 The example of Muhammad is, you know, as just an exemplar of the faith. He was a warlord. Who is the man behind the name? And more importantly, is he really a true prophet sent by God? Who is the man behind the name? And more importantly, is he really a true prophet sent by God? This is a hot seat. Brothers and sisters, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you and to introduce you to a brand new show and a brand new podcast called The Hot Seat. To understand a little bit more about the hot seat, we first have to understand the context of the modern day world we find ourselves living in in the year 2019. It is a world in which perhaps, perhaps there are more doubts, misconceptions and misinterpretations that are thrown around about the religion of Islam than in any other period of time in the history of mankind. The internet is a number one source used by people globally to acquire information on any topic and it is riddled and full of false notions and erroneous ideologies about the Dean of Allah, Aziz al-Wajal. Our kids, ourselves are being exposed to this kind of information on a daily and if not daily then at the very least weekly basis and whether we know it or not, whether we choose to accept it or not, it is having an effect on ourselves, our hearts, our minds and ultimately our understanding of this beautiful religion. To further complicate the problem, many of us find ourselves living in western societies where the governments and the social norms and pressures are constantly trying to redefine what is good and what is bad, what is accepted and what is rejected, what Islam is and is allowed to be and what Islam is never allowed to be. All of this, my brothers and sisters, ultimately leads to confusion, at least to ignorance and if Allah permits it can lead to misguidance. The hot seat has therefore been designed with the permission of Allah alone to counter these kind of modern day contemporary issues head on by using the knowledge and the guidance of the Muslims of the past, the early generations of Muslims, the best of generations. There's not a single Muslim on the face of the planet today that would doubt the fact that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala completed our religion for us over 1400 years ago and that that completed, holistic, perfect religion is just as applicable now in the year 2019 as it was back then. We truly do have classical solutions for contemporary problems. However, this isn't your normal, average Islamic lecture series. First of all, it's not a lecture, it's a discussion between two parties, often opposing parties in an attempt to reach the truth behind it there. And secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it's a unique, one of its kind interactive podcast where you from the comfort of your own home have the opportunity to vote for and to choose the topic we'll be discussing on the show. You also have the chance to ask your own questions on these contemporary issues and to grill the speaker if you feel like he hasn't been grilled enough on the show itself. I'll be releasing details of how you can do both of those things at the end of this episode. But for now, without any further ado, let's get into this episode of the hot seat. And if you're surprised, then be surprised by what they say when we are in a new creation. These are the ones who disbelieve in their Lord and these are the ones who are at the top of their ranks and these are the ones who are at the top of their ranks And once again joined on the hot seat by Ustadh Abdu-Ruqman, Hafidhullah. Ustadh, how are you doing today? The votes have been counted once again on the website. We had another three options and the public have voted for the topic Was Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam a false prophet? So that's the issue that we're going to be discussing today. And as always, I want to start with an opening question as we're talking about prophethood. I want to talk about the concept of prophethood before we move on to Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. What makes somebody a prophet? When it comes to talking about the issue of a prophet, the scholars they mention that there are four things that a person has to agree or acknowledge. And without these four, the concept of prophethood cannot be really discussed properly. The first thing that we need to affirm and accept is the one who sent this prophet, the one who is the message is being conveyed from. And that is Allah Azza wa Jalla. So the person has to believe in Allah. He can't be an atheist and talk about a prophethood. The second thing that needs to be accepted also is the one that was sent. And that's our discussion today. The third one is What does the prophecy contain? What's it talking about? The message basically. So the first one is Allah Azza wa Jalla. The second one is the messenger. And the third one is the message itself. So the sharia and the legislations that he's going to come with. And the fourth one is the intermediary. The intermediary can sometimes be directly with Allah Azza wa Jalla. So there's no one between Allah and the prophet. And sometimes there is the angel Jibreel who is an intermediary between Allah and the messenger. So those are the four pillars of when it comes to discussing prophethood. As scholars of Ahlu Sunnah mentioned, a prophet is not something a person can come with by effort and hard work. You can't pray so much about that and worship Allah a lot and come with good deeds and then reach prophethood. Like you can reach righteousness and piety. Prophethood is not attained by hard work. It's a gift from Allah Azza wa Jalla. Allah chooses who he wants to make the prophet. Allah knows where he's going to place this message and who is he going to give it to. And so Abdullah Mus'uddin said, Allah looked at the heart of his creation and he chose Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and all the other prophets from amongst their people. So they were chosen, they were selected, they were picked by Allah Azza wa Jalla. Also what we believe is that prophets are male not females. There are some scholars who took a strange opinion, an obscure opinion, and it's a fringe, it's not the mainstream belief that a female can be a prophet. Those three scholars are Abu al-Hassan al-Ash'ari and also Al-Imam al-Qurtubi al-Rahimahullah and also Ibn al-Hazam. These three scholars, they said that a female can be a prophet. They specifically mentioned the mother of Musa al-Alih Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallahu Alaihi Wasallam because Allah said in the ayah وَأَوْحَيْنَ إِلَا أُمْمِ مُوسَةَ عَرْضِعِ وَأَوْحَيْنَ إِلَا أُمْمِ مُوسَةَ We sent a wahi on the mother of Musa. So they said, look, she's a prophet. But here it meant Al-Ilham. Allah directed her to do this particular thing, but that wasn't a revelation. And the mother of Isa Ibn Maryam, they said that Jibril came to her and so this is what a prophet is, right? Jibril comes to, but the scholars they responded to that, that a prophet is a male nor a female. So summarized and quick, this is what a prophet is. Okay. So essentially we're talking about Allah, the creator, speaking to a human being, whether directly or indirectly. Why do you even feel like this is possible in the first place? So the concept of the Adilla, the evidences, and I really want to focus on the rational evidence, Adilla Al-Aqliya'a'ala Imkanin'Nbu'ah. I want to focus on the rational evidences that there can be a prophet. Before we even say Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was a prophet from Allah, let's