Principle Seven: The Qur’anic Method for Establishing the Prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ

This great foundation is affirmed by Allah in His Book through various modes that reveal the perfection of the Prophet’s truthfulness, peace and blessings be upon him. Allah states that he confirmed the earlier messengers, called to what they called to, and that every virtue possessed by the prophets is likewise present in our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, while every imperfection and flaw from which they were protected applies even more fittingly to him. His law prevails over all other laws, and his Book prevails over all other scriptures. Thus every excellence found in previous religions and scriptures has been gathered by Allah in this Book and this religion, and then surpassed by additional merits and qualities that exist nowhere else.

The Qur’an further establishes his prophethood by noting that he was unlettered—he neither wrote nor read—and that he never sat with anyone versed in the earlier scriptures. Yet people suddenly found themselves confronted with this Book: were humans and jinn to gather together to produce its like, they could not do so, nor would they ever be able, even if they supported one another. Given all this, it is inconceivable that it originated from himself, that he fabricated it against his Lord, or that he was hesitant in conveying the unseen.

The Qur’an reiterates and amplifies this point, demonstrating it by recounting in full the stories of former prophets exactly as they occurred—accounts about which no one can harbor any doubt—then declaring that he had no access to such knowledge except through what Allah had revealed to him. Thus He says, after relating the story of Moses at length: “You were not on the western side when We decreed the matter unto Moses” (al-Qasas 28:44). And when He narrated the story of Joseph and his brothers in detail, He said:

“And you were not…"