Islamiyat · May / June 2024 · Paper 21 · Question 5
0493
As printed in the paper
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5(a)[10]
Give an account of Muslim belief in prophets and divine books. Mark according to the marking grid for AO1 – Knowledge on page 4. Answers may include some of the following ideas, but all valid material must be credited.
Prophets: Candidates could say that belief in prophets is an Article of Faith and that prophets were sent as a guidance to humankind and in turn were guided by God Himself.
Prophethood in Islam is considered a gift from God and all prophets Muslims believe possessed some common features. These are:
Prophets were both morally and intellectually superior to their nations.God bestowed some of His prophets with miracles.Every prophet confirmed that he was preaching the words of God and confirmed what was revealed before him and what may be revealed after him thus confirming that the message of all prophets in essence was the same.They were all human. They ate, drank, slept and lived normal lives and spoke the language of their communities. They were sent to guide humanity towards the worship of their Creator and to lead righteous lives. They also acted as role models for humanity.The number of prophets sent throughout history is thought to be
approximately 124,000 and Muslims have faith in all the prophets sent by God and make no distinction between them.
The prophetic line starts with Adam and ends with the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The belief and respect due to all prophets is critical as is the belief in the finality of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
The mark is not divided equally between the two parts and the answer needs to be read as a whole and given a global mark.
Divine books: Were sent to different prophets to guide humanity. They were meant to teach people their obligations to God and their fellow human beings. Belief in divine books revealed to earlier prophets before the revelation of the Qur’an is an essential aspect of Muslim faith. The books in order of revelation are:
(i) The Scrolls (Suhuf) of Ibrahim;
(ii) The Torah (Taurat) revealed to Musa;
(iii) The Psalms (Zaboor) revealed to Dawood;
(iv) The Gospel (Injeel) revealed to Isa; and
(iv) The Qur’an revealed to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
The central message of all revealed books was the worship of the One true God. Divine books other than the Qur’an were for a specific time and community whereas the Qur’an is for all times and for all humanity. Earlier scriptures have been lost or tampered with and none exist in their original form or in the language they were revealed in except for the Qur’an. God has taken it upon Himself to protect the Qur’an from alteration and corruption.
5(b)[4]
Explain why belief in all prophets is important in Islam?
Mark according to the marking grid for AO2 – Understanding on page 5. Answers may include some of the following ideas, but all valid material must be credited.
Candidates could say that belief in all of them is important because they were all sent by God; or it could be said that it is written in the Qur’an that we should make no distinction between them, al Baqarah,2:285.
Some answers could say that the Qur’an tells us stories of the various prophets of God sent over the ages which makes it imperative for a Muslim to believe in all of them as a Muslim cannot challenge what the Qur’an states and still be called a Muslim.
Belief in all prophets is also important as it teaches Muslims respect for other revealed religions and promotes religious tolerance.
Every prophet carried the legacy of the prophet before him, and the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) carried this legacy in totality. This knowledge of the past prophets helps us understand our faith better.
The distinction of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) being the last prophet of God in a long line of prophets and on whom the religion was perfected reinforces Muslim belief in prophets of the past.
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