No prophet wakes one morning carrying the full weight of his mission. God does not hand over everything at once. He prepares first. He tests, trains and shelters. Then He commissions. Even after the call, the mission keeps growing as new duties and new honours are added. Prophethood is not a single moment. It is a journey that unfolds by divine design.
The story of Moses(as) shows this clearly. His preparation began before he could walk. God revealed to his mother what she must do. In Al Qasas 28:8, the promise was given to her in advance.
(Inna radduhu ilaiki wa ja’iluhu minal mursalin) for We shall restore him to thee, and shall make him one of the Messengers.
The child was set adrift on the river. He was taken up by his enemy and raised in Pharaoh’s own house. Yet God tells him in Ta Ha 20:40:
(Wa alqaitu ‘alaika mahabbatam minni wa litusna’a ‘ala ‘aini) And I wrapped thee with love from Me; and this I did that thou mightest be reared before My eye.
The rearing continued into manhood. Al Qasas 28:15 records:
(Wa lamma balagha ashuddahu wastawa ataynahu hukman wa ‘ilma, wa kadhalika najzil muhsinin) And when he reached his age of full strength and attained maturity, We gave him wisdom and knowledge; and thus do We reward those who do good.
Wisdom came first. The mission came later.
Then came the test. Moses(as) killed an Egyptian and had to flee. As he left he prayed in Al Qasas 28:22:
(Rabbi najjini minal qaumiz zalimin) My Lord, deliver me from the unjust people.
Turning towards Midian, he said in Al Qasas 28:23:
(‘Asa Rabbi an yahdiyani sawa’as sabil) I hope my Lord will guide me to the right way.
At the well he helped two women water their flocks. Then he sat alone in the shade, a fugitive with nothing. His prayer in Al Qasas 28:25 is among the most tender in the Quran.
(Rabbi inni lima anzalta ilayya min khairin faqir) My Lord, I am in need of whatever good Thou mayest send down to me.
God answered at once. One of the daughters returned and invited him to her father. That father heard his story and reassured him. The Quran does not name him, so his identity is not an article of faith. It is an academic question. Many commentators hold that he was Shuaib(as), and the Quranic chronology supports them. Al A’raf 7:104 places Moses(as) directly after Shuaib(as).
(Thumma ba’athna min ba’dihim Musa bi ayatina ila Fir’auna wa mala’ihi fazalamu biha) Then, after them, We sent Moses with Our Signs to Pharaoh and his chiefs, but they unjustly rejected them.
A messenger often lived on after his people perished, still preaching into old age. The two women themselves said their father was a very old man. Moses(as) did not come as his contemporary in mission. He came to him as a student and left as his successor.
The old man set a term. In Al Qasas 28:28 he says:
(‘Ala an ta’jurani thamaniya hijajin fa in atmamta ‘ashran famin ‘indik) on condition that thou serve me on hire for eight years. But if thou complete ten years, it will be of thine own accord.
That figure was not chosen at random. It points to divine insight. Khalifatul Masih I noted that the Sufis regard eight to ten years as the span of training that readies a soul for a high spiritual station. He also observed that the Holy Prophet(sa) returned to Mecca after eight years and performed Hajj after ten. The term also gave the old teacher time to complete his pupil’s tarbiyyat, and gave Egypt time to settle. God compresses all of this into one verse. Ta Ha 20:41 says:
(Wa fatannaka futuna, falabithta sinina fi ahli Madyana thumma ji’ta ‘ala qadarin ya Musa) Then We proved thee in various ways. And thou didst tarry several years among the people of Midian. Then thou camest up to the standard, O Moses.
The very next verse, Ta Ha 20:42, seals it.
(Wastana’tuka linafsi) And I have chosen thee for Myself.
Only then came the call. With his term fulfilled and his family beside him, Moses(as) saw a fire near the Mount. In Al Qasas 28:31 a voice called out from the blessed valley.
(Ya Musa inni anallahu Rabbul ‘alamin) O Moses, verily I am, I am Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
In Ta Ha 20:14 the charge is given.
(Wa anakhtartuka fastami’ lima yuha) And I have chosen thee; so hearken to what is revealed.
The infant in the ark had become the Messenger at Tuwa.
The life of the Holy Prophet(sa) follows the same pattern, but on a far greater scale. A dream told his mother to name him Muhammad. His grandfather Abdul Muttalib carried him to the Kaaba and gave him that name. His own father Abdullah had once been vowed for sacrifice and was ransomed with a hundred camels. Abdullah died before his son was born. His mother died when he was about six. God Himself took over the rearing. Ad Duha 93:7 asks:
(Alam yajidka yatiman fa awa) Did He not find thee an orphan and give thee shelter?
