Why does Allah talk only through prophets?

[Sophie29]

Again I'm simply curious and don't mean this as an insult. It's merely part of my questioning process and by questioning I will learn!

Salam
S

 

[TheHumbleWun]

Again I'm simply curious and don't mean this as an insult. It's merely part of my questioning process and by questioning I will learn!

Salam
S

Great question.

To start off, we ask our ourselves:

What is a Prophet?

A prophet is a messenger of God and is a human being to whom God gives His guidance and whom He charges with the task of conveying that guidance to the people, so that they may do good and avoid evil.

God sent prophets to all nations on earth, at various stages of their histories. The Holy Quran says:

And for every nation there is a messenger (10:47)

And there is not a people but a warner has gone among them (35:24)

So to answer you question - because they were sent to guide other human beings, not only by preaching, but also by personal example. So they had to be completely human to show other people how to live. According to Islam, each Prophet was himself the first and foremost follower of the guidance God revealed through him for people to follow. This is why previous prophets are called 'Muslims' in the Holy Quran, being not only teachers but also followers of God's guidance. As for the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), not only does Islam teach that he was a human being, but a study of his life shows that he regarded himself as a humble mortal, and mixed with people as just one of them.

I hope that answered your question

 

[Sophie29]

Thanks Thehumbleone... I understand what you say. I always felt that if God spoke directly , with his own voice and figure ...that his message would be heard by more....and less people would doubt it's authenticity.... A 'Muslim'....a Prophet..will always struggle to be believed. But if God has a requirements for his people...would talking directly yield better results?.

Salam
S

 

[a_muslimah86]

Thanks Thehumbleone... I understand what you say. I always felt that if God spoke directly , with his own voice and figure ...that his message would be heard by more....and less people would doubt it's authenticity.... A 'Muslim'....a Prophet..will always struggle to be believed. But if God has a requirements for his people...would talking directly yield better results?.

Salam
S

This is my personal view on your last question..

Our comprehension of the divine is quite limited in capability..and our weakness as humans may yield us to misinterpret or wrongly decipher the presence of God physically being amongst us..or directly speaking to us..
Also..as creatures of free will...reason..and logic
I think God would want us to come to belief through these things (all on our own)..not through visions or things of such nature..as the awe for them may decrease as time goes by and we would then require that more "exhilarating" and more "miraclous" visions or things of that nature to take place..and that would in turn cause us to lose reverence towards God Himself (astaghfirallah!)..and can instill arrogance in the hearts of those receiving them...while what we come to realize through the three characterisitics I mentioned may last a lifetime and can be of greater effect..as it would take hold of your mind and your heart..and through it you seek to perfect your faith..practice..character..morals..and actions constantly to satisfy what had been presented to you as divine guidance..

I hope that makes sense..I tried my best to word it just right..and I didn't want to make this too long for you to read..so I just discussed the main points..I hope I answered your questions in some way..

wa alaikum assalam

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,

I am often very simple in my faith. I feel we are blessed to have had messengers to remind us as one of charactersitics is we are forgetful as human beings. Also, is it now written that Allah subhana talla will reward us jannath because we simply believed. Is not the ultimate reward of the gift of being able to see Allah?

 

[TheHumbleWun]

Thanks Thehumbleone... I understand what you say. I always felt that if God spoke directly , with his own voice and figure ...that his message would be heard by more....and less people would doubt it's authenticity.... A 'Muslim'....a Prophet..will always struggle to be believed. But if God has a requirements for his people...would talking directly yield better results?.

Salam
S

Salaam,

"It is not fitting for a man that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a veil, or by the sending of a Messenger to reveal, with Allah's permission, what Allah wills: for He is Most High, Most Wise. And thus have We, by Our command, sent inspiration to thee: thou knewest not (before) what was Revelation, and What was Faith; but We have made the (Quran) a Light, wherewith We guide such of Our servants as We will..." (42:51-52)

This states clearly that Allah may not speak to men except by inspiration. It is for this reason that Allah reveals Himself by means of appointed prophets. These prophets are merely human, therefore limited (Sura 80:1-3). Revelation in Islam is from God to man via the prophets. The final revelation and therefore the most important, according to Islam, is the Qur'an. It was revealed to Muhammad (pbuh) between AD 610-632, via the angel Gabriel, using a process known as Nazil, which implies a word-for-word transmission.

Consider the tablets in heaven (Sura 85:21-22). These tablets, upon which the Quran is said to be eternally inscribed, have never been created. Since Allah is infinite and transcendent it stands to reason that His revelation and Word are also infinite and transcendent. This final revelation, given through Muhammad (pbuh), is divine and therefore beyond the realm of human conjecture or criticism. What this means is that the Quran which we possess today is and has always been final and pure, without possibility of corruption of the text.

None of the prophets peace be upon them claimed to be God. Nor did they ask the people to worship them. The message was clear and distinct. Worship God and God alone. Our knowledge is limited in ways God's is not. What purpose would life serve if God directly spoke to us? Look at this beautiful manifestation of free will that God has given human beings. The choices you make serves a purpose. Every single thing you see around you serves a purpose. The Creator does not leave his creation without a purpose.

 

[a_muslimah86]

Salaam,

I am often very simple in my faith. I feel we are blessed to have had messengers to remind us as one of charactersitics is we are forgetful as human beings. Also, is it now written that Allah subhana talla will reward us jannath because we simply believed. Is not the ultimate reward of the gift of being able to see Allah?

jazaki allah khair aapa..

you wrote some of the things I failed to word just write..like the ultimate reward and gift is seeing Allah...
this reward motivates the believer to do what his Lord commands him the most!..

wa alaikum assalam

 

[Sophie29]

Salam, Thank you all. Makes much sense.

 

[Optimist]

Masha'Allah ... good answers

I have prepared an answer as well ... I hope you will find something new in it.

You are not insulting the slightest. I'm not a scholar but I know there are verses from the Quran that deal with this question. Insha'Allah (God willing) I will use the Qura'an to answer your questions.

The verses to follow describe a dialogue between the prophet (may peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) and the infidels of Makkah (Qura'an 6:4-8): (translation of) Quranic verses are qouted and my commentary is below every verse in plain text.

And never an Ayah (sign) comes to them from the Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of their Lord, but that they have been turning away from it.

Here Allah (subhanaho wa ta'aala) states that they have rejected all previous signs and messages ... including miracles.

Indeed, they rejected the truth (the Qur'ân and Muhammad (peace be upon him)) when it came to them, but there will come to them the news of that (the torment) which they used to mock at.

This is a threat that if they continue in their denial ... the punishment is near

Have they not seen how many a generation before them We have destroyed whom We had established on the earth such as We have not established you? And We poured out on them rain from the sky in abundance, and made the rivers flow under them. Yet We destroyed them for their sins, and created after them other generations​

and here .. Allah (subhanaho wa ta'aala) reminds them of previous nations who were more powerful, yet they were destroyed by Allah (subhanaho wa ta'aala) for rejecting the truth.

And even if We had sent down unto you (O Muhammad (peace be upon him)) a Message written on paper so that they could touch it with their hands, the disbelievers would have said: "This is nothing but obvious magic!"

and here ... Allah (subhanaho wa ta'aala) states that even if they had something tangible like a message written on paper, they will still reject it as they rejected the ones before it and will find execuses for this such as "this is magic". It is their closed hearts that is preventing them from seeing the truth ... not the lack of evidence.

And they say: "Why has not an angel been sent down to him?" Had We sent down an angel, the matter would have been judged at once, and no respite would be granted to them

and here Allah (subhanaho wa ta'aala) answers some of their arguments ... such as: why did he (Allah) send us a man not an angel ? ... look at the arrogance! .. so Allah (subhanaho wa ta'aala) says that after such an obvious undeniable sign, there will be no room for making a choice and the angel will only bring the promised doom to them.

This is another dialogue: Qura'an 17:89-96

And indeed We have fully explained to mankind, in this Qur'ân, every kind of similitude, but most of mankind refuse (the truth and accept nothing) but disbelief.

And they say: "We shall not believe in you (O Muhammad (peace be upon him)) until you cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us;

Or you have a garden of date-palms and grapes, and cause rivers to gush forth in their midst abundantly

Or you cause the heaven to fall upon us in pieces, as you have pretended, or you bring Allâh and the angels before (us) face to face

see the arrogance ! They want Allah (subhanaho wa ta'aala) to come to them in person so they can believe !

Or you have a house of Zukhruf (like silver and pure gold), or you ascend up into the sky, and even then we will put no faith in your ascension until you bring down for us a Book that we would read." Say (O Muhammad (peace be upon him)) "Glorified (and Exalted) is my Lord (Allâh) above all that evil they (polytheists) associate with Him! Am I anything but a man, sent as a Messenger?"

And nothing prevented men from believing when the guidance came to them, except that they said: "Has Allâh sent a man as (His) Messenger?"

so they said .... what is preventing us from believing is that Allah (subhanaho wa ta'aala) has sent a man to us .. so they viewed that as not enough ... while they are only humans themselves ! So Allah (subhanaho wa ta'aala) replies to this:

Say: "If there were on the earth, angels walking about in peace and security, We should certainly have sent down for them from the heaven an angel as a Messenger." Say: "Sufficient is Allâh for a witness between me and you. Verily! He is Ever the All-Knower, the All-Seer of His slaves."

So he sent them a man like themselves for them to learn from him (otherwise they would say we cannot imitate an angel).

I hope this was clear .. sorry for the lengthy answer !

 

[Bawar]

Subhanallah! Brothers and sisters have covered the subject beautifully.

Specially brother Optimist, jazakallahu kahiran.

Dear sister Sophie29, i know what you mean by your last question.

If Allah subhanahu wa taala wanted all the people to become believers, he could do that, but he gave them choice to use their logic and free will.

If people sense the existence of Allah s.w.t with one of their 5 senses, there would be no need to test good and bad.

Even the bad would feel compelled to live according to the guidence of Allah s.w.t as they would hear/see him on the daily basis and would feel as if they are living in a dictatorship (astaghfirullah).

I hope you can see what i am pointing at.

Wassalam

 

[ohhockleng]

Very very informative brother optimist! Thank you very much for the input

 

[mahdi]

And nothing prevented men from believing when the guidance came to them, except that they said: "Has Allâh sent a man as (His) Messenger?"
people like to say why didn't god came or why didn't he talk to us. allah sent a messenger and sent down the quran, and you doubt him, i don't know, but what more proof or sign would someone want ot believe in Alah.
We did not create heaven and Earth and everything between them to no purpose. That is the opinion of those who do not believe..." (Qur'an, 38:27), He is] The Originator of the heavens and Earth. When He decides on something, He just says to it, "Be!" and it is.
(Qur'an, 2:117)
The Messenger's duty [i.e. Our Messenger Muhammad whom We have sent to you, (O mankind)] is but to convey (the Message). And All�h knows all that you reveal and all that you conceal.

 

[a_muslimah86]

baraka allaho feek brother optimist..I was waiting for someone well learned and familiar with the Qura'an to come around..as I was waiting to benefit from this post as well..

truly..NO WORDS..can answer any question better than the words of Allah (swt)!..
subhanallah!...wa alhamduliallah for having His Words (The Qura'an) within our reach!

wa alaikum assalam

 

[dna1987]

For me, whenever I hear those people (usually Christians) saying things like "last night, the Lord spoke to me, and he told me blah blah blah blah", I think of them as a lying idiot.
Prophets can set a human example on how to live their lives and pray to God - they also prevent anyone random from falsely claiming to have recieved divine knowledge (eg, Pat Robertson giving his predictions for 2008).
Salam alaikum.

 

[Mohsin]

Assalamu-alaikum

***removed***

 

[ajazz]

Assalamualikum.

Why does government have a spokesmen?
why does a company have a spokesmen?
why does any orginazation have a spokesmen?
why does every country at UN have a representative?

well! to explain and clarify.

Allah's (swt) spokesmen is known as prophet.