first of all prove that there can be a prophet. So inshaAllah to Allah, there are five ways to prove. There are many more, but just five for this podcast, that there can be a prophet. There is a rational argument for the plausibility of a prophet. The first one is دريل القلق والقدرة وقياس الأولى Allah created سبحانه وتعالى and creating is more complicated and hard but nothing is hard for Allah that's more complicated but for Allah there's nothing complicated or hard if he's done that then sending a prophet and a messenger is nothing hard to him it's very easy as Allah said in the ayah وربك يخلق ما يشاء ويختار Allah is the one who creates and then he's the one who chooses so Allah chooses who he wants to make a prophet Allah chooses how this universe and this world is run سبحانه وتعالى in another ayah Allah says رفيع الدرجات يد العرش يلق الروح من أمره على من يشاء من عباده same Allah created everything سبحانه وتعالى and he chose from his slaves a prophet in another ayah Allah says الله أعلم حيث ويجعلوا رسالته Allah knows he has the power, he has the ability, he has the strength he knows who he's going to give this message to so the first rational argument for there being a prophet is the fact Allah created سبحانه وتعالى and it's a logical absurdity that someone would put effort in something and nothing is an effort for Allah but I'm just trying to give us a human if someone went into the kitchen وَلِلَّهِ الْمَثَلُ الْأَعْلَى we can't compare anything to Allah but I'm just trying to bring the information close to the listeners if someone went into the kitchen and they cooked food and they made food and then as soon as they cooked it they chose to just throw it into the bin or they just left it there and they walked away from it and the next day they came and they did the same you'd say this person is insane why would you do this and then just get rid of it or just dismiss it or not do anything with it وَلِلَّهِ الْمَثَلُ الْأَعْلَى Allah is a great example how is it possible that we say الله تَبَارَكُ وَتَعَالَى He created His creation He brought it to existence which brings me to my second point just before we move on to the second point even though Allah has the ability and the power to send a prophet it doesn't necessarily mean that He did it doesn't make it true Allah has the ability to do everything yet He didn't do everything there's certain things He did certain things He doesn't do I mean Allah does everything سبحانه وتعالى and everything He can do We can't restrict Allah's ability but that brings me to my second point which is it goes against Allah's wisdom سبحانه وتعالى that He will create this whole entire universe He will create the creation inside it and there won't be no aim and objective behind their creation Allah says like we sent amongst every nation in every people a messenger worship Allah alone and stay away from associate partners with Him in another eye Allah says did mankind actually think and assume that He would be left aimlessly no purpose nothing behind His creation so it's wisdom that it's a wisdom from the wisdoms of Allah that He created us for a purpose in another eye Allah says did you think that we created you for a joke that we just created you for nothing the third argument for it is that we are in need of Allah like Allah سبحانه وتعالى we are hungry we need to know our creator we want to know this world that we're in who brought us here there's that hajj and that hunger inside us that makes us want to know who our creator is so you're in front of two parts not a third the first one is to say Allah He did not clarify anything to us to say إما أن يترك الناس إما أن يترك الله عز وجل الناس Allah leaves the people سبحانه وتعالى دون أن يبين لهم الطريق إليه and He doesn't clarify to them the path to Him He just creates them and He doesn't make a path for them or you come to the second one which is you say الله تبارك وتعالى يبين لهم الطريق Allah clarified the path for them بأقواء الأذي الله والبراهين He clarified the path to Him in the most clearest and the most apparent manner there could be He clarified everything for us those are the two you have Why do you feel like this is a proof I'm not sure I'm making a connection why you feel this is a proof of prophethood Allah created us and from His wisdom He creates us for a purpose I'm with you on that and He would tell us what that purpose is but do you not believe in the concept of the fitrah that we already know without having a messenger sent to us what is right and what is wrong the scholars they categorize the fitrah into two fitrah to tadyun the fitrah of wanting to have a religion it's in us all it's something Allah placed inside every one of us that we want to have a religion we want to be slaves to Allah we want that ultimate creator that divine being that we will go back to it's placed inside us Allah sent in the ayah فأقم وجه كريديني حنيفة turn yourself to Allah and then look what Allah said He said فأقم وجه كريديني حنيفة فطرة الله التي فطر الناس عليها لا تبديلة لخلق الله ذلك الدين القيم ولكن أكثر الناس لا يعلمون see the beginning of the ayah Allah said فأقم وجه كريديني حنيفة turn yourself to Allah and then Allah mentioned the concept which is the fitrah I was watching a debate that took place between the militant atheist Richard Dawkins and the debate was between him and John Lennox it's if you go to YouTube and you type in the fixed point foundation I think it's called and the debate is on the God delusion that Richard Dawkins wrote and subhan Allah the debate before it unravels and the discussion starts Richard Dawkins says something that subhan Allah عجبني كثيرا it really shocked me he said when you consider the beauty of the world and you wonder how it came to be what it is you're naturally overwhelmed with a feeling of awe a feeling of admiration and you almost feel a desire to worship something I feel this I recognize that other scientists such as Carl Sagan feel this Einstein felt it we all of us share a kind of religious reverence for the beauties of the universe for the complexity of life for the sheer magnitude of the cosmos the sheer magnitude of geological time and it's tempting to translate that feeling of awe and worship into a desire to worship some particular thing a person, an agent you want to attribute it to a maker to a creator that's fitra that's the fitra that Allah is referring to here that you want a religion you want to believe in your Lord the second type is fitriyat uttahsini wattaqbiha you see the concept of evil and good there is a universal good that we all know before legislation came we all know lying is bad we all know killing and oppressing another person is bad that's innately built in us that's there but when it comes to the detailed types of good that cannot be attained except through what? through legislation that's the fitriyat that sheikh al-salaam called it tahsini wattaqbiha and that is why Allah sent in the ayah what does that translate? it means they said praise to Allah the one who guided us to the good we were not once to be guided if Allah did not guide us and look what they said after that the messengers that came from our Lord have truly told us the truth so this is the fitra the prophets are pushing them to what is good and telling them to stay away from that which is evil and also you know the ayah where Allah says subhanahu wa ta'ala وَقَالُ لَوْ كُنَّا نَسْمَعُ وَأَوْنَا عَقِلُوا مَا كُنَّا فِي أَصْحَابِ السَّعِيرْ before the Allah says تَكَادُ تَمَيَّزُوا مِنَ الْغَيدُ كُلَّ مَا أُلْكِيَ فِيَهَا فَوْجُنْ سَأْلَوْم وَقَالُوا مَا نَسْمَعُوْنَا عَقِلُوا مَا كُنَّا فِي أَصْحَابِ السَّعِيرْ فَا أَتَرَفُوا بِذَنْ بِذَنْ بِهِمْ فَسُحْقَلْ لِأَصْحَابِ السَّعِيرْ so if we only listened gives us some way of that sorry just give it the concept here is that they say that if we listened when the messengers were telling us what was good from what is bad and we gave our ear and our heart and our mind we will not have been in the hellfire so yes the fitra is also an ayah and we will not have been in the hellfire and we gave our ear and our heart and our mind we will not have been in the hellfire so yes the fitra is also another evidence that the prophets exist also another thing that it's a strong evidence to prove that there the possibility of a prophet the possibility of a prophet is the concept of Allah is justice Allah can't just create us when he brings us to this universe he punishes us the day of judgment without having to send on to us a prophet this goes against Allah's justice subhanahu wa ta'ala Allah says in the Quran we are ones who won't punish them unless we send a messenger for them wouldn't it be more just for Allah just to speak to all of us directly I mean he had the ability to do that right he did subhanahu wa ta'ala and that's the concept of the fitra right the fitra is already something that's already placed inside you it's there already even the detail aspects of good and bad why couldn't you have just spoken to us directly why is he conditioned for us to believe in a man to attain salvation why can't we just believe in God as I said in the beginning of the ayah we have no choice Allah is never questioned why he does what he does he does it because of wisdom that he knows that we don't know necessarily subhanahu wa ta'ala see we are one who is see we only have the pixel and Allah has the whole picture so we don't really understand the intrinsic of issues and matters but going back to the point I was saying Allah is just to subhanahu wa ta'ala and how fair he is is that he can't punish us the day of judgment without sending us a messenger and a prophet to guide us and Allah said in the ayah Allah said that there was no nation or no village or no town that we destroyed except there was a warner that came to them to warn them Allah says we were not oppressors we are just in another ayah Allah says prophets what if the prophets do two things they glad hiding and those prophets they warn and then Allah says Allah sends messengers with two things they warn and they give glad hiding and then Allah says so we don't have no proof after the prophets and the messengers come there's no proof for us that's it everything was clarified to us and final verse that I want to mention is they say Allah says if we were to destroy them with our punishment before we send a messenger to them they would have said oh Allah why didn't you send a messenger to us they would have said oh Allah why did you not send a messenger to us so we can follow the things that he calls us to and that we can stay away or we can be saved from any humiliation and destruction those are the points that prove the possibility of a prophet final one just a final one is historically prophets came they said no Maryam is historically proven that he came alaihi salatu wassalam historically prophets came and this is an evidence of the possibility of prophet so it's not like something that didn't happen it's actually something that did happen when did Alika when the disbelievers Quraish to Arab pagans they tried to dismiss that because they knew that if they proved that they never came a prophet before that they could probably put a question mark under the prophet alaihi salamah so this is what they said we never heard of this in the previous religions in the previous nations we've never heard this before this is made up and then Allah responded to them subhanahu wa ta'ala he said to them Allah said Allah says who is the one who sent on Musa the book and this is historically taken place it has actually happened so these five that I just mentioned and quickly going to go over what those five are the first evidence to show the rational evidence to prove the plausibility of their being a prophet is number one Allah created and he has the ability subhanahu wa ta'ala and I gave the evidences for that the second one is Allah's consideration and his wisdom for his creation number three we need to know our creator we are in hunger to know who he is subhanahu wa ta'ala number four he doesn't punish his creation without sending them a prophet and the fifth one is historically we know there came prophets before us that have walked on the face of this earth okay before we move on I've got a few questions on those five the fourth one you mentioned is Allah's justice what do we believe about the prophets do we believe that they are guaranteed paradise yeah prophets are promised paradise so now you have someone who like you said didn't work hard actions to attain the status of prophethood rather they were chosen by Allah and this person gets a free ticket into paradise whereas we have to work for our ticket into paradise how is that fair prophets is not a gift prophecy is not a gift prophecy is not a gift meaning it's something Allah gives it to whoever he wishes but working for jannah is something that everybody has to come with working for jannah it's something that everyone has to come with everyone exerts their effort towards the only thing is prophets will always be ones that work for jannah they will always do that it won't happen a prophet who will work not work for jannah and not put in the efforts and rather prophets get it even harder than the other ordinary creation meaning there are things that were obligated on our prophet that weren't obligated on his creation that he had to do that we don't have to do because of his station and his position sallallahu alayhi wa sallam okay the other question that's not the only person we believe that's kind of enter jannah of course we know other creations of Allah who were alive and they were informed that they were going to go to jannah as well which weren't prophets now the second question I want to ask is I get the impression that your main argument is for the reason why Allah sent prophets is to teach us our religion you mentioned that we don't have any female prophets this is a stronger opinion the opinion that you hold are you of the belief that men and women have been created the same if not because I don't believe you think that if not then how do women know how to live their lives I understand that male prophets were sent to teach men how to live their life aren't women different and if they are then why weren't any female prophets to show them how to live their life you see the difference between men and women is the biological side of it but the spiritual side if a woman does a righteous action and a man does a righteous action in the eyes of Allah it's the same it's the intention and the hard work and the way that they do it in accordance to the sunnah that's what's looked at not their agenda but biologically I'm not the only one who believes that a feminist will say the same of course biologically men and women are not the same and so Allah doesn't want to subhanahu wa ta'ala from his wisdom it's to pressure and put this burden on women women have times within the month they can't handle these responsibilities where she will not be praying the salah and the people need an imam to lead them for the prayer وَمَا إِلَا دَالِكَنْ many other things so you see what we have to understand is the relationship between and I always say this the relationship between the creating and the legislation Allah is always in