Prophethood

Path of Identification of a Prophet
It was proved that a messenger or prophet possesses an outstanding position and rank that he could communicate with God and through means of revelation could receive realities; the prophet possesses extraordinary, special infallibility and is immune from sins and mistakes, and it is obvious that identification of this important mysterious position is not the task of everyone. It was due to this reason through the means of one of these two paths one could identify the prophet and could conclude his being as truthful:
First Path
That another prophet had already proved his Prophethood, through his testifying or should predict about his arrival in advance and should describe his indications and effects.
Second Path
That in order to prove his truthfulness of his word he should be able to bring a miracle that human beings should be helpless in creating of its like. When human beings saw that a person claims prophethood and says that he is appointed by God for your guidance; in order to prove the truthfulness of his words he performs an act that could not be performed through a human being, seeing that act they attain certainty of his being truthful.
If he was a liar, God would not have supported him through the means of a miracle, since the testifying of a liar is relevant to ignorance and indecency and God does not indulge in indecent acts. Therefore in order to diagnose the position of infallibility and Prophethood another path does not exist except these two paths.
However let it not remain unsaid: For intellectuals and researchers another path remains open, they could study commandments and laws and investigate them profoundly and then should compare these laws with laws and could appreciate their distinctions and benefits. In the conduct of words and deeds of a person claiming prophethood they should show serious and precise curiosity and through these means of witnessing and testifying should acquire the facts about his being truthful.
But perusing of such a path is not possible for every one and except for testifying the position of prophethood and strengthening the power of belief; it does not have any worth. In the Holy Qur’an regarding a group from prophets, miracles have been mentioned: Whoever considers the Holy Qur’an as a heavenly
book, inevitably must accept about the story of Prophet Moses’ (a.s.) staff turning into a serpent, and the dead coming back to life and the return of sight to a blind person since birth through the means of Jesus (a.s.); the story of speaking in the cradle by Jesus (a.s.) is certainly a part of the Holy Qur’an.
Number of Prophets
It has been mentioned in the narration that 124,000 have been sent by God for the guidance of human beings, the first one of them was Adam (a.s.) and the last one of them was Muhammad ibn Abdullah (S).2 The prophets could be divided into several categories as follows:
Some of them received their duties through the means of revelation but were not assigned the responsibility of propagation. Another group was assigned the responsibility of propagation; some of them possessed special religious laws and religion while others didn’t bring special religious laws instead propagated the religious laws of another prophet and very often many prophets were busy in undertaking their duties in various regions and cities.
Noah (a.s.), Abraham (a.s.), Moses (a.s.), Jesus (a.s.), and Muhammad (S) were distinguished prophets and brought special religious laws and were called as men of decision (ulul-azm) prophets. A group of prophets have the book, like Noah (a.s.), Abraham (a.s.), Moses (a.s.), Jesus (a.s.) and Muhammad (S). Some of them were appointed for the entire humanity while some of them were appointed for a particular group of people.3
Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) – Seal of the Prophets
Muhammad son of Abdullah (S) was one of the great and most distinguished among them and is a prophet of Muslims. When he was appointed for his prophethood, due to the continuous and prolonged hardships and the painful endeavors of past prophets, the religious learning level of human being reached to the point whereby they were in a position to receive the best and most perfected laws and could comprehend the highest leanings; they should guard forever the trust of knowledge of all prophets, then the Prophet of Islam was appointed and he presented the most complete program and comprehensive commandments for the human beings.
If the commandments of Islam been implemented, the prosperity of the world and hereafter would have been assured as they were sufficient for guidance of humanity during the period of the Holy Prophet (S); likewise they are sufficient for the prosperity of the present period as well as for more progressive forthcoming generations.
Everyone who would conduct research with accuracy and precision regarding Islamic commandments and learning and would compare them with other commandments; the distinction of Islamic commandments would become explicitly clear upon him. And it was because of this reason that he is the last prophet and after him no prophet would come. The matter of being the Seal of the Prophets for Muhammad (S) is a necessary requirement and whoever denies it would not be considered as a Muslim.
Eternal Miracle
The Prophet of Islam possessed miracles that occurred during his life period and they have been pointed out in the books of history and narrations; in addition to that the Holy Qur’an is an eternal miracle and absolute certification of his prophethood. The Holy Qur’an itself introduces it as a miracle and declares officially to the people:
“And if you are in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto Our servant (Muhammad), then produce a surah of the like thereof, and call your witnesses beside Allah if ye are truthful.” (The Holy Qur’an, 2:23)
And says:
“Say: Verily, though mankind and Jinn should assemble to produce the like of this Qur’an, they couldn’t produce the like thereof though they were helpers one of another.” (The Holy Qur’an, 17:88)
Although the enemies of Islam didn’t stop from taking any sort of action in their confrontation against Islam and readied them for the dangerous and bloody wars, and in this path suffered plenty of financial and physical losses, but in spite of that were unable to confront with the Holy Qur’an of Muhammad (S) and could not produce a similar verse. While if such an act was possible, for them they certainly would have preferred it to difficult confrontations in order to rescue them from all those headaches and hardships.
The blessed Holy Qur’an was descended gradually during a period of twenty-three years upon prophet Muhammad (S). His companions wrote exact revelation called signs (a’ayat) that were collected later on and was then presented as it is in the current form.
The Holy Qur’an is the only heavenly unique book in which any sort of changes or deviations have not been made, and without more or less is available for mankind; the Holy Qur’an is a book of deeds. If the Muslims desire to be prosperous and could raise their heads in dignity, to acquire back their lost majesty and grandeur; they do not have any other option except to follow the steady and firm program of the Holy Qur’an, and its implementation should cure their untreatable pains and social problems.