adam's greatx4 grandson , the son of Jared, the father of Methuselah, and the great-grandfather of Noah...
prayed for salvation and an end to the suffering, and so the world received rain, according to the Qur’an. - HudHud (prophet)Hud is the name of a prophet of ancient Arabia, who is mentioned in the Qur'an. The eleventh chapter of the Qur'an, Hud, is named after him, though the narrative of Hud comprises only a small portion of the chapter.-Historical context:...
, non law-bearing Prophet, mentioned in the Qur’an but not in the BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. - SethSethSeth , in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, who are the only other of their children mentioned by name...
, may have been a non law-bearing Prophet, though is probably a Saint. He was the third son of AdamAdamAdam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
. - ShemShemShem was one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible as well as in Islamic literature. He is most popularly regarded as the eldest son, though some traditions regard him as the second son. Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brother Japheth, but with sufficient ambiguity in each...
,who in the Old TestamentOld TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
is the eldest son of NoahNoahNoah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
, brother of HamHamHam is a cut of meat from the thigh of the hind leg of certain animals, especiallypigs. Nearly all hams sold today are fully cooked or cured.-Etymology:...
and JaphethJaphethJapheth is one of the sons of Noah in the Abrahamic tradition...
, and uncle of CanaanCanaanCanaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
. Counted among his descendants are the HebrewsHebrewsHebrews is an ethnonym used in the Hebrew Bible...
, the Arabs, and the AramaeansAramaeansThe Aramaeans, also Arameans , were a Northwest Semitic semi-nomadic and pastoralist people who originated in what is now modern Syria during the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age...
. He may have been a non law-bearing Prophet though is probably a Saint.
Judea
House of Abraham- AbrahamAbrahamAbraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, (2165-1990 BC) law-bearing Prophet, patriarch of the Abrahamic ReligionsAbrahamic religionsAbrahamic religions are the monotheistic faiths emphasizing and tracing their common origin to Abraham or recognizing a spiritual tradition identified with him...
. - Lot, non law-bearing Prophet, who was the brother of AbrahamAbrahamAbraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
and the progenitor of the Hebrew people. - IsaacIsaacIsaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites...
, (2065-1885 BC) non law-bearing Prophet and patriarch of the Jewish Prophets as told of in the Old TestamentOld TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
of the BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. - IshmaelIshmaelIshmael is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first born child according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar...
, (2065-1885 BC) non law-bearing Prophet, who was sent to Arabia to live and was forefather of the Prophet MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. - JosephJoseph (Hebrew Bible)Joseph is an important character in the Hebrew bible, where he connects the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Canaan to the subsequent story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt....
(1914-1804 BC) non law-bearing Prophet, who traveled to EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
with the Hebrew people. He could interpret dreams very well and it is because of this that the PharaohPharaohPharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
of the time let him and his people stay in Egypt. However, the Hebrew people, after many years in Egypt after the death of Joseph, became the slaves of the Egyptians.
Mosaic Period
- MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
(1525-1405) law-bearing Prophet, who was born in EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and lived as an Egyptian prince throughout his childhood. He later told the PharaohPharaohPharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
to submit to the true One God, Who had communicated with MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
to do tell the Pharaoh as such. The Pharaoh did not submit and eventually, MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
took his people with him to migrate to the Promised Land of CanaanCanaanCanaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
as God had informed MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
to do so and also because the Jews living in EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
at the time were slaves to the Egyptian Pharaoh. The Pharaoh and his kingdom was soon cursed by God for not listening to MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and Pharaoh died in the Parting of the Sea, when the sea parted to let MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and the Jews pass but closed again when Pharaoh and his army tried to pass through it. The migration of MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and the Jews to Canaan was called the ExodusThe ExodusThe Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...
and they wandered for 40 years until finding the Promised Land. When the Jews arrived there, MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
was allowed by GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
to catch a glimpse of CanaanCanaanCanaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
but not to enter it.
