The Prophet Muhammad: A Simple Guide to His Life

(Solomon), Ayyub (Job), Yousuf (Joseph), Musa (Moses), Haroon (Aaron), Zakariya, Isa (Jesus), Ismail, AI-Yahya (John the Baptist), Younus (Jonah), and Lut (Lot), (Peace be upon them all). In the fifth chapter, mentioning the earlier prophets and their communities, the Quran further clarifies this point: We have ordained a law and a path for each of you (The Quran, 5:48). The crux of this matter is that although God’s religion is one-monotheism-the human condition keeps changing; individually as well as socially. That is why, despite there being one single religion, its practical application varies with circumstances. This is what accounts for the dissimilarity of approach on the part of different prophets. Then the human race is spread all over the world, while each respective prophet, including the Prophet of Islam, came from one particular region. That is why it was impossible for one prophet to experience all the possible contingencies which, on a vaster level, would subsequently affect the human race at different times and places. These are the special considerations, which account for the mention of the past prophets in the Quran at length. When we have before us all the prophets, it becomes possible to draw on examples pertinent to all sets of circumstances faced by each generation in turn. This is the main purpose of the Quran in bringing these lost links of the history of the prophets to the knowledge of succeeding generations. In this respect the analysis of the incidents arising from the circumstances in which these Prophets lived is an integral part of what is called in the Quran (completion of religion) takmeel-e-din. (The Quran, 5:3) The difference of Minhaj or shariah – each Prophet was given a different Shariah (detailed code of conduct/laws) – with each succeeding prophet is not on account of evolution. That is, it is not true to say that the earlier prophets were given an incomplete shariah, while the final Prophet was given the complete shariah. This difference is due to a variety of factors in the application of Islam and not to the evolution of the religion itself. Since social environments in the times of successive prophets were different, the shariah given to them had to relate to their circumstances. Were those past situations to prevail once again, the shariah of the previous prophets would be followed as was done is their times. On the one hand, the Quran gives us an account of the 23-year prophetic life of the Prophet of Islam, while on the other, it also recounts in detail the lives and circumstances of other prophets who came over the last tens of thousands of years. Both these accounts (the Prophet of Islam’s life and circumstances and those of other prophets) equally form part of the Quran and their combination constitutes the complete religion. Thus, a complete din includes the teachings of other prophets along with the teachings of the Prophet of Islam as mentioned in the Quran. After this introduction let us see in the light of certain examples how references to other prophets form part of the totality of religion and how they provide guidance to believers in different sets of circumstances.