boupj
Junior Member
Assalaamu Alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatu
Are all the prophets of history Muslim??? From a Muslim standpoint: YES! Do Christians and Jews beleive this.... NO! Is this a big deal... YES! First I will examine the standpoints of Christianity and Judaism and then the standpoint of Islam.
Judaism: Were all the prophets Jewish? No, though most of their prophets considered themselves Jews, their first prophet Abraham was not a Jew, he was around before Judaism officially exists, and one website about jewish prophets says, "A prophet is not necessarily a Jew" (jewfaq.org/prophet.htm) God sent prophet to gentiles as well... Is this a problem?? YES If Jews were the nation chosen by God and Judaism is the right religion under God why would God be sending messengers that weren't of his faith? Since Judaism is a religion with two dimensions (nationality and religion) one who is not part of the nation chosen by God is not a Jew, so why is God sending forth prophets from an unchosen nation? It doesn't make sense.
Christianity: Were all prophets Christian? NO, even Jesus(pbuh) himself wasn't a Christian (as Muslim we beleive he was Muslim), Christians beleive he was a Jew, even as a Christian I knew Jesus(pbuh) wasn't Christian. For anyone who's curious Jesus couldn't have been a Christian because a Christian is one who follows the teaching of Christ (Jesus pbuh) and beleives in his death and resurrection, so the only way Jesus could've been a Christian was after his death and resurrection, so if necessary I'll grant that Jesus was a Christian for a couple of days (once he was resurrected, according to Christian theology) And all the prophets before Jesus were not Christian. So Christians base their faith on prophets who weren't even of the same faith, they follow some rules from the old testament and others they ignore. It doesn't make much sense to have a religion where most prophets aren't even of that religion, does it??
Islam: are all prophets Muslim? YES!! This can be very hard for some to wrap their head around (even some Muslims). I mean didn't Islam only come into being in the 7th century? The answer is Yes and no, Muhammad (saw) brought the final revelation not the first, and certainly not the only. Though many people are correct in saying that the terms Islam and Muslim are rather recent, but just because one didn't use the same terms to identify something doesn't mean that it wasn't the same thing. For example I live in Quebec (a province in Canada) originally Quebec was called New France, then Lower Canada, and now Quebec, but it is still the same mass of land, still the same place so when we talk about history of Quebec we don't stop when it was called Lower Canada or New France, we go all the way back (even before that) and we recognize that even though it was functioning under a different name it was still Quebec. So we will do the same with Islam even though it wasn't called Islam it was the same religion, because it was the worshipping of a single God who is ONE.
So even though throughout history these prophets have been reffered to as Christian or Jew they were Muslims as they all spread the message that is essential to Islam, which is "There is only one God and we must submit to his will." This is the only way that there are no inconsistincies, as the Jews say prophets were sent to Gentiles who weren't Jews and the Christian prophets weren't Christian, Islam is the only faith in which God has consistently sent messengers of the same faith, preaching the same message, since the beginning of time. We see Abraham (pbuh) submitting himself to God, when he is willing to sacrifice his son. We see Jesus (pbuh) before his death (as the Christians beleive he was crucified) saying: "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away form me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will," (Mark 14:36).
But if they were indeed Muslims why was the word Muslim only used recently. One, is that Muslim is an Arabic word and Jesus (pbuh) and Abraham (pbuh), didn't speak Arabic, though they did speak semitic languages and would be surprised if they used a similar sounding word to speak of submission to the one God. Another reason is because the messages of prophets before Muhammad (saw) were distorted by man, which is why Allah sent Muhammad (saw), so that true message of all previous prophets could be restored.
And as a side note people say all Muslims are monotheists, but not all monotheists are Muslim they are absolutely correct, because Muslims are the only ones who following the will of Allah and submitting to him (which is what Muslim and Islam mean), other faiths, though they may beleive in one God either ignore, or have distorted Allah's message and are not submitting to himl and hence are not Muslims.
Insha'Allah what I was trying to say is clear enough here, and anything I said that is good is from Allah , all the bad (insha'Allah there isn't much bad) is from me.