Apparently, in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, it states “No man knoweth the sepulcher of Moses unto this day.” (Deuteronomy 34:6). His burial place remains unknown even today to the Jewish and Christian faiths. It is only Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
which reveals the slightest answer. 2,000 years after the death of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
, his “Second Advent” so to speak, the Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
revealed the whereabouts of the tomb of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
. Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
said:
“If I were there I would have shown you his sepulcher, situated near the roadside, at the foot of a russet hued hillock.” (Sahih Al Bukhari
Sahih al-Bukhari
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī , as it is commonly referred to, is one of the six canonical hadith collections of Islam. These prophetic traditions, or hadith, were collected by the Persian Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, after being transmitted orally for generations. Muslims view this as one of...
, Vol. 2, 191 Egypt 1932)
This tomb is known to the Muslims as Qabr Nabi Musa or the “Tomb of the Prophet Moses” which is located in Palestine. Dr. Phillip writes in his book:
“The grave of Moses is located between the Dead Sea and Mar Saba. It is marked by the Mosque of Nabi Musa and is a great resort of Muslim pilgrims at the Easter season. I saw a vast picturesque procession passing through St. Stephen’s Gate in Jerusalem to the valley of the Kedron and on the tomb of the Prophet Musa (Moses).” (“Through Bible Lands” page 303 footnote, by Dr. Phillip Schabb, London, James Nisbet & Co., New Edition, September 1888)
This is in accordance with the fact that the tomb of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
remains unknown to the world until about 2,000 years after the death of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
, the “Second Coming
Second Coming
In Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
” of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, the Prophet Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
revealed the location of the tomb of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. (See: “Jesus” and also “Ahmad”)
- AaronAaronIn the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron : Ααρών ), who is often called "'Aaron the Priest"' and once Aaron the Levite , was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites...
, (1525-1405) non law-bearing Prophet and brother of MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
. - JethroJethroIn the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible, Jethro |Shu-ayb]]) is Moses' father-in-law, a Kenite shepherd and priest of Midian. He is also revered as a prophet in his own right in the Druze religion, and considered an ancestor of the Druze.-In Exodus:...
, (1525-1405) non law-bearing Prophet who was the teacher of MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
in his final years of life. He became blindBlindnessBlindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
in the latter years of his life.
The Kingdom Prophets
- SamuelSamuelSamuel is a leader of ancient Israel in the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. He is also known as a prophet and is mentioned in the Qur'an....
, (1040 BC) non law-bearing Prophet. - GadGad (Bible prophet)Gad was a seer or prophet in the Hebrew Bible. He was one of the personal prophets of King David of Israel and some of his writings are believed to be included in the Books of Samuel...
, (1020-970 BC) non law-bearing Prophet. - NathanNathan (Prophet)Nathan the Prophet was a court prophet who lived in the time of King David and Queen Bathsheba. He came to David to reprimand him over his committing adultery with Bathsheba while she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite whose death the King had also arranged to hide his previous transgression.His...
, (1010-925 BC) non law-bearing Prophet. - King DavidDavidDavid was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
, (1011-971 BC) non law-bearing Prophet and Greatest King-Prophet of the Prophets mentioned in the Old TestamentOld TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
. - SolomonSolomonSolomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
, (971-931 BC) non law-bearing Prophet and son of DavidDavidDavid was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
who was extremely wise as this was granted to him by GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. He further prophesized the advent of MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
in many parts of the Old TestamentOld TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
mainly by calling MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
as “My Beloved” which in Hebrew (the language of SolomonSolomonSolomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
), is “Mahammadim”.
Northern Kingdom of Israel
- AhijahAhijahAhijah is a name of several Biblical individuals:# Ahijah the Shilonite, the Biblical prophet who divided the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.# One of the sons of Bela . In AV called "Ahiah."...
(931-908 BC) non law-bearing Prophet. - Iddo (920-903 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- JehuJehuJehu was a king of Israel. He was the son of Jehoshaphat, and grandson of Nimshi.William F. Albright has dated his reign to 842-815 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 841-814 BC...
