Friday Prayer

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.

The reason for examining the biography of the prophets in the Qur’an

To answer these questions, we must examine the biography of the prophets:

What was the purpose of the prophets? Have the prophets succeeded or failed in their mission? Is the existence of unbelieving people in the world a sign for the failure of the mission of the divine prophets?

Of course the Qur’an, which in our opinion is the last and most reliable divine book, is the best document to study the life of the divine prophets.

We have to see, according to the verses of the holy Quran, how did each of the divine prophets, whose life story and mission are mentioned in this book, interact with their society and people? What response did they receive from their people in response to the divine and religious invitation they had, and how did they react to this response?

The main purpose of the resurrection of the prophets: spirituality and worship of the unique God

The holy Qur’an has repeatedly stated that the relationship with God and his worship is the main goal of the prophets. Sometimes in verses of the holy Qur’an this purpose is mentioned in connection with the mission of one of the divine prophets:

لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَى قَوْمِهِ فَقَالَ یَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُواْ اللَّهَ مَا لَکُم مِّنْ إِلَهٍ غَیْرُهُ؛

Certainly We sent Noah to his people. He said, ‘O my people, worship Allah! You have no other god besides Him. Indeed I fear for you the punishment of a tremendous day.’ (A’raf: 59)

وَإِلَى عَادٍ أَخَاهُمْ هُوداً قَالَ یَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُواْ اللّهَ مَا لَکُم مِّنْ إِلَهٍ غَیْرُهُ؛

And to [the people of] ‘Ad [We sent] Hud, their brother. He said, ‘O my people, worship Allah! You have no other god besides Him. Will you not then be wary [of Him]?’ (A’raf: 65)

The same phrase has been repeated about prophets such as Saleh and Shoaib. And in some verses, the worship of the unique God is mentioned as the main goal of one of the prophets such as Jesus the Christ; however the style of conveying them is different.

And sometimes, in the verses of the holy Quran, to worship the God is mentioned as the main purpose of the resurrection of all the prophets:

وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِی کُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولاً أَنِ اعْبُدُواْ اللّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُواْ الطَّاغُوتَ؛

Certainly We raised an apostle in every nation [to preach:] ‘Worship Allah, and shun fake deities.’ Among them were some whom Allah guided, and among them were some who deserved to be in error. (Nahl: 36)

Worshiping the God, and believing in the origin of the existence and the supernatural power that created the world and managed the affairs of the world, leads to find meaning in life and to come out of emptiness and aimlessness. Spirituality brings morality with it and the individual life of man has spirit and hope.

Preliminary purpose of the resurrection: to establish justice and installment in human society

The main purpose of the mission of the prophets is to worship the unique God and to give meaning to the human life, but the other purpose which is the introduction of this main purpose is to establish justice and installment in human society. The almighty God points to this goal in several verses of the holy Quran and says:

لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلَنَا بِالْبَیِّنَاتِ وَأَنزَلْنَا مَعَهُمُ الْکِتَابَ وَالْمِیزَانَ لِیَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ.

Certainly We sent Our apostles with manifest proofs, and We sent down with them the Book and the Balance, so that mankind may maintain justice; (Hadid: 25)

This verse explicitly introduces the goal and the mission of the prophets which is establishing the justice and installment. See how explicitly the Qur’an states the mission of the prophets to establish justice among human beings and says that they sent their messengers with clear reasons and with measured books and orders and writings, which is based on the laws and regulations, for what? “Let the people pay the installments” for all human beings to behave in justice and the principle of justice to be established among human beings.

قُلْ آمَنتُ بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ مِن کِتَابٍ وَأُمِرْتُ لِأَعْدِلَ بَیْنَکُمُ.

And say, ‘I believe in whatever Book Allah has sent down. I have been commanded to do justice among you. (Shora: 15)

In this verse, the holy Qur’an expresses the mission of the last Prophet, which is to expand justice and installment in the community of human beings and among people.

قُلْ أَمَرَ رَبِّی بِالْقِسْطِ وَأَقِیمُواْ وُجُوهَکُمْ عِندَ کُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ وَادْعُوهُ مُخْلِصِینَ لَهُ الدِّینَ.

Say, ‘My Lord has enjoined justice,’ and [He has enjoined,] ‘Set your heart [on Him] at every occasion of prayer, and invoke Him, putting your exclusive faith in Him. Even as He brought you forth in the beginning, so will you return.’ (A’raf: 29)

In this verse, the holy Quran refers to the premise of establishing an installment for sincerity in the worship of God.

Therefore, the issue of establishing justice, on a human scale, has been the general goal of all the prophets. That is, the prophets had a task, a duty, a mission, and a social responsibility, which only were based on the justice, according to the text of the holy Quran.

Therefore, the holy Qur’an uses the statement that the main goal of the prophets is two things: monotheism and the establishment of justice.

The first is related to man’s relationship with God and the second is related to human relationship with each other. Calling God and getting to know him and approaching him means calling for theoretical monotheism and individual practical monotheism, but establishing justice and installment in society means establishing practical social monotheism.

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