Prophets
in the
Reading

When we look at all the people named in the Qur'an, we find examples of good and bad behaviour.

We have exemplars of behaviour to be avoided,

some incidental characters,

some more mysterious than others,

some people occasionally considered to be Newsbringers

and some overwhelmingly considered so,

with some that are not only considered to be Newsbringers

but also Messengers,

with God's words spoken through them.

So Messengership begins with Adam, whom God spoke to directly

about the Garden and the Fall, as well as teaching him the language of the names of things.

The story is well known, but is made clear in Suras 2, 7 and 20, though told briefly

leaving much to the reader's imagination and personal understanding of such matters as the nature of the garden

and the tree to be avoided,

and the actual form of the language being used for communication, expressed in the Qur'an as pure Arabic.

The prophets that follow Adam appear scattered liberally throughout the Qur'an,

often no more than lists,

reminders of those warners to be remembered,

but some having their stories laid out at greater length

such as that of Nuh who has a whole sura named after him and devoted to his story.

But that story receives a different perspective in sura 11,

with different information

and there's a little more in suras 26 and 54.

References to the prophets in the Reading can be brief

such as the mention of Nuh in suras 7 and 10,

but even in the briefest of passages the Qur'an can still surprise us

with unexpected and challenging information,

as in sura 29, where God tells us that Nuh lived for 950 years,

leaving us to work out what we mean by Nuh in this case,

man or community,

or what we mean by the number or the length of the years.

After Nuh, but before Ibrahim, the Qur'an mentions two warners,

the stories of whom would have been familiar to the Arabs

despite not being recorded in biblical traditions,

the stories of Hood and the tribe of 'Ad,

and Salih and his people known as Thamood.

Their stories are told next to each other in three Suras, 7, 11 and 26,

but mainly concentrating on the arguments they had with their peoples,

explaining what they were doing wrong,

and warning them of the consequences.

And then there's the singular contribution of Sura 27,

which gives the details of a plot to kill Salih.

But the Messenger that is so foundational to the line of old testament prophets

is Ibrahim

the father of Ismail and Ishaq.

and ultimately leading to Muhammad

Frequently referred to as a man of pure belief,

the crucial events of his life are spread out over a dozen suras.

From his consideration and rejection of star, moon and sun as worthy of worship in Sura 6

through arguments with his father in Sura 19

and with a challenge to the king to make the sun rise in the west

near the end of Sura 2

Of course Ibrahim also argued with most of the rest of his clan,

and his arguments with the idol worshippers are mainly told over three Suras,

26 which contains a beautiful prayer,

29 which also mentions Lut joining him,

and 21 in which is the story of Ibrahim's breaking of the idols

and which also tells of their attempt to burn him alive

only to find that God made the fire cool and safe him.

After which, we are told Ibrahim and Lut left there

to settle in a land blessed for all beings.

In Suras 11 and 51 we hear of Ibrahim's two angelic visitors,

who tell him of their business with the people of Lut

but also give him the news that he would soon father a son

to the great surprise of Ibrahim's wife.

Then there is sura 14,

which is named after him, even though only a small part of it is about him.

But that part consists of a beautiful prayer he makes,

some of which being very familiar to many muslims,

as it is often used as a du'a in their Sala.

But he also mentions

that he has settled his family near the Ancient House in a barren valley

which suggests that the strange act of leaving them in that valley

was because he somehow already knew the location of the Ancient House.

But clearly he also saw the valley as a deadly wilderness

yet he still felt the need to leave his beloved wife and new born son there and trust in God to take care of them.

How agonising to have to walk away,

and what extraordinary trust in God.

Hardly surprising then, that he longed for a tangible example to help strengthen his faith,

but in Sura 2 God simply uses the example of four homing birds as explanation of the Day of Gathering,

and the fact that ultimately Ismail was still there to help build the Ka'aba,

after he had been prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice when asked.

The story of that trust in God that led Ibrahim to face the fire,

and be surrendered enough to sacrifice his son

is told from start to finish in Sura 37

Small wonder that in Sura 4 we are told

that God took Ibrahim as a friend.

Now it may be that almost all of the prophets mentioned in the Reading

have their stories spread out over several Suras

but there is one that stands out as quite different from the rest

In all of the Qur'an, Yusuf is mentioned only in two places

in sura 6 he is mentioned by name only

in a list of prophets and the guided,

and the other time is in the whole of Sura 12,

which is given his name.

The story of Yusuf is told with a completeness and cohesion

that shows how the dispersed nature of the other stories is intentional,

showing that God is capable of doing whatever God likes,

and displaying the possibilities with a literary flourish.

But the story of Musa is like the story of Ibrahim

and other Messengers,

spread over several suras that braid together into a fuller story.

Sura 28 covers his early life, from being placed in the river as an infant,

through to his privileged youth,

his escape to the waters of Midian and the years of marriage that followed,

until the time of his seeing the fire on Mount Tur.

