History of the Prophets

Maulana Muhammad Ali

Description

Deals with the lives of the prophets as they are given in the Holy Qur'an. The chief object is to remove the prevailing misconception that the Holy Qur'an takes its narratives from the Bible or Jewish and Christian traditions. For this purpose narratives in the Holy Qur'an are contrasted with their versions in the Bible or Jewish and Christian traditions. It will be found that wherever previous record has cast a slur on the character of a prophet, the Holy Qur'an has invariably vindicated it. The Holy Book has further brought out facts which enhance the moral value of these narratives and removed defects and contradictions which have found way into sacred history due to manipulation of facts or carelessness in recording them. This affords the clearest evidence that Divine Inspiration and not any previous record or tradition was the source from which the Prophet obtained information. By doing away with the profanity of sacred history, the Holy Qur'an has rendered immense service to the Bible itself. This is in accordance with its claim.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Religion
• Islam
• History

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 16 avril 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781934271162
• Langue: English

Extrait

History of the Prophets
AS NARRATED IN THE HOLY QUR’AN
COMPARED WITH THE BIBLE
by
MAULANA MUHAMMAD ALI
First Edition — 1946
Retypeset USA Edition — 2003
E-book — 2011
 
Copyright 2011 Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam (Lahore) USA ,
All rights reserved.
 
 
Published in eBook format by Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam Lahore USA
 
C onverted by eBookIt.com
 
ISBN-13: 978-1-9342-7116-2
 
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
 
AHMADIYYA ANJUMAN ISH‘AAT ISLAM (LAHORE) U.S.A.
P.O. Box 3370
Dublin, Ohio, 43016 USA
www.muslim.org
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E-book Publisher’s Note
 
“And when the books are spread” (81:10)
It gives us great pleasure to present Maulana Muhammad Ali’s History of the Prophets in this e-book format. With the increasing popularity of e-readers, e-books have, by many accounts, become a preferred means to read literature. In order to continue to have the world-renowned literary treasures written by Maulana Muhammad Ali and other Lahore Ahmadiyya authors easily accessible to the general public, we have ventured to generate e-books of our standard publications.
This e-book of History of the Prophets by Maulana Muhammad Ali is a result of this new venture. The original work of Maulana Muhammad Ali is presented. Additional titles converted to e-book format include, English Translation and Commentary of the Holy Quran, Teachings of Islam, Muhammad the Prophet , The Religion of Islam , The Manual of Hadith , The Early Caliphate , Living Thoughts of Prophet Muhammad , and others.
We would like to thank our proofreaders within the USA and abroad for their meticulous checking of the proofs of this e-book. May Almighty Allah bless and reward all who have contributed and sacrificed in this cause.
Samina Malik,
Vice-President and Director of Translation and Publication,
Lahore Ahmadiyya Islamic Society USA
May 2011, Dublin, Ohio
 


Transliteration of Arabic Words
The transliteration system adapted for the e-book format from the standard transliteration system is given below. Due to the limitations of the e-book format in producing some of the diacritical signs, alternative diacritical signs have been used. These changes are indicated by red type.
Consonants
Arabic Letter — Sound — Represented by
hamzah — (sounds like h in hour — a sort of catch in the voice) — ’
ba — (same as b ) — b
ta — (the Italian dental, softer than t ) — t
th a — (between th in thing and s) — th
jim — (like g in gem ) — j
ha — (very sharp but smooth gutteral aspirate) — h
kh a — (like ch in the Scotch word loch ) — kh
dal — (Italian dental, softer than d ) — d
dh al — (sounds between z and th in that ) — dh
ra — (same as r ) — r
za — (same as z ) — z
sin — (same as s ) — s
sh in — (same as sh in she ) — sh
sad — (strongly articulated s, like ss in hiss ) — s
dad — (aspirated d , between d and z ) — dz
ta — (strongly articulated palatal t ) — t
za — (strongly articulated palatal z ) — z
‘ain — (somewhat like a strong guttural hamzah, not a mere vowel) — ‘
gh ain — (gutteral g, but soft) — gh
fa — (same as f ) — f
qaf — (strongly articulated guttural k ) — q
kaf — (same as k ) — k
lam — (same as l ) — l
mim — (same as m ) — m
nun — (same as n ) — n
ha — (same as h ) — h
waw — (same as w ) — w
ya — (same as y ) — y
 
Vowels
The vowels are represented as follows:
Short vowels:
— ’ — fathah, as u in tub — a
— ’ — kasrah, as i in pin — i
Long vowels:
— — long fathah, as a in father — a
— — long kasrah, as ee in deep — i
— ‘ — long dammah, as oo in moot — u
— — fathah before waw — au
— — fathah before ya — ai
Tanwin ’’ ’’ ‘’ is represented by an, in, un, respectively. The short and long vowels at the end of a word are shown as parts of the words, as qala where the final a stands for the fathah on lam , but the tanwin is shown as a separate syllable, as Muhammad-in.
 
