Prophethood as the foundational element of religion
Εverything we know and have heard about Islam’s Ramadan we have learned from one person: the Prophet Muhammad. We learned from him how to conduct ourselves during this month. We learned from him that Ramadan purifies us and that we can be freed from punishment. So, what is Ramadan to us? Ramadan is the month of the prophet!
Islam is the name of a religion conveyed by a prophet. A prophet does not merely deliver a religion; he is an integral part of it, and faith in him completes the religion. Through the prophet, religion not only reaches people but also takes on a concrete form, guiding human behavior. In this respect, religion is the very truth embodied in the prophet. When describing the character of the Prophet Muhammad, his wife Aisha said, “His character was the Quran.” If such a statement were made about anyone else, there would be some degree of separation between them and the Quran, or it would be considered praise for that person. However, no gap exists between the prophet and the Quran. This is not praise but a statement of fact: “He is the living Quran.”
Islam does not come to us as an ambiguous truth. It does not contain undefined or indescribable truths. All the truths and principles of Islam were conveyed through a person. There is a book for those who wish to read. For those who want to listen, there are words. And for those who wish to see, there is a person. The book and words are the Quran, and the person is the Prophet Muhammad. If believers ask what mercy is, the answer is clear: the mercy of the Prophet Muhammad. If they seek definitions of generosity, justice, virtue, chastity or purity, the answer is found in the character of the prophet.
Faith in the Prophet Muhammad is an essential condition of being a believer. Without it, there is no religion; without religion, we do not exist. Without the prophet, the religion itself would not exist. Just as the existence of a person or the universe brings God to mind, the existence of Islam brings the prophet to mind. This does not mean that the prophet created the religion; rather, religion was revealed to him, and he was the first to live it and believe in it. Where there is a prophet, there is religion. Outside of prophethood, what remains is not religion but ethics, philosophy or something else – it cannot be called religion. The first in Islam to believe in God was the prophet himself. The first to obey His commands and the first to submit to Him was also the prophet.
The Prophet Adam said, “We have wronged ourselves,” and turned back to God. Since then, all believers have learned to return to God in sin and heedlessness. When the Prophet Abraham said, “I have turned my face to God,” or when the Prophet Joseph said, “My Lord has made my dream come true,” or when the Prophet Moses said, “My Lord, show Yourself to me,” they were all saying the same thing: A prophet is the one who directs human attention solely to God.
The Prophet Muhammad revealed the truth by saying, “Read in His name.” The miracle first came to the prophet. He was the first to hear the revelation. He devoted his days and nights to worship. We learned from him how people should conduct themselves at every moment of life. Even though his sins were forgiven, he still sought forgiveness, teaching us its meaning: “The true essence of worship is gratitude,” he said. He made us realize that through worship, we do not become creditors to God but remain forever indebted to Him. We learned from him the difference between praise and gratitude. He was the one who showed us these subtleties. Those who followed his path later wrote books on “Rekaik” (subtleties of ethics and religious life), conveying these nuances to us. Believers saw in the prophet the necessity of gratitude at every moment of life. When the prophet said, “We have not truly expressed our gratitude to You,” we learned from him that we cannot fully fulfill gratitude.
The prophet showed us trust in God. When he said, “Tie your camel and put your trust in God,” we realized that our attention should not be on the tied camel but on God.
First, by declaring ethics for all humanity, he rejected tribal morality, which was in contradiction to the duty of humanity. He said that generosity is not just giving to one’s relatives or caring for one’s own kin. True generosity is sharing with everyone and giving without fear. The Prophet Muhammad explained to us the connection between generosity and purification. Thus, we learned what cleanliness truly means: moral purification, compassion, and the achievement of a state of justice and reliability as human beings. He taught us the meaning of patience for the sake of God. Patience means remembering God, never forgetting Him and resisting all hardships that make us forget Him. The prophet taught us that mercy is not the hidden arrogance of feeling pity for others. Mercy is a fundamental principle of existence given by God. God created the universe out of His mercy. Every action stems from mercy.
By Ekrem Demirli: Academic at the Department of Sufism, Faculty of Theology, Istanbul University. Published in DailySabah
