Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah

Belief in the message of Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is the second half of the main pillar of Islam and the mainstay upon which it rests.

One becomes Muslim after he utters the two-part testimony in which he bears witness that there is no true god, but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

a. What is the meaning of “messenger”? Who is Muhammad? And were there any messengers other than him?

This is what we will attempt to answer in the coming pages.

A messenger is a man at the peak of truthfulness and noble morals, whom Allah chooses from among people to reveal to him whatever He wishes of the divine commands and matters of the unseen, which he is commanded to convey to people. So, a messenger is a human being, like all other people; he eats and drinks like them and has the same human needs. He, however, is privileged by the revelation coming to him from Allah Almighty through which He informs him of matters of the unseen and the commands of the religion which the messenger is required to convey to people. A messenger is also distinct from other people by the God-given infallibility from falling into major sins or anything that may undermine his mission of conveying the divine message.

We will relate some of the stories of the messengers before Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) to make it clear that the message of all messengers is the same, namely calling people to worshiping Allah Almighty alone. Let us start with the story of the beginning of humanity and Satan’s hostility towards the father of mankind, Adam, and his progeny.