ISTANBUL - 1433 / 2012 Istanbul 1433 / 2012 Publisher : Erkam Publishing House Original title : Nebiler Silsilesi 1 (Ders Kitabı) Author : Osman Nuri Topbaş Editor : Dr. Faruk Kanger, Lokman Helvacı Redaction : Süleyman Derin Translator : Özlem Şahin ISBN : 978-9944-83-448-3 Cover and Typeset : Râsim Şakiroğlu ERKAM YAYIN VE SANAYİ MAMÜLLERİ A.Ş. } Addres s: Organize Sanayi Bölgesi Turgut Özal CaD. No: 117/4 İkitelli / İSTANBUL Tel : (+90 212) 671 07 00 (Pbx) Faks: (+90 212) 671 07 17 } Addsress: Ankara Caddesi Nakipoğlu İşhanı No: 60/5 Cağaloğl u / İSTANBUL Tel : (+90 212) 513 35 80 STUDENT’S BOOK THE CHAIN OF PROPHETS -I- Osman Nuri TOPBAŞ ERKAM PUBLISHING PREFACE In order to guide His servants to the truth, Almighty Allah has helped them by not only bestowing upon them certain superior traits, but also by appointing righteous people amongst them to be their guides. These righteous people who have been favoured with revelation are the prophets. These blessed envoys, who constitute a model for the community, have been appointed with three duties: A. To recite the verses of Allah and to propagate them; B. To purify and refine the nafs1; C. To teach the Book and wisdom. This unique support from our Lord began with the prophet Adam so that all of mankind has been included. Adam was both the first human being and the first prophet. This blessed path of guidance, supported and corroborated by the one hundred and twenty four thou- sand prophets who have come one after the other, has followed a path of development in accordance with the maturation of humanity – even though the creed has remained fundamentally the same - and eventu- ally reached its perfection with the prophet Muhammad. The Holy Qur’an is humanity’s guide to the truth until the Day of judgement. Its miraculous nature has incapacitated its deniers and amazed its believers. It was bestowed upon the prophet Muhammad and then through him upon all of mankind. It has been sent to humanity in order to guide them and to gain for them happiness both in this world and the next. It realises this aim by touching on many different matters. In particular, the relating of stories of past communities is one of the most fundamental features of the Qur’an in serving this purpose. The stories that are mentioned in the Holy Qur’an are works of wisdom which warn humanity of deviat- ing from the truth and encourage them to servitiude of Allah by the lessons that can be gained by looking at the events that took place in the lives of past peoples. In this way, unsound behaviour and the manifesta- tions of divine justice in response, and correct action and the corresponding reward and happiness that it brings are thus exemplified. This then becomes a warning and a lesson to others to beware of making similar mistakes and also serves the purpose of encouraging behaviour and actions that result in happiness. The Holy Qur’an places great importance on guiding through the stories of the peoples of the past. This is shown by the fact that these stories make up one third of its content. Jalalluddin Rumi has the following to say about the importance of these stories and learning from them: 1 The nafs which means the inner self, is the lowest dimension of man’s inward existence. It is the animal and satanic nature of the human being that inclines towards evil (translator’s note). 5 “The Holy Qur’an constitutes the state and characteristics of the prophets. If you read the Qur’an with deep reverence and apply its teachings you can consider yourself conversing with the prophets and the saints. As one reads the stories of the prophets the bodily cage begins to constrict the bird of soul. It was only through these stories that we were freed from this bodily cage. There is no other cure to be freed from that cage other than this path, that is, the path of tawheed2…” Have you not seen what the fierce winds did to the people of ‘Ad? Have you not heared what the waters did during the great Flood? How that Red Sea destroyed Pharaoh and how Qarun was plunged into the depths of the earth… What the ebabil birds did to the army of the elephants and how a tiny insect destroyed Nimrod… Do you not know how stones rained down upon the indecent people of Lot and how they were buried in a dark and filthy lake?” If I were to speak at length on how seemingly inanimate objects came to the aid of the prophets as if they were intelligent beings… then this Mathnawi would become so large in volume that forty camels would be unable to bear its load…” In order to strengthen the creed of tawheed in the hearts, the messages of the prophets and the response