(890-865 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- Elijah (875-852 BC) non law-bearing Prophet who was the person regarding a prophecy of the Jewish Messiah (in whom the Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityAhmadiyya Muslim CommunityThe Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
believes has come in the person of JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
). He was supposed to come down from the sky in the time of the MessiahMessiahA messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
in fulfillment of the Old TestamentOld TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
prophecy. The Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityAhmadiyya Muslim CommunityThe Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
however, believes that, in accordance with the New TestamentNew TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, John the BaptistJohn the BaptistJohn the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
came in the metaphorical Second Advent or “spirit and power” of JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
.
- MicaiahMicaiahMicaiah son of Imlah is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible. He is not the same as the titular prophet of the Book of Micah, also called "The Morasthite" to distinguish him from Micaiah. Today Micaiah is a rare name and it is still debated if it is unisex or for men only.-Micaiah's prophecy:The events...
(860-? BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- ElishaElishaElisha is a prophet mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eliseus via Greek and Latin, or Alyasa via Arabic.-Biblical biography:...
(851-795 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- JonahJonahJonah is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BC, the eponymous central character in the Book of Jonah, famous for being swallowed by a fish or a whale, depending on translation...
(788-772 BC) non law-bearing Prophet who was unique in the sense that he was for “3 days and 3 nights” in the belly of a large whale/fish and survived.
- AmosAmos (prophet)Amos is a minor prophet in the Old Testament, and the author of the Book of Amos. Before becoming a prophet, Amos was a sheep herder and a sycamore fig farmer. Amos' prior professions and his claim "I am not a prophet nor a son of a prophet" indicate that Amos was not from the school of prophets,...
(767-755 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- HoseaHoseaHosea was the son of Beeri and a prophet in Israel in the 8th century BC. He is one of the Twelve Prophets of the Jewish Hebrew Bible, also known as the Minor Prophets of the Christian Old Testament. Hosea is often seen as a "prophet of doom", but underneath his message of destruction is a promise...
(755-712 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- OdedOded* The second was Oded the Samarian....
(737-722 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
Southern Kingdom of Israel
- Shemaiah (931-901 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- Azaraiah (900-875 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- HananiHananiThe word Hanani means "God has gratified me", or "God is gracious".Hanani is the name of three men in the Hebrew Bible* One of the sons of Heman ....
(895-870 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- JahazielJahazielJahaziel or Chaziel the Levite was a prophet in the Hebrew Bible. The name means "Beheld of God". recounts a joint attack on Judah by the nations of Moab, Ammon, and Edom in the time of King Jehoshaphat...
(865-835 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- ObadiahObadiahObadiah is a Biblical theophorical name, meaning "servant of Yahweh" or "worshipper of Yahweh." It is related to "Abdeel", "servant of God", which is also cognate to the Arabic name "Abdullah". Turkish name Abdil or Abdi. The form of Obadiah's name used in the Septuagint is Obdios; in Latin it is...
(840-825 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- JoelJoel (prophet)Joel was a prophet of ancient Israel, the second of the twelve minor prophets and the author of the Book of Joel. He is mentioned by name only once in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, in the introduction to his own brief book, as the son of Pethuel...
(825-810 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- IsaiahIsaiahIsaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...
(740-692 BC) non law-bearing Prophet who prophesized the Advents of both MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
and AhmadMirza Ghulam AhmadMīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
and also the Promised SonMirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood AhmadMirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad , was Khalifatul Masih II, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife, Nusrat Jehan Begum...
of AhmadMirza Ghulam AhmadMīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
.
- MicahMicahMicah is a given name.Micah is the name of several people in the Hebrew Bible , and means "who is like God?". The name is sometimes found with theophoric extensions...
(734-700 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- NahumNahumNahum was a minor prophet whose prophecy is recorded in the Hebrew Bible. His book comes in chronological order between Micah and Habakkuk in the Bible. He wrote about the end of the Assyrian Empire, and its capital city, Nineveh, in a vivid poetic style....
(650-620 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- ZephaniahZephaniahZephaniah or Tzfanya is the name of several people in the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh. He is also called Sophonias as in the New Catholic Encyclopaedia and in Easton's [Bible] Dictionary....
