Chapter 6: Prophet Muḥammad
The Prophet Before his Mission
228. Did the Noble Prophet’s ancestors follow the religion of Jesus?
Answer: They were undoubtedly monotheists, but they practiced Abraham’s religion. It is to be noted that Abraham’s religion branched off into two offshoots: (1) The branch of Israelites. To this branch, Moses was sent with the Torah and its divine laws, followed by Jesus who confirmed the Torah and brought the Evangel (Injīl). (2) A branch followed by the Arabs of Hejaz, who used to perform the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). The Noble Prophet’s ancestors were from the latter denomination.
229. What was the Noble Prophet’s religion before his prophetic mission?
Answer: It is narrated in traditions that he believed in Abraham’s religion. According to another narration, the shariah (religious law) of each of the resolute prophets (ulū al-ʿazm)—that is, those who were endowed with a divine law and scripture—were practiced until the advent of the following resolute prophet. That is, Noah’s religion was valid until the advent of Abraham, when the latter abrogated the former. Similarly, Abraham’s religion was practiced until the advent of Moses, when the former was abrogated by the latter. The same applied to the religions of Moses, Jesus, and the Prophet Muḥammad. Accordingly, the shariah of the Noble Prophet abrogated that of Jesus, but before the advent of the Noble Prophet, the religion of Jesus was practiced.
230. Why wasn’t the Noble Prophet a Christian [before his prophethood]? Was it not that the religion of Jesus abrogated that of Abraham? Was it not that Christianity was a worldwide religion?
Answer: The religion of Abraham had branched off into two offshoots. One was present among the Children of Israel, extending from Isaac to Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Jesus. The other was widespread among the Arabs, from the time of Ishmael to the times of al-Yasaʿ (Elisha) and Dhū al-Kifl (Ezekiel), as stated in the verse: And remember Ishmael, Elisha and Dhū al-Kifl each [of whom was] among the elect (). The religion of the second branch included the hajj, unlike the first branch. There is no mention of the hajj in the Torah or the Evangel.
It is worthy of note that the chief of the children of Ishmael, ʿAmr b. Luḥayy [apparently] waged battle against the tribe of Tīm, defeated them, and ruled Mecca. All Meccans converted to monotheism and the religion of Abraham. However, ʿAmr fell sick and went to Syria on the advice of his physicians. There, influenced by idolatrous Syrians, he turned to idolatry and had the idol Hubal transported to Mecca. He called people to idolatry, and thus Arabs started worshiping idols, except for the Noble Prophet’s ancestors, who persisted in monotheism based on Abraham’s religion. Accordingly, the Noble Prophet believed in the religion of Abraham before his prophetic mission.
231. Did the Noble Prophet have any special spiritual station before his prophetic call?
Answer: It is stated in the narrations that he had certain signs of spiritual perfection. For instance, an angel cleansed his heart when he was a child. Of course, this refers to spiritual purification, not a physical cleansing. It does not mean that an angel literally split his heart open and entered it. Rather, it was an imaginal representation (tamaththul barzakhiyyah), similar to what happened in the story of Mary, as mentioned in the verse: And he [Our Spirit] appeared to her as a well-proportioned human (). In other words, the Archangel Gabriel did not become human, but he appeared to Mary in human form.
It is also narrated about the Noble Prophet: “Since the time he was weaned, God made his companion the greatest of His angels.” This refers to the Spirit (al-ruḥ), which is higher in rank than Gabriel. He was always supported by the Holy Spirit.
This theme is also found in the story of Abraham in the Holy Qur’an: We made them imams, guiding by Our command, and We revealed to them the performance of good deeds (). In this verse, the verbal noun fiʿl (performance, doing) is added to its own object, which is al-khayrāt (good deeds). Grammarians maintain that such additions imply the actualization of the verb. Accordingly, the verse means that the doing of good deeds was is actualized by them. Because the verse does not say that “We revealed to them that you must do good deeds,” but what was revealed to them was the actual doing of good deeds. Therefore, the verse implies that the imam—or any prophet who is vested with the rank of imamate—performs only good deeds, and is always supported by the Holy Spirit.
