(Mohammad Masood Ahmed (2025), Would You Like To Know Something About Islam, Second Edition, Crescent Books Inc., New York, USA. Pg. 105-111)

Allah desired to be known; thus, He created everything for this purpose. From the beginning, a being known as human was part of His divine will and creation process. It was also His intention that humans would have a predetermined lifespan on earth, along with the ability to exercise free will and make choices. They receive guidance on right and wrong and are tested to determine whether they will follow Allah’s will or their own. Ultimately, their actions will determine if they receive eternal life in Heaven or Hell. All of this was established in His will the moment “Allah willed to be known,” initiating the act of creation according to His desires.

Only Allah knows how many millions of years passed before the creation of ‘Adam , the first human. Soon after, He created his wife, Hawwa’ (Eve), the first woman. It then became necessary for them to be sent to Earth. As ‘Adam's descendants began to appear through biological processes, the need emerged to teach and guide humans in distinguishing right from wrong, understanding their purpose in life, and achieving success. Consequently, the mission of teaching and guiding people became paramount. The Messengers and Prophets of Allah—those chosen by Him for this significant task—are among the finest of humanity.

When our forefather, ‘Adam , was created, every human soul destined for life on earth was also brought into existence. Allah gathered each soul and inquired, “Am I not your Lord ?” They all responded, “Why not? We bear witness (that You alone are our Lord)” Allah was aware that they would soon forget this promise upon arriving on earth. ¹ Consequently, provisions were established to teach, preach, guide, and remind individuals about the ‘Great Gathering’ that will occur in the end, where everyone will surely witness or at least sense His presence and be held accountable for their deeds.

Yet, had we recalled our response to “Am I not your Lord?”, we would be in a far better situation. If we had retained this memory, how could we have erred so severely in our lives? How could we have strayed off the correct path? How can we now reject the existence of Allah? How could we have engaged in the sins of kufr (infidelity) and shirk (polytheism) and disobeyed His commandments? If we had kept Allah in our thoughts, what purpose would our trials serve? Had we remembered this, we would never have veered away from the path of righteousness, and attaining success would have been easy. Consequently, we would not have needed prophets to teach, preach, and guide us, since we would have inherently known and remembered Allah, the Almighty, our Lord.

As we settled on Earth and matured, we lost sight of the covenant made with Allah. ² Yet, once we leave this life, the realization will dawn upon us. Recalling our original covenant with Allah at the moment of our departure will not allow us to return and fulfill that promise. There is no second chance; it is now or never.

The core of Islam centers on faith in the unseen, metaphysical, and spiritual realms, which may not be perceivable to the naked eye but can be comprehended through rational thought. To accept the hidden aspects of faith, one must seek guidance, support, signs, and symbols from Allah, which serve as proof of His existence. These elements also fulfill our curiosity and answer our questions, enabling us to have a firm belief in the unseen. Alone, we cannot directly access that guidance from Allah; if we could, nothing would be concealed or hidden.

Hence, it was essential for someone to seek guidance from Allah and pass it on to us, to learn from Allah and educate us, to harness Allah’s energy and uplift our spirits, and to be inspired by Allah’s radiance, leading us from the shadows of ignorance into the illumination of knowledge. These beings could be trusted without doubt, regarded as worthy and capable of this great deed, able to relate to us and the Lord Almighty simultaneously, reminding us of our purpose and destination, and showing us how to practically follow in their footsteps.

Who could these exalted beings possibly be? Are they anyone other than those selected by our Lord? No. Then they are clearly His Prophets and Messengers . They arrived and executed their responsibilities with great diligence, selflessness, and unwavering commitment. At this moment, the responsibility lies with us, as this lifetime is our sole opportunity; we must seize it or lose it.

‘Adam was the First Prophet. From the outset, he needed to be the primary source of teaching Allah’s message to his children. Subsequently, other Prophets appeared in various nations, one following another, to guide them and convey Allah’s message. Ultimately, among these Prophets , the Last was Prophet Muhammad .

All Prophets were human beings; yet, they were the chosen ones, exalted among the people. They needed to emerge from humanity; otherwise, they couldn’t relate to us, and we wouldn’t be able to follow them. This dis-tance might have led us to dismiss them and their teachings, allowing us to say to Allah, “O Lord! How could we emulate their lives, sacrifices, and struggles when we are merely human and they are so different from us?”

وَلَوْ جَعَلْنَاهُ مَلَكًا لَّجَعَلْنَاهُ رَجُلًا وَلَلَبَسْنَا عَلَيْهِم مَّا يَلْبِسُونَ 9³

And if We had made the prophet an angel, even then We would have made them (in the form of) a man, and thus We would have confused them in a matter wherein they are now confused.

This explains why the All-Knowing Allah selected His Prophets from humans: to provide a model for others to follow and emulate. It was also essential for the Prophets to possess the ability to perform miracles, ensuring that those who chose to believe would have unshakeable faith in them, while those who decided to disbelieve would have no excuse on Judgment Day for claiming they could not confirm the prophets as Allah’s messengers. Through the Prophets , Allah thoroughly communicated His guidance to humanity. We now face the decision to act righteously or wickedly, to achieve success or failure, and to pursue eternal life in Heaven or Hell. The responsibility to choose and act lies with each of us. Our choices solely impact ourselves, with no one else gaining or losing from our decisions. Islam encourages us to make wise selections for our own benefit.

Allah appointed Prophets from their own communities to guide their nations towards one Lord. They clarified the purpose of life on Earth and instructed them on how to live, worship Allah, and fulfill their responsibilities to both, Allah and fellow humans. The Prophets conveyed all that they were designated to deliver to humanity.