of their peoples are examined. The wisdom in these stories can be summarised as follows, in accordance with the purpose of the reve- lation of the Qur’an: - To prove the prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad; - To show that all the prophets spread the message of tawheed; - To ensure that those it addresses are able to easily learn their lesson; - To awaken the hearts by encouraging people to admire righteous people and by warning them against sinners. The result is that the servants of Allah take heed from the difficulties and tribulations encountered by the prophets and show patience and learn to be thankful for bounties. This book, a product of divine favour, which we have humbly attempted to write contains the wisdom and lessons to be learnt from the prophets who are mentioned in the Qur’an and their lives from the first page of the history of prophethood until the last. We have tried to transmit these pearls of wisdom which have the ability to illuminate humanity and be a means for understanding the modern person’s convulsions of the spirit and their pain by relating the events that took place in the lives of the prophets and their peoples. In particular we discuss the prophet Adam to whom the angels were commanded to prostrate to; the prophet Idris who bore the mysterious wonders of the heavens; the prophet Noah who cleansed the earth of unbelief with the Flood; the prophet of the people of ‘Ad whose lands of unbelief were uprooted by storms; the prophet Salih of the people of Thamud whose house’s foundations were shaken by the earthquake due to their rebelliousness and wildness; the prophet Ibrahim for whom the fire of Nimrod became a garden of roses for him due to his submission to Allah; the prophet Ismail who was an embodiment of sincerity, loyalty, reliance upon Allah and submission to Him; the prophet Ishaq from whom all of the prophets of the Israelites came; the sorrowful prophet Lut of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah who continued to call his wild and indecent people to guidance until the last moment; the prophet Dhu’l Qarnayn who carried the banner of tawheed from the east to the west; the prophet Yaqub who burned with longing and love and became a model of patience; the prophet Yusuf who became the King of Hearts after spending his life in slavery and prison, in pain and torment and then onto Egypt; the prophet Shu’ayb who enraptured the hearts with his speech; the prophet Musa who destroyed the foolish Pharaoh in the eddies of the Red Sea with of his staff; the prophet Harun, the prophet Musa’s 2 Tawheed is an Arabic word which indicates the oneness and unity of Allah (translator’s note). 6 righteous brother and his helper at all times and places; the prophet Dawud who enraptured the mountains, the stones and even wild animals with his glorification of Allah; the prophet Sulayman who carried his king- dom outside of his heart; Uzayr who by being raised back to life after dying was an example of the resurrec- tion on the Day of Judgement; the prophet Ayyub who was a model of patience with his deep reflection and contemplation; the prophet Yunus who overcame the darkness in a state of ecstasy by delving into the real- ity of istigfar, prayer and remembrance of Allah; the prophet Ilyas who was favoured with divine compliment and countenance by being addressed as ‘Peace be upon Ilyas’; the prophet al-Yasa who was made superior over the worlds; the righteous prophet Dhu’l Kifl who was enveloped in divine mercy; the patron saints of both the external and inner physicians Luqman Hakim, whose wise advice has become an epic; the inno- cent prophet Zachariah who refrained from muttering even an ‘aaa’ whilst being sawn into two and who preserved his dependence upon and submission to Allah; the prophet John(Yahya) who reached his Lord as a martyr just like his father Zachariah; and the heavenly prophet Isa whose distinguishing trait was purifica- tion of the nafs and who was able to cure the ill, bring the dead back to life with his prayer and supplication. We have also tried to illustrate how these harbingers of good news that came one after the other were responsible for preparing humanity for the arrival of the prophet Muhammad (saw), who like a blessed flame of guidance was sent as a mercy to all the worlds, and was the light of existence, the peak of perfection of the chain of prophethood and the secret of creation. My previous book ‘The chain of prophets’ received great praise, and I was advised and encouraged to review it and prepare it as a ‘study book’ to be taught in various Islamic teaching schools.