We believe that belief in the messengers (peace be upon them) is the fourth among the pillars of Imān (faith).
We believe that the basis of the call of the messengers (peace be upon them) is knowledge about Allah and His names, attributes, and actions; and that they were all sent with Tawhid (monotheism) and called people to worshiping Allah Almighty alone and abandoning the worship of anything other than Him. The prophets and messengers were the most perfect in faith and in monotheism among people, and they were the most knowledgeable about the Creator and what we should and should not do with regard to Him, Exalted be He.
Each prophet called his people to two great principles, namely the worship of Allah Almighty alone and the belief in the Last Day and the bliss our Lord prepared for His pious servants and the punishment He prepared for His enemies.
We believe that all prophets (peace be upon them) called for the same major principles, namely the belief in Allah and His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and destiny, with its pleasant and unpleasant aspects. They all called for the main acts of worship, like prayer, Zakah, fasting, and Hajj, and called for the main good morals and prohibited the major bad manners. So, the prophets (peace be upon them) called for the same fundamentals; whereas the difference lay in the laws to which they called people, along with its variant rulings and details.
We believe that it is a duty to believe in all prophets (peace be upon them), believe all information they told in relation to the unseen, observe their commands and prohibitions, love and revere them, follow their example, and testify that they conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, showed sincerity to Allah Almighty and His servants, and conducted Jihad for Allah's sake in its true way. Every nation should act upon the Shariah of the prophet sent to them, and this nation, the Muslim Ummah, including their jinn and human beings, should act upon the Shariah of the final Prophet and Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), for he was sent to both humans and jinn.
All prophets and messengers came to bring people out of the darkness of disbelief, polytheism, and ignorance, even if they led a life of affluence, power, farms, and manufactures.
We believe that Allah Almighty sent them as warners and bearers of glad tidings so that people may not have an argument against their Lord after the messengers came to them.
We believe that Allah Almighty sent to each nation a messenger. We should believe in those prophets and messengers whose names are known to us, and as for those whose names we do not know, we should believe in them as a whole. Belief in all prophets and messengers is a duty upon every Muslim, man and woman. Whoever disbelieves in one prophet has disbelieved in all prophets (peace be upon them).
We believe that Allah Almighty sends His messengers to whomever He wills from among His servants, according to His wisdom. No one can reverse His judgment. He does whatever He wills and chooses.
We believe that prophethood is a divine favor and mercy which He bestows upon whomever He wills from among His servants. Allah Almighty chooses messengers from the angels and from mankind.
Some of the prophets and messengers (peace be upon them) are more meritorious than the others, and the best among them are the messengers of the firm resolve, and the best among the messengers of the firm resolve are Ibrāhīm and Muhammad (peace be upon them). Yet, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) forbade people from distinguishing between the prophets by way of fanaticism or derogation. As Allah Almighty took Ibrāhīm and Muhammad (peace be upon them) as close friends, He chose Mūsa (peace be upon him) and favored him with His messages and speech with Him. In addition to our Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) being a close friend of Allah, his Lord also spoke to Him from behind a veil on the night of Isrā’. So, our Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) combined the honor of friendship and speech.
We believe that the prophets are the best among mankind. No person, regardless of his piety or status, can reach the rank of a prophet. So, it is not permissible to prefer any human being over any of the prophets. Prophethood is not something that can be acquired or obtained by hard work and good deeds or by purification of one's soul and heart and refinement of one's manners.
We believe that Allah Almighty only sent men as messengers. We know that the prophets and messengers (peace be upon them) were humans like other people, and they were the most perfect among people in terms of religion, minds, and morals. They received divine revelation and were infallible in what they conveyed from Allah Almighty. If a prophet used his personal reasoning in something regarding which he received no revelation and he was not right, Allah would not approve his reasoning; rather, He would send down revelation to correct him.
The messengers and prophets (peace be upon them) did not possess any power to benefit or harm themselves, despite their high status and praiseworthy station in this world and in the Hereafter. As they possessed no power to benefit or harm themselves, there is greater reason they lacked such power for others; and as they lacked such power while they were alive, there is greater reason they did not possess it after their death.
They did not know the unseen except to the extent Allah Almighty revealed to them and permitted them to know.
The prophets and messengers (peace be upon them) worshiped Allah Almighty with fear and hope, and they would seek Allah's pleasure and pursue means of nearness to Him.
We believe that the prophets and messengers (peace be upon them) were subject to the same things which other people experience, like afflictions, illnesses, grief, and death. They had spouses and offspring and used to eat food and walk in the markets. And we know that Allah Almighty raised the Messiah (peace be upon him) to Him, alive, when his people wanted to kill him.
We testify that they rendered sincere advice to the people, fulfilled the trust, and conveyed the message of their Lord. It did not harm them that some of their followers did not comply with their teachings or that some of their people showed arrogance towards them.
