Introduction
The first man Hazrat Adam was also the first prophet. He was educated and chosen by his Lord; he was taught the wisdom, aims and benefits of things, and was made superior to angels; thus, he was chosen as the caliph on the earth.
There are two ways, as favor and evil, good and bad, ugly and nice, in front of man. The talents and abilities in man could take him either way. One of the ways takes him to the lowest of the low, that is, to the bottom of Hell; the other takes him to the highest of the high, that is, to the highest place in Paradise.
Thus, man needs guides and educators that will inform him about the commands and prohibitions of Allah, that will answer astonishing and difficult questions like Where are you coming from?, Where are you going?, What will you do in this world? concisely, nicely and perfectly showing that man really deserves to be the caliph on the earth and the most honorable creature, that will ensure him to develop his talents and abilities in a positive way and that will serve as models for him.
Those guides are prophets that were chosen among people and that were equipped with high ethics and good manners. God Almighty sent exemplary people like that to almost every community in every century. Those prophets served as examples for the communities they lived in with the messages they conveyed, and with their good manners and conduct; they educated them spiritually and transformed both their world and hereafter into Paradise.
Prophets made people develop good manners and conduct that is very important for the community like keeping ones promise, observing the rights of others, not telling lies, not cheating people, observing the rights of the poor and the weak, doing ones parents and relatives favors.
People living today need the guidance of prophets more than people that lived before. It is only possible by accepting the life of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH), whose religion and call is universal, and who is the representative of high ethics and good manners for humanity. It is because he is the imam (leader) of all of the believers, the preacher of all of the jinn and men, the chief of all of the antecedent prophets and the first link of the awliya (saints) and asfiya (selected people) chain that will come after him.
Humanity can only reach universal peace and quiet like that. Gaston Care states it as follows: If Islam disappears from the world, it will be impossible to maintain universal peace."
In this book, there are examples from the stories of previous prophets and signs indicating what messages we can receive from those stories. Attention is drawn to the misfortunes that previous communities experienced and to their exemplary state because of not heeding the messages of their prophets.
It is for us to try, and for Allah to give success.
Korkuteli- 2008
Authors
Prof. Dr. Musa Kazım YILMAZ
Prof. Dr. Ali BAKKAL
Ass. Prof. Hikmet AKDEMİR
Dr. Mehmet DİLEK
Lecturer Abdülkadir AYDIN
Editors
Prof. Dr. Âdem TATLI
Prof. Dr. Ömer Rıza AKGÜN
Lecturer Dr. İdris GÖRMEZ
Hatem ÖZPOLAT
General Coordinator
Prof. Dr. Yunus ÇENGEL
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