PROPHETHOOD

40. Prophethood ~ 122 ~ In reply the Qur’an had this to say: ‘If the earth had been inhabited by angels, We would have sent an angel as a prophet, but since it is human beings who live on earth, a man has been selected as God’s Messenger.’ The Prophet then, as the bearer of God’s message, had to project himself as a model for other human beings. The Qur’an, indeed, describes the Prophet as a model character. It was on this consideration that a messenger was selected from amongst human beings. He experienced all that was experienced by others: grief and solace, advantages and disadvantages, pain and pleasure, etc. Yet he never wavered from the truth, thus setting an example of how others must abide by the truth on all occasions. This deprived wrongdoers of the excuse that they had no role model to show them the path which God desired them to follow. The messenger of God was born just like any other human being. He led his life just as others did. In this way, he dearly demonstrated that the way of life which he exhorted others to lead was entirely practicable. His words and deeds thus became a