Sixth Point: Were there any prophets among the forefathers Hz. Muhammad (pbuh)?

SIXTH POINT

You ask: “Were there any prophets among the forefathers of Allah’s Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)?”

T h e A n s w e r : There is no certain narration that there were any after Isma‘il (Upon whom be peace). Only two prophets appeared, called Khalid b. Sinan and Hanzala, who were not his ancestors. But one of his forefathers, Ka‘b b. Lu’ayy, composing the following famous and explicit poem, as though quoting scripture, The Prophet Muhammad comes at a time of neglect giving tidings most true,¹ resembles prophetic and miraculous utterance. Relying on both evidence and illumination, Imam-i Rabbani said: “Numerous prophets appeared in India. But because some of them had no followers or their followers were restricted to only a few people, they did not become well-known, or were not called prophets.”

And so, in consequence of this principle of the Imam, it is possible there were prophets of this kind among the Prophet’s forefathers.

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1. See, page 206, fn. 349.