21. The Status of the Followers of the Prophet Muhammad

After the creation of mankind, God continually sent messengers to them to guide them to the right path. This continued for thousands of years. Finally, He sent His last Prophet Muhammad. Now no prophet will come up to the Day of Resurrection.

Addressing the Children of Israel, God says in the Quran:

‘Children of Israel, remember My blessing which I have bestowed on you, and how I favoured you above all other people.’ (Al-Baqarah, 2:47)

In this verse, the same system of divine guidance has been mentioned. Before the followers of the Prophet Muhammad God chose the Children of Israel for this task. The prophets sent before the last Prophet were from the Children of Israel. That time, it was the responsibility of the followers of the Israelite prophets to convey the message of their prophets to other nations. But in later ages, they distorted the divine scriptures and became the followers of their own desires.

After this, God snatched the favour from the Children of Israel He had bestowed on them and bestowed it on the followers of the Prophet Muhammad. In the Quran, the community of the Prophet has been described as the best nation that has ever been brought forth for mankind. (3:110). In the books of the Hadith also, there are a number of sayings of the Prophet as indicate to their supremacy. What is meant by this is that God has chosen the community of the Prophet for the same duty for which He had chosen the Children of Israel in earlier times.

Now the responsibility of this community is that they should convey this divine message of guidance to all nations of the world. They have to continue to discharge this duty generation after generation until the Day of Resurrection. If they leave off this duty of preaching the word of God to the people they will be deprived of the position they have been conferred on in the same way as the Children of Israel have been deprived of it in their times.