232. Do these verses imply that the Noble Prophet used to perform the prayer (ṣalāh) before his prophethood: Have you seen he who forbids a servant when he prays ()?
Answer: Yes. That is, assuming that the chapter was revealed in its entirety on the eve of his prophethood, we can say that the Noble Prophet used to perform the prayer before his prophetic call, and there were people who forbade him from so doing.
233. Was Muḥammad first appointed as a “prophet” (nabī) before being appointed as a “messenger” (rasūl)?
Answer: Yes, he was first apointed as a prophet before being appointed to his mission. Some narrations say that “he was appointed a prophet six months before his mission.”
In Relation to Other Prophets
234. What is intended by the prophetic tradition, “I was prophet when Adam was [in the stage] between water and clay”?
Answer: It means that he was appointed to prophethood at that time.
235. Were all prophets like that?
Answer: Apparently so.
236. Why are all other prophets excelled by the Prophet Muḥammad?
Answer: Because of his shariah, his noble character, his exalted stations, his being the Seal of the Prophets for humankind, and his revealed Book which is a divine authority for the entire world.
237. Is there any non-Qur’anic evidence for the Prophet Muḥammad’s superiority over the other prophets?
Answer: Yes: his spiritual stations and character, his monotheistic call, and his divine teachings which had not been imparted by his predecessors.
An Absolute Servant of God
238. Why is the Noble Prophet referred to in some Qur’anic verses as ʿabd (servant)? For instance: Immaculate is He who carried His servant on a journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque (), whereat He revealed to His servant whatever He revealed ().
Answer: ʿAbd, in reference to the Messenger of God, is an honorary appellation.
239. So is it not literal?
Answer: Yes, it is.
240. Is obedience to the Noble Prophet separate from obedience to God?
Answer: No, obedience to the Noble Prophet is on a par with obedience to God, and disobedience to his commands and injunctions is on a par with disobedience to divine commands and prohibitions. This is reflected in the verse: Whoever obeys the Messenger certainly obeys Allah ().
The Final Prophet
241. Is it based on narrational evidence that the Prophet Muḥammad is called “the Seal of the Prophets”?
Answer: Yes, it is based on Qur’anic evidence and the fact that the Qur’an is for all times and all places.
242. Can it also be proven by rational arguments?
Answer: Rational arguments are applicable to universal statements, such as prophethood in general (called al-nubuwwah al-ʿāmmah), not to particulars, such as individual prophets (called al-nubuwwah al-khāṣṣah).
Sending Blessing on the Noble Prophet
243. Do we bless the Noble Prophet and his family to have our station promoted, or do we bless them to have their station promoted?
Answer: It is for having our station promoted. The Noble Prophet is the best and the noblest of creatures, which means that he has some existential perfection unsurpassed by any other creature. Accordingly, his most exalted station may not be promoted. Our blessing is a form of veneration from our part which does not raise his rank. It is like picking an apple from an apple grove and presenting it as a token of love to the owner of the grove. Any good, whether material or spiritual, comes through the Noble Prophet; he is the owner of all goods and blessings.
244. Does this mean that what the Shahīd said is incomplete?
Answer: It is seemingly complete.
The Prophet’s Greater Intercession
245. What is intended by [the prayer,] “Accept his intercession”?
Answer: The greater intercession is intended. Imam al-Bāqir said, “All prophets and saints are in in need of the Noble Prophet’s intercession.” Others who are granted the position of intercession are also subsidiary to the Noble Prophet’s intercession.
246. What is intended by “Accept his intercession and elevate his rank”?
Answer: It is a form of venerating the Noble Prophet, which is desirable in and of itself. The second part is simply a part and continuation of the supplication, but it does not elevate the Prophet’s rank any further.
Marriage and Family
247. The Noble Prophet said, “Marry and procreate, as I will take pride in you before other nations on the Day of Resurrection, even if there be miscarriages.” Does this tradition indicate that these matters (including our sending of peace upon him) will elevate the Prophet’s rank?