(635-622 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- HuldahHuldahHuldah was a prophetess mentioned briefly in , and . After the discovery of a book of the Law during renovations at Solomon's Temple, on the order of King Josiah, Hilkiah together with Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah approach her to get the Lord's opinion....
(635-610 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- JeremiahJeremiahJeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...
(625-610 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- HabakkukHabakkukHabakkuk , also spelled Habacuc, was a prophet in the Hebrew Bible. The etymology of the name of Habakkuk is not clear. The name is possibly related to the Akkadian khabbaququ, the name of a fragrant plant, or the Hebrew root חבק, meaning "embrace"...
(620-608 BC) non law-bearing Prophet who prophesized the Advent of MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
.
- DanielDanielDaniel is the protagonist in the Book of Daniel of the Hebrew Bible. In the narrative, when Daniel was a young man, he was taken into Babylonian captivity where he was educated in Chaldean thought. However, he never converted to Neo-Babylonian ways...
(605-535 BC) non law-bearing Prophet who prophesized the Advent of MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
and AhmadMirza Ghulam AhmadMīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
.
- EzekielEzekielEzekiel , "God will strengthen" , is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Ezekiel is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet...
(593-560 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
The Prophets in the Period of Restoration
In 586 BC, Jerusalem fell to the people of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
and the Israelites were exiled. In 539 BC the Israelites returned to Jerusalem and started the restoration of the city. In this period, the following Prophets were bestowed upon the Jewish people:
- JobJob (Biblical figure)Job is the central character of the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible. Job is listed as a prophet of God in the Qur'an.- Book of Job :The Book of Job begins with an introduction to Job's character — he is described as a blessed man who lives righteously...
(Date of Birth and Death Unknown) non law-bearing Prophet.
- HaggaiHaggaiHaggai was a Hebrew prophet during the building of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and one of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the author of the Book of Haggai. His name means "my holiday"...
(520-505 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- Zechariah (520-490 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- EzraEzraEzra , also called Ezra the Scribe and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible he returned from the Babylonian exile and reintroduced the Torah in Jerusalem...
(480-458 BC) non law-bearing Prophet.
- MalachiMalachiMalachi, Malachias or Mal'achi was a Jewish prophet in the Hebrew Bible. He had two brothers, Nathaniel and Josiah. Malachi was the writer of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Neviim section in the Jewish Tanakh...
(433-415 BC) non law-bearing Prophet who was the final Prophet of the Old TestamentOld TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
.
The Silent Years
For 400 years, no known Prophets were bestowed upon the Israelites.
The Christian Era
- John the BaptistJohn the BaptistJohn the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
(4 BC-100 AD) non law-bearing Prophet who was the fulfillment of prophecies in the Old TestamentOld TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
of the “Second Coming of Elijah”. He was the harbinger of the Messiah, JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
.
- ZechariahZechariah (priest)In the Bible, Zechariah , is the father of John the Baptist, a priest of the sons of Aaron, a prophet in , and the husband of Elisabeth who is the cousin of Mary the mother of Jesus.In the Qur'an, Zechariah plays a similar role as the father of John the Baptist and ranks him as a prophet alongside...
, the father of John the BaptistJohn the BaptistJohn the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
, though not regarded as a Prophet by most Christians, is stated as a non law-bearing Prophet in the Qur’an.
- Jesus Christ (8 BC-100 AD) was the final Israelite Prophet and final Prophet to follow the law of MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
. He was a Jew according to AhmadiyyaAhmadiyya Muslim CommunityThe Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
belief and thus followed the Ten Commandments and abstained from wine, pork and other forbidden things for the Jews. He was a special Prophet of God, and one of the greatest, ranking among Prophets as AbrahamAbrahamAbraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
and MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
.
According to Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
belief, he did not bring forth a new law but rather, was a non law-bearing Prophet in the sense that he followed the Mosaic Law. Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
states in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
:
““I did not come to change the prophets or the law but to fulfill it. Even an iota of the law shall not be added or subtracted.” (Matthew 5:17-18).
