Five Distinctions Granted to the Holy Prophet

Taken from the Forty Gems of Beauty

عَنْ جَابِرٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُوْلَ اللّٰہِ ﷺ أُعْطِیْتُ خَمْسًا لَمْ یُعْطَھُنَّ اَحَدٌ قَبْلِیْ نُصِرْتُ بِالرُّعْبِ مَسِیْرَۃَ شَھْرٍ وَجُعِلَتْ لَیْ الْاَرْضُ مَسْجِدًا وَّ طَھُوْرًا ۔۔۔ وَ اُحِلَّتْ لِیَ الْغَنَأَئِمُ وَلَمْ تَحِلَّ لِاَحَدٍ قَبْلِیْ وَ أُعْطِیْتُ الشَّفَاعَۃَ وَ کَانَ النَّبِیُّ یُبْعَثُ اِلیٰ قَوْمِہٖ خَاصَّۃً وَ بُعِثْتُ اِلَی النَّاسِ عَامَّۃً (بخاری)

Narrated by Jābir, Allāh be pleased with him: The Prophet^sa of Allāh said:

“I have been granted five distinctions which none of the Prophets were granted before me. Firstly, I have been reinforced with awe extending as far as a month’s journey; secondly the entire earth has been made a mosque for me and a means of purity; thirdly, the booty of war has been made lawful for me; it was never made lawful before me; fourthly, I have been granted the honour of intercession with the Lord; and fifthly, while Prophets before me were commissioned to their particular people, I have been sent to the entire mankind.” (Bukhārī)

Explanatory Note

In this Ḥadīth our Chief^sa (may my life be dedicated to his service) has detailed five distinctions granted to him exclusively which go to show his exalted station and the abounding mercy of Allāh, the Excellent, on him.

His first distinction is the divine gift of awe extending to as far as a month’s journey. [The] history of Islām furnishes strong supporting evidence showing how notwithstanding his apparently slight physical frame and unostentatious living, an enemy would tremble in awe before him, surely a God-given gift. Even it so happened on many occasions that the enemy planned to attack Medina and as the Holy Prophet^sa sallied forth with a small group of companions, to meet him, he (the enemy) fled on the first alarm. Again when the Holy Prophet^saaddressed a letter to the Roman Caesar inviting him to accept Islām and the Caesar learnt further details about him the Caesar exclaimed:

“If I could go and pay obeisance to this Messenger of Allāh, I would indeed consider it a great honour if he permitted me to wash his feet.”

The second distinction of the Holy Prophet^sa is that the entire earth has been made a mosque for him. As a result of this, a Muslim can offer Prayers anywhere as and when the time for his Prayer comes and he does not require a special place for worship like followers of other faiths. This was necessary in order to facilitate the extensive campaign of the Muslims to carry the message of Islām all over the world. Similarly, the earth was made for him the means of purification. A minor aspect of this is the fact that in the event of non-availability of water, a Muslim can perform Tayammum in place of Wuḍū. This combination of water and earth is in keeping with the creation of Adam who was created, according to Qur’ānic idiom, out of moist earth.

His third distinction is that, as against the laws of earlier religions, which required the war booty to be burnt, the Islāmic law allowed the Holy Prophet^sa to use the booty that fell in his hands, as lawful. The wisdom underlying this was firstly to stop this needless wastage of national wealth, and secondly to teach aggressors the lesson that if they did not desist from oppressing others, their own wealth would be taken away from them and given to the oppressed; and thirdly to provide the weak among Muslims with a source of strength in the Islāmic defensive wwealth would bears.

The fourth distinction of the Holy Prophet^sa is granting him of the highest office of intercession. Shafā‘at literally means ‘mate’ or ‘like,’ and according to the idiom too, it does not mean common prayer. Instead, it signifies the special office held by a favourite of God by virtue of his dual role, on the one hand, of close contact with God and on the other, of his near association with man. He is entitled to intercede with the Lord. The gist of this intercession would run as follows: “O God, in the name of your past favours to me and my heartfelt solicitude for the good of your creatures (or some particular individual from amongst them), I beg and pray that You have mercy on your poor frail creatures and grant them Your forgiveness,” urging, on the one hand, the plea of his special contact with Him and on the other the heartfelt solicitude for the welfare of His creatures (or for that matter a particular person), begging thereby of Him mercy for His frail creatures and His forgiveness. In this connection, the Holy Prophet^sa says, in another Ḥadīth that when, on the day of Judgment, the people will be seized with extreme panic and consternation, despairing of all others, they will ultimately turn to him, and then, he will intercede for them with God, and that, his intercession will be accepted.

