Title: Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), the first warner in Arabia Post by: Zainab_M on July 30, 2012, 03:36:41 am BismEm " .... that thou mayst warn a folk unto whom no warner came before thee, .." (28:46) Al-Qasas Allah states in the Noble Quran that no warner came to the Arabs in the Arabian peninsula prior to Prophet Muhammed. (pbuh). Some readers of the Quran are not able to understand this well enough. They cite the presence of Prophet Muhammed's predecessors, Prophet Abraham and his son, Ishmael, (peace be on them) both of whom built the Kaa'ba in Makkah. It's no doubt true that thousands of years prior to Prophet Muhammed, Prophets Abraham and Ishmael did spend some time in Makkah when they built the Kaa'ba which was the introduction of Monotheism in the region. However, there are some simple points that need to highlighted for better clarification and understanding. First of all, Prophet Muhammed had a more extensive mission. From what we gather through Quranic information, Prophets Abraham and Ishmael spent a part of their lives in Makkah, but unlike Prophet Muhammed, they were probably not indigenous people of the Arabian peninsula. According to various historical information, Prophet Abraham's family originated from the regions around Babylon or Palestine. Not too many details are known about the mission of Prophets Abraham and Ishmael in Arabia except that they initiated the truth about Monotheism and constructed the first place of worship for the Monotheistic Faith. Those segments of Arabs who embraced Monotheism came to the Kaa'ba to pray to Almighty Allah, The One and Only, to walk around the Kaa'ba (tawaf) and to think (meditate) of Allah. This was also the period when the basic method of the Monotheistic prayer was introduced (bowing down and prostrating before Allah alone .. the practice of ruku and sajood). The period of Prophet Muhammed was undoubtedly the continuation of the Monotheistic teachings of Prophets Abraham and Ishmael, but it was a more extensive mission, a complete course of 23 years during which the entire peninsula officially came under the umbrella of Monotheism - spiritually, socially, politically and legally. Moreover, Prophet Abraham's presence in the Arabian peninsula was more than 3,000 years prior to Prophet Muhammed .. almost 4,000 years earlier. That's a very, very long time. The descendents of those who had embraced Monotheism during Abraham's presence slipped back to idolatry during these thousands of years after being influenced by the pagan circles since Monotheism likely had not spread in the entire peninsula. From the information in the Quran we can also perceive that until the Final Messenger (Muhammed) arrived, former Prophets were sent at intervals of 400 to 600 years. But in the Arabian peninsula, apart for the presence of Abraham and Ishmael (that too apparently for some years of their lives), no one else came with the Divine Message for almost 4,000 years. And surely there was no Messenger in this region who belonged to the soil of Arabia except Prophet Muhammed. This is primarily the reference in Verse 28:46 and various other verses as well which mention "no warner came before thee," |