Ar-Risaalah (The Message)
Ar-Risaalah is an Arabic word which means message. It is man’s duty to serve Allah, his Creator. It is his duty to submit to His Will. This is the teaching of Islam.
The Mercy of Allah
Obviously, man cannot do this unless Allah lets him know what His Will is! How should he live his life on earth? How can he decide whether a particular action is right or wrong, good or bad?
But Allah is Just. He is Merciful. He is the Creator of man. He knows all his needs. He, therefore, revealed His Will through His prophets and messengers. He gave man code of conduct through these prophets and messengers. Ar-Risaalah – the message – is a link between Allah and humanity. A Rasool is a prophet. He is a messenger of Allah.
What is wahy?
A message communicated directly from Allah to a prophet’s heart or through Angel Jibreel is called wahy, or revelation. Allah is the only source of guidance to human life. Man must submit to this guidance as ultimate and final. Allah revealed His guidance as ultimate and final. Allah revealed His guidance to human beings chosen by Him for this purpose. These chosen human beings are called prophets.
Number of Prophets
Allah sent many prophets and messengers at different times between Adam and Prophet Muhammad (). Only Allah knows the number of them. Adam was the first of the prophets, and Muhammad () was the last prophet and messenger. He was sent as a mercy to all the nations.
Of these prophets and messengers, twenty-five Prophets are mentioned by name in the Qur’an. They are:
(1) Adam,
(2) Idrees,
(3) Nuh,
(4) Salih,
(5) Shu’ayb,
(6) Hud,
(7) Ibraaheem,
(8) Lut,
(9) Isma’eel,
(10) Is’haq,
(11) Ya’qub,
(12) Yusuf,
(13) Yunus,
(14) Musa,
(15) Harun,
(16) Ayyub,
(17) Dawood,
(18) Sulaiman,
(19) Ilyas,
(20) Al Yasa’,
(21) Dhul Kifl,
(22) Zakariyya,
(23) Yahya,
(24) Isa,
(25) Muhammad (May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon them all)
The messengers did not choose to do the work of guiding people themselves. In fact, it was Almighty Allah who chose them. The four prominent prophets before Muhammad () were Nuh, Ibraaheem, Musa and Isa.
The Qur’an teaches us that every human community received a messenger who spoke to them in their language. The essence of the message of all the prophets was the same – to call their people to worship only Allah and not to commit the sin of shirk!
Prophet Muhammad () was the last in a long succession of prophets. He was the Seal of all the Prophets who had gone before him. The prophets were all human beings. They were given the same message – Allah is One and His Commands are to be obeyed. Allah refers to all the prophets as Muslims because all of them submitted to His Will. All of them followed the Straight Path. They were all His true and faithful slaves. They submitted to His Will in every part of their lives. Allah gave many of the books.
The Revealed Books
The Revealed Books include:
At-Tawrah (Torah) – revealed to Musa.
Az-Zaboor (Psalms) – given to Dawood.
Al-Injeel (the Gospels) – the teachings given to Isa.
Each of these books was originally a complete revelation, but they became all corrupted.
The Zaboor, Tawrah, and Injeel were changed in various ways. Bits were left out. Many things were forgotten. Many fragments that were not part of them were added to them.
The Qur’an, which Allah revealed to Prophet Muhammad ( J§| ), is the only book that Allah has protected. It is the eternal Book that came to confirm the true and original message of Islam and to stand witness over the previous books by approving the truth and disproving falsehood in them. In fact, it is Allah’s message to all mankind, not only to Arabs.
It is part of every Muslim’s faith to believe and respect all the prophets of Allah. The Qur’an mentions that Allah sent a messenger to every nation in the world. The Qur’an makes it necessary that a Muslim should believe in all of Allah’s prophets and messengers.
If someone rejects any of Allah’s prophets or messengers, he becomes a disbeliever. Prophethood came to an end with Prophet Muhammad (). With his coming, Allah completed the religion of Islam. Allah revealed the Qur’an to Prophet Muhammad () through Angel Jibreel over a period of twenty-three years.
Prophethood is Central to Islam
After Laa ilaaha illallaah we recite Muhammadur-Rasulullaah, which means Muhammad () is the Messenger of Allah. This means that we accept and believe that Muhammad () is the prophet through whom Allah sent us His guidance the Qur’an.
Prophet Muhammad () showed us the best way we should follow to lead our lives. His life was the Qur’an in practice. The surest way to understand the Qur’an and follow its message is to learn what Allah’s Messenger () said and did. We should try to understand his sayings and actions and follow into his footsteps.
Once Allah’s Messenger () gives his decision and judgment on any matter, no believing man or woman has any right to question, doubt, disobey or keep in his mind any feelings of disapproval. He must submit to him willingly.
Exercises
- Unscramble
1. the prophet was Adam () first the.
- all Prophets the Muhammad () of was Seal the.
- Answer these questions.
1. Name four books Allah revealed to some of His messengers.
- Name at least 10 prophets.
- Who was the first prophet and who was the last?
- Name the four prominent prophets that came before Muhammad ()
Al-Akhirah – Life after Death
Allah has created death and life so He may test which of us is best in deeds. Our role in this life is to live, as our Creator desires us to live: to surrender to Him and worship Him alone. Allah has given us the faculties of hearing and seeing. He has given us two eyes, a tongue and a pair of lips. He has also given us the ability to think and understand the difference between right and wrong. He has given us free will – the freedom to choose – and has shown us the Straight Path through His Last Messenger ().
Allah created us and to Him, we will return. We are on our journey towards the hereafter. Only Allah knows when, how and where we will die. We do not know how much longer we will live on this earth, but we do know that one day we will certainly die and return o our Lord.
The world has continued its course throughout the ages since the time of Adam, but this will not go on forever! The day will come when this world will come to an end. After that, all men from Adam to the end of time will be brought to life for judgment.
We must give an account of our conduct. We must face the consequences of how we live our life on this earth. This judgment will be made only after our earthly life has ended. Almighty Allah, Who knows everything, Who is All-Powerful and All-Just, will judge us fairly.
Islam teaches us that human life is divided into three parts – the temporary life on earth, the life of barzakh between this life and the Day of Judgement and the eternal life that will follow. Since our earthly life is very short in comparison with the afterlife, it is clear that eternal life is far more important, and so we must work hard to get to Paradise.
Allah has given us the freedom to choose between right and wrong, but when this life comes to an end, Allah will call everyone to His presence; some people will be sent to Paradise, while some others will be sent to Hellfire, depending on whether they followed His Straight Path or the path of Satan.
After death comes the afterlife which begins with life in the barzakh – a life between this life and resurrection. On the Day of Judgement, no one else’s love or help can free others from their sins. Everyone stands alone before Allah, answerable only for himself. Everyone will get justice in full. No one will be wronged even by an atom’s weight.
Everything we do in our lives is recorded. Even the smallest of incidents will be displayed before our eyes on the Day of Judgement. The Judgement will be final. No one will escape it. Paradise will be the reward for those who did good actions, and Hellfire will be the punishment for those who disobeyed Allah and were ungrateful to Him. The Qur’an describes the delights and pleasures of Paradise as well as the punishments of Hell in detail. This is what the Prophet () came to convey and this is what gives meaning and purpose to our lives.
Allah’s Messenger () once said that on the Day of Judgement, no person will move from the presence of Allah unless he has answered the following five questions:
1. How he spent his life,
- How he spent his youth,
- How he earned his wealth, and
- How he spent it,
- What he did about his knowledge. (At-Tirmidhey)
Let us then start to prepare for the Akhirah today. It is better for us to obey Allah and His Messenger () and avoid the path of Satan.
Let us act while we have time!
Let the thought of what awaits us at the end of this life-death, Judgement, Heaven or Hell – help us to ‘live wisely’. May the teachings of the Qur’an and the teachings of the Prophet () always be our light, our guidance, and our strength!
Exercises
- Fill in the blanks with suitable words.
1. Allah has given us the freedom to choose between and
- Everything we do in our lives is
- Hellfire will be the punishment for those who were to Him.
4. Allah and will be a reward for those who did good actions.
- Answer these questions.
1. Why has Allah created life and death?
- Mention a few things that will happen when this world comes to an end.
- Mention the five things we will be asked about on the Day of Judgement.
