LESSONS FROM JESUS CHRIST

LESSONS FROM JESUS CHRIST Prophet of God W E find from the Quran and Hadith that a large number of God’s messengers were sent to different nations and regions. The majority of these prophets are unknown from the historical point of view. It is because the books written by the contemporaries of the messengers make no mention of them or their work. To these chroniclers the prophets and the incidents connected with them were not worthy of being mentioned. Without doubt, the prophets are examples of the loftiest human character. But because of the unscientific methods of history-writing which prevailed in their times, only events connected with kings, royalty and generals were considered worthy of being recorded, thus depriving posterity of the precious details of the lives of the prophets. The Quran opened this chapter for the first time in history. But to what end? It might seem that a recital of the facts relating to the life and mission of the Prophet of Islam would have sufficed. But there was a very good reason for making frequent mention of these prophets individually, and also testifying to their having received God’s guidance, a blessing which exalted them above all other creatures. It was so that the Prophet of Islam and his ummah (followers) might learn valuable lessons from the ways in which these prophets dealt with their circumstances and the situations in which they found themselves. In the Quran(6:90), the Prophet of Islam is thus addressed: ‘These are whom God guided aright, so follow their guidance.' Every one of them was an upright man guided by God along a straight path and as such was superior to all others. Chapter 6 mentions a number of these prophets by name. They are: Ibrahim (Abraham), Ishaaq (Issac), Yaqub (Jacob), Nuh (Noah), Dawood (David), Sulaiman (Solomon), Ayyub (Job), Yusuf (Joseph), Musa (Moses), Haroon (Aaron), Zakariya, Isa (Jesus), Ismail (Ishmael), Yahya (John the Baptist), Yunus (Jonah), and Lut (Lot). God has instructed us not to differentiate between the prophets as they essentially brought the same message to mankind.