Allah required people to have faith in His Prophets as a prerequisite and to recognize them as beloved beings of Allah. ⁴⁵ No Prophet demanded anything in return from his people for the favor of conveying Allah’s guidance to them. The Prophets did not seek wealth, power, or adulation; instead, they sacrificed their time and energy, endured pain and suffering, and were humiliated to save their people from evil deeds, grave sins, shirk, and disobedience to Allah.

As one Prophet passed away, Allah would send another. According to a saying of Prophet Muhammad , Allah sent about 124,000 Prophets. During their lifetime, the Prophets and their followers suffered greatly at the hands of disbelievers, who frequently forced them to leave their homeland or even killed them. Regardless of how difficult the environment became, the Prophets remained steadfast and never gave in or disavowed their divine obligations.

As the Prophets passed away, their teachings were corrupted and, in many cases, deliberately changed to legitimize the rule of the elites over the less fortunate. The true believers always remained steadfast to the teachings of their respective Prophets , and Allah brought countless rewards and blessings upon those unwavering believers. In contrast, Allah’s wrath destroyed those who disobeyed the Prophets so that future generations and other nations would learn from their fate and avoid following their example. Regardless of whether individuals heeded the earlier Prophets , Allah fulfilled His guidance for humanity through His Final Prophet .

His Final Prophet completed the divine guidance. He was destined to be successful and to fulfill his duties, and his nation would fully surrender to the will of Allah. His teachings will last forever. His people, language, Holy Book (the Quran), teachings, practices, and revered words will be preserved forever and will serve as a beacon of light and guidance for all of humanity until the end of time. He is no other Prophet than Muhammad , the book revealed to him is the Quran, whose teachings are Islam, and whose followers are Muslims. He testified to past Prophets , recognized the authenticity of their revealed scriptures, eradicated shirk, and now rules forever over the hearts of his followers, the Leader of All Prophets .

Islam acknowledges every Prophet . In fact, rejecting or belittling any of them is contrary to Islamic beliefs, as they are all Prophets of Allah. Each holds a special place in the hearts of Muslims. Some of them are ‘Adam , Idris (possibly, Enoch) , Nuh (Noah) , Hud , Saleh , Ibrahim (Abraham) , Isma’il (Ishmael) , ‘Ishaq (Isaac) , Ya‘qub (Jacob) , Yusuf (Joseph) , Ayub (Job) , Shu‘ayb (Jethro) , Musa (Moses) , Harun (Aaron) , Lut (Lot) , Yunus (Jonah) , Al-Yasa’ (Elisha) , Dhu’l-kifl (Ezekiel) , Dawud (David) , Sulayman (Solomon) , Ilyas (Elijah) , Zakariya (Zachariah) , Yahya (John the Baptist) , ‘Isa (Jesus) , and the ‘Seal of the Prophethood,’ Muhammad . They deserve to be honored, loved, remembered, and respected to the extent that Muslims must attach proper attributes and salutations next to their names when referring to or writing them, as demonstrated above.

The Prophets’ primary purpose was not to teach us what we could learn independently, but rather to reveal what we could never comprehend on our own. When our intellect falls short, the teachings of the Prophets step in to fill the gap. As our reasoning hits a wall, the wisdom of the Prophets reveals new pathways for us to progress. In moments when our faculties wane, their teachings guide us out of the shadows of failure. Whenever we require a model or an ideal, the greatest resource is the Prophets of Allah, who stand as remarkable examples and symbols of wisdom.

The holy Prophets came to connect us with the Creator, as we could not achieve this on our own due to our limited aql (intellect). They came to tell us who the Lord is, since we could not fully know by ourselves. They came to teach us how to please the Lord, because we could not discover this on our own without the Lord revealing it to us through them. They came to show us how to worship the Lord, as we could not develop a system of worship that would truly please the Lord. They came to declare the Oneness of the Lord and prevent us from committing shirk, for we could not have come to believe in one Lord by ourselves. The prophets warned us about the Day of Judgment and its trials, as we might realize too late if we waited to understand it on our own.

The Prophets guided us on what is halal and haram (permitted and forbidden), distinguishing between good and bad, virtues and sins, benefits and harm, and rights and duties, along with all other instructional dos and don’ts. Without their guidance, we would have completely overturned the framework of life, misinterpreted existence, misused Allah’s blessings, worsened our spiritual ailments, established flawed justice systems, and ultimately failed to attain success in the Hereafter. We required divine assistance, which was provided through His Prophets .

The Prophets arrived not to instruct us on constructing skyscrapers, but to help us discover peace and prosperity through simplicity. They did not come to provide us with methods for acquiring wealth, but rather to inspire love for our fellow human beings and encourage us to share our riches. They did not come to teach us how to build airplanes, but to alleviate humanity's suffering. They came not to provide us with ideas about exploring outer space, but to help us delve into our inner selves and uncover Allah’s magnificent craftsmanship.

None of the knowledge, inventions, explorations, designs, manufacturing processes, ideas, formulations, or discoveries that we could have achieved independently were ever included in the plans of any Prophet . In due time, we would instinctively pursue these endeavors as necessity dictated, and history confirms that we did indeed succeed.

Instead, the Prophets provided us with insight into matters we could not uncover on our own. They have fulfilled their role as guides and are not accountable for anything beyond that. They will not be held responsible for our wrongdoings, nor will they carry the weight of our errors or suffer for our kufr (infidelity), shirk (polytheism), and divergence from the righteous path. They are indeed the chosen, rewarded, and blessed ones. They have done their job well and have nothing to lose.

• ¹  Holy Quran, Al-A’raf, 7: 172
• ²  Holy Quran, At-Tawbah, 9: 67
• ³  Holy Quran, Al-An’am, 6: 9
• ⁴  Holy Quran, Al-An’am, 4: 80
• ⁵  Holy Quran, Al-Baqarah, 2: 253