He was according to Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
belief, nailed to the cross though he survived death on the cross. He later was in a state of unconsciousness in the sepulcher and came out of the tomb after 3 days and 3 nights, alive. Thus, no resurrection occurred. Then, he visited his companions and traveled East.
Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
said:
“"I am not sent hut unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24)
Apparently, out of these 12 lost tribes of Israel, only 2 were in Judea
Judea
Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...
at the time of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. The others had long since been exiled to Eastern countries a few hundred years before the birth of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
in countries like Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. As a result of this, many of the local Jews living in those areas had, over time, converted to various polytheistic faiths that were dominant in those regions at the time. Some had also converted to Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. Thus, Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
traveled East to fulfill his mission of preaching to the 12 lost tribes of Israel that he was the Messiah and many Buddhists, upon his arrival to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, incorporated Jesus’ teaching in their own Scripture. Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, then died, according the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
, at the age of 120 and was buried in Srinigar within Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
. His tomb is to be found uptill this day (www.tombofjesus.com)
China
- Fu HsiFu HsiIn Chinese mythology, Fu Xi or Fu Hsi , mid 29th century BCE, was the first of the Three Sovereigns of ancient China. He is a culture hero reputed to be the inventor of writing, fishing, and trapping...
(c. 3322 BC) law-bearing Prophet and patriarch of the Chinese Prophets much in the same way as AbrahamAbrahamAbraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
was the patriarch of the Abrahamic ReligionsAbrahamic religionsAbrahamic religions are the monotheistic faiths emphasizing and tracing their common origin to Abraham or recognizing a spiritual tradition identified with him...
.
- YuYuis a very common Japanese given name used by either sex.-Possible writings:Yū can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:*優, "tenderness" or "superiority"*夕, "evening"*友, "friend"*有, "qualified"*勇, "courage"*祐, "help"*裕, "abundant"...
(c. 2140 BC) non law-bearing Prophet under the dispensation of Fu HsiFu HsiIn Chinese mythology, Fu Xi or Fu Hsi , mid 29th century BCE, was the first of the Three Sovereigns of ancient China. He is a culture hero reputed to be the inventor of writing, fishing, and trapping...
.
- ConfuciusConfuciusConfucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....
(550-478 BC) non- lawbearing Prophet and founder of ConfucianismConfucianismConfucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...
.
- King Wân (c. 1143 BC) non law-bearing Prophet. His story was strikingly similar to the story of King David in the BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
.
- Cheu Kung (c. 1120 BC) non law-bearing Prophet who was the son of King Wan. He was thus, quite similar to the Prophet SolomonSolomonSolomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
.
- Lao-Tzu (6th century BC) law-bearing Prophet who was the founder of TaoismTaoismTaoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
and a contemporary of ConfuciusConfuciusConfucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....
.
Japan
- It may be that a Prophet was raised among the ShintoShintoor Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
people of JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
, founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
wrote in his book “A Message of Peace”:
“Our God has never discriminated between one people and another. This is illustrated by the fact that all the potentials and capabilities (Prophets) which have been granted to the Aryans (Indians) have also been granted to the races inhabiting Arabia, Persia, Syria, China, Japan, Europe and America.”
Persia
- ZoroasterZoroasterZoroaster , also known as Zarathustra , was a prophet and the founder of Zoroastrianism who was either born in North Western or Eastern Iran. He is credited with the authorship of the Yasna Haptanghaiti as well as the Gathas, hymns which are at the liturgical core of Zoroastrianism...
(6th century BC) law-bearing Prophet who was the founder of ZoroastrianismZoroastrianismZoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...
.
- Cyrus the GreatCyrus the GreatCyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
(c. 590-529 BC) may have been a non law-bearing Prophet following the law of ZoroasterZoroasterZoroaster , also known as Zarathustra , was a prophet and the founder of Zoroastrianism who was either born in North Western or Eastern Iran. He is credited with the authorship of the Yasna Haptanghaiti as well as the Gathas, hymns which are at the liturgical core of Zoroastrianism...
