Role of the Brothers of
the Prophet

We can rather say that the first period refers to the traditional period while the second period refers to the scientific period.

A tradition recorded in different books of Hadith is as follows, “I wish we could see our brothers. The companions said, ‘O Messenger of God, are we not your Brothers?’ The Prophet of Islam replied, ‘You are my Companions; our Brothers have not yet come.’” (Sahih Muslim, hadith 249)

There were two important roles in the history of Islam: one, of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad and the other, of the Brothers of the Prophet. The role of the Companions was to initiate a new process in human history-a process which ended the ancient era, replacing it by a new age, ushering in new opportunities and possibilities. We can rather say that the first period refers to the traditional period while the second period refers to the scientific period.

The goal of both, the Companions of the Prophet and the Brothers of the Prophet, was calling people to God or dawah ilal’lah. There are two major periods of this dawah work, that is, the pre-global and the post-global communication era. In principle, the Companions fully availed the opportunities for dawah work existing before the advent of global communication. In the same way, those who will make maximum use of the age of global communication are called Brothers of the Prophet (Ikhwan-e-Rasool) in the tradition. Thus, Ikhwan-e-Rasool is not a mysterious group.