Answer: His exalted station is not elevated by these matters, but it will only become more evident to others. This pertains to his prophetic call. The more widespread this call becomes—for example through an increase in the number of Muslims—his exalted station will be more manifest to others.
248. Why was the Noble Prophet polygamous?
Answer: We know that the Noble Prophet was neither a debauchee nor a hedonist. His deeds were all based on discretion and reason, rather than on sentimentality. Therefore, his marriages were based on certain considerations such as: (1) economic and/or political reasons; (2) establishing the permissibility of polygamy; (3) inclining Arab tribes towards Islam; (4) warding off their harms; and other reasons, each of which significantly impacted the dissemination of his call.
Accordingly, the Noble Prophet married Khadījah when he was young while she was a forty-year-old widow. And he did not marry another woman until her death. All his wives, except for ʿĀʾishah and Ḥabībah who were virgins, were middle-aged widows. It was unlawful for him to remarry in his last ten years.
249. In mourning for the loss of his son Ibrāhīm, the Noble Prophet said, “The heart is in grief and the eyes are tearful, but I do not utter any words except the truth.” Doesn’t his grief violate the verse: Lo! The friends of Allah will indeed have no fear nor will they grieve ()?
Answer: There are different degrees to grief, some of which, compared to others, are not considered as grief.
250. Has the Prophet’s Mosque (Masjid al-Nabī) been expanded compared to its original construction?
Answer: Yes, very much so. The part with marble pillars belongs to the original map, but the part with the red pillars is new. The praying niche (miḥrāb) and the pulpit were also in the original. One could say that the original mosque was built on an area of about 1,000 square meters, but now the mosque is approximately 8,000 square meters.
Ibid., vol. 15, p. 220, tradition 39, p. 144, tradition 76, vol. 35, p. 81, tradition 22. ↩︎
See ibid., vol. 16, p. 353, tradition 38. ↩︎
See ibid., vol. 15, p. 352, tradition 13. ↩︎
See ibid., vol. 14, p. 475, tradition 37, vol. 15, p. 361, tradition 18, vol. 18, p. 271, tradition 38, vol. 38, p. 320, tradition 33. ↩︎
TR: For the difference between a nabī and a rasūl, see Q 123-125 above. Apparently, what is meant by nabī here is one who receives revelation without being charged with a mission to propagate his message. ↩︎
See ibid., vol. 61, p. 178, explanation of tradition 40. ↩︎
See ibid., vol. 16, p. 402, tradition 1, vol. 18, p. 278, tradition 38, vol. 68, p. 27, tradition 49, vol. 101, p. 155, explanation of tradition 4. ↩︎
TR: This means that prophethood is a quality that precedes the material creation of humankind in the corporeal world. ↩︎
See verse . ↩︎
I searched through the works of both Shahīds Awwal and Thānī, but could not find anything related to this question. ↩︎
TR: This is a supplication that is often made after sending peace upon the Prophet in the tashahhud of prayers. ↩︎
See ibid., vol. 8, p. 38, tradition 16. ↩︎
See ibid., vol. 82, p. 268, tradition 15, vol. 85, p. 287, tradition 85, p. 288, tradition 16, p. 290, tradition 22, p. 293, tradition 23. ↩︎
See Mustadrak al-Wasāʾil, vol. 14, p. 153, tradition 16346; Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 17, p. 259, tradition 4, vol. 103, p. 220, tradition 24. ↩︎
TR: (1) The Prophet did not marry anyone named Ḥabībah. He married Umm Ḥabībah, the daughter of Abū Sufyān, but she was not a virgin. (2) The ban on further marriages of the Prophet is mentioned in verse , but this was certainly revealed much less than ten years before the his death. Many of the Prophet’s marriages occurred during the ten last years of his life, before the revelation of this verse. ↩︎
See Wasāʾil al-Shīʿah, vol. 3, p. 280, traditions 3651-3652. ↩︎
The site has expanded even further by now. ↩︎