A HISTORY OF THE PROPHETS - A New Book Begins, Part - 1
January 24th, 2010
While much has been written on the history of philosophy, little has been said or written on the converse, that is, the Philosophy of History. The Qur’an narrates the philosophy of history in the sense of giving us the ‘WHY’ of historical events.
During the last millennium, many scholars have authored the “Stories of the Prophets” under various captions but, unfortunately, they are more fiction than fact. I am not aware of any such history primarily based on the Authentic Qur’an.
The most popular of these conjecture-based books is “Qasas-ul-Anbia” (Stories of the Prophets) authored by Imam Imaduddin Abul-Fida Hafiz Ismail Ibn Kathir (d.1372 CE) in Arabic. It was translated into Urdu by Mr. Abdul Aziz in the 19th century. “Maulana” Makki Al Hijazi plagiarized some of the work with impunity in the 20th century in Urdu audio format. All these works are huge volumes comprising of fanciful ideas, very questionable Ahadith, irrationalities, outright forgery and comical imagination. The authors seldom quote their sources of information. These works have almost nothing to do with the Authoritative, Authentic Qur’an. I read some of these books in my teens and again many years later. They are only a few of the numerous books that thankfully kept me away from the fictitious Number Two Islam 
The Qur’an makes things simple for us. It highlights certain evils that were most prevalent in a given society and tells us about the prophet assigned to them and his noble efforts to make reforms.
Being a most pragmatic Book on earth, the Qur’an puts forth before us three very scientific methods to evaluate the truth versus conjecture, even to evaluate the authenticity of the Book itself:
1- Use of Intellect and Reason.
2- Results achieved by various Systems in human societies.
3- A diligent research on the History of Nations to determine the reasons behind their Rise & Fall, and the gallant role of the prophets who strove to induce reform in their respective societies. Prophet Muhammad, being the final link in this noble chain, was sent to all mankind for all times to come.
“A HISTORY OF THE PROPHETS” is almost entirely based on the Qur’an although the author will not hesitate to benefit, sparingly, from other trust-worthy sources.
A resume of the history of nations given in the Qur’an and frequently confirmed by Biblical and secular sources is now presented. North or South, East or West, nations flourished as long as, consciously or unconsciously, they followed the moral and socio-economic directives given in the Qur’an. Conversely, they faced decline and annihilation when they abandoned these teachings.
Many readers have been asking for stories of the prophets. I have just started working on “A HISTORY OF THE PROPHETS” today. Their stories serve as a Beacon to show us how nations rose to glory and then went into decline - And what the great prophets did to reform their societies. This book will educate us how the masses and the leaders must behave in order to build and sustain a great nation. Any nation could draw inspiration from what is coming forth in the following pages.
The Qur’an gives us the stories of the following prophets and their respective nations. Their names are written here in Alphabetic order:
OUR SALUTES TO THEM ALL!
Aaron - Haroon
Abraham - Ibrahim
David - Daud
Hud
Elias - Elijah
Elisha - Al-Yasa’
Enoch - Idris
Ezekiel - Zal-Kifl
Jacob - Ya’qoob
Jethro - Sho’aib
Jesus - ‘Isa
Idris (Enoch)
Ishmael - Ismail
Isaac - Ishaq
Job - Ayub
Joseph - Yusuf
John the Baptist - Yahya
Moses - Musa
Muhammad
Noah - Nooh
Saleh
Solomon - Sulaiman
Jonah - Yunus
Lut - Lot
Zacharias - Zakariya
Their number is 25.
Prophets Hud, Saleh and Muhammad are not named in the current Bible. Prophet Zechariah of the Old Testament belonged to previous generations, and he was, thus, a different person from Prophet Zakariya of the Qur’an and Zacharias of the New Testament. He was the father of John the Baptist (Yahya). Eighteen prophets are named in succession in the Qur’an from 6:84 onward.
Most of the tribal prophets named in the Bible are not mentioned in the Qur’an.
ADAM: Contrary to popular belief, Adam (Adami) was not a prophet. Adam indicates the early humans. The Qur’an nowhere states that Adam was a prophet of God. Let us not be confused by God’s conversation to him and his wife. The name Eve or Hawwa is not found in the Qur’an, once again to confirm that ‘Adam and his wife’ alludes to early human beings. Adam’s story has been presented entirely in allegorical terms for our easy understanding (2:30 on, 17:61 on, 20:115 on). We see the scenario of God’s Court with Adam, Iblis and angels, all being present and interesting dialogues going on. The Qur’an talks of ‘wahi’ to people, e.g. to disciples of Jesus (5:111), Zakariya’s people (19:11), to the mother of Moses (20:38, 28:7), to the sky and cosmic bodies (41:12), to earth (99:5) and even to the honeybee (41:12). The ‘wahi’ in these cases indicates inspiring, programming or directing. All of these instances exclude Angel Gabriel revealing God’s messages verbatim on the heart of a messenger.
PROPHET NOAH:
Look at 6:84. The first ever prophet was Hazrat Noah. So, we begin with his story and the story of his nation. His people existed around 10,000 B.C. in the Valleys of Euphrates and
CLASS SYSTEM:
The Qur’an makes it obvious that Noah’s people had divided their society into classes based on wealth. The rich elite used to consider and treat the poor with contempt, oppressed them and felt insulted even at sitting with them.
26:108 (Noah said) Be mindful of God and pay heed to me.
26:109 And no reward, whatsoever, do I ask for it. My reward rests with none but the Lord of the Worlds.
26:110 So be mindful of God and pay heed to me.”
26:111 They answered, “Shall we put our faith in you even though the low class people are following you?”
26:112 He said, “I am not concerned with their professions and what they have been doing before.
26:113 Their accountability is up to my Lord. If only you understood (that the most honored in the Sight of God is the one who is best in conduct 49:13).
26:114 So, I shall not drive away the believers.
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