Ulu’l-azm refers to the messengers of Allah who possessed strong will and perseverance in fulfilling the duties commanded by Allah.
WHO ARE THE ULU’L-AZM PROPHETS?
It is understood that some prophets chosen among the messengers
are called ulu’l-azm due to their qualities different than the others. Although
there are different views about the number and identity of these prophets, it
is generally agreed that ulu’l-azm refers to the five greatest messengers, that
is, Muhammad (pbuh), Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Noah, peace be upon them.
All prophets cited in the Quran strived greatly to fulfill the
holy duty assigned to them by Allah. From this perspective, no prophet should
be discriminated against because they were all sent as leaders to humans.
Prophet Muhammad emphasized this issue in the following hadith: “I am the
closest to Isa (Jesus), the son of Mary, among all humans. Indeed prophets are
half-brothers. Their religions are the same.” This should be taken into
consideration when assessing prophecy and divine religions.
Another point to be considered is that the time periods,
communities for which these prophets were sent and the dimensions of their
missions differed. It is significant in this regard that Allah uses the
expression "Ulu'l Azm" for some prophets in particular. They are
those who are sent at turning points of humanity and hold certain qualities
that the others don't.
COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF ULU’L-AZM PROPHETS
In this section, we will explain the common characteristics of
ulu’l azm prophets. It must be acknowledged that other prophets also possesed
most of these qualities.
1- Coming from distinguished families mentioned in Quran
In surah Al-i Imran (the Family of Imran), Allah states: “God
did choose Adam and Noah, the family of Abraham, and the family of 'Imran above
all people. Offspring, one of the other: And God heareth and knoweth all
things.” Even though Prophet Moses, Prophet Jesus, and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
were not mentioned clearly in this verse for they descend from Ismail and
Ishaq, Abraham’s sons and Jews, Christians, and Muslims accepts Abraham as
their forefather these prophets are within scope of this verse.
Additionally, in verses in which Prophet Noah’s progeny was made
enduring and Abraham was his descendant. That is, in Sura al-Saffat, Allah
declared: “We made only Noah’s progeny to endure. And We left this blessings
for him among generations to come in later times. Verily among those who
followed his way was Abraham.”
It is unquestionably accepted that after Prophet Adam, Prophet
Noah had a significant role in the continuation of humanity. For the five of
the prophets who are descendants of Adam, it is said: “The most distinguished
among sons of Adam are five people: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad.”
Additionally, although there were centuries of time difference between them,
Abraham was bonded to Noah in terms of the essentials of belief including the
oneness of Allah.
2- Being sent as a Messenger
These abovementioned prophets are both nabi (prophet) and rasul
(messenger) because they were given a message for a community in the form of a
holy book. Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) described Prophet Noah as the “first
messenger.” A prophet who continues the book and the divine law of the previous
prophet is a nabi; a prophet who was sent a new book and a new religion is both
a nabi and rasul. That is, there is difference between a nabi and a
rasul. A rasul was given a divine law and when he is conveying Allah’s
commands, he is allowed to fight against the rebels and has the power to rule,
and can actually enforce rules. However, a nabi does not fight against the
rebels to his message. His duty is only to convey Allahs word to people and to
warn them.
The following verses indicate that these five prophets were
given a new book besides prophecy:
“And We sent Noah and Abraham, and established in their line
Prophethood and Revelation: and some of them were on right guidance. But many
of them became rebellious transgressors (57/26).”
“And We bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob, and We established the
prophethood and the Scripture among his seed, and We gave him his reward in the
world, and lo! in the Hereafter he verily is among the righteous (29/27).”
“...We bestowed upon the house of Abraham (of old) the Scripture
and wisdom, and We bestowed on them a mighty kingdom (4/54).”
Furthermore, Prophet Abraham prayed for his descendants to be
sent prophecy and book. It is known his prayer was accepted: “Our Lord! send
amongst them an Messenger of their own, who shall rehearse Thy Signs to them
and instruct them in scripture and wisdom, and sanctify them: For Thou art the
Exalted in Might, the Wise (2/29).” A book and wisdom was given to Prophet
Muhammad. Prophet Jesus was taught wisdom, Torah, and Bible. It was also
mentioned in some verses that Prophet Moses was also given a book.
