Muhammad and the Final Revelation of Islam

Muhammad did not originate or create Islam, nor was Islam originated based on the revelations given to Muhammad by Allah. Rather, Muhammad was the Seal of the Prophets, i.e., the last in the line of Allah's prophets, just as a seal at the end of a document is the last thing affixed to that document. It may be noted that Westerners and adherents to the Judeo-Christian perspective frequently attribute hierarchical significance to the title "Seal of the Prophets", as though Muslims claim that Muhammad was the greatest or best of the prophets of Allah. This type of thinking is contrary to Islam, and is specifically prohibited by the Qur'an, which states that Muslims are to make no hierarchical distinctions among the prophets of Allah. Like all the prophets before him, Muhammad was not divine, but was only a man endowed with the message of Allah.

However, it was through the progressive revelation given to Muhammad that Islam was perfected and completed. This revelation abrogated, elaborated, and altered parts of the revelations given to earlier prophets, was memorized and written down by the early companions of Muhammad, and became known as the Qur'an. Thus, Islam finds its final evolution in the Message of Muhammad, not its genesis. Further, as he Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad was the "international" prophet, bringing Allah's message not only to the people of Muhammad, whether defined as Makkans, the members of the Quraish tribe, or Arabs, but to the people of the world at large.

Say: "No reward do I ask of you for this (Qur'an), nor am I a pretender. This is no less than a message to (all) the worlds."

Summary

The Islamic perspective affirms the following evolution of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Islam began with Adam, and has evolved in accordance with the progressive revelations given by Allah to His various prophets. This evolution of Islam finds its perfect culmination in the final revelations of Allah, which were bestowed upon Prophet Muhammad. Early on, among the descendants of Prophet Jacob, distortions of the basic message of Islam were codified and ritualized, giving rise to the religion of Judaism. Subsequent prophets to the house of Israel continually warned the Israelites and Jews to return to God, and to forsake their deviations, which included their unbelief. Among those prophets, whose ministry was limited to the Israelites and Jews, was Jesus (the Messiah or Christ, and the son of the Virgin Mary). However, Jesus' message and ministry were also distorted, giving rise to such concepts as the begotten son of God, the crucifixion of Jesus, and the trinitarian concept of God.

Conclusions Words are sometimes deceiving in their ability to mislead others. This is especially the case when words are used to represent abstract concepts or complex systems or thoughts. As has been shown in the above discussion, words such as "revelation", "covenant", "Judaism", "Christianity", and "Islam" have radically different meanings for Muslims, than they do for adherents to the traditional Judeo-Christian perspective, which typically is the only viewpoint expressed in Western academia. Likewise, names such as Jesus, Muhammad, Moses, Abraham, etc., convey different images and associated concepts, depending upon the religious orientation of the individual. By contrasting the Judeo-Christian and Islamic perspectives on the origins of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, some of these differences have been identified and discussed. Allah willing, this endeavor may contribute to better and heightened communication among the adherents of these three religious traditions.