The Personality of the Prophet of Islam

derived from a historical sequence of events as they unfolded, rather than from the fundamental teachings of the Quran and Hadith. Contrary to this, the Quran tells us that the Prophet’s mission could have been brought to its completion even if he had passed away or had been killed before the establishment of the state (3:144). It would not be wrong to say in the light of this verse that, even if the Prophet had left the world before the establishment of the State, his prophetic mission would be treated as accomplished. For no prophet is taken away from the world before the completion of his mission. Another important point is that such series of events are never repeated in history. That is why the above-mentioned four-fold order has neither occurred in the case of any of the Prophet’s predecessors nor has it been repeated by any subsequent reformer or revivalist. If this order were to enjoy the position of being inherent in and inseparable from the prophetic mission, Islam would become a temporary religion, relevant only to a particular period of time. For instance, under present-day national governments, mass exodus is not at all possible. In that case how could the act of migration be carried out? Similarly, today jihad, in the sense of offensive war, is not in practice possible, for now, the whole world has come under the umbrella of the United Nations. All the countries under the United Nations, including Muslim countries, have agreed that no country will attack another. According to accepted international standards, now only one form of war is considered lawful and possible and that is of a defensive nature. Owing to various factors, it has, in practice, become impossible to follow the above-mentioned course. Holding a chronological order to be an eternal order is possible only if we admit that the practical manifestation of the Islamic mission was possible only once in human history and that, now repeating the same order for a second or third time is not a possibility. Another quite basic requirement is to define the mission of the Prophet of Islam as being exactly the same as that of previous prophets. Any interpretation of his mission which does not tally with the history of his predecessors must stand rejected without discussion. For all the prophets, including the Prophet of Islam, were sent to the world to fulfill one and the same mission. Chapter 42 of the Quran tells us that He (God) has ordained for you the faith which He enjoined on Nuh (Noah) and which We have revealed to you, and which We enjoined on Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), and Isa (Jesus) (saying): so that you should remain steadfast in religion and not become divided in it. What you call upon the polytheists to do is hard for them; God chooses for Himself whoever He pleases and guides towards Himself those who turn to Him. (The Quran, 42:13) In this verse, which refers to some steadfast prophets of the past, the Prophet of Islam has been enjoined by God to follow the same single religion and strictly refrain from following a different path, for it is the same religion, which has been given to all the Prophets, including Muhammad.