Previous Chapter -- Next Chapter
16) A Prophet (نبي)
The Qur'an testifies five times that the Son of Mary is a messenger (Rasul) of Allah, but only once that he is a prophet (Nabiy, Sura Maryam 19:30).
One of the secrets of every true prophet is that he has seen Allah as He is or heard Him speaking directly to him; so he has experienced that Allah is Holy, Almighty, Merciful, Compassionate, Loving, Truthful, Father of the repentant, and Judge of the proud. Every clear-sighted prophet recognizes that Allah, His Word and His Spirit are an indivisible eternal unity.
Whoever recognizes the characteristics of Allah will become humble and confess that he is a sinner compared with Allah. Man's heart is evil from childhood. Jesus called us evil, because of our hypocrisy, haughtiness, selfishness and little faith. Yet, he freely offers us his salvation from judgment and forever justifies us by his atonement.
The true prophet informs of the future with certainty. Christ frequently testified that he would come back, after his ascension to heaven, in the power of his glory to destroy the Antichrist with a word of his mouth and to deliver his followers from all persecution. He is our Judge and at the same time our Redeemer. Blessed is he who prepares himself for Christ's second coming.
Christ was a prophet and more. He is the incarnate Word of God, in whom all the power of the Word of God dwells.