All Monotheistic Prophets Are Not The Same – OpEd
Early Muslim oral traditions found in the Hadith collections of Musnad Ahmad and Tabarani) state that Allah sent 124,000 prophets to warn all the tribes and nations on earth; to stop worshiping gods other than the one God. The “124.000 prophets” number flows from the Qur’an’s teaching that God sent one or more prophets to every human society in the world, from smallest to largest, to teach them in their own language: “We have not sent any Messenger except with the language of his people so he can make things clear to them. (Qur’an 14:4)
Since there are almost 7.000 languages currently spoken, and another 10,000+ that were spoken over the previous 6,000 years and are now extinct, all human societies have been taught the way God wants each of them to conduct their Divine worship (Qur’an 21:25), and the behavioral rules they should observe (16:90-92).
Abu Dharr narrated that one day he asked the Messenger of Allah: How many prophets are there in all? He replied: 124.000. Abu Dharr then asked: How many of them were messengers (bring a sacred scripture) prophets? He replied: 313 from the above group. He asked: Who was the first of them? He replied: Adam…The first prophet among Bani Israel was Musa and the last of them (Jewish prophets) was Isa (Jesus), and they were in all 600.” (Biharul Anwar, Vol. 11, Pg. 32.)
All monotheistic prophets are not the same. “We have exalted some above others. To some (Moses) God spoke directly (4:164)); others He raised high in rank (4:163-6); to “Jesus, Mary’s son, We gave clear signs and supported him with the Holy Spirit.” (2:253)
Yet the Qur’an also states:”Say: we believe in God and in what has been revealed to us, and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma’il: Isaac, Jacob and The Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus and the Prophets from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them, and to God do we bend our will.” (3:84)
So what makes Prophet Abraham so special that his name appears 69 times in the Qur’an, second only to Prophet Moses (136 times)? I do not think that being mentioned frequently is by itself why Prophet Abraham plays such an important part in all three Abrahamic religions.
Prophet Abraham is especially famous for the numerous ways God tested him; especially the terrible tests of banishing his wife Hagar and his first born son Ishmael (Qur’an 2:124 & Genesis 9:9-21); and bringing his son to a special place as an offering to God. (Qur’an 37:100-113 & Genesis 22:1-24)
Most Muslim commentators say Prophet Abraham’s son, unnamed in the Qur’an, was Ishmael. Some Muslim commentators assert it was Isaac. I think both sons participated in this awesome double test at different times, so that each son could produce descendants who in time would become a blessing for many other nations of the earth. (Genesis 22:16-18 & Qur’an 4:163)
Prophet Abraham’s double test with each of his two sons is presented as a solo event in the Torah and in the Qur’an because Prophet Abraham is the only prophet that we know of, who had two sons who were both prophets: Prophet Ishmael and Prophet Isaac.
Prophet Abraham is especially famous for the numerous ways God tested him; especially the terrible tests of banishing his wife Hagar and his first born son Ishmael (Qur’an 2:124 & Genesis 9:9-21); and bringing his son to a special place as an offering to God. (Qur’an 37:100-113 & Genesis 22:1-24)
Most Muslim commentators say Prophet Abraham’s son, unnamed in the Qur’an, was Ishmael. Some Muslim commentators assert it was Isaac. I think both sons participated in this awesome double test at different times, so that each son could produce descendants who in time would become a blessing for many other nations of the earth. (Genesis 22:16-18 & Qur’an 4:163)
Prophet Isaac’s descendants through his grandson Prophet Yakub/Israel were all the 600 Jewish Prophets of the Bible, ending with Prophet Jesus. “We did grant the Family of Abraham the Book, the Wisdom and a mighty (spiritual) kingdom.” (Qur’an 57:26)
“And remember Our servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – those of strength and [religious] vision. Indeed, We chose them for an exclusive quality: remembrance of the home [the “safe haven” the Land of Israel]. And indeed they are to Us among the chosen and outstanding.” (Qur’an 38:45-7)
This is what the term “the way of Abraham as people of pure faith” signifies as the special virtue of Prophet Abraham: “Abraham was a community”. (Qur’an 16:120) This is why God made an ongoing covenant with the whole Jewish people [men. women, children and all future converts to Judaism] at Mount Sinai.
“And We certainly settled the Children of Israel in an agreeable settlement [Israel] and provided them with good things. And they did not differ until [after] knowledge had come to them. Indeed, your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ. So if you [O Muhammad] are in doubt, about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters. (Qur’an 10:93-4)
Less is known about Prophet Ishmael than we know about Prophets Isaac and Yakub/Israel because in spite of his best efforts, his monotheistic ummah, like that of the non-Abrahamic prophets, did not last for many ongoing generations after his death: “And mention in the Book, Ishmael: Surely he was true to the promise, and he was a messenger, a prophet. He commanded his people with the prayer and the alms, and he was pleasing before his Lord.” (Qur’an 19:54-55)
But what is most important about Prophet Ishmael is that his far distant descendant was Prophet Muhammad, the last of the Abrahamic non-Jewish Prophets descended from Prophet Ishmael; whose ummah stopped being idol-less monotheists some time after his death. Prophet Muhammad was born into the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh, an Arab mercantile tribe that historically inhabited and controlled Mecca and its Ka’aba.
The Quraysh were descendants of Prophet Ishmael; the first born son of Prophet Abraham, the older brother of Prophet Isaac, and the uncle of Prophet Jacob, whose name was changed by God to Israel.
As Prophet Jesus, who was the last of the 600 Jewish Prophets states in the Injil Book of John: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and
will be in you.” (John 14:15-17)
This is why Prophet Abraham, the one “whom God chose to be His friend” (Qur’an 4:125, Bible Isaiah 41:8, and James 2:23) needed to be tested twice; and why his two sons needed to each be equally tested separately with Prophet Abraham.
The Qur’an refers to Prophet Abraham as a community or a nation: “Abraham was a nation/community [Ummah]; dutiful to God, a monotheist [hanif], not one of the polytheists.” (16:120) If Prophet Abraham is an Ummah then fighting between the descendants of Prophets Ishmael and Isaac is a civil war and should always be avoided.
If all Arabs and Jews can live up to the ideal that ‘the descendants of Abraham’s sons should never make war against each other’ is the will of God; we will help fulfill the 2700 year old vision of Prophet Isaiah: “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. On that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing upon the heart. The LORD of Hosts will bless them saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”…(Isaiah 19:23-5)
