Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues — Page 15
Inter-Religious Peace 15 the religions of the world in the sense understood by the Judeo-Islamic concept of Prophets. It may bear repeating that Islam considers the Founders of all revealed religions to be merely human beings who were raised by God to the status of prophethood. There is no exception in this universal phenomenon. For instance, the Holy Quran declares: How will it fare with them when We shall bring a witness from every people, and shall bring thee as a witness against these. 7 Having made this essential clarification, we now proceed to study the status of the Holy Prophet sa of Islam, according to the Holy Quran. The most conspicuous and incontrovertible claim regarding the Holy Prophet sa of Islam is made in the widely known and extensively discussed verse of the Holy Quran: Muhammad sa is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and (Kh a taman Nabiyy i n) the Seal of the Prophets and Allah has full knowledge of all things. 8 The Arabic word Kh a tam in this verse has many connotations but the essence of the title Kh a taman Nabiyy i n is, without a shadow of doubt, to be the very best; the supreme; the last word; the final authority; the one who encompasses all and testifies to the truth of others. 9 Another verse which speaks of the excellence of the Holy Founder sa of Islam declares that the teachings of the Holy Prophet sa are perfect and final. The verse runs as follows: