Principles of Islam
40. Prophethood
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In reply the Qur’an had this to say: ‘If the earth had
been inhabited by angels, We would have sent an
angel as a prophet, but since it is human beings
who live on earth, a man has been selected as God’s
Messenger.’
The Prophet then, as the bearer of God’s message,
had to project himself as a model for other human
beings. The Qur’an, indeed, describes the Prophet
as a model character. It was on this consideration
that a messenger was selected from amongst human
beings. He experienced all that was experienced by
others: grief and solace, advantages and
disadvantages, pain and pleasure, etc. Yet he never
wavered from the truth, thus setting an example of
how others must abide by the truth on all occasions.
This deprived wrongdoers of the excuse that they
had no role model to show them the path which
God desired them to follow.
The messenger of God was born just like any other
human being. He led his life just as others did. In
this way, he dearly demonstrated that the way of
life which he exhorted others to lead was entirely
practicable. His words and deeds thus became a