But although Moses learns of his staff's snake transformation here,

it is not mentioned when he is arguing with the Pharaoh.

For that and what comes later you need another Sura.

Sura 27 also tells the story of Moses facing God at the fire, in a slightly different way,

and with things we can learn from it that are to be found nowhere else,

like the number of Signs to be shown to Pharaoh.

In sura 43 we start with Moses showing Pharaoh the Signs

and close with a simple statement that they were drowned.

But in sura 26 what happened with Pharaoh is told in another way,

ending up with Moses parting the sea

and reaching safety while the Pharaoh and his army drown.

Sura 7 also tells the story of Moses confrontation with Pharaoh

through the years of the manifestation of God's Signs,

with drought and flood, and locusts

and blood, and lice and frogs.

And after Pharaoh is drowned it follows Musa and his people

through to his being given the tablets of the ten commandments,

telling the story of the golden calf,

and later, the division into 12 tribes.

Sura 10 adds yet more to our knowledge of the interaction between Musa and Pharaoh

but simply leaves the Tribe of Israel in a good place, provided with good things,

though the 40 years of wandering while the land was forbidden

are only mentioned in Sura 5.

But sura 20 takes its own approach to telling the story from the holy valley of Tuwa

remembering the story of Musa's infancy,

then from God giving instructions as to what to say to Pharaoh

jump cutting to Pharaoh's reply,

and Musa's words being interwoven with Divine pronouncements.

Plus the Sura gives details of the story of the Samaritan and the golden calf

that can't be found in other Suras.

Most distinctive of all is Sura 40,

in which the story is mainly told as it relates to

a secret believer in the Pharaoh's family.

But the Qur'an provides the real surprise in the story of Musa's life in sura 18,

which mentions none of the extraordinary events the other suras tell of,

but describes an equally interesting occurrence that they do not mention.

It is the story of Musa's meeting with one of God's servants,

whom many think of as Khidr,

and witnessing three events that teach him and us

to recognise how God works in the world,

and how we can be blessed through apparent hardships.

The Qur'an frequently points out that God sent down the Book to Moses,

and that the Qur'an itself is sent down as confirmation of its story.

Just as in their lives,

the stories of Daud and Sulaiman are linked,

and in sura 21 we are told that

God gave each of them judgement and knowledge,

but they each have their own stories.

In sura 2 we are told

the story of David and Goliath, and how he was given kingship and wisdom,

and in Suras 4 and 17 we are told

God gave him Psalms.

We are given an example of his judgement in Sura 38,

and of his knowledge in Sura 34,

where he is taught how to make chain mail.

Sulaiman was also given great power,

and sura 21 also tells us that the wind ran at his command,

Sura 34 tells us that the jinn worked for him,

making whatever he wanted,

and gives a brief mention of Sheba,

of whom we get to know more in a different Sura

In Sura 27 we find that Sulaiman can not only understand the ants,

but is given the speech of birds,

one of whom, the hoopoe, tells him of Sheba

and the story of their meeting involves matters that are hard to understand

And what is meant by the tale of the acquisition of Sheba's throne,

and the gathering of the birds that preceded it,

has been explored in many ways in numerous books and commentaries

But despite his earthly riches and power

Sura 38 suggests

that the most important part of Sulaiman's nature was his penitence,

his asking for forgiveness.

And it says that Sulaiman has a place near to God.

Another Messenger beloved by God was Isa ibn Mariam,

whose story is told over four Suras, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

His appearance in Sura 2 is quite brief,

though stressing how God gave Isa Clear Signs,

and made him strong with the Holy Spirit,

while his followers disagree and fight each other.

But in Sura 3 we are told much more about him

as the Angels describe him to Mariam

when they are informing her of her pregnancy.

They tell her how he will speak to people from the cradle to the grave,

heal the sick and perform miracles,

and how he will gather apostles,

and how he will finally be raised up to God.

When Mariam points out that she is virgin,

they simply say that when God wills a thing [Hu] just says to it

'Be'

and it is,

a phrase heard again shortly after,

when the example of Jesus is compared to that of Adam.

God created him of dust, then said to him

'Be'

and he was.

Sura 4 describes the event

as God's Word given to Mariam, and a Spirit from [Hu],

and makes clear to the People of the Book

that Isa is only a Messenger and servant of God,

and tells them to refrain from describing God as 'Three',

because God is One and has no son.

But at the end of Sura 5, the Table,

is the story for which the sura is named

This follows a beautiful passage in which God reminds Isa

of times in his life to remember.

And when his followers asked Isa to ask his Liege

to send down food from heaven,

God did so,

but still some found it possible to disbelieve.

And at the other extreme there are those that call Jesus God,

though Jesus says that this was never his wish or suggestion.

In Sura 43 he speaks the words

'God is my Liege and your Liege'.

Then of course there is the Sura with a very brief but very interesting contribution,

Sura 61

in which Jesus foretells the coming of Ahmad,

or as we usually refer to him

Muhammad the Seal of the Prophets