. This is because the Prophet “Dhul-Qarnain”, encountered in the Qur’an who has no Biblical equivalent has been interpreted to be CyrusCyrus the GreatCyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
by many Ahmadi scholars. If he was not a Prophet, he is still regarded by the Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityAhmadiyya Muslim CommunityThe Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
as a very pious saint because he has also been mentioned in BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
due to his piety (Isaiah 45:1-5).
- Manda da Hayye (“Knowledge of Life”) also known as “Hibel-Ziwa” may have been a Prophet for the Mandeans who are also known as the SabiansSabiansThe Sabians of Middle Eastern tradition were a monotheistic Abrahamic religious group mentioned three times in the Quran: "the Jews, the Sabians, and the Christians." In the Hadith they are nothing but converts to Islam, while their identity in later Islamic literature became a matter of...
. There are many references in the Qur’an to the SabiansSabiansThe Sabians of Middle Eastern tradition were a monotheistic Abrahamic religious group mentioned three times in the Quran: "the Jews, the Sabians, and the Christians." In the Hadith they are nothing but converts to Islam, while their identity in later Islamic literature became a matter of...
as a religion originating from GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. The Mandaean sect, once thought to have emerged in MesopotamiaMesopotamiaMesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
or Persia sometime before the 4th century AD, is now generally believed to have migrated there from the PalestinianPalestinePalestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
-Syrian region, where it probably originated in the 1st or 2nd century AD or even in pre-Christian times.
Afghanistan
- The Promised SonMirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood AhmadMirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad , was Khalifatul Masih II, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife, Nusrat Jehan Begum...
wrote:
“India, China, Russia, Afghanistan, parts of Africa, Europe, America - all had prophets according to the theory of divine guidance taught by the Holy Qur’an.”
Russia
- ZoroasterZoroasterZoroaster , also known as Zarathustra , was a prophet and the founder of Zoroastrianism who was either born in North Western or Eastern Iran. He is credited with the authorship of the Yasna Haptanghaiti as well as the Gathas, hymns which are at the liturgical core of Zoroastrianism...
, though commonly described as a Persian Prophet, may have been a Prophet of RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
as he lived in Northern Persia. Some northerly areas of that area would now be considered Southern Russia.
- There may have been Prophets bestowed to the Native peoples of Ancient Russia.
The Promised Son
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad , was Khalifatul Masih II, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife, Nusrat Jehan Begum...
wrote:
“India, China, Russia, Afghanistan, parts of Africa, Europe, America - all had prophets according to the theory of divine guidance taught by the Holy Qur’an.”
Africa
- LuqmanLuqmanLuqman was a wise man for whom Surat Luqman , the thirty-first sura of the Qur'an, was named. Luqman is believed to be from Africa...
is a Prophet mentioned in the Qur’an with no Biblical equivalent. Some scholars have taken him to be an AbyssinianHabesha peopleThe term Habesha ābešā, Ḥābešā; al-Ḥabašah) refers to the South Semitic-speaking group of people whose cultural, linguistic, and in certain cases, ancestral origins trace back to those people who ruled the Axumite Empire and the kingdom known as DʿMT .Peoples referred to as "Habesha" today...
(EthiopianEthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
) Prophet.
- MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
, law-bearing Prophet, though a Jew and sent for the Israelites, projected his message towards the EgyptianAncient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
PharaohPharaohPharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
and his people to submit to the One GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. Pharaoh did not submit but the fact remains that MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
projected his message towards the society of Ancient EgyptAncient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
and could thus be considered a Prophet for them. This is also in accordance with the Qur’an where it states:
“And We sent Messengers before thee among parties of ancient peoples.” (15:11)
- JosephJoseph (Hebrew Bible)Joseph is an important character in the Hebrew bible, where he connects the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Canaan to the subsequent story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt....
, because he lived in EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
could be considered a Prophet in much the same way as MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
(see above).
- There may have been Prophets among the indigenous Native Africans.
The Promised Son
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad , was Khalifatul Masih II, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife, Nusrat Jehan Begum...
wrote:
“India, China, Russia, Afghanistan, parts of Africa, Europe, America - all had prophets according to the theory of divine guidance taught by the Holy Qur’an.”
