Reasons why Prophet Muhammad was chosen as last prophet
Prophet Muhammad is believed to be the initiator of the Islamic religion and he is therefore referred to as the messenger as well as the last prophet of God. He is believed to be an active theorist who, according to the Muslim faith is seen as a driving force towards marvelous action .According, to the Muslim faith scholars argue that Prophet Muhammad was also called by the name “Peace be Upon Him|” and therefore, he is believed to have been chosen by God as the last prophet in the line of prophets.
God therefore chose Prophet Muhammad at a time in history when there was increased idol worship, social injustice but monotheism had reduced at that particular time. This in effect implies that God chose him to preach the gospel of True religion to the people who at that time were great sinners, “For We assuredly sent amongst every people a prophet, with the command: Worship Me (Allah) and avoid false gods” (Qu’ran16:36).
Since the Qur’an serves as the last revelation that God reveled to mankind, bearing in mind that other religious texts have other prophecies, it is clearly established that Prophet Muhammad was the last prophet. Furthermore, the Qur’an tends to contain the final revelation to the prophet hence properly justifying that Prophet Muhammad was the last prophet (Arafat, 9-21).
Evidence from Qur’an to prove Prophet Muhammad was the seal prophet
According, to the Quran teachings Prophet Muhammad can be seen as the seal prophet from his background. The Qur’an notes that prophet Muhammad was a messenger of Allah since the Qur’an notes that “ he was the last prophet that Allah send on earth after other prophets like Moses sent by God in the Holy Bible” (Qur’an 33:40).
In the Muslim faith the seal of the prophet was a clear symbol showing that prophet hood had came to an end which thus it meant that no other prophet would follow Prophet Muhammad. God gave the last divine messages to Prophet Muhammad clearly showing that he is the seal of prophets as he was used to signify that the existing intermediation between Allah and his worshippers had seized.
From the Qur’an evidence shows that, Prophet Muhammad was the last prophet, “Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets” (Al-Ahzab, 33/40). This phrase from the Qur’an clearly shows that Prophet Muhammad was the last link in the line of prophets.
From the Islamic interpretation it indicates that Muhammad is the last prophet of Allah who ended further establishment of prophet hood and therefore he represented a divine seal which acted as an approval and evidence of what the other prophets had done on earth.
The interpretation of the phrase “Muhammad is not the father of any man among you” clearly gives the evidence that prophecy was divine hence it was not to be a passed on from father to son, instead the other phrase “seal of prophet” sums up the idea that prophet Muhammad was actually the “last prophet” (Abdullah 128-150).
Another evidence can be extracted from the Qur’an verse “This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed my favor unto you, and have chosen Islam as a religion” (Quran 5:3) implies that, the improvements in the societal religion was actually achieved during Prophet Muhammad’s time. Evidently, it meant that no other prophet was anticipated to appear after Prophet Muhammad and his wisdom was to be followed keenly by all the people on earth (Walker, 20-26).
Importance of seal prophet in Islamic culture
The sealing of the prophet has always been associated with strong elements of Islamic culture and belief. The seal of prophet is highly associated with the Islamic culture due the fact that it represents the final message of God revealed to the people through the last prophet Muhammad.
Consequently, this means that the Qur’an establishes messages through which peace and blessings are shown as the only way through which prophet hood has been closed. According, to studies done by religious scholars it evident that prophet hood came to an end with Prophet Muhammad since his prophetic was supposed to be everlasting till the end of time ((Abdullah 128-150).
Islamic religion therefore, is a clear representation of the prior religion of monotheism which was strongly emphasized by Prophet Muhammad that implied totally submission to God.
Since the Islamic religion revolves around peace that acts as a representation of nature, it means that Muslims strongly associate the seal of the prophet with their culture since the last prophet Muhammad was also called peace be upon him. Therefore, the main assignment of Prophet Muhammad was to bring peace upon the earth which currently is the central point of the Islamic religion.
That Prophet Muhammad was the final prophet to deliver the message that God had sent, deliver his teachings, forms the background for the true Muslim followers who truly believe in the Islamic faith. Normally, they tend to emulate the practices of the last prophet with the main emphasis on the fact that they should earn God’s pleasure first before it can be returned to Him (Christopher, 56-75).
Critical questions
The first question raised in this paper is the issue of why was Prophet Muhammad was chosen as the last prophet. From the analysis we tend to find out that prophet Muhammad was actually chosen as the last prophet after other prophets like Moses.
Therefore we analyze that since other prophets had passed away God then saw the purpose of choosing Prophet Muhammad as the last prophet so that he could preach the word of God to the people who had diverted from God’s ways to other ways. Since the people on earth had turned away from God’s ways to worshipping idols, there was need for God to send a prophet on earth who could preach the message to the people regarding true gospel.
In order to convince the people on earth to change and turn back to God there was need for a prophet who therefore God saw the purpose of choosing Prophet Muhammad as the last prophet. In addition God chosen Prophet Muhammad purposely since God had no other plans of sending another prophet after Muhammad therefore Allah treated Prophet Muhammad as the last prophet.
The second critical question is to analyze any evidence from the Qur’an which actually symbolizes Prophet Muhammad as the seal prophet. From the Qua’ran versus analyzed above it is clear that Prophet Muhammad was the seal prophet since he served as the last messenger who God had send to bring his message to the people on earth. Since God used him as the last messenger on earth it clearly gives us evidence that Prophet Muhammad actually was the seal prophet.
The Qu’ran versus refers to Prophet Muhammad as not a father of any human being which indicates that he was a divine messenger of God which clearly indicates that he was the last prophet as his prophecy was never meant to be inherited from one generation to generation. In addition evidence from the Qu’ran tends to refer to Prophet Muhammad as a prophet of divine wisdom hence his religion is referred as a perfect one in the Islamic religion
The last question tends to give the reasons why the Muslims uphold the idea Prophet Muhammad as the seal prophet in their cultural expressions. Analyzing this question it is clear that the idea of Prophet being seen as the seal prophet is of much importance to the Islamic culture. This due to the fact that Prophet Muhammad is seen as the fore father of Islamic culture thus in Islamic culture he is always treated as the founder of Islamic religion.
With fact that Prophet Muhammad is seen as the last prophet then it implies he is the founder of Islamic culture this to Muslims is very important and they tend to associate their culture to the founder of the Islamic religion. Since Prophet Muhammad was the founder of the Islamic religion it indicates that Islamic practices should be based on the nature of the founder. This concept therefore is used by Muslims hence associated heavily with Islamic cultural expression
Works Cited
Abdullah, Y. The holy Quran, Leicester, UK: Academia Press, 2005. Pp 128-150.
Arafat, W. “Facts and fiction in the History of pre-Islamic idol – Worship,” Islamic Quarterly, Vol .12, 1968, pp 9-21.
Christopher, B. Islamic Tradition. New York: Harper & Row, 1972, pp 56-75.
Walker, J. Bible characters in the Koran. Paisley, London: Alexander Gardner, 1931, pp 20-26.