Proofs of Prophethood, Part 1 The Coming of Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him, based on an article by Muhammad al-Shinawi. Muslims accept Muhammad, peace be upon him, as the last in a long series of messengers
sent by God to communicate the message of monotheism and good works to humanity. But why Muhammad? And why was he sent at the time he was?
Let's examine some reasons why the time and place were right for a final prophet to appear. But first, let's answer a more general question. Why were prophets necessary?
In Islam, believing in all the messengers God sent, from Adam to Jesus to Muhammad, is a required part of having faith. Accepting God's message upon discovering it is necessary
for establishing one's goodness before God. But that message is specific and can only be known through the messengers. Belief in prophethood explains why it's not enough
to just be a good person. To know and trust the one true God is the supreme form of good, and that would be impossible without the messengers.
So why another prophet? Why didn't the line of Abrahamic prophets end with Jesus? The state of heedlessness the world had fallen into was a big part of the reason. In Roman
coliseums, crowds cheered as lions mauled screaming prisoners. In Arabia, men routinely buried their infant daughters alive. Slaves lived doomed lives, and in some areas during
that historical period, they sometimes exceeded 75% of the population. Extreme violence, misogyny, oppression, and idolatry were common throughout the pre-Islamic world, and the core message
of previous prophets had been lost or forgotten. It is impossible that a merciful, almighty God would leave this situation as it was without any intervention. By sending one final prophet,
God did not fail humanity, but instead provided a message that would withstand time. We can see this foreshadowed in the Bible, which contains verses about a prophet to follow
Jesus with descriptions matching prophet Muhammad. Let's take a look at some of those biblical prophecies. In the book of Genesis, it says,
Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand, for I will make him a great nation. A great nation in biblical terminology can't be a nation of polytheists or idolaters. Therefore,
this can only refer to the progeny of Ishmael becoming a great nation and worshipping God. This did not happen anywhere in the centuries after Jesus until Muhammad, peace be upon
him, made Mecca and Medina the starting points of a new, faithful nation. Another verse reads, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from
Seir unto them. He shined forth from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints. From his right hand went a fiery law for them. Prophet Muhammad returned to Paran, Mecca,
from Medina, marching with ten thousand of his companions and reinstating in that land the worship of the one true God alone. No other historic event matches the biblical
description of Paran. Here's one last verse. Jesus said, It is expedient for you that I go away. For
if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever
He shall hear, that shall He speak. And He will show you things to come. Jesus was not talking about the Holy Spirit here as the Comforter, since the Holy Spirit
was always with Jesus. He also could not be talking about Paul or the papacy, since they did away with laws instead of perfecting them, and they did not communicate with the heavens.
Only Prophet Muhammad revived the honor of Jesus without burying his legacy of worshipping the Creator alone. Muhammad taught his followers that he would only speak what he learned from
God and he would precisely foretell future events. He brought guidance and a divine code of law for humanity that would last for the rest of history.
When we consider the state of the pre-Islamic world and all the prophecies known by religious scholars of the time, then it is no surprise that people were certain something was about
to happen, something momentous that would change the entire world, the coming of Prophet Muhammad.
Keep an eye out for part 2 of the Proofs of Prophethood series, where we'll examine the
