1. Prepared from the book: The Messenger of God: Muhammad by Fethullah Gulen 1

2.  Most prophets, including Prophet Muhammad, were unlettered and therefore taught by God.  Prophets were specially brought up by God.  “I intended twice in my childhood to attend a wedding ceremony. On both occasions, I was overpowered by sleep half-way [and thus was protected against any sin I would later prohibit]”. (Ibn Kathir, Al-Bidaya) 2

3.  Prophets were protected by God against all sins, for they were created for a special purpose.  “And thus have We revealed to you a spirit of Our command. You would not have known what the Book was, and what faith was. But We have made it a light whereby We guide whom We will of Our servants. And you, surely you guide unto a straight path.” (42:52)  “Nor does he speak of (his own) desire. It is naught but a Revelation revealed.” (53:3-4) 3

4.  “I am for you a trustworthy Messenger, so serve you God, obey you me. I asked of you no wage for this; my wage falls only upon the Lord of the Worlds” (26:107-9 etc…)  He was known as al-Amin (the Trustworthy) like his predecessors,…  Prophets strove only for God’s good pleasure and to see humanity guided to the truth. 4

5.  “Follow those who ask of you no wage, and are themselves rightly guided” (36:21).  A’isha reported …  Abu Hurayra also reports…  One day He told Gabriel: ”It has been several… 5

6.  “They were commanded only to serve God, making the religion His sincerely, people of pure faith, and the perform the prayer, and pay the alms” (98:5)  God mentions sincerity as the foremost attribute of the prophets: “And mention Moses in the Book; he was made sincere, and he was a Messenger, a Prophet”(19:51) 6

7.  People could say: “No one can remain as humble as he was at the beginning of his career or quest after attaining its height. Prophet Muhammad was an exception to this”… He used to warn his Companions: “When I come upon you, don’t stand up as the Persians do (for their elders).”(Abu Dawud)  He had one intention: to please God and worship Him sincerely.  “Perfect goodness or virtue is to worship God as you were seeing Him, and while you see Him not, yet truly He sees you.” (Bukhari ) 7

8.  Prophets never resorted to demagogy and dialectics, but acted and spoke with wisdom.  God ordered His Last and Greatest Messenger: “Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation, and reason with them in the best way (16:125). 8

9.  Those taught by the Prophets acquired certainty… they conviction of religious truths was unshakable, and they were continually fed with Divine Revelation. “Ali ibn Abi Talib says:…  The education given by the Prophets to their disciples is described: “We have sent among you, of yourselves, a Messenger, to recite Our signs to you and to purify, and to teach you the Book and Wisdom, and to teach you what you know not (2:151). 9

10.  The cornerstone of the Prophetic mission to preach Divine Unity.  “O my people, serve God: You have no god other than He” (11:84).  The fact that all Prophets agree on one basic principle shows that they did not speak or act on their own; rather they did no more than the teach the Message received from God. 10

11.  Philosophers and thinkers disagree among themselves…  Such a disagreement was out of question among Prophets …this is another evidence that they were taught by a Single, Eternal Teacher- God-and not guided by defective human reasoning.  Prophet Muhammad said: “The most meritorious of the words spoken by me and the Prophets before me is: “There is no god but God, He is One, having no partners.”(Imam Malik,Muwatta) 11