The fifth destination of the Holy Prophet^sa is that whereas the former prophets were sent to particular people for particular periods of time, he was raised for the entire world, for all people and for all times. This is a special characteristic and a great distinction indeed. The result was that his God-granted mission extended to all people, to every country and to every age and he was declared the perfect and perfected manifestation of God. In other words,

it meant that as God of the entire world is One, through His appointment, there was likewise one prophet for the entire mankind. Allāh! Bless Muḥammad^sa and grant him and his offspring peace.

The Bible contains the prophecy that a Prophet like Moses^as shall be raised from among the brothers of Israelites:

“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the Prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.” Deuteronomy 18:18, 19)

The Prophet Ezra^as wrote after 900 years of this prophecy that it has not been fulfilled so far:

¹⁰ But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, ¹¹ in all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, ¹² and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel. (Deuteronomy 34:10-12)

The Jews, according to their scriptures, were waiting for three Prophets: Elijah; Christ; and ‘the Prophet’. A group of Jewish scholars went to John the Baptist (Hadhrat Yahya^as) and asked him whether he was one of these three awaited prophets:

¹⁹ Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” (John 1:19-24)

Jesus Christ^as solved this problem and informed that John the Baptist is the Elijah; he himself is the Christ, and that ‘the Prophet’ shall come after him:

John the Baptist is Elijah

¹⁰ And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” ¹¹ Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first^[^a^] and will restore all things. ¹² But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist. “Matthew 17:10-13 (New King James Version)

Jesus is Christ

¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16:15-17 (New King James Version)

‘The Prophet’ shall come after him as the Spirit of Truth

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. (John 16:12-14)

The disciples of Jesus^as, proclaimed after crucifixion and reminded the Jews of the advent of a Prophet like Moses^as confirming that this prophecy had not been fulfilled so far and that this Prophet would appear before the second coming of Jesus^as. Peter addressed the Jews saying:

¹⁸But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. ¹⁹Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, ²⁰and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. ²¹He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. ²²For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. ²³Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.' (Acts 3:18-23)

The Christians believe that these verses make reference to the advent of Jesus^as. However, Jesus^as bears little likeness to Moses^as. Indeed, no textual support exists for the notion that Jesus^as ever claimed to be a Prophet like Moses^as. In contrast, not only did the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa make such a claim, but the similarities between the Holy Prophet^sa and Moses^as are overwhelming. The Holy Qur’ān states:

“Verily, We have sent to you a Messenger, who is witness over you, even as We sent a Messenger to Pharaoh.” (73:16)

When the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa claimed to be a prophet like Moses^as, the Jews of his time objected stating that if he was a Prophet like Moses^as, then he should show signs similar to those shown by Moses^as. The Holy Qur’ān addressed this objection as follows:

“But when the truth came to them from Us, they said, ‘why has he not been given the like of what was given to Moses?’ Had they not rejected what was given to Moses before, they said, ‘merely two magicians helping each other’? And they said, ‘We reject them one and all.’ (28:49)

The Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa mentioned certain similarities not only between Moses^as and himself but also between the dispensations, opponents and followers of both:

(i) He declared the divine scholars of his Ummah like the prophets of the Israelites;

(ii) He called Abu-Jahal, a staunch enemy of Islām, as Pharaoh of his times;

(iii) He prophesied that in latter days, his Ummah shall become exactly similar to the Jews;

(iv) He also prophesied the coming of a Messiah amongst his people like a Messiah of the Israelites and called him with the same name as ‘Son of Mary.’ This Messiah, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as of Qadian appeared 1300 years after the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa as Jesus Christ^as the Messiah for Israelites appeared 1300 years after Moses^as.

The companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa also had such a strong belief of his similarity with the Prophet Moses^as, that when he died, Hadrat Umar^ra declared that the Holy Prophet^sa had not died but went to his Lord like the Prophet Moses^as and shall come back as Moses^as came back from Mount Sinai. The following similarities between these two great Prophets prove that the Prophet like Moses^as prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:18 is nobody else but the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa.

THE PROPHET MOSES^as

1. Birth

The Prophet Moses^as by birth was a Levite – which as a tribe, possessed the hereditary honor of keeping the Tabernacle and the House of God in Jerusalem.

2. Infancy

Breast feeding and nursing of the Prophet Moses^as was done as a job, which was paid for. (Exodus 2:9).