Europe
Mirza Ghulam AhmadMirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
, founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
wrote in his book “A Message of Peace”:
“Our God has never discriminated between one people and another. This is illustrated by the fact that all the potentials and capabilities (Prophets) which have been granted to the Aryans (Hindus) have also been granted to the races inhabiting Arabia, Persia, Syria, China, Japan, Europe and America.”
The Promised Son
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad , was Khalifatul Masih II, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife, Nusrat Jehan Begum...
wrote:
“India, China, Russia, Afghanistan, parts of Africa, Europe, America - all had prophets according to the theory of divine guidance taught by the Holy Qur’an.”
Greece
- SocratesSocratesSocrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
the GreekGreeksThe Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
philosopher is considered a law-bearing Prophet given to the people of Ancient GreeceAncient GreeceAncient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. This is in accordance with the Qur’an where it states:
“And We sent Messengers before thee among parties of ancient peoples.” (15:11)
Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
(469-399 BC) gave an emphasis on ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
and the acquisition of knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
. He is considered to be a monotheist as he always referred to God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
as "the God" (the singular form) as opposed to the other Greeks who always said "the gods". He was moreover, persecuted as all other Prophets and sentenced to death (like Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
). Although a patriot and a man of deep religious conviction, Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
was nonetheless regarded with suspicion by many of his contemporaries, who disliked his attitude toward the Athenian state and the established religion of Greek Mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
. He was charged in 399 BC with neglecting the gods of the state and introducing new divinities, a reference to the daemonion, or “mystical inner voice”, to which Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
often referred. He always acted upon this inner voice and this could be reference to the application of revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
. His students and contemporaries tried to save him from death, but Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
preferred to die for his cause, that is, the belief in One God Who had sent him revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
. He was also charged with “corrupting the minds of the youth” which would sound like a charge made against a Prophet as Prophets introduce ideas not found in the societies in which they project their respective message.
- The Qur’anic Prophet LuqmanLuqmanLuqman was a wise man for whom Surat Luqman , the thirty-first sura of the Qur'an, was named. Luqman is believed to be from Africa...
, who has no Biblical equivalent, is taken by some scholars to be the GreekGreeksThe Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
AesopAesopAesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Older spellings of his name have included Esop and Isope. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a...
. - PlatoPlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
the GreekGreeksThe Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
philosopher is considered a law-bearing Prophet sent to the people of Ancient GreeceAncient GreeceAncient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, because of his monotheist philosophy the PlatonismPlatonismPlatonism is the philosophy of Plato or the name of other philosophical systems considered closely derived from it. In a narrower sense the term might indicate the doctrine of Platonic realism...
.
The Americas
The Promised SonMirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad , was Khalifatul Masih II, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife, Nusrat Jehan Begum...
wrote:
“India, China, Russia, Afghanistan, parts of Africa, Europe, America - all had prophets according to the theory of divine guidance taught by the Holy Qur’an.”
Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
, founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
wrote in his book “A Message of Peace”:
“Our God has never discriminated between one people and another. This is illustrated by the fact that all the potentials and capabilities (Prophets) which have been granted to the Aryans (Hindus) have also been granted to the races inhabiting Arabia, Persia, Syria, China, Japan, Europe and America.”
North America
- Deganawida (the Great Peacemaker) was a ProphetProphetIn religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
given to the IroquoisIroquoisThe Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
.
- There may have been InuitInuitThe Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
and EskimoEskimoEskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....
Prophets. The CalgaryCalgaryCalgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
chapter of the Community distributed copies of the Qur’an to Inuit peoples living near the Arctic CircleArctic CircleThe Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
.
