Islam & Revelation (Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B)

Revelation as Proof of Allah’s Existence

The nature of revelation

• Revelation refers to the way God makes himself known to humans

• There are two types of revelation: general and special

• General revelation is an experience, open to all, which can lead anyone to recognise God’s work

  • Examples of general revelation might include amazing scenes found in nature, such as the rock formations of the Grand Canyon (pictured below), or a beautiful sunrise 

• Special revelations are communications from God which gives the people who receive them information about God and can have a powerful effect on them

  • Examples might include visions or miracles

  • This is known as wahy in Islam

• Special revelations can be direct revelations from God

• They can also be indirect revelations

  • These come through a messenger, such as a prophet rather than directly from God

  • Holy books (not the Qur’an) are indirect revelation as they have human authors

• The Qur’an explains that for Muslims, God speaks to people in three ways:

  • Directly, for example through dreams

  • Indirectly or ‘from behind a veil’ such as seeing a vision

  • Through a messenger or prophet

• The most common way Allah has revealed himself to humanity is through messengers

• These messengers, or prophets, include:

  • Adam, Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Dawud (David), Isa (Jesus), and Muhammad (pbuh) who is known as the Seal of the Prophets

• Some of these messengers brought messages from Allah, others brought holy books

• For Muslims, each has revealed important aspects of Allah for Muslims to understand more of his nature

• The Qur’an says that after Allah has sent all of these messengers, mankind would have no excuse before God, because people have had so many chances to learn about Allah’s nature and to follow him

• The revelations are not just confined to the prophets

  • Some of the revelations (wahy) were received from people around the prophets

    • For example, the mothers of both Isa (Jesus) and Musa (Moses) 

  • Even enemies of the messengers were spoken to by God

    • For example, the Fir’awn (Pharoah), when he and his troops were drowning and cried out to him

  • Even the bees experience wahy according to the Qur’an:

• All of these examples show that although revelations are sent in different times and contexts, they are all from Allah

Revelation as Shown in the Qur'an

• The Qur’an is seen by Muslims as direct revelation

• It is the direct and unchanged word of Allah as recited to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

  • Muslims know Allah better through reading its words

  • They can understand the nature of Allah through the messages in the Qur’an

  • The Qur’an explains that this revelation gives them the final and perfect guidance for how to live

• The revelation of the Qur’an to bring spiritual life to humans has been compared to rain bringing new life to the earth

• Muslims would say that the Qur'an's revelation is proof of Allah’s existence because if there was no Allah, this message and guidance could not exist

Divergent Understandings of Revelation

• Some non-believers might say that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was ‘mad’ or misguided

  • The Qur’an responds directly to the likelihood that this would happen

• Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was the final messenger, the 'seal' of the Prophets

  • The Qur’an also explains very clearly that he brought a message of truth

• Many Muslims believe that all revelation stopped after the time of Muhammad (pbuh)

  • Muhammad (pbuh) was the final messenger, the 'seal' of the Prophets

  • They would say that the Qur’an, Sunnah and Hadith provide a complete guide to life

  • There is no need to add to this complete, perfect message

  • They would use this teaching in the Qur’an to support their belief

• Other Muslims would say that Allah is eternal, and therefore he could still speak now if he chose to

  • They would say that the Qur’an teaches that there are angels who convey messages to believers and appear at Laylat al-Qadr

  • The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said that once each century a mujaddid sent by Allah would appear in the Ummah

  • The Hadith refers several times to a Mahdi who will arrive at a later time and will receive revelations

• There are also divergent understandings of what revelation shows about the nature of Allah

  • Allah is merciful and involved in his creation

    • But he is also a judge, especially at the Day of Judgement

  • These revelations show that Allah is so close to humans that he is able to communicate directly with them

    • But the Qur’an also teaches that Allah is transcendent and beyond human understanding