Proper Names
Biblical proper names are not transliterated, but their Biblical form is adopted; other names are transliterated according to the rules of transliteration. Hence the reader will notice a change in such names as Mecca which should be written as Makkah, Medina which should be written as Madinah, Yemen which should be written as Yaman, and so on.
The following list shows the Biblical names and their Arabic equivalents:
Biblical Names— Arabic Form
Aaron — H a r u n
Abraham — Ibr a him
Adam — A dam
Amran — ‘Imr a n
Babel — B a bil
David — D a w u d
Egypt — Misr
Elias — Ily a s
Ezra — ‘Uzair
Elisha — Al-Ya sh ‘a
Gabriel — Jibr i l
Gog — Ya’j u j
Goliath — J a l u t
Gospel — Inj i l
Isaac — Is ha q
Ishmael — Ism a ‘ i l
Jacob — Ya‘q u b
Jesus — ‘ I s a
Jew — Yah u d i
Job — Ayy u b
John — Ya h y a
Jonah — Y u nus
Korah — Q a r u n
Lot — L ut
Magog — Ma’j u j
Mary — Maryam
Michael — Mik a l
Moses — M u sa
Noah — N uh
Pharaoh — Fir‘aun
Saul — T al u t
Sheba — Saba’
Soloman — Sulaim a n
Torah — Taur a t
Zacharias — Zakariyy a

Members of the A h madiyyah Anjuman I sha ‘at Isl a m (Lahore) believe that:
After the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), God has barred the appearance of any prophet, new or old.
Angel Gabriel cannot bring ‘prophetic revelation’ to any person as this would contradict the two complementary verses: “This day have I perfected for you your religion” (5:3); “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the prophets” (33:40). It would otherwise violate the sanctity of finality of prophethood in Islam.
All the Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad ( ash a b ) and all the spiritual leaders ( im a ms ) are venerable.
It is incumbent to believe in the missions of all reformers ( mujaddids ).
He who believes that “there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet” ( kalimah ) cannot be regarded an unbeliever or infidel ( k a fir ).
No verse of the holy Quran has been, or shall ever be, abrogated.


 
Preface
In this treatise I have dealt with the lives of the prophets as they are given in the Holy Qur’an. My chief object in presenting it to the public is to remove the prevailing misconception that the Holy Qur’an takes its narratives from the Bible or Jewish and Christian traditions. For this purpose I have contrasted these narratives as met with in the Holy Qur’an with their versions as met with in the Bible or Jewish and Christian traditions. It will be found that wherever previous record has cast a slur on the character of a prophet, the Holy Qur’an has invariably vindicated it. The Holy Book has further brought out facts which enhance the moral value of these narratives and removed defects and contradictions which have found way into sacred history due to manipulation of facts or carelessness in recording them. This affords the clearest evidence that Divine Inspiration and not any previous record or tradition was the source from which the Prophet obtained information. By doing away with the profanity of sacred history, the Holy Qur’an has rendered immense service to the Bible itself. This is in accordance with its claim.
MUHAMMAD ‘ALÍ
About the author
Born in 1874 in the Punjab (India) Maulana Muhammad Ali had a distinguished academic record, obtaining degrees in English and Law by 1899. As he stood on the threshold of a lucrative career in law, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, the reformer (mujaddid) of the 14th century Hijra and the promised messiah, called on him to devote his life to the service of Islam. He forthwith abandoned his worldly plans and joined the great reformer in Qadian. Here he learned those gems of Islamic truth uncovered in this age by Hazrat Mirza Sahib through which Islam was now destined to attract people all over the world. He became the secretary of the organization and was appointed by Hazrat Mirza Sahib as the editor of the Review of Religions, one of the first Islamic journals in English. Under his editorship this journal presented the pristine beautiful face of Islam to a world which had seen only an ugly image of it.
When the successor of Hazrat Mirza Sahib, Maulana Nuruddin Sahib, died in 1914 certain elements in the organization led by the founder’s son gained control of the movement, turning it into an exclusive intolerant sect ruled by a spiritual autocracy. They distorted and misrepresented Hazrat Mirza Sahib’s views by asserting that he had claimed prophethood. These circumstances compelled Maulana Muhammad Ali to leave Qadian, and he along with his associates established the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at Islam in Lahore to continue Hazrat Mirza Sahib’s real mission. From that date until his death in 1951 he led this society, organized its worldwide missionary activities, and produced a vast amount of invaluable scholarly literature in English and Urdu. His major works include: translations of the Holy Quran with detailed commentaries in both English and Urdu, The Religion of Islam, A Manual of Hadith, Fazl-i-Bari an exhaustive commentary on the Sahi h Bukhari in Urdu, Muhammad the Prophet, The New World Order, the Early Caliphate, and the Living Thoughts of the Prophet Muhammad. This unique collection of books presents a picture of Islam restored to its original purity—a religion of peace, tolerance, and spirituality. The Maulana’s contribution to Islamic literature and revival of Islam has been highly acclaimed by eminent Muslims all over the world. A famous British Muslim scholar and translator of the Holy Quran, Marmaduke Pickthall, while reviewing the Maulana’s monumental work the Religion of Islam, wrote in 1936 “ Probably no living man has done longer or more valuable service for the cause of Islamic revival than Maulana Muhammad Ali of Lahore…”
 
Introductio