16
—“The Messiah, son of Mary, is no more than a messenger; messengers passed away before him, and his mother was a woman of true faith.” ⦗al-Māʾidah: 75⦘.
Thus Allah informs us that the Messiah is one of those very messengers—“messengers passed away before him” ⦗al-Māʾidah: 75⦘—while before his time He had already sent a messenger to every nation.
It is also reported in the hadith of Abū Dharr, from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that “the prophets number one hundred thousand, and of them the messengers are three hundred and thirteen.” Some scholars deem this hadith authentic, while others consider it weak, for if
{مَا الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ وَأُمُّهُ صِدِّيقَةٌ}
[المائدة: ٧٥]
. . . فَأَخْبَرَ أَنَّ الْمَسِيحَ رَسُولٌ مِنْ هَؤُلَاءِ الرُّسُلِ
{قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ}
[المائدة: ٧٥]
وَقَبْلَهُ قَدْ بَعَثَ فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَسُولًا.
وَقَدْ رُوِيَ فِي حَدِيثِ أَبِي ذَرٍّ عَنِ
«النَّبِيِّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - أَنَّ الْأَنْبِيَاءَ مِائَةُ أَلْفِ نَبِيٍّ وَأَنَّ الرُّسُلَ مِنْهُمْ ثَلَاثُمِائَةٍ وَثَلَاثَةَ عَشَرَ»
وَبَعْضُ النَّاسِ يُصَحِّحُ هَذَا الْحَدِيثَ وَبَعْضُهُمْ يُضَعِّفُهُ، فَإِنْ