3. Early Life

In his early days, Prophet Moses^aslived among idol worshippers. His own people, the Israelites, had also become idolaters.

THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD^sa

1. Birth

The Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa by birth belonged to the tribe of Quraish, which possessed the hereditary honor of keeping the Kaaba, the House of God in Makka.

2. Infancy

The Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa as an infant was breast-fed and nursed by a paid nurse, Halima.

3. Early Life

In his early life, The Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa lived amongst idol-worshippers. His own people, the Arabs, had become idolaters.

4. First Marriage

The Prophet Moses^as took up employment with a family in Midian and later married in that family. Thus, from an ‘employee’ he became a ‘husband’.

5. Baptism

Nobody baptized the Prophet Moses^as as he was the founding father of Jewish religion.

6. The First Call

It came at a place called ‘Horeb’. (Exodus 3:1)

7. First Reaction

This experience frightened the Prophet Moses^as and he hid his face (Exodus 3:6)

8. Basic Tenet of Faith

“Hear O’ Israel! The Lord Our God is One Lord”.

9. Miracle of Hand

“And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land…...” (Exodus 14:22)

10. Exodus (Hijra)

The Prophet Moses^as along-with the Israelites fled from the tyrannical rule of Pharaoh. Jewish exodus from Egypt is the most important and turning point in the Jewish history.

11. The Pledge

The Prophet Moses^as took pledge from 70 of the elders of Israelites that they will be obedient to God. Then animals were sacrificed. (Exodus 24:1-8)

4. First Marriage

The Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa took up employment with a lady, Khadija, in Mecca and later married her. Thus, from an ‘employee’ he became her ‘husband’.

5. Baptism

Nobody baptized the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa as he was the Founding Father of Islām.

6. The First Call

It came at a place called ‘Hira’.

7. First Reaction

This experience worried the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa. He covered himself in a blanket.

8. Basic Tenet of Faith

“There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”

9. Miracle of Hand

The Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa threw a handful of pebbles towards his enemies. God turned these pebbles into a dust storm and the enemies were defeated. (8:18)

10. Exodus (Hijra)

The Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa had to flee from the persecution of Meccans. This migration became a turning point in IslāmIslāmic history and IslāmIslāmic calendar starts from this date.

11. The Pledge

The Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa took pledge from 700 of his followers at Hudaibia and animals were sacrificed. (The Holy Qur’ān – 48:19)

12. Battles (Jihad)

After the exodus, the Prophet Moses^as had to fight many battles with the surrounding pagan tribes to consolidate his position.

13. The Law (Sharia)

The Prophet Moses^as was a law-bearing prophet. He brought the Perfect Law for the Children of Israelites.

14. Written Record

The Prophet Moses^as always took care to write all the commandments and statutes and read them in all congregations. (Exodus 24:4, 7)

15. Appointing his brother

When the Prophet Moses^as was summoned by God to Mount Sinai for forty days and nights, he appointed his brother Aaron^as as his deputy and acting chief for the Israelites.

16. Farewell Address

Shortly before his death, the Prophet Moses^as gathered all the Children of Israel and spoke to them and reminded them of the covenant of God, urging them to hold fast to the Law of God. (Deuteronomy Ch.29-32)

12. Battles (Jihad)

After Hijra, the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa had to fight many battles with the Meccans and other tribes to consolidate his position.

13. The Law (Sharia)

The Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa was also a Law-bearing Prophet. He brought the perfect law for the whole of mankind.

14. Written Record

The Holy Prophet^sa had appointed scribers who used to write every revelation and read out in his presence. They were also read in the five daily prayers.

15. Appointing his brother

When the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa had to leave for Tabuk, miles away from Medina, he appointed his brother Ali^ra as his deputy and acting chief for the Muslims in Medina.

16. Farewell Address

A few months before his death, the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa addressed a large gathering of Muslims at Hajj, reminding them of the basic teachings of Islām and advised them to hold fast to the Holy Qur’ān and Sunnah.

CONCLUSION:

The biographies of Moses^as and the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa possess many similarities as mentioned above. By contrast, there are few similarities between the life of Moses^as and Jesus^as. For example, other than the similarity of Jesus^as with Moses^as being a Levite (from his mother’s side) and a prophet for the Israelites, a commonality shared by many other prophets, there are virtually no other similarities between Moses^as and Jesus^as. Therefore, based on the foregoing, there can be no doubt that the prophecy mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:18 is in reference to the Holy Prophet Muhammad^sa.