PROPHETHOOD Divine Guidance

holy books, four find mention in the Quran: the Sahifa or the scrolls given to Abraham; the Torah, the revelations to Moses; the Zabur, the psalms of David; the Gospel, the teachings given to Jesus. Each of these was originally a complete revelation, but unfortunately, these books and teachings were not properly preserved. Some, like the Sahifa, were lost completely. Others were changed in various ways by human intervention and are no longer in their original form. They could best be described as edited versions of divine revelations, which have been altered from time to time by editors and commentators. In the past, the need for new prophets had arisen because God’s religion was no longer in its pristine form, having been distorted in a number of different ways. New prophets had to come to the world periodically in order to revive the true spirit of religion, and thus restore it to its original form. After the Prophet Muhammad, there was no need for another prophet, for the Book— the Quran— which he gave to the world has been preserved intact, in its original form. The Quran is a collection of the divine revelations which the Prophet received over a period of 23 years. The records of all the prophets have been rendered historically unreliable by interpolations with the sole exception of Prophet Muhammad. Firstly, this is because the Prophet Muhammad was born in an age when the history of the world was already being extensively chronicled and secondly because of a strong team amongst his followers. This in itself made circumstances conducive to authentic records being kept of God's messages and the Prophet's exemplary life. The relevant facts were passed on from one generation to the next by both oral and written tradition, and with the advent of the printing press, came the modern guarantee that no changes would ever be made in the divine scriptures. This renders unassailable the position of the Prophet Muhammad as God's final messenger. Professor Philip Hitti has acknowledge this in the following words “Mohammad is born within the full light of history”. Prophethood is one of the fundamental articles of faith in Islam. A Muslim should believe in prophethood and in all the prophets sent by God and make no distinction between them. o The right step is that which is result-oriented.