accordance to the agenda of the person and their ability and their capability it's not the legislation it observes that because no one can observe the laws that are passed on you except one who knows you greatly and that's only Allah okay I think you made a strong claim for the reason why prophethood in general can exist and the proofs for that I'd now like to take the conversation specifically to the prophet Muhammad SAW as we know and you mentioned at the end that there were many prophets that have come in history we've also been told that there have been false prophets in the past or people who claim prophethood and in the future as well there's going to be people who claim prophethood how do we know that Muhammad SAW is not one of these people okay it's very good now now I have to prove and give a strong argument for Muhammad SAW the evidence and the proofs for the prophet Muhammad being a prophet from Allah SAW is after I've proven that the possibility and the plausibility of there being a prophet there are eight points I can mention the podcast allows me to go through each and every one of them that's good if not then insha'Allah ta'ala I might do another session on it the first one is the message of SAW is characteristics and who he was as an individual is an evidence that he was a prophet from Allah and there are many attributes and characteristics of the prophet SAW that point towards him being a prophet but I'm going to stick to the most important one for the podcast and that is he had he was completely truthful SAW and I want to prove this concept of him being truthful from two angles and number one I want to mention that he was completely truthful and the impossibility or that it's impossible for him to ever have lied or to be a liar those are the two angles I want to tackle this from let's first of all look at what the people who were most closest said to him not his followers not his disciples not his companions I'm talking about he's staunch enemies I'm talking about he's staunch enemies who lived close to him who were looking for any reason to not believe in him what did they say about him when they saw the prophet SAW and he even addressed them and he spoke to them and he preached to them they said to him what we tried to be truthful another story says what we tried to be truthful or what we tried to be truthful another story says what we tried to be truthful Muhammad we've never known you to lie it's one thing we've never known you to lie and therefore Abu Talib the prophet's uncle he has a poetry in where he praised the prophet called Lamiah to Abu Talib he said our son is known it's affirmed that he's not one to lie and I'll tell you something very shocking that I came across that proves his honesty and his truthfulness the battle of Badr when it happened the brothers Ibn Shuraikin and Abu Jahl came together this is when the two armies met one another the prophet SAW's armies on the other side of Quraish Quraish is on the other side they're facing one another Ibn Shuraikin said he said to him do you think Muhammad lies? these are two non-Muslims they're looking at one another this is the battle they're standing in they're getting ready for the prophet SAW he said how would he lie about Allah when we used to see him as the truthful one and the reason why we called him the truthful one is he's never lied to us this is the prophet SAW so this is a testimony from a man who wants to wage war with him now he's going to fight with him he's in the front row and everyone who read the history would know Abu Jahl was the one who pushed the battle of Badr another example I want to give you from the people of the scripture a Jew man Quraish is his people right who knew him 40 years before he became a prophet Allah wanted them to get to know Muhammad the name they gave him was Muhammad Al-Amin that was his name the second point I want to bring is a Jew man Abdullah Ibn Salam Abdullah Ibn Salam he said he said when the messenger came to the city of Madinah in Jaffa al-Nasu Ilai the people they rushed to him they wanted to see him Abdullah Ibn Salam he said I rushed to him so I can see him I wanted to know him I wanted to get to see who this man is because I've heard about him I want to know who Muhammad is he said I came when I looked I observed I got the chance to look at his face I understood that his face is not a ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ ڡ when I looked at his face I realized this is not a face of Allah I had the first thing he said I heard him say was was ayuhannas afshus salam wa at'imut t'a'am wa sallu wa n'asuniyam tatkul jannatabi salam. The first thing I heard him say was spread the greetings. Again he came to Medina, Jews are living next to him. Look at his character alaihi salatu salam and his morality and he said fight and he said wait war he said spread the greetings wa at'imut t'a'am give food wa sallu wa n'asuniyam pray whilst the people are sleeping you will enter jannah in safety and peace. So these are the people who was most closest to him that said that he was truthful. If Nabiullah Muhammad now and I want to go to the second part which is that it was impossible for him to lie because if he was a liar and he lied about Allah az-wajala Allah made a covenant and an oath that he will destroy anyone who lies. Allah tabarak wa ta'ala he said in the ayah wa lo taqawwal alayna ba'adal aqawil. If Muhammad was to force things against us and he was to make a up, la'aqadna minhu bil yameen. We've grabbed him. Allah is saying thumma laqataan minhu l-wateen. We will destroy him and humiliate him and annihilate him. In another place Allah says wa inkaadiu la yaftinoonak an illadi wa awhayna ilayka li taftari alayna ghayra wa idha letta khaduka khalila wa lo la anthabbatnaka laqad kitta t'arkaru ilayhim shay'an khalila idha al azaqnaka dha'afal ha'iyati wa dha'afal ba'ati thumma la tyajidu laka alayna naseera. That you were, they wanted to come to you Muhammad and try to get you away from the legislation that was sent on to you. They were trying to sway you away if you did go their direction and you followed them and you did what they wanted and you distorted our religion. We would have destroyed you Muhammad and you would never find anyone help you and aid you. So he couldn't have lied. It's impossible for him to lie How could he then be a liar? When he was saddened for his people, whenever his people didn't follow him, he would be sad, emotional about it. When they did not believe in your message Muhammad, you were close to sacrificing yourself so they can believe. Don't let your nafs go in regret and sadness because they're not believing in you. So all of the people at his time, obviously they believed him to be a truthful one. They all accepted the religion then? The people that came in contact with the Prophet, they didn't all believe him. Exactly. They rejected his message. They didn't want to take it from him. But the rejection of the Prophet's message had to do with something else. They had nothing to do with him not being truthful or him not being honest. Why was it that they didn't want to take the Prophet's message? What was the reason? One of the reasons is, hasad, a jealousy towards him. That the Ahlu Kitab, they wanted you to turn away from your belief and your faith and not become believers. Why? They had jealousy in their heart towards you. So they had jealousy to the Messenger, peace be upon him. Nothing to do with the concept that he was Allah, peace be upon him. Okay, let's go on to your second point that you want to bring. The second point that I want to mention is the