This is exactly the concern of this chapter...

This is exactly the concern of this chapter, and the following questions will be addressed: Why must there be prophets in the lives of humankind? (The necessity of prophethood) What services and benefits have the prophets rendered to mankind? (The blessings of the prophets ( ‘a )) How did the prophets communicate with God and receive His message? (Revelation) How can we be certain about the truthfulness of their claims to prophethood?

(Miracles) Assuming that their presence is necessary, why has the caravan of prophethood ceased to move? (Finality of the prophethood) *** In the history of Islamic thought, the debate on the necessity of prophethood has delved more into answering the following question: Why must God have sent prophets to mankind? Muslim scholars have tried to explain the philosophy behind the sending down of the prophets ( ‘a ) which is related to the ‘action of God’.

However, there is another question here and that is: Why should we humans pay heed and take seriously the message and invitation of the apostles ( ‘a )? Could we not bother to take their invitation into account and just go along our way and pass by without paying attention to them? This question (regarding the human need to follow the prophets ( ‘a )) is of immense importance nowadays.

In Islamic philosophy and theology books, the following question is also addressed: Why should man conduct research and investigation about the prophets ( ‘a )? However, this question has not been dealt with at great length. Perhaps, the reason for this is that it is believed that if the philosophy behind the sending down of prophets ( ‘a ) is established, the philosophy behind the human need to follow the prophets ( ‘a ) will also be proven.

Muslim scholars have answered these questions by first dealing with God and His Action, and concluding with man and his need to follow the prophets ( ‘a ). Nowadays, however, there are some transcendent theosophers [ muta’allihīn ] who start by studying man and his need to follow the prophets ( ‘a ), and concluding with God and His Action (sending down of the prophets ( ‘a )).

This approach is widely adopted in the Christian world but is also to some extent observed in the works of Muslim scholars. In this book, we shall follow the dominant approach in the books of Islamic philosophy and theology. By explaining the ‘Action of God’ (the necessity of sending down of the prophets ( ‘a )), we shall also establish the human need to follow the prophets ( ‘a ).