FOREWORD

Foreword God sent prophets in every age (35:24). These prophets were given guidance through God’s revelations. This is called ‘the straight path’ in the Quran (1:6). These prophets continued to come to the world in all ages. Adam, as well as being the first man, was also the first prophet. All the prophets who came after Adam until Prophet Muhammad have been counted and the figure has been put at 1,24,000 in a hadith (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 22288). The Quran refers by name to twenty-five prophets. However, none of these prophets has been historically established. Out of the whole history of the prophets, the Prophet Muhammad, the son of Abdullah, and grandson of Abdul Muttalib, is the only prophet who is a historical figure in the complete sense. A scholar has acknowledged this fact: “Muhammad was born within the full light of history.” (The Arabs: A Short History, Philip K. Hitti, London, 1960, p. 23) After the Prophet of Islam, the Companions of the Prophet had a unique role: to counter the culture of associating God with things other than God and replace it with the desired divine culture of adoring God alone. This has been called the eradication of fitna in the Quran. (8:39) It is owing to this extraordinary role of the Companions that a revolution was set in motion in human history. The Belgian historian, Henri Pirenne (d. 1935), says of this revolution: