ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Al-serat (a Journal of Islamic Studies) The Prophet and Prophetic Tradition - the Last Prophet and Universal Man Professor Syed Hossein Nasr Vol III No. 1 , 1397 "Extract" The Prophet and prophetic traditions — from Ideals & Realities of Islam written by Professor S. Hossein Nasr, and published by George Allen and Unwin Lh4., 2nd edition London 1975.

The Prophet as the founder of Islam and the messenger of God's revelation to mankind is the interpreter par excellence of the Book of God; and his Hadith and Sunnah, his sayings and actions, are after the Quran, the most important sources of the Islamic tradition. In order to understand the sig- nificance of the Prophet it is not sufficient to study, from the outside historical texts pertaining to his life.

One must view him also from within the Islamic point of view and try to discover the position he occupies in the religious consciousness of Muslims. When in any Islamic language one says the Prophet, it means Muhammad—whose name as such is never iterated except that as a courtesy it be followed by the formula 'Sall' Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam', that is, 'may God's blessing and salutation be upon him'.

It is even legitimate to say that, in general, when one says the Prophet it means the prophet of Islam; for although in every religion the founder who is an aspect of the Universal Intellect, becomes the Aspect, the Word the Incarnation, nevertheless each founder emphasizes a certain aspect of the Truth and even typifies that aspect universally. Although there is belief in incarnation in many religions, when one says the Incarnation it refers to Christ who personifies this aspect.

And although every prophet and saint has experienced 'enlightenment', the Enlightenment refers to the experience of the Buddha which is the most outstanding and universal embodiment of this experience. In the same manner the prophet of Islam is the prototype and perfect embodiment of prophecy and so in a profound sense is the Prophet. In fact in Islam every form of revelation is envisaged as a prophecy whose complete and total realization is to be seen in Muhammad—Upon whom be peace.

As the Sufi poet Mahmud Shabistari writes in h is incomparable Gulshan-i raz (the Secret Rose Garden): The first appearance of prophethood was in Adam, And its perfection was in the 'Seal of the Prophets'.