The Prophets, Their Lives and Their Stories: Introduction of The Book

Sacred Texts Islam Index Previous Next

Introduction In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful And prays on the most righteous of His creation, Muhammad and his Household and his mates the honourable and guided (It is) About what concerns a bunch of prophets, and viceroys, in some of their own matters

(Know)

that our believe in prophets, and their viceroys and the Angels (PUT), they are infallible and purified from any impurities and they don't guilt either a big one or a small one, and never refuse the commandments of God and do whatever they are commanded with, and whoever refuse the idea of their infallibility in any situation then he did miss them.
And our believe in them is that they are described with completeness of wisdom and honour and patience and bravery and so on and never described with less aspects in any of their matters.
Then, the prophets and viceroys and the purified Imams and the like before them (PUT), it is doubtless that their times are busy with God and their hearts are full of Him and their minds are connected to the heavens world and always watching for God, for he said (The prophet PUH): worship God as you see Him, so if you don't see Him, He sees you. So, they are always watching, attending toward Him, the Exalted, with their total.
Whatever is apparent in their prays (psalms) and their speeches and their books and the other of their sayings about falling in sin it is just to behave humbly for God and it includes the maximum thankfulness for Him, the Exalted. It is mentioned about our prophet (PUH) that he used to exhaust himself in worshipping, so one of his wives asked him: didn't God forgive you for whatever was made and whatever will be from your sins? So he said to her: Yes, but shouldn't I be a thankful slave? Until The Holy called him by His call "Ta. Ha. We have not revealed unto thee (Muhammad) this Qur'an that thou shouldst be distressed"(Ta Ha:1-2) meaning not to exhaust yourself and spend the maximum of your power in worshipping.
In it also there is a teaching for people and directing them towards Him, the Exalted, and to take people away from pride and preventing the worshipping and praying, and to be humble for Him, the Exalted. How shall we consider whatever comes from them (the prophets PUT) from deeds and sayings what is apparent to be a sin that is indeed a sin towards God, the Exalted? God forbid! And they are more honourable and faithful than that level to be blamed for a sin.
Aren't they the commanders by God over the creatures and His loyals for His laws and His religion and the callers to obey Him, and God put them for this purpose, so they are the tongue of God that speaks to His slaves and Its translator to His creation. So, how come they do a sin and how come they become like normal people and not destinctive from them, and they are the ones who take care of His commandments to His creation, and is it rightful by logic for them to be loyals for God over His creation and someone would say to them "Enjoin ye righteousness upon mankind while ye yourselves forget"(Al-Baqarah: 44) Are they mentioned with sin?
It is the reason to let people go away from them. Doesn't the sinner get thrown by stones if he tried to forbid people of the sins he did himself, or gets his head in the sand and told to him: discipline yourself and your people before you try to discipline others? So, how come they can be loyals to God and they are polluted with sins and people should have gone away from them and deny their deeds?
Don't people understand the claim of sins to the saints of God (apostles of God, faithful people), don't they stop? Was God unable to Make infallible people and destinctive from others to take care of His laws? No, and God forbid! But He did not Send any messenger and Made a viceroy after him except he was purified and infallible and without any sins and mistakes or impurity.
So, how do we consider anything done by them as a guilt and it is a sin and that their humilating for themselves for God and sanctifying Him is because that they are like all creatures and their Lord did not Make them special or Care much about them. Look with your heart to some of the slaves in this life whenever they refuse the commands of their masters and their masters heard about that, won't they be blamed by people and deserved for punishment as they think. So what do you think of the Lord of lords and the King of kings that nothing can be hidden from Him from his kingdom on earth or in heavens, and for this he pointed out (PUH) [maybe 'Ali ben Abi Tâlib is meant here] : the good deeds of the faithful are the sins of the close relative (?).
Some said: it might be said that doing something undesirable and leaving the desirable deed and do some of the allowed things might look like in the eyes of the infallible persons like prophets and saints (viceroys) that they are sins so they sanctify God (asking for forgiveness) and if they did it again they become more sad for it and have great sadness in their holy souls. Look with the eye of your heart to the psalms (prays) of the Prince of Believers (PUH) and the psalms (prays) of Al-Imam Al-Sajjâd Zain Al-'âbideen[i.e. 'Ali ben Al-Husain ben 'Ali ben Abi Tâlib PUH] in Al-Saheefah Al-Sajjâdiyah [it is a name of a book that contains prays and psalms of the Imam] and his psalm that mentioned by Abi Hamzah Al-Þomâly and to his boredom in his prays and the hard sadness over him and the great sorrow of him for what he did beside his Lord and others than him from his fathers and children and how great is their humilation and their perishableness in the Self of God for they had the deep view into His might and His power and pride and they know very well how great He is and how gracious He is. So, for this, most of their deeds in their worshipping and prayers were for someone that was sure of the torture and punishment. As if he commited every crime and done the great sins.
From this concept was the mistake of our father Adam (PUH) where the fobid of eating from the tree inside paradise was only for honourable purposes and not a strict forbid as for a sin. As it is mentioned and approved in books made for this subject (the infallibility of prophets) by 'Alam Al-Huda Al-Sayid Al-Mortadhâ and others, check out. And God forbid that prophets and the messengers and the saints (viceroys) and the Arch-Angels may commit any sin and they are the ones that were assigned by God to take care of His religion and the callers and the ones that take care of His slaves and His rulers over His creations.
Then if we did accept that they do sins and guilt so then we don't mind them to do the great sins for which punishments must be applied without any difference. So who will do the punishment of them? Only the one that takes care of religion would do the punishment, so would he do it over himself? Or someone else would do it over him by an order from him? (Answer me may God have mercy upon you, isn't that one who claims this shy of God for this?). Or maybe the one who claims this have some sickness in his soul to let other wear this dress [meaning infallibility] and let others take their places instead (places of prophets), Those who do wrong will come to know by what a (great) reverse they will be overturned! And your Lord is not in the least unjust for the slaves.
Then do not forget that all the prophets and saints (viceroys) had been oppressed and hurt and no one answered their calls except few from their nations (Few of My bondmen are thankful) (Saba': 13)
Then what does it mean God's saying "Lo! We verily do help Our messengers, and those who believe, in the life of the world and on the day when the witnesses arise"(Al-Mu'min, Ghâfir: 51)? Al-Imâm Al-Sâdiq (PUH) was asked about the meaning of this holy phrase and he answered: this is, and I swear by God, in the day of coming back, didn't you know that lot of the prophets of God did not get a victory in life and the viceroys after them got killed and never helped in life, but they will gain victory in the day of coming back before the doomsday. And the witnesses are the Imâms (PUT).
The tidings coming from the Holy Household for this subject are a lot and in brief it points out that the return of the prophets to the life after death and before the doomsday is something essential and no way out of it to get revenge from their enemies that wronged them and hurt them and fought them and didn't believe in them and set wars against them and took their rights from them: but when that is going to happen? It would be at the day when the witnesses arise and they are the purified Imâms from the Household of Muhammad (PUH) and that is when the "awaited" appears, the ruler of the current time that we are in and he is the Imâm that his name is the same as the messenger of God (PUH) and his surname is the same as well and he is the son of Al-Hasan ben 'Ali ben Muhammad ben 'Ali ben Musa ben Ja'far ben Muhammad ben 'Ali ben Al-Husain ben 'Ali ben Abi Tâlib (PUT) (the one born in year 256 Hejira) in Sâmarra' in Iraq.
Al-Sayid Al-Jazâ'iri said in his tales:
The meaning of the messengers in the holy phrase "Lo! We verily do help Our messengers" is the prophets. The apparent from this Holy Speech and whatever comes in its meaning is a sign that all the prophets will come back to life in the small doomsday and God will give them victory by power and Angels over their enemies and the enemies of the Household of Muhammad (PUH), and God will give life again to their nations that hurt them and the bad ones from Umayyads [Bani Umayya or the Children of Umayya, who had a kingdom in Syria and the surroundings, they were usually marked with aggressive nature and even killed the grandson of the prophet, but still some people deny this although it is a well known fact in history!] and whoever accepted their deeds from their children and others. Also God will give life to whoever had a pure faith from the nations to let them win the rewards of victory and fights and live in the kingdom of Muhammad's Household (PUH). [here comes a holy phrase but I couldn't locate it in Quran, maybe the writer didn't memorize it so well!]
Then all the prophets since Adam (PUH) until their end and the master of messengers Muhammad the Chosen (PUH), and they count for one hundred thousands and twenty four thousands prophets and one hundred and twenty four thousands viceroys, for every prophet has a viceroy and their masters are five upon which life went around and they are the owners of laws and whoever came with repeated laws they were copied from the previous and they are Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad and they are the "prophets of constancy", may peace be upon them all. This is what was pointed out by tidings and what was said by our scholars and as said by Al-Sayed Al-Jazâ'iri and whatever points the opposite of that it would be carried by self trial for interpretation. About the messengers, as mentioned by the prophet (PUH) and the sure paths that they were (three hundreds and thirteen) messengers..etc and it is probable also that the books are one hundred and four books, and twenty one books were revealed on Adam (PUH).
It is mentioned also that it was revealed on Seth the gift of God (PUH), by God, fifty books and on Enoch (PUH) thirty books, and on Abraham twenty books, and Revealed (God) Torah, Bible, Psalms and Quran and this speech been repeated many times so no doubt about its contents. And they were called the "ones of constancy", and they are the five masters but because they were sent to the east and west and to people and Djinns and this meaning is mentioned in lot of tidings and mentioned by lot of Muslims scholars, by Ibn 'Abbâs and Qotâdah.
