25 Icons of Peace in the Qur'an

Introduction Say, “O men!” “I am sent unto you all as the apostle of God to Whom belongeth the Dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He that giveth both life and death.” “So believe in God and His apostle the unlettered Prophet who believed in God and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided.” Prior to introducing the Prophets of Islam, it is necessary to define the word “Islam.” Islam means “submission.” It calls for people to submit their will to God and to believe in Him as the One and only God. It is a monotheistic religion that calls for total submission to the Eternal and Everlasting God. To convey His sovereignty to mankind, God introduced the institution of prophethood since man can only gain knowledge of God through Divine revelation. The prophets mentioned in the chapters to follow were chosen by God to be His spokesmen and historical representatives. Even though they were most often rejected by their people, the authority of their messages live to defeat the rejectors and give Islam the supremacy it carries in the world today. The importance of religion consists of its capacity to offer the individual or group general conceptions of the world, the self, and the bond between them. It provides a framework of ideas that compels the mind to invite theological mysticism and discard rationale when trying to make sense of the universe and the mystery behind its creation. This book reveals the stories of the prophets and statements of fact from a Muslim’s point of view. By no means is this a call for supremacy of one religion over the other, but rather an opportunity to perceive Islam as a peaceful religion and more unified with previous revelations of the stories of the prophets than some perceive it to be. The Qur’an states that even though there are differences among Ahl Al-kitab or People of the Book namely, Christians and Jews, God alone, will judge those differences. “And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means better (than mere disputation), unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong (and injury): but say, "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our God and your God is one; and it is to Him we bow (in Islam).” According to Muslims, the Qur’an is man’s final monotheistic religious text. It is God’s word revealed verbatim and seriatim by the Angel Jibreel (Gabriel) to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the last of all prophets. Referred to as “the Sacred Word of God,” it is the faithful copy of a text contained in the pre-existent heavenly tablet (Lawh Mahfouz), God’s heavenly Scripture (Al-kitab)” as referenced throughout the Qur’an. It is God’s final message to the world as it follows and confirms the existence of earlier revelations. According to the Qur’an, these earlier revelations were incomplete and misinterpreted. The Qur’an was revealed to Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) to correct these misinterpretations and is hence, both God’s original and eternal Scripture and His last, perfect and unchangeable revelation to humankind. It teaches believers to trust in God and to follow His doctrine. It teaches that God’s messengers are human and that in order to preach of His existence, they were to endure excruciating sacrifices in one form or another and set forth the example that to believe in God and the Hereafter and to obtain eternal bliss on the Day of Judgment, they were to sacrifice their freedom and possessions in the name of God and eternal peace. When God created man, His main goal was to create peace and harmony, but when man interrupted such harmony by failing to remember God’s request not to approach the specified “tree,” the re-institutionalization of peace on earth and belief in the One and Only God became the goal of all prophets in the Qur’an. God’s doctrine, the Qur’an, is simple to read, yet complex. It is difficult to comprehend the exact meaning of certain verses with respect to the certainty of God’s intended message in any given chapter (sura) or verse (Ayah) despite the fact that some might be quite simple and straightforward. It is important to note that repeated readings of the same verse may convey a new and deeper observation of the verse compared to its overall meaning in context. Every letter or expression is broken into segments, and analyzed and interpreted differently by the undertakers of Islamic exegesis. Muslim scholars have differed in opinion and their differences have led to an evolution of various schools of thought and divisions in the religion. Despite all such critical interpretations, God appeals to every believer, man and woman, young or old to read the Qur’an repeatedly and to follow its directives religiously, faithfully, and under the example (sunnah al rasoul) of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) himself. Even though the Qur’an does not state the exact number of God’s messengers, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was one of the many messengers responsible in spreading God’s message, and the last to represent the pre-figurations of all others. To facilitate the reader’s prospective research, references and interpretations were taken from both Shiaa and Sunni schools of thought. This was done to broaden my perspective and to reduce bias toward one sect or the other. As such, readers of all faiths and sects are invited to examine more closely the complexity of verses as they relate to the stories of the prophets. The stories, as they currently exist in the Qur’an, are not written with a beginning, middle, and end. In fact, the story of Prophet Yusuf is probably the closest to a complete narrative revealed in one complete sura. As a result, I have organized the prophets’ stories in the order in which they occurred chronologically and historically. The way the world has changed and the fact that humans are more easily engaged in continuity and structure, reading stories that have a beginning, middle, and end becomes more meaningful and significant in time and space. The stories of the prophets give a whole new meaning to the word peace that essentially sheds light on one’s knowledge of Islam’s magnificence and how its harmonious nature lies in the accounts of its messengers. God chose His prophets to reveal that He is the Creator of all things and to Him we shall return. By believing in the revelations of the prophets, our perception of the world changes and we may find ourselves clinging to an obscurity of truths colored by spiritual intensity and harmony. Our acceptance of life and death becomes intertwined in the mystical force of God the Creator, and His presence becomes no longer questionable. By no means is this book a replacement for the reading of the stories of the prophets in context. Rather, it is written to inspire the reluctant reader to explore the Qur’an more willingly since the following stories are now unified in separate chapters. Despite this, readers must not despair from ambiguity without reference to the Qur’an and Qur’anic exegesis when needed. This will help to reinforce the understanding of Islam’s prophets, their messages of peace, and the belief in God and the Day of Judgment. It is crucial to note that many verses that reveal the stories of the prophets in the Qur’an were revealed to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) over a period of twenty years and were reinforced through God’s use of repetition. As a result, and to simplify the reading, repeated verses have been eliminated so that the reader may focus on the overall harmony of each story. Subsequently, this text will not only serve as an examination of the stories of the prophets and their call for peace, but may also strengthen the reader’s belief in the phenomenon of God in the absence of absolute proof and pacify the inner-consciousness with a rationality that gradually embraces the mind and paves the way to a more concentrated faith. .