Revelation also began gently. Hazrat Aisha(ra) related that it first came to him as true dreams that came to pass like the breaking of the dawn (Sahih al Bukhari, Kitab Bad’ al Wahi, Hadith 3). Only after that season of dreams did the angel appear in the cave of Hira.
His mission then widened in clear stages. First came a command limited to his own circle. Ash Shu’ara 26:215 says:
(Wa andhir ‘ashiratakal aqrabin) And warn thy nearest kinsmen.
Then came migration to Medina, and his mission was extended. Then came a universal declaration in Al A’raf 7:159.
(Qul ya ayyuhan nasu inni Rasulullahi ilaikum jami’a) Say, O mankind! truly I am a Messenger to you all from Allah.
Then came the highest rank in Al Ahzab 33:41.
(Ma kana Muhammadun aba ahadim mir rijalikum wa lakir Rasulallahi wa Khataman Nabiyyin, wa kanallahu bikulli shai’in ‘alima) Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets; and Allah has full knowledge of all things.
At last the work was declared complete. Al Ma’idah 5:4 announces:
(Al yauma akmaltu lakum dinakum wa atmamtu ‘alaikum ni’mati wa raditu lakumul Islama dina) This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed My favour upon you and have chosen for you Islam as religion.
Islam was now the faith for all people and all time. Aal e Imran 3:20 states:
(Innad dina ‘indallahil Islam) Surely, the true religion with Allah is Islam (complete submission).
Aal e Imran 3:86 adds:
(Wa man yabtaghi ghairal Islami dinan falan yuqbala minhu wa huwa fil akhirati minal khasirin) And whoso seeks a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the life to come he shall be among the losers.
Here lies the great difference. Moses(as) and Jesus(as) also rose through stages. Yet their missions were bound to one people and one age. Of Jesus(as) the Quran says in Aal e Imran 3:50:
(Wa Rasulan ila Bani Isra’il) And will make him a Messenger to the children of Israel.
The Holy Prophet(sa) alone was raised for all mankind, and his teaching alone was sealed as final.
The same law of gradual unfolding appears in the Promised Messiah(as). He first came as a Mujaddid, a reformer of his century. He did not claim more. He writes that he had held the common belief about the return of Jesus(as), until divine revelations descended like rain affirming that he himself was the Promised Messiah (Haqiqatul Wahi, page 183). He adds that he had long thought he could not be compared with Jesus(as). Then revelation came upon him like pouring rain, and the title of Prophet was clearly bestowed, as a Prophet in one aspect and a follower of the Holy Prophet(sa) in another (Haqiqatul Wahi, page 184). The Mujaddid became the Messiah and Mahdi. The station came by stages, and every stage came through the Holy Prophet(sa).
What of the ordinary believer? Faith is a secret between a person and God. How He grants dreams and grace is His business alone. Khalifatul Masih IV(rh) reminded those who longed to see the Holy Prophet(sa) in a dream that such sight is a gift of God. Our duty is simply to follow. Aal e Imran 3:32 gives the cardinal rule.
(Qul in kuntum tuhibbunallaha fattabi’uni yuhbibkumullahu wa yaghfir lakum dhunubakum, wallahu Ghafurur Rahim) Say, If you love Allah, follow me: then will Allah love you and forgive you your faults. And Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful.
Moses(as) told Pharaoh the same truth in Ta Ha 20:51.
(Qala Rabbunal ladhi a’ta kulla shai’in khalqahu thumma hada) He said, Our Lord is He Who gave unto everything its proper form and then guided it to its proper function.
Form comes first. Guidance follows. The heart receives only according to its purity, just as water takes the colour of its vessel. Yusuf(as) waited years before his boyhood dream came true. When it did, he said in Yusuf 12:101:
(Ya abati hadha ta’wilu ru’yaya min qablu qad ja’alaha Rabbi haqqa) O my father, this is the fulfilment of my dream of old. My Lord has made it true.
God is never in a hurry, and He is never late. He reared a prophet before His own eye. He widened a mission from a few kinsmen to the whole of mankind. He raised a reformer to the station of Messiah. Each was shaped before he was sent. Perhaps the same patient hand is shaping us. Perhaps our trials are our Midian. The question is whether we will be found ready when our own small call arrives.
Allahu a’lam: Allah knows best.