By Mohammad A Rahman

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

Islam (إِسْلاَمَ) in Arabic may mean submission or peace and the followers of Islam are known as Muslims. If Islam is considered to mean submission, then it means that a Muslim must submit his own will to the will of Allah. If, on the other hand, it is considered to mean peace, then it would mean that following the obligations and staying away from the prohibitions prescribed by Allah and His Messenger (Prophet Muhammad) would guarantee peace in the this world and also in the Hereafter.

Islam can not be thought of a religion founded by Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Rather, it is the religion of all prophets of Allah starting with Adam (A.S) and ending with Muhammad (SAW). In other words, the messages of all the prophets (A.S) were one and that was to submit to will of Allah alone. Of course different prophets were given different laws based on the need of those specific societies.

Allah created Adam (A.S) as the first human being and he was the first prophet of Allah. Allah sent guidance to Adam (A.S) so that he could warn his children about a Day when everyone will be judged according to what he had done. Based on this judgment, either he will be rewarded with the blessings of Paradise or punished for his sins. After the demise of Adam (A.S) his teachings slowly got lost or mixed with falsehood. So, Allah sent another prophet to bring people to the true guidance of Allah and he also died. This process of sending prophets to call people to Allah continued over the entire period man inhabited this earth until Prophet Muhammad (SAW) when this message was perfected and completed:

This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion (Holy Qur'an 5:3)

Obviously, when a message is completed and perfected, there is no need of any kind of modification, hence, there will be no need of any other prophet. The door of prophethood was sealed with Muhammad (SAW) as is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an:

Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets; and Allah is ever Aware of all things (Holy Qur'an 33:40)

The purpose of sending prophets was to warn people adequately so that people would know what they were expected to do, thus, not having any argument at the Day of Judgment as to them being ignorant of true guidance:

(We sent) messengers as the givers of good news and as warners, so that people should not have any argument against Allah after the (coming of) messengers; and Allah is Mighty, Wise (Holy Qur'an 4:165)

This naturally follows that in the sight of Allah only way to Him is what He sent:

If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah), never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter He will be in the ranks of those who have lost (Holy Qur'an 3:85)

We pray to Allah that He may guide us to His path and help us follow His guidance to the best of our ability, insha'Allah.