As salaam alaikum (Peace be upon you)
Many people have the misconception that Islam started about 1432 years ago, and that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was the founder of the religion of Islam. In fact, Islam existed since man first set foot on this earth. “Submission” to God existed since man first set foot on Earth. Muhammad (PBUH) isn’t the founder of Islam, but the last and final messenger of Islam. The word “Islam” was first revealed to Muhammad (PBUH) by Allah, but the way of life of ”submission to God’s will” existed since time immorial. Islam is not merely a religion, but a way of life which in Quran it is described as a “deen.” Hence, all Prophets of Allah submitted their will to God and abide by the laws which they had to follow. They all preached this fascinating way of life of submission to God.
Are all the prophets of history Muslims??? From a Muslim standpoint: YES! Do Christians and Jews beleive this…. NO! Is this a big deal… YES! First let’s 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” (www.jewfaq.org/prophet.html) 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??
A Jewish Professor Moshe Sharon Finally Admits All Prophets Were Muslim in below video…
Islam: Are all prophets Muslims? 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 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.
Prophet Noah was a Muslim:
Surah Araf 7:59: “We sent Noah to his people. He said: “O my people! worship Allah! ye have no other god but Him. I fear for you the punishment of a dreadful day!”
Noah warned his people about the punishment of the hereafter, and preached sumbission to one God, which is Allah. Similarly, Islam means sumbission to God, which is exactly what Prophet Noah did.
Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) was a Muslim:
Surah Imran 3:67: “Abraham was not a Jew nor yet a Christian; but he was true in Faith, and bowed his will to God’s (Which is Islam), and he joined not gods with God.”
Prophet Musa (Moses) was a Muslim:
Surah Yunus 10:84: “Moses said: “O my people! If ye do (really) believe in God, then in Him put your trust if ye submit (your will to His).”
Notice that Moses said in Surah Yunus 10:84 to believe in God if ye sumbit your will to God. Since Moses did believe in God, Moses did sumbit his will to God. Anyone who does this, is called a Muslim.
Prophet Isa (Jesus) was a Muslim:
Surah Imran 3:52: “When Jesus found Unbelief on their part He said: “Who will be My helpers to (the work of) Allah?” Said the disciples: “We are Allah’s helpers: We believe in Allah, and do thou bear witness that we are Muslims.”
Surah Maidah 5:117: “Never said I to them aught except what Thou didst command me to say, to wit, ‘worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord’; and I was a witness over them whilst I dwelt amongst them; when Thou didst take me up Thou wast the Watcher over them, and Thou art a witness to all things.
Sahih Muslim, Book 30, Hadith Number 5835: “Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: I am most akin to Jesus Christ among the whole of mankind, and all the Prophets are of different mothers but belong to one religion and no Prophet was raised between me and Jesus.”
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 him and hence are not Muslims. Also, you have to realize that the Message of Allah(SWT) was only completed once his final Prophet, Muhammad(peace be upon him), was sent. Allah(SWT) says in the Qur’an:
“This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed My favour to you and chosen for you al-Islam as a religion.” [5:3]
Allah(SWT) gave a name to the religion of His slaves only after his message was complete, it wouldn’t make sense to just give a name without a complete message. As well as the fact that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was the only Prophet that sent the message to the whole of mankind while the other Prophets were just send the messages to their own people. The names Judiasm and Chrisitianity were names made by humans, but “Islam” and “Muslims” are names given to us and every beleiver in the One God by God Himself (Allah(SWT)
Hence, all Prophets submitted their wills to God, making them Muslims. All Prophets carried the main fundamental doctrine of Allah, that there is only one God and worship him alone, who has no images, idols, statues, etc. Other specific rulings back then were only meant for Prophets before Muhammad, for their time and for their own Prophets. Muhammad is the final Prophet of Allah, who bought the final teachings which are applicable to mankind today, to lead them from darkness to light.
May Allah guide us all to the straight path…Aameen.
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