We believe that Allah Almighty gave each prophet such miracles and arguments that would prompt people to believe.
We believe that Allah Almighty did not send any prophet without a miracle that indicated his truthfulness, whether we know it or not. A group of these miracles are mentioned in the noble Qur'an. We also know that there are numerous miracles with which Allah, Exalted be He, supported His past messengers and He did not mention them to us. He Almighty sometimes mentions the clear signs and sometimes the proofs. We know that the miracles and arguments with which Allah Almighty supported His messengers and prophets (peace be upon them) are too numerous.
The strongest proofs of their truthfulness is the monotheism they called to, which is settled in people's natural disposition and favored by their minds, and the useful knowledge, good deeds, guidance, and the true religion they came with. Another proof is Allah's testimony for His messengers that they are on the true path and what they came with is the truth. Among their greatest miracles is the revelation they received from their Lord, and the greatest revelation is the glorious Qur’an, which is the miracle of Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). No human can produce the like of this revelation, for it is the speech of Allah Almighty, and it comprises information about the unseen, as well as guidance, light, mercy, and wisdom.
Among the things with which Allah Almighty supported His messengers (peace be upon them) are the intellectual arguments He gave them, thereby confounding the disbelievers and eliminating their falsehood.
One of their most sublime signs is that they informed about things related to the unseen, which Allah Almighty permitted them to tell about. Among the signs is that the previous prophets, along with their followers, were saved from the evil plotting of their enemies, whereas the obstinate and arrogant disbelievers were destroyed. Moreover, Allah Almighty reminds those invited to the religion of what He did to the destroyed nations of the past and that His immutable law will surely come to pass. Among the signs proving their prophethood is their perfect character and noble manners and actions, as well as the truthfulness of their speech, which indicates that they would never lie. Another proof is the massive transmission between generations of their signs, and the knowledge, guidance, and the true religion they came with, in a way that shows it is impossible for people to have colluded to transmit something untrue. Another proof is that they asked for no wage in return for their mission and did not seek authority. Another proof is that the prophethood of the prophets would not be maligned except by ignorant people who did not consider the religion, knowledge, and guidance brought by them, or by obstinate and arrogant ones.
Among them were material proofs that people could see with their own eyes, and their minds would submit to them, like the drowning of the people of Nūh (peace be upon him), the she-camel of Sālih (peace be upon him), Hūd's challenge to his people that they all plot against him, Ibrāhīm's salvation from the fire, and the miracles of Mūsa (peace be upon him), such as the staff, the locusts, the lice, the frogs, the blood, the flood, and the drowning of Pharaoh and his people; the miracles of Dāwūd (David) (peace be upon him), like the mountains' glorification of Allah and making iron malleable for him; the miracles of Sulaymān (Solomon) (peace be upon him), like subjecting the winds and jinn to his command and his familiarity with the speech of birds; the miracles of the Messiah, like healing the lepers and the blind and bringing the dead to life, and making something from clay in the shape of a bird and breathing into it and turning it into a bird by Allah's permission; and the miracles of our Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), which are too numerous to be easily counted, like the splitting of the moon, the Isrā’ (night journey) and Mi‘rāj (ascension), the multiplication of food, the speech of animals, the glorification of Allah by pebbles, the trunk's longing for the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), and Allah's support to him against his enemies.
Another sign is the condition of the prophet calling people to the true religion. People can distinguish between an honest person calling them to the truth and a liar calling them to falsehood. There are other signs and proofs as well.
All the miracles of the prophets vanished, except for the noble Qur’an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him); they are enduring, for they are revelation which Allah Almighty pledged to preserve. They contain the greatest signs and proofs for the Prophet's truthfulness and the veracity of his prophethood.
We believe that Allah Almighty supports His messengers (peace be upon them), in accordance with His wisdom, through Shar‘i and cosmic signs and proofs; thereby, Allah guides whomever He wills by His grace and leads astray whomever He wills by His justice. However, the signs and miracles will only increase the obstinate in their obstinacy and arrogance.
We believe that had Allah willed, He would have guided all humankind.
We believe that the signs and proofs of prophethood that came with them and the miracles with which Allah Almighty provided them could not be done by false prophets, magicians, or impostors. Our Lord would not support a liar with a true proof or argument, for He is the All-Wise Lord in His law and His command, and His wisdom and immutable rules prevent this from happening.
We believe that Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) is the servant and Messenger of the Lord of the worlds, and he is the final Prophet and Messenger, the chief of the children of Adam, and the intimate friend of Allah Almighty.
We know that he was given such miracles the like of which were not given to any of the messengers (peace be upon them). The greatest of these miracles is the noble Qur’an. The first revelation came to him in the form of true dreams. He would see no dream, except that it would occur just the way he had seen it. And the first thing revealed to him was the opening verses of Surat al-‘Alaq. Thereafter, Surat al-Muddaththir was revealed to him. Then, the revelation got intense and came in succession. We know that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) continued to call to monotheism for 13 years in Makkah and then lived in Madīnah for ten years teaching and illustrating the Shariah of Allah, calling to His religion, and conducting Jihad in Allah's cause until he passed away at the age of 63 - (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him).
We know that one of his greatest miracles, after the noble Qur’an, is the Isrā' and Mi‘rāj. Another miracle is the splitting of the moon. Allah Almighty endowed him with numerous special traits, which the scholars mention within their books, and sometimes they write whole separate books on them.
We believe that everyone, among humans and jinn, is obligated to believe in him, believe him in all what he informed, and obey his commands.
We believe that Allah Almighty should not be worshiped except according to the Shariah brought by Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). He Almighty warns us against disobeying the Prophet's commands and enjoins us to love and revere him and to consider him to be dearer than our souls, parents, and children, and all people.
We believe that Allah Almighty coupled the Prophet's mention with His mention in the two testimonies of faith and the Adhān. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) is frequently mentioned in the previous scriptures and the noble Qur’an, and Muslim scholars authored various books on his Sunnah, biography, traits, manners, and battles.
We believe that Allah Almighty sent him as a Messenger to all humankind and jinn, and He Almighty led a group of jinn to him to listen to the Qur’an and go back to their people as warners; thus, the argument can be established against them. Moreover, Allah, the Exalted, took the covenant from all prophets and messengers (peace be upon them) that if Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) were sent as a Messenger while they were alive, they would definitely believe in him.
We believe that the prophets (peace be upon them) gave glad tidings to their people about the coming of Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), and that his traits and the traits of his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel. Also, the Messiah (peace be upon him) particularly informed the Children of Israel about his coming. The Children of Israel recognized him as they would recognize their children. One of the signs of his prophethood, which were known among the People of the Book, was the Seal of Prophethood on the Prophet's shoulder.
We believe in the universality of his message. That is why he sent letters to the kings and rulers inviting them to worship Allah Almighty alone and to believe in his message.
We believe that Allah Almighty drew the ends of the world together for the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), and he saw the extent to which his Ummah's dominion would extend.
One of the proofs for the universality of his message is that the Christians of Najran refrained from mubāhalah (mutual invocation to Allah to curse the liar) with him and accepted to pay him the tribute while being humbled, given their knowledge that he was a Prophet.
One of the proofs for the universality of the Prophet's message is the conversion to Islam by many Jewish rabbis and Christian monks, and even by thousands and thousands among the People of the Book. Another proof is that he (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) fought the Romans and commanded His Companions to conduct Jihad against the Persians and the Romans after him.
Another proof of the universality of his message is that he promised Surāqah that he would wear the bracelets of Khusru, and he actually wore them during ‘Umar's caliphate.
We know with certainty that Allah Almighty, according to His wisdom, guides whomever He wills by His grace and leads whomever He wills astray by His justice. It was also dictated by His wisdom that every prophet had an enemy and that those enemies would cooperate in their wrong path and speak similarly. The statements made by the chiefs of people in every nation are similar. They would sometimes say the prophet is a magician, a soothsayer, or a liar. They would at other times claim he did not bring them any miracle or claim that he fabricated lies about Allah Almighty. They would at other times dismiss him as insane. Far removed are the messengers of Allah (peace be upon them) from insanity, while they are the most perfect minds among all people and the purest hearts. And sometimes they would find it too grave to accept his call to the worship of Allah Almighty alone. They would also reject the prophet's call on the grounds that he was a human being like themselves. And they would at other times ask them to do things which no human being is capable of, out of their arrogance and stubbornness. For example, they asked Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) to cause a spring to gush forth from the earth, or that he should have a garden, or that he should make the sky fall upon them in pieces, or that he should bring Allah and the angels before them, or that he should have a house of gold, or that he should ascend to the heaven, or that he should bring down to them a book for them to read. They would also ask the prophet to bring them the punishment he had threatened them with. And at other times, they would bar people from the way of Allah and tell their followers not to listen to this Qur’an and to make noise when it was recited. They would also deny the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and accuse him that he was taught by a human being, and what he received was not revelation from Allah Almighty.
Or they would turn away from the messenger because he was followed by the poor and weak. They would sometimes mock the messengers and ridicule them. They would also try to deceive the messenger and seek to make him compromise or incline to them. And they would resort to shaming, which they knew was false, as Pharaoh did with Mūsa, describing him as a disbeliever.
The chiefs of the people might also threaten to drive the prophet out of the land. The Quraysh disbelievers imposed a siege on our Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and his followers and Banu Hāshim in the mountain pass for three years and then drove him out of his land. And the people of Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) tried to burn him, but Allah Almighty saved him. Moreover, the Children of Israel attempted to kill the prophets, and they actually killed a number of them.
This is the typical attitude of the arrogant people towards the messengers and a typical behavior of the chiefs of every nation towards reformers.