Central America
- Ahmad's followers claim that QuetzalcoatlQuetzalcoatlQuetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and has the meaning of "feathered serpent". The worship of a feathered serpent deity is first documented in Teotihuacan in the first century BCE or first century CE...
was most probably a Prophet sent to ToltecToltecThe Toltec culture is an archaeological Mesoamerican culture that dominated a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo in the early post-classic period of Mesoamerican chronology...
and AztecAztecThe Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
peoples of MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. He was a fair-skinned benevolent Messiah-like figure who taught religion, among other things to the people. QuetzalcoatlQuetzalcoatlQuetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and has the meaning of "feathered serpent". The worship of a feathered serpent deity is first documented in Teotihuacan in the first century BCE or first century CE...
wept as he buried his treasure, left his city heading for the coast, and finally sailed east, promising to return. He also taught fastingFastingFasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. An absolute fast is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a defined period, usually a single day , or several days. Other fasts may be only partially restrictive,...
, a practice found in most other established religions and especially the Abrahamic ReligionsAbrahamic religionsAbrahamic religions are the monotheistic faiths emphasizing and tracing their common origin to Abraham or recognizing a spiritual tradition identified with him...
.
Oceania
Mirza Tahir AhmadMirza Tahir Ahmad
Mirza Tahir Ahmad was Khalifatul Masih IV, Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and fourth successor to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad...
, Fourth Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
believed that Prophets had projected the message of One Supreme Creator amongst all tribes of the Aborigine
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
people in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Though secluded from each other, they were all united in the belief of this One God. Mirza Tahir Ahmad
Mirza Tahir Ahmad
Mirza Tahir Ahmad was Khalifatul Masih IV, Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and fourth successor to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad...
elaborates in the chapter called “The Concept of God among the Aborigines of Australia” in his book “Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth
Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth
Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth is a book written by Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the fourth Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. It was published in 1998, originally written in English, and subsequently translated into the Urdu and Arabic. The book explores religious thought throughout...
”:
“The central idea of one eternal Supreme Creator remains unadulterated by whatever other superstitions they may have entertained. The superstitions change from tribe to tribe, but not their belief in one God…
…The Wiimbaio tribe, for instance, believed that while engaged in the process of the creation of earth, God remained close at hand but having finished His work He ascended back to the loftiness of the constellations. Similarly, the Wotjobaluk tribe believed Bunjil to be a Supreme Being, who once lived on the earth as a great man but eventually ascended to the sky. (Similar to the Prophet Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
)”
Also, the Aborigine
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
tribes in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
have an essential teaching of “dreams” in their faith. Mirza Tahir Ahmad
Mirza Tahir Ahmad
Mirza Tahir Ahmad was Khalifatul Masih IV, Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and fourth successor to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad...
states:
“A tradition of the Holy Prophet, is worthy of note here because it speaks of Divine dreams to be one-fortieth part of prophethood.”
Again, he writes:
“Moreover, no power of creation whatsoever is attributed to these mythical figures, hence they cannot be perceived as sharing Divinity with High Gods, the only Creator. Again it is quite likely that this belief may have been wrongly categorized as mythical. It may well have been a slightly changed version of the paradise concept common to all major Divinely revealed religions. The description of the Supreme Dweller of paradise being emu-footed and that of His wife and children as dog-footed are the only foreign elements to the concept of paradise found elsewhere, otherwise the same Eden-like gardens, eternally green, abounding in fruits and vegetables, with no fear of drought etc., are very close to metaphoric description of paradise presented by the Holy Qur’an.”
Mankind
- The Prophet MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
is believed in by the Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityAhmadiyya Muslim CommunityThe Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
as the Seal of the Prophets and a Prophet sent to all mankind, as opposed to the prophets before him sent to specific areas of the world. - The Promised MessiahMirza Ghulam AhmadMīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
is believed in by the Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityAhmadiyya Muslim CommunityThe Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
as the Messiah for mankind, though subordinate to MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. It is his message that will unify all people and nations to One Religion, One People and possibly One World Government (The Promised SonMirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood AhmadMirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad , was Khalifatul Masih II, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife, Nusrat Jehan Begum...
wrote passages concerning the One World Government in his book “Ahmadiyyat or the True Islam”).
The Messiah, Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
also revealed the whereabouts of the tomb of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
after about 2,000 years just as Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
had revealed the whereabouts of the tomb of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
after about 2,000 years. (see: “Moses”, above)