AFFIRMATION OF PROPHETHOOD

Affirmation of Prophethood ~ 258 ~ life is fast deteriorating and without it, there can be no improvement. Yet there appears to be no solving of this great mystery. It is the most urgent need of the hour, but it is something which we cannot achieve on our own. Is this state of affairs not proof enough that man is badly in need of revelation? The indispensability of the knowledge of the reality of life, and this knowledge remaining undiscoverable, are clear indications that it must be provided from an external source, just as heat and light in the form of the sun’s rays are provided by nature. Once we accept both the possibility and the necessity of divine revelation, we have to ascertain whether or not the person who claims prophethood is a true recipient of God’s word. We do believe that innumerable prophets have been raised up by God. In the present chapter, however, we shall deal only with the claim of Muhammad, may peace be upon him, to definitive prophethood. An affirmation of his prophethood implies an affirmation of all the prophets who came before him, because the Prophet Muhammad, instead of denying the claims of his predecessors, testifies to the bonafides of all true prophets, being the last in the long series of