And they say that they were called "ones of constancy" because they were the first to believe in God in the world of atoms and believed in every prophet that would come before or after them and decided to have patience inspite of calling them liars and being hurt. And said also that they were called like that because they were ones of laws and regulations so that every prophet that came after Noah (PUH) was on his (Noah's) laws and path and a follower to his books until the time of Abraham (PUH) and then until the time of Moses the son of Amram (PUH) then until the time of Jesus the son of Mary (PUH) and then until the time of Muhammad (PUH).
Then the difference between the messenger and the prophet is that the messenger is the one that gets inspiration from God the Exalted by a message or a book or allowances and non-allowances and so on, and so he is a messenger from God to the ones who are sent to from His slaves and creation. The messenger could be non-human but it may be an Angel like Gabriel and Azrael and others (PUT). Or it may be a bird like the hoopoe of Solomon the son of David (PUH) and so on either from God or from the creature as it appears.
And the prophet is the one that God inspires and Guides him and whatever God wants from him flows in his heart without any doubt or imagination and he listens to the sound of Angels in his dreams but he can't see them, and the messenger also can dream about Angels and listens to them and also see them as we see each other. But the viceroy that is appointed from God to take care of matters after the messenger can hear the Angels but can't see them. It is mentioned in Al-Saheeh [seems a book name] from Al-Ahwal said: I heard Zorârah ben A'yon asking Abâ Ja'far Al-Bâqir (PUH) so he said to him: tell me about the messenger and the prophet and the speaker. So he said in his answer: the messenger is the one that Gabriel (PUH) come to him so he can talk to him and see, and the prophet is the one that see in his dreams as it was for Abraham (PUH) and as the prophet of God (Muhammad PUH) did see the reasons of prophecy before getting inspired until Gabriel (PUH) did come to him from God with the message and and when Muhammad (PUH) got the prophecy and the message from God, Gabriel (PUH) used to come to him and talk to him about it, and the speaker is the one that speaks and listens but do not see in his dreams nor in his awakeness.
What is understood from the trusted speeches that one person can have the prophecy and the message and the imamship [imam = viceroy] like our prophet Muhammad (PUH) and Abraham (PUH) and others than them, and Abraham was a prophet and not a viceroy until God said to him "Lo! I have appointed thee a leader for mankind. (Abraham) said: And of my offspring (will there be leaders) ? He said: My covenant includeth not wrong-doers" (Al-Baqarah: 124) and it is that who ever is wrong and worshipping idols will not get the covenant of God so won't be a leader (imam) taking care of matters and a viceroy for the messenger for his nation and whoever the messenger was sent to, and so he won't be appointed by God for this purpose to save the religion and the laws after the messenger is lost, so he won't be good for imamship (caliphate) after him (the messenger) and doing the things after him except these who are purified from a pure descendants. Because imamship is the general leadership over all the creations from human beings and Djinns and it is not to be except from God, the Exalted, and by His commandments, and He supported the imam with miracles and virtues and he must be the most intellegent among people and the most brave and the most faithful one and the most eloquent the knows the most about everything and about everything that the creation needs from living purposes and have the knowledge of every tongue and language and can speak it better than its natives even. There are other stuff concerning the imamship that the human brain can't take nor bear but only the special of them, so imamship is better than prophecy and more honourable and higher with no doubt.
Then our book that is between your hands, is to obtain some of the conditions of prophets and messengers that were mentioned in Quran by names or by some of their characteristics, and Quran may point to someone by his character only and the Muhammedan laws (tales) mention him by name and person. We may mention a lot of them that Quran did not mention but the tales come to mention them where Quran did not mention of prophets except few of them that do not exceed forty almost. Then the dependance in obtaining their conditions was on the Muhammedan tales that were reached by the trusted persons who interpreted it and by the tidings from the Household of Muhammad (PUT) that were taken from the trusted books and persons, with a notification of what was taken from the Torah and the Bible.
Lot of people wrote about this subject but it is a great sorrow that I did not see any of such writings that would satisfy, but it was the opposite. Lot of them mixed things together and lost the truth and deformed the beauty of such thing and so made others be away from catching some of its seas. And no one of its subjects' matters would be without a collection of the thin and the fat and edited with weird stuff and picked from it several straws or written with ill hand, so it looks with an ill eye and ill heart inclined away from the path of truth.
So there were no subject that keeps up its own matters or collects its own requirements. But this one between your hands (and thanks be to God, for Him be the pretty praises) we were lucky to get it organized and check all of its contents to its certain limits except few which, for necessity, had to be planted other than its position, and God is the Guider to the path of truth.

Next: Introduction of 2nd Edition