Prophet, peace be upon him, he was an Ummi. He was illiterate, peace be upon him. He was illiterate. He couldn't read nor could he write. And I want to prove this from two angles. Al-Adil al-Aqliya, rationally, it makes sense that he was illiterate. Why? Because he was from a land and a people who were known to be illiterate historically. The Arabs, they were not known to be readers or writers. They were known for memory and hip and memorization. So that's a rational evidence, proof to show that it makes sense. He was in the middle of the desert. There were some who could write though. Very little. And they were pointed out those writers. They were known. The words people wrote. Wa Raqat-e-Munoful was a writer and he could read. And he could read the previous scriptures. But even if you look at the narrations that came regarding him, it states and it categorically mentions that he was a reader. Because it was a unique characteristic. Not many people could do that. And Allah mentioned that the Prophet was illiterate in the Qur'an. And ummi is the one who is illiterate. Alayhi s.a.m. He couldn't read nor write. The second evidence to show is the ayah that I just mentioned. So there was a textual evidence I gave you which is Wa Alayhi s.a.m. And the fact that it was a historical reality. Because if you go back and you look at the time of the message, you realize that the Arabs, they focused on memorization, not reading or writing. They didn't author. Let's go back to the ayah you mentioned. Ba Alayhi s.a.m. What does this translate to? So Allah swt. He sat down amongst the illiterate. Amongst illiterate as a plural. Ummi. Him including alayhi s.a.m. But he's really talking about, he didn't just mention that the Prophet s.a.m. himself is illiterate. Ummi is a plural. Right? Yes. So he's talking about the people at the time that were illiterate. Which is my argument at the beginning. That's that. Yes. They were Arabs were illiterate. They couldn't read. Majority of them couldn't read or write now. Do we have any proof that him himself, textual proof that the messenger s.a.m. himself, talking about the condition of the people. Allah s.a.m. He's a Nabi al-Umiyil. Allah s.a.m. Nabi al-Umiyil. The illiterate prophet. Okay. Why does this him being illiterate prove his prophecy? Because he came with something Arabs were shocked with. He came with a miracle. He came with a Qur'an that they were mind-boggled. They were gobsmacked. They were shocked with what he brought. Like what is this? And that's another point I'm going to come to inshallah when I speak about the Qur'anic miracle or the Qur'anic discourse and the linguistic power in the Qur'an. Illiterate. All of this came. Not only that. He was illiterate. So he couldn't read things before him. How is he telling us? Which is another point I'm going to come to of the unseen. And how could he talk about previous nations? Because he wasn't a reader. If he read then he could have got those all from and he could have gathered it from other places. What about the argument that he was well-traveled? He worked with his first wife Khadija radhira who ran her in her business. So he met different people and he interacted with Jews. He interacted with Christians. And that's how we got to learn about the former scriptures, about the former religions and cultures. To say that the Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was a traveler is actually a big mistake. The reason I say that is because the Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam never left the Arabian Peninsula only that he went to Sham. So he didn't travel much. He only traveled to one place that was Sham only. No other place alaihi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. So that's a mistake that many people fall into. Number two is the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam came with detailed knowledge. He came with great detailed knowledge that the information that he came with alaihi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and that which he told us about they were future events that were going to happen. Things that haven't even happened. That are going to happen alaihi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And he told us things that have already happened in the past sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Let me just give you some of the examples that he spoke about. He told us about Nabilah Isa. He says وَأُنَ بِإِكُمْ بِمَا تَأْكُلُونَ وَمَا تَدَّخِرُونَ فِي بُيُوْتُكُمْ إِنَ فِي دَالِكَ لَاَيَةَ لَكُمْ إِنْكُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ And how he would tell the people about what was stored in their houses and what was there. He told them, rather if you look at the Bible or the Christian scripture, they don't have the historical events of Isa when he was young. So he couldn't get it from somewhere else. But there's no way of verifying whether this is actually true information if it's not anywhere else. But if everything else is true, then why would you say this isn't true? Because everything else is accurate. What if there are some things that aren't accurate? Like for example, like for example in the Hadith in Sahih Muslim where the Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, I and the last hour have been sent like this and he joined the forefinger with the middle finger, i.e. very, very close. And this is something quite common. If you look at modern-day false prophets, like sorry, false prophets, like Joseph Smith from the Mormons, he claims that the end of the world is coming. Didn't the Messenger fall into the same problem 1400 years later and we're still here? Okay, in another Hadith, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, من مات قامت قيامته? Anyone who dies, then his day of judgment has come. So if you die, then that's it. And we know that the Ummah, as the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, عمار أمتي ما بين ستين و سبعين و قليل من يجوزه ذلك. That the lifespan of my Ummah is between 60 to 70 and little go overboard. So he Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, anyone who dies, that's the hour's come. So he said, breath to Anna wa Saa'a. And I told you, the Saa'a means the hour. The hour, the hour. He didn't say Saa'a come or Saa'a to come. In another Hadith, he said, من مات قامت قيامته اي ساعته? قيامة Saa'a is the same. Anyone who dies, his Qiyamah has happened because there's the questioning starting there for you. You've now moved on to the next unit world, the next dimension or the next place. Another thing is when he said this Alaihi Wasallam, which is another response. This doesn't say that it was 1,000 years. If he did say 1,000 years and it didn't happen, then you've got a point. But when he did this Alaihi Wasallam, he means that as a prophet, compared to all of the previous prophets, my one is the closest when it comes to the hour. The hour is very close. But close, what do you mean? How close are we talking about here? Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So when he spoke about previous prophets, he mentioned them. Look for example, when he spoke at the Allaim Musa, he said, He even spoke about the Romans and the Persians when they were fighting. He already prophesied this. And he said, What does that mean? The Romans have been conquered. You see, Alaihi Wasallam, he prophesied all this. And it happened. They were fighting, no one knew. And the Romans won. The Romans won. Rather, Abu Bakr had a bet on this issue. He bet it on it. And he beat the man he bet it on. Because he heard it from the prophet, Alaihi Wasallam. Also, the prophet, he told, and this is one of the most shocking evidence that I've came across. It really touched me, especially when I read it from Sheikh al-Islam, Taymiyus, Kitab, and Nubuwat, which is Abu Lahab. Abu Lahab was alive. And the prophet, told him, He was told it's going to be the Hellfire while he was alive. He could have disproven the prophet, Alaihi Wasallam, in all of it, just by saying, He would have proven that the prophet, Alaihi Wasallam, he would have proved everything. But he became even more stubborn in his disbelief. Which has proved even more, that what? That he, Alaihi Wasallam, was talking about something that's inevitably going to happen. Last evidence to show that he told things that were not going to happen. Sorry, that haven't happened. He prophesied it before, is when he talked about the conquering of Makkah. Allah said in the ayah, Allah said, So he prophesied things, things that he couldn't have actually known and they actually came to pass. It happened. The other thing that many prophets in the past bring is miracles. Did he come with any miracles? He did. He came with two miracles. The first miracle that he came with was, he split the moon. As the hadith goes, The people of Makkah said, And what he did was, He showed them the splitting of the moon. And that's where the ayah says, So he split the moon. Another miracle he came with is the Quran that we have. And the Quran is one of the strongest, the most strongest proof and evidence that he came with, because you have to understand something. Every prophet, the miracle that they came with, it died with them. But the prophet Muhammad, his miracle still today stays. Every prophet came with a miracle and every prophet's miracle went with him. Like it all went. Except who? Except Nabila Muhammad. His miracle still stays until the day of judgment is going to stay, which is the Quran. This Quran, it's either poetry or it's not. And you know what's amazing is that the Quran came out into a people who reached a pinnacle of eloquency. Every nation, whatever they were good at, the prophet was given that. Nabila Musa, his people were magicians. So the prophet was given something to counter that magic, which was a miracle. Nabila Musa was given the stick. Isa, the people reached medicine. And that's what they were into. And so what was he doing? He passed them in that. He was bringing people out of the dead. You know, with the permission of Allah, he said Allah. Arabs, they were eloquent. They reached the pinnacle of speech and eloquency and the ability to articulate their words. And so Allah, and this Quran was not poetry. And that's what he was shocked them, the eloquency, and it wasn't poetry. I want to give you an example of a man who knew poetry. He was one of the greatest poets. He has names called He's a brother of His brother. He knew poetry. He was a master of poetry. He was one of the senior poets. So he said, I heard the speech of the fortune tellers. I just heard them. This man's speech is not the speech of a fortune teller or a magician. No, it's not. And I've placed his speech next to the speech of the poets. For wallahi by Allah, I swear His speech doesn't go in line with the speech of the poets. Nothing like the poetry. Muhammad is truthful. And they are lying about him by what they are saying. And Allah, that all for them. It wasn't poetry. I'd like to do a separate episode, I think, on the Quran itself and why it's a miracle exactly. What is the next point that you'd like to bring after that? Another proof to show that he was a prophet sent from Allah Azawajal is the fact that he was sallallahu alaihi wa sallamah the times that he needed he needed the revelation. He needed support. Nothing was coming to him for a period of time. And this helps us because if it was all coming from him, sallallahu alaihi wa sallamah, before I go into this point, I really want, it was a point I just wanted to mention. Sure. The scholars, they wish this is one of the things that really showed he he's the truthfulness of the Quran that he came with. If you compare the speech that he came with, how can it quickly change into this eloquency and then when he spoke, it was slightly different to it. And the rhythm and everything was different. It shows you they were coming from two different. One was from him and the other one was from who? Allah Azawajal. And we're talking about the wording here, not the legislation. Yes. The Quran when he read it, it was just, it was a way. It was, it was, it was in a pattern. It was in a, it was in a particular structure and amazing. But when you look at that, be his own speech, Allah Azawajal, his own eloquency and his own, it just never reached the Quran. Coming back to that. Sorry. Just before we move on because I think it's probably appropriate to bring here. There is an alternative doubt that some people bring. And that is, like you mentioned, it's clear that the Quran was different to his normal speech. So he was clearly not getting it from himself. Fine. Some people say, we agree with that. But why do you believe it came from Allah? Why couldn't it have come from the devil for example? So some people say, and there are some things known as the satanic verses and it's mentioned in Ta'rih Qutabri where he talks about an incident where Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam actually believed or mentioned that he was revealed ayat from shaitan, from the satan. What do you have to say about this? So the issue of the Qissa to Al-Gharaniq scholars, they approved the weakness of it. So that is fabricated. It's no basis to it. That's a simple answer without going into too much details. It's weak. It has no basis. There's no evidence for it. And rather, Allah Ta'barqu ta'ala he tells us the relationship between the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the satan. I'll give you an example. Allah says Qulhalunabbi'uqum Aala min tanazzalu shayatin Tanazzalu ala kulli affaqin Atheem Yulqun al-sam'awa Aqtaruhum kathibun. The shayatin they only descend on Al-Laya and I just proved to you the Prophet is not Al-Laya. Because the ayah, what did he say? Tanazzalu ala kulli affaqin Atheem It comes down on every affaq a forgert, a person who lies and fabricates things. You see An ayah Aqtaruhum kathibun and the overwhelming majority of them are al-Layahs. Nabil Ahmad was an al-Laya. So the Qur'an said that there was no shaytan in relation with him. Coming back to the other point which is the taqhiru nuzulu al-Qur'an the Qur'an delayed from him sallallahu alayhi sallam when there was need for it. Let me give you an example of the issue of hadithatul ifki. When the messengers sallallahu alayhi sallam's wife was accused of zina this is his wife this is his honor alayhi sallam if it was all coming from him and we all know when something happens to you personally you like to react fast and quick you want to get an answer for one month he had no answer. The hadith mentions Aisha said wa qad makatha shahran he stayed for a month la yuha ilayhi no revelation was coming down on him fisha'ni shay'un regarding my affairs there was nothing that was coming down on him so he had nothing to say to her for a whole entire month he didn't another example is the issue of the turning away from the qiblah Allah says he was looking at the sky because he wanted to turn away from baytul makdis okay and he wanted to turn away from makkah for a period of time and he wanted to go back to makkah and face makkah to pray and so he kept looking at the sky why is he looking at the sky why doesn't he just give the answer and say i'm turning away