Is there any category of the prophets? And what are the modes of revelation?

From an Islamic perspective, the prophets may be divided into two basic categories.

• Those who are referred to as a Nabi, which is translated as a Prophet.
• Those who are referred to as a Rasool, or a Messenger.

Generally, the term ‘Prophet’ is used for both; meaning that they are chosen by God and received revelation from Him. However, its distinction is made between those who received revelation and did not receive the scripture and those who did. Those who received the revelation and scriptures are commonly referred to as Messengers. They are the special group among the prophets; in general, those who received revelation. Those who did not receive the books of revelation confirm the scripture that came before them, or their particular circumstance which they were in, where their job was only to convey the message to a small group of people. Revelation came in 3 basic ways. Allah identifies how revelation came and this is the key point, for determining who the Prophet is and who is not.

A Prophet is commonly believed to be one who prophesies. Therefore, somebody like Nostry Da’mus, who prophesized a number of events, of which only a very small percentage turned out to be accurate, is sometimes referred to as a prophet. Edward Grassy, an individual who relied on information from his dreams, or while being in the state of dreaming, was referred to as the sleeping prophet, and many people actually followed and believed in him. Nevertheless, from an Islamic perspective, the prophets are those who truly received revelation. They were always accurate in their prophecies because they were men of God, in their private lives as well as their public lives and they carried one hundred percent correct information. Allah says in the Qur'an, describing the ways of revelation:

وَمَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَن يُكَلِّمَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِلَّا وَحۡيًا أَوۡ مِن وَرَآىِٕ حِجَابٍ أَوۡ يُرۡسِلَ رَسُولاً۬ فَيُوحِىَ بِإِذۡنِهِۦ مَا يَشَآءُ‌ۚ إِنَّهُ ۥ عَلِىٌّ حَڪِيمٌ۬ (٥١

“And it is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation or from behind a partition or that He sends a messenger to reveal, by His permission, what He wills. Indeed, He is Most High and Wise.”[1]

First category of revelation

The first method translated as inspiration; WAHY – that Allah conveys His word, and His guidance is by way of WAHY. What this refers to primarily, is true dreams. As Aa'ishah (رضى الله عنها) reported, “the first form of revelation came to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ), as true dreams during his sleep. Whenever he (ﷺ) had a dream it would come true clearly, like a day break.”[2]

This is how revelation began. We know from the story of Prophet Ibrahim (عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ), when Allah revealed to him in his dream that he had to sacrifice his son. Prophet Ibrahim (عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ) acted on that dream knowing that what he sees in the dream is true revelation. So, for prophets one of the modes of revelation is through their dreams. Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) has said regarding true dreams, that as “the final hour approaches the dreams of the believer will hardly fail to come true.”[3] That is true believers will experience more and more true dreams.

What is a true dream?

True dream is where one dream of something and it comes to happen in the daily life. It is from Allah and it is a sign which Allah has left with mankind, to show those who would deny God’s existence, and that there are powers beyond our own. Showing them the future as true dreams are not limited only to believers, but non-believers and non-Muslims also experiences this. So this is a sign which Allah leaves within them as individuals, to know, and to be certain that God is real.

How does one know that it had a true dream?

When the dream comes true; as for prophets there is no distinction of their dreams being true or not because whatever they dreamt, came true and they could depend on it as being revelation from Allah. But as for the rest of mankind, we cannot depend on it and be sure that it is a true dream. We don’t know that it is a true dream until it actually comes true. So one cannot assume that having one true dream, would mean that all other dreams are also true dreams. They start to inform and tell people to be aware because; this going to happen or that going to happen. We are not supposed to make claims as such. If one does this, then one is taking upon oneself fortune-telling. We don’t know that the dream is true, until it comes true.

