اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ بِجَمِیعِ مَحَامِدِه کُلِّهَا عَلَی جَمِیعِ نِعَمِهِ کُلِّهَا… اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ مالِکِ الْمُلْکِ مُجْرِی الْفُلْکِ مُسَخِّرِ الرِّیاحِ فالِقِ الاْصْباحِ دَیّانِ الدّینِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمینَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی حِلْمِهِ بَعْدَ عِلمِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی عَفْوِهِ بَعْدَ قُدْرَتِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی طُولِ اَناتِهِ فی غَضَبِهِ وَهُوَ قادِرٌ عَلی ما یُریدُ
Praise is to God with all his praises, for all his blessings. . . Praise is to God, the owner of the property, the operator of the orbit, the bender of the wind, the glory of the morning, the religion of the beliefs, lord of the worlds; praise is to God for his dream after his knowledge and thank God for forgiveness after his power, and praise be to God for his long patience in his wrath and he is capable to do what he wills
و نشهد أن لا اله الا الله وحده لا شریک له، و أَنَّ محمداً عبده و رسوله ارسله بالهدی و دین الحق لیظهره علی الدین کله و لو کره المشرکون اوصیکم عبادالله و نفسی بتقوی الله و اتباع امره و نهیه، و اخوفکم من عقابه
And we bear witness that there is no god but God alone, without partner, and that Muhammad is his servant and messenger, he sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, that he might proclaim it over all religion, even if the polytheists hated it.
Common principles in the life of the prophets
Principle 10: Invitation to a true religion
The divine prophets tried to remove the foundation of false imitation from society and invite people to a true religion.
Denial of imitation of ancestors
The holy Qur’an, in explaining the tradition of the prophets and the attitude of the idolaters towards them, says that the idolaters said the worship of idols is the tradition of their ancestors. The prophets said that if the ancestors did something unwise and unrealistic, people should not continue their false way:
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّبِعُوا مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ قَالُوا بَلْ نَتَّبِعُ مَا أَلْفَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ آبَاءَنَا أَوَلَوْ كَانَ آبَاؤُهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَهْتَدُونَ.
When they are told, ‘Follow what Allah has sent down,’ they say, ‘No, We will follow what we have found our fathers following.’ What, even if their fathers neither exercised their reason nor were guided?! (Baghare: 170)
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا إِلَى مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ وَإِلَى الرَّسُولِ قَالُوا حَسْبُنَا مَا وَجَدْنَا عَلَيْهِ آبَاءَنَا أَوَلَوْ كَانَ آبَاؤُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَهْتَدُونَ.
When they are told, ‘Come to what Allah has sent down and [come] to the Apostle,’ they say, ‘Sufficient for us is what we have found our fathers following.’ What, even if their fathers did not know anything and were not guided?! (Ma’ede: 104)
They sometimes considered following the ancestors and preserving the ancestral tradition as a religious order of God, and in this way they attributed their ugly deeds of their ethnic tradition to God, which the holy Qur’an opposes and utters:
وَإِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً قَالُوا وَجَدْنَا عَلَيْهَا آبَاءَنَا وَاللَّهُ أَمَرَنَا بِهَا قُلْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَأْمُرُ بِالْفَحْشَاءِ أَتَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ.
When they commit an indecency, they say, ‘We found our fathers practising it, and Allah has enjoined it upon us.’ Say, ‘Indeed Allah does not enjoin indecencies. Do you attribute to Allah what you do not know?’ (A’raf: 28)
The holy Qur’an considers the blind obedience as the method of ancient people as a way of influencing Satan and his conspiracies:
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّبِعُوا مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ قَالُوا بَلْ نَتَّبِعُ مَا وَجَدْنَا عَلَيْهِ آبَاءَنَا أَوَلَوْ كَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ يَدْعُوهُمْ إِلَى عَذَابِ السَّعِيرِ.
