Did Prophets emerge only in Mesopotamia and Arabia?
Almost all of the prophets mentioned in the Quran emerged in the Mediterranean basin, to be precise, in Mesopotamia and Arabia. It leads us to the idea that most of the prophets emerged in the East and Middle East. What is the wisdom and reason behind it? Were prophets not sent to other places of the world and other nations? If they were, why were they not mentioned in the Quran?
Almost all of the prophets mentioned in the Quran emerged in the Mediterranean basin, to be precise, in Mesopotamia and Arabia. It leads us to the idea that most of the prophets emerged in the East and Middle East. What is the wisdom and reason behind it? Were prophets not sent to other places of the world and other nations? If they were, why were they not mentioned in the Quran?
It is an issue that is frequently asked and that can always come to one’s mind.
If the points mentioned below are taken into consideration, the issue will be clarified and it will be understood that the mankind was never left without any prophets in any time or place:
a) It is stated in the Quran that each nation was sent a prophet 44 and that no nation will be held responsible unless they are sent a prophet.45 It means that God Almighty did not leave man without a prophet and guidance in any period of history for a long time. There was always either a prophet himself in each nation or the inheritors of a prophet that will teach that nation the decrees and judgments that the prophet brought.
The science of history, which is based on material evidence and documents, do not know very much about the past of the humanity except the information given in the heavenly books. The unknown parts and questions increase as we go deep in history. The documents obtained as a result of the archeological digs prove that the belief of oneness was present in the ancient nations (for instance in ancient Egypt) unlike the claim of Durkheim sociology. It was observed in astonishment that Pygmies living in Africa had a kind of oneness belief though they are regarded among the most primitive types of human beings. Furthermore, the scientists determined that among the primitive religious thoughts of the primitive tribes of America, which was discovered at the end of the 15th century, there were some elements that could only come from the religion of oneness.(*)
They show that prophets were sent to people living in various parts of the earth in ancient times and that they conveyed the true religion to them and that those nations were able to maintain only some of the remains of those true religion.
b) The following is stated in the Quran: “We sent not a messenger except (to teach) in the language of his (own) people.”46
Therefore, the science of history will not teach us anything about the religions and prophets the nations whose languages were not written down and who did not have a deep culture. There is not a didactic benefit in mentioning the prophets and holy books of those nations that are not known very well and to narrate the struggle that those prophets had against their nations.
c) Allah, the Exalted, who has profound wisdom, chose His last Prophet (pbuh) among a nation that led a plain life, had simple philosophies and beliefs and were chivalrous. Therefore, the messages of the Last Prophet were maintained, memorized and written down without being distorted, or being exposed to the invasion of culture that could have come from nearby, and attained the attribute of being unchanged.
The hometown of the Last Prophet was near the Mediterranean basin, which was the source of culture and civilization. Therefore, the Quran mentioned the prophets and their nations that lived in this basin and narrated their exemplary stories because they were the nearest examples.
The Quran did not mention America, which had not been discovered then, and Middle and South Africa, in which people lived a primitive life. It did not mention India, the land of legends and numerous beliefs and thoughts, either...
In short: God Almighty sent prophets to not only the people of Mediterranean but also all of the responsible inhabitants of the earth.
However, both the holy books and the science of history mentioned only the nations of the prophets that managed to establish civilizations, to somewhat maintain the message of their prophets and to be included in history with their works; the Quran narrated the exemplary stories of the struggle of the truth and the wrong of those people. 47
Footnotes:
44 Yunus. 47; Fatir, 24
45 al-Isra, 15
45 al-Isra, 15
***
(*) When the history of religion, philosophy and anthropology are studied today, it stands out that there are many common points in communities that are very far away from one another. In brief, going toward the single one from many, opening hands for supplication to Allah when faced by unbearable misfortunes by forgetting everything, common attitudes and actions in the relations with metaphysical events; they all indicate the same source and teacher. The same color and decoration is seen, and the same song and joy is felt in the rituals and hymns from the natives of canary islands to Mayans, from the Red Indians to cannibals.
The comments of Prof. Dr. Mahmud Mustafa related to two very wild tribes confirm the issue. According to the statement of the Doctor, Maumaus believe in a god called Mu-cay. That god is one in his personality and activities. He did not beget; he was not begotten. There is none similar to him. He is not seen or known. He can only be known through his works. He reports similar things for the tribe Neyamneyam: there is a god that is dominant over everything, that makes everything in the jungle act with his will, that sends lightning to evil people; he is the absolute divinity.
As it is seen, there is not much difference between that concept of god and the divine personality in the Quran. We can even say that Maumaus utter the chapter of al-Ikhlas..
Although those primitive tribes that are so far away from civilization and out of the area of the influence of the prophets that we know do not know even the simplest laws of life, how did they know about that deep and pure concept of Allah? It means the following statement is a divine and universal reality and no place in the world is outside the area of influence of that reality: “To every people (was sent) an Messenger: when their Messenger comes (before them), the matter will be judged between them with justice and they will not be wronged.” (Yunus, 47)
Dr. Adil, a mathematics professor from Kirkuk, whom I met in 1968, narrated things similar to what Dr. Mahmud Mustafa reported. Talking frequently to the natives when he was doing his doctorate in America, the Doctor was astonished at what he saw. The natives performed rituals based on the creed of oneness. They believed that Allah did not eat or drink, that He was outside of time and that everything in the universe subjected to His will.
They mentioned so many salbi (negation) and wujudi (existence) attributes that it is impossible to associate that highness in their thoughts with the wildness and primitiveness in their lives.
That is, the same creed and thoughts seen in the remotest places of the world in the east and west can only be explained by the messengers sent there by the Owner of the Universe. It is not possible to attribute the balanced creed of oneness, which even the greatest philosophers cannot comprehend, to Maumaus, Neyamneyams and Mayas, who live wildly. That is, the divine power, which does not leave ants without a leader and bees without a queen, did not leave human beings without a prophet; He sent His light to the times and places.” (Sızıntı October 1979, issue: 9).
Footnotes:
46 Ibrahim, 4
47 B. Topaloğlu, Nesil, v. I, issue 3, December 1976
47 B. Topaloğlu, Nesil, v. I, issue 3, December 1976
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