The second category of dreams

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, that it is from Satan. And he described these dreams as bad dreams and fearful dreams; the dreams which cause fear or terrifies in your dreams etc. and these dreams represents the interference from the world of the Jinns, and evil spirits in our dream state. Good dreams, the Prophet (ﷺ) instructed, that we should narrate them to others. So, good dream, we are allowed to narrate it to others because of the positive information therein and the fact that it would remind others about God. However, the evil dreams that we have, Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) instructed us not to convey to others. This is very important, as a lot of people get caught up into dream interpretations and there are some very horrible and hideous dreams and those who have such dreams may ask and insist on people to explain what that means. Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) has said that we should not relay bad dreams to others. He said in another narration, “a good dream comes from Allah and a bad dream comes from devil. So, when one gets the dream which he does not like (he should) spit three times on his left side and seek refuge from Allah from its evil and then it would not harm him.”[4] In another narration conveyed by Abu Saeed Al Khudhri, “if anyone of you has a dream that he likes, then it is from Allah, he should thank Allah for it and narrate it to others and if has a dream which he dislikes, that is from Satan, he should seek refuge in Allah from its evil and he should not mention it to anybody, then it would not harm him.”[5] This is a very important principle, which most people neglect. We should abide by the principle outlined by Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) in this regard.

The third category we say is the rambling of the mind

There is no need to narrate them as they are meaningless. It represents things which are important to us in our day to day life and they are the things from our personal experiences that come back to us in a dream form usually jumbled up and in an incoherent manner. You don’t need to find meaning and sense from it.

Second category of revelation

The second category of Revelation was from behind the veil. The veil is the form of light which veils Allah from His creation. When Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) went into the heavens and he communicated with Allah and returned, conveying this information to his companions, they asked him whether he (ﷺ) saw Allah and his response was, “How could I see Him, all that I saw was light.”[6] In another narration by Abu Moosa, he quotes Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) as saying, “Verily Allah does not sleep nor is it befitting for Him to sleep. He is the one who lowers the scale of deeds and raises them and His veil is light.”[7] So, Allah is veiled in light but from behind that veil, Allah has communicated with his prophets. Prophet Moosa (عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ) was also known as Kalimullah (the one to whom Allah spoke). Allah mentions in the Qur'an, in more than one place, that Allah actually spoke to Prophet Moosa (عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ). Allah also spoke to Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) during the night journey and revealed to him the last two verses of Surah Baqarah[8]. This is one of the modes by which Allah communicated with His prophets, whether Allah spoke to other prophets or not, we cannot say. The above two are specifically mentioned, but that does not mean that other prophets were not spoken to. On a regular basis Allah communicated to Prophet Moosa (عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ) and on one occasion he spoke directly to Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ).

Third category of revelation is through angels

The most common way of receiving the revelation after that of true dreams, was by the agency of the messengers who is referred to in the Qur'an, as angel Jibreel or Gabriel. According to the explanations given to us by Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), angel Gabriel appeared and communicated with him, about Allah’s message, on two occasions in his natural form which is the form so huge and majestic, that it filled the whole horizon in all directions in which the Prophet (ﷺ) looked. A more common way in which revelation came to him, was when he took the form of a man to give the message, and on few occasions, he came visible to the companions. The hadith of Jibreel, was an occasion when the Prophet (ﷺ) was sitting by his companions, and was asked, by a man, to tell him about Islam. The companions  were silent and shy to ask anything, when this man came walking in the desert with extremely white clothes, very black hair, showing no sign of travelling, came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and asked  him, What is Islam? What is Emaan (faith)? What is Ehsaan (righteousness)? After this incident Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) informed his companions that the man was angel Gabriel who came to teach them their religion.[9]

Not often, but on some occasions the angel came in the form of man and visible to the Prophet’s (ﷺ) companions. However, on most occasions when the angel came he was not visible. The Prophet (ﷺ) described how the revelation came to him; that sometimes when it came sounding like bells ringing sort of chain in drone rock, sometimes it came in a form that was such strenuous  that the Prophet  (ﷺ) started to sweat even in winter days. At any rate when revelation came to the prophets, it was in these three basic forms:-

1. Inspirations from true dreams
2. Direct communication from Allah from behind the veil of light
3. By the agency of Messengers, the Angels that carry revelation, particularly the angel Gabriel.

References:

[1] Quran, 42:51

[2] Bukhari [Vol. 6, Book 60,Hadith 478]

[3] Bukhari 7017, Shaih Muslim Book 29, Hadith 6042

[4] Shaih al-Bukhari 7044

[5] Shaih al-Bukhari  7045

[6] Shaih Muslim Book 1, Hadith 341

[7] Shaih Muslim Book 1, Hadith 352

[8] Shaih Muslim 173

[9] Muslim, Kitab al-Emaan, no. 1