When they are told, ‘Follow what Allah has sent down,’ they say, ‘No, we will follow what we found our fathers following.’ What! Even if Satan be calling them to the punishment of the Blaze? (Loghman: 21)
Invitation to religious beliefs based on science and rationality
The holy prophet, as one of the divine prophets, bases his invitation on insight and awareness, and does not blindly demand obedience from his followers. The words of the holy prophet are:
قُلْ هَذِهِ سَبِيلِي أَدْعُو إِلَى اللَّهِ عَلَى بَصِيرَةٍ أَنَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ.
Say, ‘This is my way. I summon to Allah with insight—I and he who follows me. Immaculate is Allah, and I am not one of the polytheists.’ (Yusef: 108)
The holy Qur’an condemns obedience and acceptance in any matter if it does not follow science and reason and says:
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يُجَادِلُ فِي اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَيَتَّبِعُ كُلَّ شَيْطَانٍ مَرِيدٍ.
Among the people are those who dispute about Allah without any knowledge, and follow every froward devil, (Haj: 3)
And the divine prophets told their people to assess their words and accept them if they were in accordance with science and reason; however not to argue and deny their words ignorantly and without intellectual and scientific research:
أَلَمْ تَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ سَخَّرَ لَكُمْ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَأَسْبَغَ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعَمَهُ ظَاهِرَةً وَبَاطِنَةً وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يُجَادِلُ فِي اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَلَا هُدًى وَلَا كِتَابٍ مُنِيرٍ.
Do you not see that Allah has disposed for you whatever there is in the heavens and whatever there is in the earth and He has showered upon you His blessings, the outward, and the inward? Yet among the people are those who dispute concerning Allah without any knowledge or guidance or an illuminating scripture. (Loghman: 20)
The divine prophets always called their opponents to reason and asked them to reason logically, and the slogan of the prophets against them was:
أَمَّنْ يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ وَمَنْ يَرْزُقُكُمْ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ أَإِلَهٌ مَعَ اللَّهِ قُلْ هَاتُوا بُرْهَانَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ.
Is He who originates the creation, then He will bring it back, and who provides for you from the sky and the earth…? What! Is there a god besides Allah? Say, ‘Produce your evidence, if you are truthful.’(Namal: 64)
Avoiding from following misleading unwise claims
The holy Qur’an informs of those who argued unscientifically with the teachings of the divine prophets in order to mislead the people, and naturally the attention to the fact requires that people rely on rational and scientific understanding to know right from wrong. The holy Quran says:
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يُجَادِلُ فِي اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَلَا هُدًى وَلَا كِتَابٍ مُنِيرٍ؛ ثَانِيَ عِطْفِهِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ لَهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا خِزْيٌ وَنُذِيقُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ عَذَابَ الْحَرِيقِ.
Among the people are those who dispute concerning Allah without any knowledge or guidance, or an enlightening Book, turning aside disdainfully to lead [others] astray from the way of Allah. For such there is disgrace in this world, and on the Day of Resurrection We will make him taste the punishment of the burning; (Haj: 8 – 9)
The obedience of the prophets from the previous prophets is wise, not blind
It was mentioned in the history and manners of the prophets that every prophet acknowledges the prophet before him and in fact continues his path. This does not mean blind imitation and obedience, but knowing that the previous prophets were the way of divine guidance and based their invitation on reason and logic. Regarding the following of the prophet Mohammad, peace upon him, from the previous prophets, the holy Qur’an pays attention to following their guidance and not to the persons of those prophets, and says:
أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحُكْمَ وَالنُّبُوَّةَ فَإِنْ يَكْفُرْ بِهَا هَؤُلَاءِ فَقَدْ وَكَّلْنَا بِهَا قَوْمًا لَيْسُوا بِهَا بِكَافِرِينَ؛ أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ هَدَى اللَّهُ فَبِهُدَاهُمُ اقْتَدِهْ…
They are the ones whom We gave the Book, judgement and prophethood. So if these disbelieve in them, We have certainly entrusted them to a people who will never disbelieve in them. They are the ones whom Allah has guided. So follow their guidance. (An’am: 89 – 90)
Imitation of a clergyman (mujtahid) in Islamic law is also a wise obedience, not a blind one. It is an adherence based on the rationality and manners of the wise of the world, and is based on the ignorant reference to the world.