from it say that this is from who Allah az wa jalla and many other examples there's full hudaybiyah the treat of hudaybiyah and how it all happened all of it was a revelation he was wait let's wait let's do this and to be honest nebillah muhammad had the wisest people around him he had Abu Sufyan the leader of quraish Abu Bakr and a position of quraish these people could see through alaya a fabricator a fraudster a charlatan they could clearly see and they'll say look you know don't play around with our minds what if we look at some of the what if we look at some of the things that he came with that we know was different to the legislation there's an argument that's out then i think it's worth mentioning that he actually lied for personal gain he wanted wealth he wanted power he wanted fame he wanted women and one of the things that they bring specifically with this regard is that we know in our religion you're allowed a maximum of four wives yet he had more than this so he's actually breaking the rules for his own personal gain what do you have to say about that if nebillah muhammad wanted women at the beginning of his message quraish presented that to him they said to him if you want money okay we'll give it to you if you're looking for fame we're gonna give it to you if you're looking for women you want whatever you're looking we'll give it to you just stop this and just help us don't this unit don't split us don't split our ranks quraish clearly said that to him rather anyone who looks at the prophet's history will realize he didn't gain no money and he lived a very poor life aley salatu salam anyone who looks at the prophet's life aley salatu salam was he was shunned by his community they made him leave mecca he turned his back to mecca or he turned before he left mecca to medina he turned and looked at mecca and he said mecca i love you and if it wasn't for my people i would never have left you he left his own hometown this doesn't go in line psychological psychologically in accordance to a person who's looking for fame rather he got everything else done to him his sahabas were killed his followers were killed as for the concept of marriage nebillah muhammad sallallahu aley salatu salam as i said to you there were things that were obligated on him made mandatory on him to do that we would find hard if we were told to do it so why is it that we don't look at that as well okay any more evidence or any more general arguments that you wanted to bring last but not least is my evidence would be the prophet was scolded by Allah on many different occasions in the Qur'an he was scolded he was told off in things that he did aley salatu salam let me give you about three examples and there are more than that okay the first one is when he the qadiyah and the issue related to zaynab zaynab bin tijahsh who was a wife of zaydi bin harith you see zaydi bin harith the prophet took him like his own son and he tried to attribute himself to zayd and tried to say you are called zaydi bil muhammad and Allah ta'baraka wa ta'ala he said la ta'aludu la ta'baraka wa ta'ala he said udu'u'uhum li aaba'ihim wa aqsatu'u'un dallah the ayah that came down call your attribute yourself to your fathers only now he sallallahu alaihi wa salamah zaynab bin tijahsh and zaydi bin harith went their separate ways and broke up and the messenger sallallahu alaihi wa salam was informed that it will be written for him to get married to zaynab and he felt shy he felt very very shy regarding that and he didn't want to talk about it and a'isha said look what she said wa lokaana muhammadun sallallahu alaihi wa salam if the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa salam was catiman shay'an if he would have ever concealed a verse in the Qur'an mimma unzila alaihi lakatama hadihil aaya he would have concealed this verse which verse is she talking about wa itta qulu lilladihi an'amallahu alaihi wa an'amta alaihi amsik alaihi ka zawjika wa taqillah wa tuqfi fi nafsika ma allahu muwidihi wa taqshan naas wa allahu haq'u an taqshah fa lamma qadha zaydu minha wa taran zawajna kaha likayla yakoon a'al al-mu'minina harajun fi azwaji ad'iyahim idha qadhu minhunna wa tarah wa kana ammurullahi qadha ma maf'u'la if he would have ever ever concealed something he would have concealed that verse the word does that verse tell him that are you scared of the people? are you not scared of Allah azzawjallahu alaihi wa sallallahu alaihi wa sallallahu alaihi a taqshahunahum are you scared of them? Allah is the one that you should be scared of like tell the people that Zaynab is going to be your wife don't be scared of it another example is when he asked forgiveness for his uncle and Allah tabaraku atta'ala scolded him for that he said it is not befitting for our prophet wa ladina ammanu and those who believe ayas taqfiru li l-mushrikina wa l-awkanu wa li yukurba min ba'a ni ma'itabayya na lahum it is not befitting for our prophet and the believers to ask forgiveness for the disbelievers after they've died upon that state also the booty that they took from the battle of beddah that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam the 70 booty that they took spoils of war the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallallahu alaihi wa sallallahu alaihi wa sallallahu alaihi he got told off for doing that and utilized it by trying to take it back to the people of Quraish to get money from it and Allah tabaraku atta'ala it's in ma'a kana li l-nabi ayakuna lahu asra'a hatta yutkhina fi l-ar'd to ridun a'arad ad dunya wa Allah yuridu l-akhira you see it's not befitting for a prophet to have captives and try to make money out of it do you want the dunya and Allah wants the akira so your argument is that because he was rebuked it shows that nobody would rebuk themselves openly and publicly that's exactly nobody would want that no one would make shame themselves and show themselves to be in the wrong especially at a time when you're you have the whole region you have the whole Arabian pretty everybody is coming to you and taking religion taking their faith and they're believing in you it doesn't make sense to show them that you do mistakes okay and I think you you might have touched on it just now when you're talking about his message being coherent and making sense one of the other questions that some people say is that okay you proved that he was a liar he wasn't a liar he was truthful and with you on that but what if he he genuinely believed he was receiving revelation but he was just deluded the concept of being deluded and it's a mental health issue that cannot be it's not consistent with his biography sallallahu alaihi sallam the way that he prepared his army the way he controlled and he ran his private affairs the way he ran the public affairs he sallallahu alaihi sallam the way he's physical pain that he went through when he revelation came down on him all of that does not go in line with his biography alaihi sallallahu alaihi sallam what about certain things in his biography that might appear to be strange do you genuinely believe that he flew on a winged horse into the seven heavens I mean surely that seems like to be a delusion that somebody it's like that someone will go to the seven heavens yeah he's claiming that this is what this is what he did it's unlike the previous miracles like when musa alaihi sallam split the red sea open he had witnesses when he says alaihi sallam bought people back from the dead but with the permission of alaihi sallam he had witnesses whereas this is one man claiming that he went on a night journey to the seven heavens with no other