Question
Assalamu aleikum
Why are all the prophets mentioned in the Qur’an from the Middle East? Was any prophet sent to India?
Answer
wa alaikumussalaam
Thank you for writing to us.
Given that the primary audience of the Qur’an belonged to the Arabian Peninsula, it addresses personalities, nations, and prophets familiar to them. There is a common misconception that all the prophets emerged from the region commonly referred to as the Middle East. This is inaccurate. The Qur’an informs us that God raised Anbiyaa (sing. Nabi) and Rusul (sing. Rasool) in every nation across the world at various points in history. Many of these prophets are from ancient times and remain unknown to people today. As the Almighty states in the Qur’an:
وَلِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُوْلٌ فَإِذَا جَآءَ رَسُوْلُهُمْ قُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمْ بِالْقِسْطِ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُوْنَ
[His law is that] for every nation there is a Rasool. Then, when their Rasool comes their fate is justly decided and no injustice comes to them.
10:47
Further, He says,
وَّلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ هَادٍ.
… and for each nation, there was a guide…
13:7
Addressing the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), God says:
وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلًا مِّنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْهُمْ مَّنْ قَصَصْنَا عَلَيْكَ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ لَّمْ نَقْصُصْ عَلَيْكَ
… Before you also, We sent many messengers. There are those among them whose accounts We have narrated to you and those also whose accounts We have not.
40:78
The way the history of the prophets is presented in the Qur’an, we see that before Abraham (pbuh), God raised the prophets and the messengers among all the nations at different times. However, after Abraham (pbuh), prophethood was restricted to his progeny and all subsequent prophets were raised among his descendants. In other words, God selected the entire progeny of Abraham (pbuh) to carry out a special task. The Qur’an says:
إِنَّ اللّهَ اصْطَفَى آدَمَ وَنُوحًا وَآلَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَآلَ عِمْرَانَ عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ
God chose Adam and Noah, Abraham’s progeny and the progeny of ‘Imran above the people of the world.
3:33
Before the person of Abraham (pbuh), the most well-known prophet is Noah (pbuh).
In my view, shared by some other scholars, the Indians are the followers of Prophet Noah (pbuh). However, in Indian tradition, he is referred to as Manu, or more specifically ‘Manu Vaivasvata.‘ The narrative of Prophet Noah (pbuh) in the Bible and the Qur’an bears a striking resemblance to the story of Manu and the Deluge as recounted in various Indian religious texts such as the Shatapatha Brahmana, the Mahabharata, and the Puranas, albeit with some variations. Additionally, Manu is mentioned in numerous Vedic hymns.
It is conceivable that the Indian tradition gradually lost the concept of prophethood with the rise of various philosophical and mystical thoughts. Nevertheless, they continue to identify with the figure of Manu. A comprehensive discussion on the identification of Manu with Noah lies beyond the scope of this response.
For more details, please refer to my video presentation ‘Prophethood And Hindu Religion – Traces Of Prophethood In Early Hindu Texts‘
Regards,
Mushfiq Sultan
Assistant Fellow, Al-Mawrid
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