Prophecy (Shia Islam)

In Islam, prophecy (Arabic: نبوة‎, nubuwwah) is the principle that God has appointed perfect prophets and messengers to teach humanity religion.[1] This is one of the five principles of the Twelver Roots of Religion.

Etymology

In the Quran, both "prophet" (نبي, nabī) and "messenger" (رسول, rasūl) is used to refer to those who prophesise.[2]

There is differences between a prophet and a messenger. The Twelver scholar Sa'id Akhtar Rizvi stated that a "messenger" (rasūl) brings a new religious law, while those who don't are called a "prophet" (nabī).[3]

The necessity of prophecy

Henry Corbin believed that the “divine science” is not an ordinary science, it Cannot be communicated in the conventional manner. There is only need to the prophet for mediating.[4]

According to the view of Ayatollah Ja'far Sobhani, the wise God had appointed Prominent men to guide human. They had been selected to deliver massages of God to human. They are the prophet who are in fact the middleman of grace of God to human. When human had been a worthy to get the grace of God, it came down to them until the era of Muhammad prophet of Islam. The Creation of human is the acting of God. In addition to similar instincts with animal, human got the intellect in their creation. So the goal of human’s creation must be a reasonable goal. In other hand, the intellect of human is necessary to passing the human transcendency, but is not enough. If we satisfy intellect for human’s guidance, they never can know the real human transcendency. Insufficient intellect or knowledge of human cause that human can not select the best choice in matter of life and death. The right intellect order that according to circumstances of God, the existence of prophet is necessary to teaching right way of life.[5]

In view of the Quran

The following reasons have been seen in the Quran as the goals of the appointment of prophets:[5]

  1. Strengthening the foundations of Tawhid ( the oneness [of God]) and fight against any deviation as sura An-Nahl, verse 36: “And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], "Worship Allah and avoid Taghut." And among them were those whom Allah guided, and among them were those upon whom error was [deservedly] decreed. So proceed through the earth and observe how was the end of the deniers”. Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first shia Imam, said about the goal of the appointment of prophets that, Allah gave a mission to prophets to teach the servants of God about Tawhid and attributes of God.
  2. To acquaint people with the divine teachings and the manner of purification of the soul as sura Al-Jumua, verse 2: “It is He who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from themselves reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom - although they were before in clear error –“
  3. To Developing the justice in human society, as sura Al-Hadid verse 25 : “We have already sent Our messengers with clear evidences and sent down with them the Scripture and the balance that the people may maintain [their affairs] in justice”.
  4. To judge in disputes as sura Al-Baqara, verse 213 :” Mankind was [of] one religion [before their deviation]; then Allah sent the prophets as bringers of good tidings and warners and sent down with them the Scripture in truth to judge between the people concerning that in which they differed. And none differed over the Scripture except those who were given it - after the clear proofs came to them - out of jealous animosity among themselves.”
  5. As an final notice (hujjah ) for servants of God, as sura An-Nisa verse 165 :” [We sent] messengers as bringers of good tidings and warners so that mankind will have no argument against Allah after the messengers. And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise”. Also, in History of Islamic Philosophy of corbin, he know prophets as the proof, God’s guarantee to men [4]

characteristics of prophets

For guidance of servants of God, prophets needs some characteristics:[2][6]

Wahy

According to the thesis of general guidance, the power of intellect in men cannot undertake the laws provided the happiness of human society. So existence of another power is necessary that understand the real duties of men and put them in the public access. This power differs from intellect and feeling, named the prophetic consciousness or the consciousness of revelation [6] The revelation has characteristics that show the differences between it and other senses that are similar with it:[2]

  1. Revelation is the internal sense: getting the revelation is not similar with other senses like hearing. According to the view of Motahhari, the revelation (wahy) is the internal sense and is not same as hearing or other senses. He nominated that when the revelation had been received by Mohammad prophet, he had become ecstatic like fainting or like the person who see a sincere dream.
  2. The existence of the teacher: there is an authority that the prophet learn the wahy from it. the revelation is not the common sense or experiment or experience. The prophet do not have any information about it in essence. So there is a teacher who communicate the revalation to prophet.
  3. Apprehension: when the prophet get the revelation, he is the apprehensive that gets the revelation from another place.
  4. The perception of the carrier of the revelation : the revelation has a carrier. This is a fact and a belief. According to the Quran,[2] Gabriel is considered an archangel whom God is believed to have sent with revelation to various prophets, including Muhammad.[7]

Ismah

Prophets was the men who have assertion of prophecy and revelation. They gave reasons for their assertion. They put traditions of the religion of God that is the divine law guarantees happiness of human, in public access. In other hand the number of prophets with power of prophecy and revelation had been few, Allah guided perfectly the rest of the human by give mission of the propagation to his prophets. So the prophets of God must keep inerrancy.[6]

Miracle

The prophets of God claimed to be prophet and have the sense named wahy, were human beings like other people who don’t have this sense. So the existence of the divine force that God give to prophets marvelously is necessary. Prophets get the commandment of God and notify to people by this marvel sense. The Miracle is another sense to confirm assertion of prophecy the for people. It is clear that the request for miracle is the logical and prophets have to show a miracle to confirm assertion of prophecy. It is verified by Quran. The miracle of the prophets of God are not impossible and unreasonable, rather they are a "break in what is habitual" (supernatural) .[6]

According view of Ayatollah Ja'far Sobhani, there are differences between miracle and a work that break in what is habitual [5]

  1. The miracle is not teachable: The prophet who have a miracle must show his miracle without any previous record in teaching. But in supernatural works, people spend many times to practice and learning them.
  2. The miracle is not objectionable: the miracle is based on the divine force, so is not objectionable but the magic are caused by power of human, so they are the imputation.
  3. Variety: The miracles of prophet are the various and there is no similarity between them.
  4. There are differences between prophets and people who do magic in goal and characteristics of them. Prophets have the divine goal, but the goal of the magicians have the mundane goals

walayah

As corbin mentioned in History of Islam, due to the shia thinker there is categories of prophecy and walayah (authority or guardianship ). One of them is the absolute prophecy that is general and another is particular prophecy. The first one is proportionate to Muhammadan Reality from the beginning to eternity.[4] The second one is a part of the first one and it is considered the prophecy of a particular prophet. For example the prophecy of the prophet of Islam, Mohammad is the seal of the prophecy.[2] Corbin defines the walayah as the esoteric aspect of eternal prophecy. Also the walayah is divided to two parts: the absolute walayah and the particular walayah. The prophecy of each prophet is the sample of absolute prophecy that due to the shia doctrine the walayah of all the men of God end to the twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi.[4][8]

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Nubuwwah (Prophethood) al-islam.org
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Morteza Motahhari, Morteza. Nabovat. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1511939126.
  3. ↑ Sa'id Akhtar Rizvi (2014). Prophethood. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1502543844.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Corbin, Henry (August 2014). History Of Islamic Philosophy. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415760089.
  5. 1 2 3 Sobhani, Ja'far (April 2015). Charter Imamieh Ideas (منشور عقاید امامیه). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1511671484.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Allamah Tabatabai, Muhammad Husayn (1975). SHI’ITE ISLAM (PDF). State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-87395-390-8.
  7. ↑ Ali, Maulana Muhammad; Gallegos, Christopher (1936). The Religion of Islam. Lahore: eBookIt.com. p. 69. ISBN 9781934271186.
  8. ↑ Nasr, Hossein; Dabashi, Hamid; Nasr, Vali Reza (1988). Shi'Ism: Doctrines, Thought, and Spirituality. State Univ of New York Pr. ISBN 978-0887066900.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, May 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.