Wa salaam
Are all the prophets of history Muslim??? From a Muslim standpoint: YES! Do Christians and Jews beleive this.... NO! Is this a big deal... YES! First I will examine the standpoints of Christianity and Judaism and then the standpoint of Islam.
Judaism: Were all the prophets Jewish? No, though most of their prophets considered themselves Jews, their first prophet Abraham was not a Jew, he was around before Judaism officially exists, and one website about jewish prophets says, "A prophet is not necessarily a Jew" (jewfaq.org/prophet.htm) God sent prophet to gentiles as well... Is this a problem?? YES If Jews were the nation chosen by God and Judaism is the right religion under God why would God be sending messengers that weren't of his faith? Since Judaism is a religion with two dimensions (nationality and religion) one who is not part of the nation chosen by God is not a Jew, so why is God sending forth prophets from an unchosen nation? It doesn't make sense.
Christianity: Were all prophets Christian? NO, even Jesus(pbuh) himself wasn't a Christian (as Muslim we beleive he was Muslim), Christians beleive he was a Jew, even as a Christian I knew Jesus(pbuh) wasn't Christian. For anyone who's curious Jesus couldn't have been a Christian because a Christian is one who follows the teaching of Christ (Jesus pbuh) and beleives in his death and resurrection, so the only way Jesus could've been a Christian was after his death and resurrection, so if necessary I'll grant that Jesus was a Christian for a couple of days (once he was resurrected, according to Christian theology) And all the prophets before Jesus were not Christian. So Christians base their faith on prophets who weren't even of the same faith, they follow some rules from the old testament and others they ignore. It doesn't make much sense to have a religion where most prophets aren't even of that religion, does it??
Islam: are all prophets Muslim? YES!! This can be very hard for some to wrap their head around (even some Muslims). I mean didn't Islam only come into being in the 7th century? The answer is Yes and no, Muhammad (saw) brought the final revelation not the first, and certainly not the only. Though many people are correct in saying that the terms Islam and Muslim are rather recent, but just because one didn't use the same terms to identify something doesn't mean that it wasn't the same thing. For example I live in Quebec (a province in Canada) originally Quebec was called New France, then Lower Canada, and now Quebec, but it is still the same mass of land, still the same place so when we talk about history of Quebec we don't stop when it was called Lower Canada or New France, we go all the way back (even before that) and we recognize that even though it was functioning under a different name it was still Quebec. So we will do the same with Islam even though it wasn't called Islam it was the same religion, because it was the worshipping of a single God who is ONE.
So even though throughout history these prophets have been reffered to as Christian or Jew they were Muslims as they all spread the message that is essential to Islam, which is "There is only one God and we must submit to his will." This is the only way that there are no inconsistincies, as the Jews say prophets were sent to Gentiles who weren't Jews and the Christian prophets weren't Christian, Islam is the only faith in which God has consistently sent messengers of the same faith, preaching the same message, since the beginning of time. We see Abraham (pbuh) submitting himself to God, when he is willing to sacrifice his son. We see Jesus (pbuh) before his death (as the Christians beleive he was crucified) saying: "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away form me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will," (Mark 14:36).
But if they were indeed Muslims why was the word Muslim only used recently. One, is that Muslim is an Arabic word and Jesus (pbuh) and Abraham (pbuh), didn't speak Arabic, though they did speak semitic languages and would be surprised if they used a similar sounding word to speak of submission to the one God. Another reason is because the messages of prophets before Muhammad (saw) were distorted by man, which is why Allah sent Muhammad (saw), so that true message of all previous prophets could be restored.
And as a side note people say all Muslims are monotheists, but not all monotheists are Muslim they are absolutely correct, because Muslims are the only ones who following the will of Allah and submitting to him (which is what Muslim and Islam mean), other faiths, though they may beleive in one God either ignore, or have distorted Allah's message and are not submitting to himl and hence are not Muslims.
Insha'Allah what I was trying to say is clear enough here, and anything I said that is good is from Allah , all the bad (insha'Allah there isn't much bad) is from me.
Wa salaam
