What Allah Gave Only to His Prophets

Finally, some of the unique characteristics of the anbiyāʾ. The anbiyāʾ of Allah (swt) are bashar: they're human beings. They're human beings, but they have some unique qualities which make them different, unique.

Number one: al-waḥy, revelation. They received waḥy from Allah (swt); they received revelation. That's the first unique quality of the anbiyāʾ.

Number two: the anbiyāʾ of Allah (swt) don't sleep as we do. Their eyes sleep, but their hearts don't. The Prophet (peace be upon him) says in the hadith narrated by al-Bukhārī: and the prophets — their eyes sleep, but their hearts don't. And by the way, when you say they don't sleep — their hearts are always awake. They're carrying so much responsibility, and they have so much concern, and they're so attached to Allah (swt), that the heart can't sleep; and the heart is always attached to Allah (swt).

Number three: al-ʿiṣmah, infallibility. It is agreed upon among the scholars of Islam that the anbiyāʾ of Allah (swt) never commit major sins. They never commit major sins. And it's also the ijmāʿ of the Muslims that the anbiyāʾ of Allah (swt) never commit a sin in conveying the message: so they would never conceal knowledge, for example; they would never betray the trust; they would never break a promise; they would never lie. And this is the consensus of all of the ʿulamāʾ.

In terms of mistakes — very small, minor sins — it is the opinion of the majority of the Ummah that the anbiyāʾ could commit mistakes; but Allah (swt) doesn't leave them unnoticed. Allah corrects them during their life, so that when they pass away, they leave us a message that is completely, one hundred percent pure; there are no mistakes in it. So when Sayyidunā Dāwūd (peace be upon him) made a mistake in the judgement, Allah (swt) corrected him. So Allah (swt) doesn't leave the messengers without teaching them what is right. Therefore whatever the anbiyāʾ leave us is one hundred percent pure, infallible, without any mistakes. And that is called al-ʿiṣmah, ʿiṣmat al-anbiyāʾ: the infallibility of the prophets.

The fourth quality which is unique to the anbiyāʾ of Allah (swt): their soul is never taken until they give permission. For us, our death is unannounced. The angel of death, when he comes to you, is not going to seek your permission. He's not going to knock on your door and say: can you please allow me in? He's going to come and take it, whether you like it or not. With the anbiyāʾ of Allah (swt), the angel of death comes to them and seeks their permission first, and tells them that he has come to take their soul. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says in the hadith: no prophet falls ill except that he is given the choice between this world and the next. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says: any prophet who becomes ill — and this is the illness of death — any prophet who becomes ill is given the choice of dunyā or ākhirah. They choose. And this hadith is narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.

Number five: yuqbaru ḥaythu yamūt. Every prophet is buried at exactly the spot where he dies; they're not carried from one place to another. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says: lam yuqbar nabiyyun illā ḥaythu yamūt — narrated by Imam Aḥmad. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says: every prophet is buried where he dies.

Number six: the earth doesn't decompose their bodies and eat away their bodies. The bodies of the anbiyāʾ are protected in their graves; and the animals and the insects of the earth, and the erosion caused by the earth, don't affect their bodies. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says, in the hadith narrated by Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī — and Ibn Khuzaymah has said it is ṣaḥīḥ: inna Allāha ḥarrama ʿalā al-arḍi an taʾkula ajsāda al-anbiyāʾ — Allah has made it ḥarām for the earth to eat away the bodies of the anbiyāʾ. The body of the Nabī is just like it was when he was alive. It doesn't go through the natural process of decomposing that we are susceptible to. The anbiyāʾ of Allah (swt): Allah, as an honour for them, preserves their bodies in their graves, wherever they are.

Finally, number seven: they are alive in their graves. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says in the hadith: al-anbiyāʾu aḥyāʾun fī qubūrihim yuṣallūn — the prophets are alive in their graves, and praying.