mankind's need for messengers and prophets

Do people need messengers?

The inability of the mind

Allah Almighty created His creation with a sound natural disposition. He gave them brains and granted them logic and reason to distinguish right from wrong. Since human brains undergo deficiencies, restrictions, whims and personal interests, even differences and contradictions, what some see as being valid may be deemed by others as being corrupt. A person might even change his mind due to the change of time and place. If brains are incapable of perceiving the events which are unseen by them, knowledge that is unknown to them and what people conceal inside themselves, then they are certainly all the more so incapable of perceiving the Creator, His purpose, orders and prohibitions, not to mention that ordinary humans cannot be spoken to directly by Allah. 

It is for that reason that Allah Almighty chose the finest of His creation to be His messengers and prophets, to serve as the best ambassadors between Allah and His servants.

They guide people to their Creator, and take them from darkness into light in order that mankind should have no plea against Allah after He sent the messengers.

The great favor

Consequently, the sending of human messengers, in order to teach them what benefits and purifies them, is one of Allah’s greatest favors to His slaves

It is a grand favor from Allah that He sends them a messenger, and that this messenger is from among them.This favor is manifested through the sending of messengers who convey the glorious words of Allah to mankind, telling them about Allah’s Glorious Self, His attributes and informing them of the essence of Divinity and its characteristics. Messengers also inform man, the small, insignificant slave, about his own affairs, the affairs of man as a whole, how he should conduct his life, and all his movements and pauses. He speaks to him, urging him to do what brings him back to life, guiding him to what reforms his heart and his condition, and inviting him to Paradise, which is as wide as the heavens and the earth. What abundant generosity is shown to mankind through this favor, this kindness, and this gift!! Moreover, Allah, by means of His messengers, raises and purifies mankind. He cleanses their hearts, their perceptions and feelings. He cleanses their homes, honor and prayers, and also their lives, community and systems. Allah purifies mankind from the filth of polytheism, idolatry, superstition and myth. He also cleanses them against the ceremonies, rituals, customs and traditions that are present in their lives which take the human life and the idea of humanity to dreadfully low levels. Furthermore Allah, through His messengers, cleanses mankind from the impurities of the life of ignorance, impurities that pollute their emotions, rituals, traditions, values and concepts, for ignorance is ignorance, and no matter what its location, time or place may be, every type of ignorance has its impurities and uncleanliness. Wherever the hearts of the people are lacking a divine doctrine and the law derived from that doctrine that controls their lives and perceptions, ignorance will prevail in one of its many forms. It is, therefore, necessary to save humanity from this ignorance, whether ancient or modern, as ignorance is ignorance, no matter if it is ancient or modern. Modern ignorance has all the characteristics of the ignorance before Islam concerning ethical and social matters, and also how goals and objectives of human life are visualized, even with the presence of materialistic science breakthroughs, industrial production, and cultural prosperity.

There is misguidance in how matters are perceived, in belief, and in the concepts of life. There is misguidance in the purposes that are set, and the directions that are taken, as well as in the habits, behavior, systems, conditions, society and ethics that are adopted…

 

Facts about prophecy and the message

Every messenger was from the nation he was sent to and he spoke the same language as them

Of the wisdoms of Allah the Almighty, is that every messenger sent by Him is of the same kind as those who will receive that message

Moreover, another wisdom is that the messenger speaks the same language as the people he is sent to, so that they understand his words and their meanings.

The infallibility and perfection of the messengers and prophets

Allah’s prophets and messengers are characterized by a perfect mind, sound natural disposition, honesty and by being free of any bodily deformations that are repugnant to the sight or repel sound senses. Allah has purified their souls and morals. They are, therefore, the most perfect of mankind ethically, own the purest of souls and are the most generous in their benevolence. Allah gathered and placed perfect morals, the highest of manners, insight, knowledge, forgiveness, generosity, courage and justice in all of them. Consequently, they excelled in these morals among their people. Messengers are the finest of Allah’s creation, chosen and picked by Him to transmit the message and convey the trust

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was known among his people as As-Sadiqul Ameen (the honest and trustworthy one) even before the message was revealed to him, and thus His Lord described him as:}And verily, you (O Muhammad [sal-Allâhu ‘alayhi wa sallam]) are on an exalted (standard of) character.{(al-Qalam :4)

The messengers and prophets were humans

Those messengers and prophets, despite being described as having sublime characteristics given by Allah, were still humans affected by what affects other human beings. They grew hungry and sick and they slept, ate, married and died.

That is perhaps why they were persecuted, killed or driven out of their homes. Yet the outcome, victory and assumption of power are for them in this world and the Hereafter.