witnesses is does this not sound like delusion to you do you genuinely believe this happened of course I believe it happened let me explain something to you again that being said goes in the context of who he is his life his biography this man has never lied before there was no accusation prior to islam before he became a prophet no one accused him of him no one accused him of being mentally deranged no one did or had any mental health issues not to mention the people didn't claim he was possessed before he became a prophet not before so afterwards I mean but this happened afterwards after islam they said that because they had they they they had their reasons because they they their adversaries to him sallam alaihi sallam they are against him sallam alaihi sallam and so they would say anything that they could accuse him of or you know they can throw at they can throw him at but do you think a deranged lunatic for example could come up with all of these points that I mentioned for example he mentioned some scientific things that are proven today to be scientific the concept of embryology for example when he spoke about it in the Qur'an he spoke about the sensory and where the pain comes from if you get bent scientists have now proven that the pain comes from the skin and it's the skin that fills the pain and it's the warmth so this all of these can't come from a derangement he's bringing facts to the table he's bringing things that are you know mind-boggling it's it's it's it's shocked shocked the world do you believe that there's going to be another prophet after him no Allah told us in the Qur'an مَكَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَأَ أَحْدِ مِرْ رِجَالِكُمْ وَلَاكِ الْرَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ النَّبِينَ he's a final Allah's prophet so because I believe him is truthful and I believe him in everything else and his biography and the things that he's brought to the table I definitely believe there will never come a prophet after him at the start of this podcast you mentioned that one of the reasons why Allah sends prophets is to show mankind how to live their lives we know that there are always new things coming up in the modern day world there are always new things do we not need clarification from Allah on how to deal with these new things Allah has already done that for us Allah has given us the way forward for every single thing that we need nothing has been left it's everything has been given to us and it's been explained to us you're right the Qur'an doesn't talk about the detailed issues like that and that's why we believe there are general principles in the Qur'an that there is never gonna come anything in the future except that it's been explained for us but in what way like him in details in case by case no general principles were given and those general principles they apply till the day of judgment so for example at the time of the message it started saying alcohol was prohibited and now drugs have come and then other types of substances have come that intoxicate the mind and that's it we'll just we'll keep bringing it back to the alcohol you know bring it back to that okay before we wrap up this episode can you just give us a summary of your main points and your main arguments so first of all dealing with the concept of prophethood and why it's even possible in the first place so I mentioned five and that was that Allah created it's called the the the the the the the the the the the Allah created Subhanahu wa ta'ala and Allah is he has the ability and it's more befitting for Allah to create and to also command his creation the second one is the wisdom of Allah that he would create a creation and he will command them and he will prohibit them number three is the need for that the creation is in need of Allah to know their creator who is he where is he the creation are in need of that number four is the Allah's ultimate justice that he brings us and sends us a messenger who will clarify everything to us will come the day of judgment we get punished and we didn't have a messenger sent to us that doesn't go in line with Allah's justice Subhanahu wa ta'ala and the fifth one is that's a fact so brute fact after I've proven the rational evidence of Nabila Muhammad sorry of them of the plausibility of being a prophet before I move on to the other point I want to say that the aqal the rational plausibility the aqal itself and I think we should make a podcast on that as well the relationship between reason and faith but the aqal as the poet Ibn al-Qayyim said what many people don't understand is that the aqal is it's got a place in our religion but the aqal is like the eye your eye your eye can see but it leads light to see you have to put the light on then you can see the eyes by itself can't see the aqal by itself cannot see it needs light and the light is the revelation and we'll talk about that in more details inshallah and ta'ala when we speak about the relationship between reason and and faith but that was my five aqal evidences of the plausibility of a prophet then I mentioned seven evidences that Nabila Muhammad is a prophet sent from Allah the first one is that the messengers had the utmost moral conduct and I only mentioned one of that which is truthfulness the second one I mentioned was that the messengers that the messengers was he was he was illiterate the third one was the complete legislation that he came with how complete this religion was I mentioned that and I talked about it from the two angles of to today and to taqbeh that everyone does an innate ability built inside us to want to be religious and to connect ourselves and it's also built inside us to want to know what is good from what is bad and we can't know every good and bad unless we have religion I also spoke about the fact that he told us of the unseen that he talked about the future that is going to happen and many of them he prophesied and he was he was right alaihi salam and he also told us about the past salawatullahi wassalamu alaihi I also mentioned the Quran and how that was a miracle that he came with alaihi salatu salam the sixth one was he salallahu alaihi wassalam was scolded by Allah aizu jalla and how he was told off and I gave about three examples for that and last but not least I spoke about that the Quran was delayed in coming down when the need was really there for him he really needed it okay just to wrap up what is your advice for somebody who doesn't accept Muhammad salallahu alaihi salam as a final prophet they believe in all of the other prophets but they don't accept Muhammad what is your advice for these kind of people it is he believe in Jesus yes well then aizu jalla already told us of nabilah Muhammad coming and that's one of the evidences of his prophecy as well that nabilah isa told us that nabilah Muhammad is going to come and that itself is in the bible and Allah knows best subhanahu wa ta'ala I hope you enjoyed and benefited from that discussion please do share it with your friends and family members if you feel like they might benefit too and don't forget to hit that subscribe button below so you're notified of any new episodes check out www.thehotseatpodcast.com that's thehotseatpodcast.com on there you'll find a little bit more information about the podcast and you'll also have the chance to vote for which topic you'd like to see discussed on the show you can also ask questions on the website to the speaker himself about these contemporary modern day issues until next time In the name of Allah And peace be upon you And the mercy of Allah And blessings be upon you