Grade 4 History Book (PDF) - Shia Multimedia

Chapter 1: Introduction to Prophethood
1.1 Who is a prophet?
A prophet is someone sent directly by Allah to lead us on the right path. Allah sent us
124,000 prophets from Prophet Adam (a) to Prophet Muhammad (s). Prophet Muhammad (s)
was the last prophet and there are no other prophets after him.
The prophets were able to communicate directly with Allah and it is for this reason that
there is a difference between prophets and imams. Prophets were sent directly from Allah and
communicated directly with Allah; whereas Imams were appointed through Prophet
Muhammad (s) and could not communicate directly with Allah.
We do not know who all the prophets were. In the Qur’an, Allah says, “We sent
prophets before you (Prophet Muhammad): there are some whose story We have told
you and some whose story We have not told you.”
- Surah-e-Mo’min, chapter 40, verse 78.
1.2 How was a prophet chosen?
Allah chose the people that were the most perfect at the time to be prophets. Prophets
are maasum — they never commit a sin. The Christian bible talks about many prophets that
have committed sins, but they are wrong because Allah would never choose a person who
was sinful to become a prophet. If prophets committed sins, then people would not listen to
them because no one respects a person that commits a sin. The principle of your school is
capable of running around the school acting as a child, but he doesn’t because he knows that
no one would respect him if he did that. In the same ways, the prophets were capable of
committing sins, but they never committed a sin, because no one would listen to them if they
did.
8 Grade 4 History