In addition to the information given in many verses of Quran,
Prophet Noah’s and Prophet Abraham’s qualities different from other ulu’l-azm
prophets were mentioned in this verse: “And We sent Noah and Abraham, and
established in their line Prophethood and Revelation: and some of them were on
right guidance. But many of them became rebellious transgressors (57/26).”
Their names being mentioned in this verse is important because they lived
through important events at their times and they made major contributions to
humanity. Therefore, they are like two important persons who came out during
important milestones of human history. Prophet Noah survived the flood
remembered with his name during his time. Therefore, he is considered as the
second Adam. It is known that different nations grew from the races of Prophet
Noah’s sons; Ham, Sam and Yafes. Similarly, Prophet Abraham is considered as
the father of Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
3- Possessing Divine Law
One of the most significant qualities of ulu’l-azm prophets is
their possessing divine law as declared in this verse: “The same religion has
He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah, which We have sent by
inspiration to you and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses and Jesus:
Namely that you should remain steadfast in religion and make no divisions
therein: to those who worship other things than God, hard is the way to which
you call them. God chooses to Himself those whom He pleases and guides to
Himself those who turn to Him (42/13).” In this verse is first mentioned
Prophet Noah, secondly Prophet Muhammad, and then Prophets Abraham, Moses, and
Jesus who are among the ulu’l-azm prophets. In fact the names of these prophets
were given together in the Sura al-Azhab. This verse emphasizes that the common
message of all religions brought by prophets is that they call people to be
servant of only Allah and to worship only to Allah.
In the Quran, Allah points out this: “Not a messenger did We
send before thee without this inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no
god but I; therefore worship and serve Me (21/25).” Prophet Muhammad also
emphasized the same fact: “In fact, prophets are half-brothers; their mothers
are different but their religions are the same.” Thus, their common destiny is
to worship Allah who is one and unique. All prophets invited people to believe
in tawhid (oneness of Allah) to ameliorate religious disorders in their time.
4-Being given superiority in some aspects by Allah
In the following verse of Sura al-Baqara, it is pointed out that
some of the prophets were endowed above others in terms of perfection and
virtue: “Those apostles We endowed with gifts, some above others: To one of
them God spoke; others He raised to degrees (of honour); to Jesus the son of
Mary We gave clear (Signs), and strengthened him with the holy spirit (2/253).”
“And it is your Lord that knoweth best all beings that are in
the heavens and on earth: We did bestow on some prophets more (and other) gifts
than on others... (17/55)”
Surely this difference of degree between prophets is not
material and physical but it is in spiritual virtues and gifts. In the Quran,
it is declared that similar differences exist among people as well: “See how We
have bestowed more on some than on others; but verily the Hereafter is more in
rank and gradation and more in excellence.”
As all the ulu’l-azm prohets are not specified in the verse 253
of Baqara, it is impossible to claim that the prophets who are superior to
others are not only the mentioned prophets. But it can be said that ulu’l-azm
prophets are among the prophets who are distinguished from others in terms of
degree and excellence.
Some of the mentioned prophets’ closeness to God was indicated
in different ways. Based on the verse 125 of Sura an-Nisa’, Prophet Moses is
described as Kalimallah, Prophet Jesus as Ruhallah and kalimatullah, Prophet
Abraham as Halilallah, and Prophet Muhammad as habiballah.
However, these descriptions are not the only ones which made
these prophets superior to others. For instance, Prophet Muhammad had many
qualities that made him superior to others. Even though in the Quran it is stated
that believers say “We do not discriminate among any of God’s prophets”, this
is true for stating that believers reject prophecy of some prophets while they
accept some of them. As indicated in the verses 253 of Sura al-Baqara and the
verse 55 of Sura al-Isra, it is truly clear that Prophet Muhammad is above all
prophets in terms of virtue and degree because he was sent as “mercy to all
creatures,” the last prophet, and the speaker of a unique religion while the
other prophets were sent to a certain nation and for a certain period of time.
Also the superiority of the religion he brought was indicated as in this verse:
“It is He Who has sent His Messenger with Guidance and the
Religion of Truth, to proclaim it over all religion: and enough is God for a
Witness (48/28).
However, Prophet Muhammad asked people not to start a race of
virtue between himself and other prophets, and he said: “do not discriminate
prophets in terms of virtue”. Besides all believers accept this in principle,
it is understood that accepting Prophet Muhammad’s prophecy should not lead to
reject the prophecy of any other prophets. Prophet Muhammad pointed out the
fact that he was superior to other prophets as in the following hadith:
“The difference between me and the prophets before me are like
this man who built that building; this man built a building nicely, decorated
it, and finished it. But there was a missing adobe in one of the corners of the
building. People began to walk around it. They adored it but they said ‘we wish
that adobe was in place, too.’ That adobe is me. I am the last of prophets.”
“I am the master of sons of Adam. I will be the first whose tomb
will be opened. I will be the first to intercede and whose intercession would
be accepted.”
“I am above all human beings on the day of judgement. The flag
of praise will be in my hands but I am never boasting. On that day Adam and all
other prophets will be under my flag. I will be the first to intercede and
whose intercession would be accepted but I am not boasting with that either.”
As it is clear in these hadiths, Prophet Muhammad gathered the
high characters and qualities of all prophets in himself. As Quran is the core
of all the books sent to humanity he is the core of all prophets and humanity.
5- Possessing Strong Will and Perseverance
In verse 35 of Sura al-Ahqaf, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is advised
to persevere patiently using the expression of ulu’l-azm and giving ulu’l-azm
prophets as an example of strong will and perseverance. This shows that one of
the common qualities of ulu’l-azm prophets is their perseverance. Indeed
prophets who had strong will worked very hard to spread the word of God, and
persevered the difficulties and enmities they faced with.
Moreover, these prophets were sent in time periods in which
communities were degenerated and infidelity and furor were pervasive in those
communities. Sometimes they were not supported even by their families. For
instance, Prophet Noah’s son did not believe him. Upon inviting his nation to
believe in God, Prophet Noah was exposed to oral and verbal insults. But
despite these tortures and difficulties he tried to fulfill his duty.
Prophet Abraham’s father did not give up making idols which were
opposite of the faith his son was trying to spread. He did not support his son.
When Prophet Abraham is described in the Quran, it is said: “And Abraham prayed
for his father's forgiveness only because of a promise he had made to him. But
when it became clear to him that he was an enemy to God, he dissociated himself
from him: for Abraham was most tender-hearted, forbearing.” So his
tender-heartedness and perseverance were emphasized.
Prophet Moses was born in period in which Pharaohs’ tyranny and
tortures were prevailing. He himself was exposed to Pharaoh’s oppression and
tortures. He lived most of his life in Madyan, and after he returned back he
fought against Pharaoh and people of Israel who rebelled against him. Moreover,
after reminding the tortures people of Israel made to their prophets, believers
are warned not to resemble them.
Prophet Jesus was born fatherless and only a few people believed
in him when he was alive. He struggled with the rulers of Rome and rebellions
of Jewish religious men. The most piteous is that he was betrayed by Yahuda
Iskariyot, one of his companions and lived the crucifix event.
Similarly Prophet Muhammad was born as an orphan because he lost
his father before he was born. He lost his mother and grandfather when he was
just a child. He was raised under protection of his uncle Abu Talip, and he
struggled with difficulties caused by being an orphan and lonely. In order to
make Prophet Muhammad give up his claims and beliefs people of Quraish made
appealing offers which could make him a very rich man. But he refused all their
offers unhesitatingly. He did not lose his perseverance and strong will when he
faced with oppressions and tortures and he achieved his duty. None of the
prophets gave up their duty and claim when they faced with difficulties.
