Belief in the prophets and messengers is one of the pillars of faith

Selections from the Book ‘’Lot (peace be upon him) and his Mission in Confronting Corruption and Sexual Deviance’’ …

Written by Dr. Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi...

Episode  (17)

     Belief in the prophets and messengers of Allah is a pillar of faith, and a person's faith is not complete until they believe in all the prophets. One must affirm that Allah sent them to guide humanity, direct creation, and bring people out of darkness into light. They conveyed the clear message that was revealed to them from their Lord, delivered the message, fulfilled their trust, advised the community, and strove in the cause of Allah with true striving.

     Allah Almighty said: {The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so ‎have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His ‎books and His messengers, [saying], "We make no distinction between any of His ‎messengers." And they say, "We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, ‎our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination".} [Al-Baqarah: 285].‎ He also said: {but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the ‎angels, the Book, and the prophets} [Al-Baqarah: 177].‎ And from the Sunnah is the saying of the Prophet Muhmmad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): “Faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, (the) meeting with Him, His Apostles, and to believe in Resurrection”. In faith, it is necessary for the servant to believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, His messengers, and the Last Day, and to believe in every messenger that He sent, and in every Book that He revealed.

     Faith in the prophets of Allah is not complete until one believes in all of them without exception. Among the prophets are those whom Allah has told us about and those He has not. Allah Almighty says: {And We have already sent messengers before you. Among them are those [whose ‎stories] We have related to you, and among them are those [whose stories] We ‎have not related to you.} [Ghafir: 78].‎ Ibn Taymiyyah said: "We believe in the messengers named by Allah in His Book, and we believe that Allah made them all messengers and prophets, and only He knows their names. We believe in Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and belief in him is different from belief in the other messengers. Belief in the other messengers involves acknowledging them, while belief in Muhammad involves acknowledging and always affirming the truth of what he brought. If you follow what he brought, you perform the obligations, permit what is Halal (Permissible), prohibit what is Haram (impermissible), are guided in the face of doubts, and hasten towards good deeds".

     He (Ibn Taymiyyah) also said: "Whoever obeys even one messenger has obeyed all the messengers, and whoever believes in one of them has believed in all of them. Conversely, whoever disobeys one of them has disobeyed all of them, and whoever denies one of them has denied all of them. This is because each messenger confirms the other, declares that he is a true messenger, and commands obedience to him. Therefore, whoever denies a messenger has denied the one who confirmed him, and whoever disobeys him has disobeyed the one who commanded obedience to him".[1]

Episode references:

- Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi, Lot (peace be upon him) and his Mission in Confronting Corruption and Sexual Deviance, pp. 77-78.

- The difference between the saints of the Most Merciful and the saints of Satan, Ibn Taymiyyah, edited by: Abdul Qadir Al-Arnaout, Dar Al-Bayan Library, Damascus, Al-Muayyad Library, Riyadh, 1405 AH, 1985 AD, p. 117.

- The Collection of Fatwas, Ibn Taymiyyah, 7/313 - 19/180.

For further information and review of the sources for the article, see:

The Book of ‘’Lot (peace be upon him) and his Mission in Confronting Corruption and Sexual Deviance’’ on the official website of Sheikh Dr. Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi: