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CHAPTER 1
1. ANCIENT PROPHETS AND THEIR FOLLOWERS
1.1 Prophet Adam
After prophet Adam was born out of dust, and his spouse Eve of his left rib, and after Azazeel (satan) was punished for his disobedience to God (as he had refused to obey God’s command to bow down before Adam) the two ate from the tree of Knowledge against the Will of God, with the result that, all three of them were drawn out of the heavens and placed on earth for a time. For a long period Adam and Eve were kept away from each other. Their supplications and prayers were answered when God forgave them and they were providentially rejoined at Mount Arafat in Arabia.
1.2 Habeel and Qabeel
Subsequently, their first son Qabeel and later, Habeel, were born. During a quarrel between the two regarding a matrimonial tussle, Qabeel’s offering God deemed rejected, whilst the acceptance of Habeel’s enraged Qabeel insofar as to slay him. At the end of his life, Prophet Adam made his another son named Sheeth, whom in his likeness, a natural successor to Adam’s Prophethood.
1.3 Prophet Noah
The generations passed between the Prophethood of Adam and Noah. During this period, humans followed the instructions of the Prophet of theirs, as regards their submission to God. However, the followers of Prophet Noah, due to continuous disobedience and constant revolt, scorning Noah and his message, were destroyed by a terrible flood. [1]
As the world began to repopulate with the progeny of Prophet Noah, the latter is sometimes referred to Adam’s generation re-born. His three sons, Sam, Ham and Yafath are the common ancestors of present humankind, and further, the Arab and Jewish peoples are descendant from Sam. Ham’s offspring populated all of Sudan and North Africa, while the Tartar, Turkish, Iranian, Indian, Chinese, and European peoples belong to the genealogy of Yafath. [2]
1.4 ‘Ad and Prophet Hud
Prophet Hud was sent by God to guide a people, known as Ad, but they rejected and disobeyed their Prophet, with the result that, the said nation was destroyed by God, after Prophet Hood had prayed for this devastation. The Ad people lived in Syria and were highly civilized.
1.5 Thamud, Babylon, Harut and Marut
Prophet Saleh was sent to another nation, known to us as Thamud. They too, were a civilized people and lived in Iraq. The people of Thamud were responsible for having established the two ancient civilizations of Babylonia and Assyria, with their metropolises of splendour and fortitude; Babylon and Nineheva respectively. The tower of Nimrod, Babel erected in the city of Babylon is the site where the Angels Haroot and Maroot were sent for trial of their integrity, in the face of the allurement of the earth and of the flesh, by God. [3]
1.5.1 Children of Israel
The Jews went astray in the evil company of the disbelievers of this region, with the result that a number of prophets were killed by them, only Prophet Ilyas, remained having preceded by David and Solomon, they then ruled over the Children of Israel. Failure to repent for misgivings whilst insistent on their irreligious behaviour, they were ruled by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia, who defeated them and enslaved them. The ancient empire of Babylonia was destroyed by the Iranian Monarch, Xerxes.
1.6 Prophet Abraham
When Duhak ruled over Iran and Nimrod over Babylonia, Prophet Abraham was born in the ancient city of Babylon. His father Aadhar was a counselor of King Nimrod. Unhappy with his father’s and his people’s idol-worship, Abraham left Babylon, along with his wife Sarah and his nephew, Prophet Lot, and settled in Canaan (Syria and Palestine). [4] Prophet Isaac was born of Sarah, who stayed in Canaan, while Ismail was born of Hajjar who settled in Mecca. Prophet Jacob was the son of Isaac, and had a dozen sons, including Prophet Yusuf, who later became King of Egypt. [5]
1.7 Moses
Prophet Moses was born among the Children of Israel, adopted by the wife of the Pharaonic king[6] with his step-siblings Mary and Haroon. He is reputed to have the Vision of God, with whom he conversed on Jebel i-Toor in Sinai, where he was invested with extraordinary capabilities. Moses led the Children of Israel when they migrated from Egypt to Syria due to the unbearable oppression their rulers (Ramses I and II) forced upon them. It was said that it was in the Sinai that Mann – O – Salwa (food from heavens) was sent to the Children of Israel by providential ordainment, in answer to the prayers of Prophet Moses. Further, on Mount Sinai, the Holy Taurah was revealed to Moses. [7]
The Children of Israel conquered a number of Kingdoms in Syria and Palestine, under his leadership, in one legendary battle the King of Balaq and Bal’am bin Baur were overthrown. Before his own death, Prophet Moses had prophesied the Last Prophethood of Hadrat Muhammad  , where they remained inserted in the Book of Istithna [8] until recently. Prophet Moses had induced the Prophet Yusha to cross the River Jordan and conquer the lands of Lebanon and Canaan where he died nearby in the land of Mo’ab around the River Jordan.
1.8 David and Goliath
After the death of Prophet Yusha, the Children of Israel established a nominal republic in Palestine, soon thereafter, however, a polytheist king, Goliath, overpowered them. These were moments in history that included Prophet Samuel, but the Children of Israel did not heed his guidance. When Prophet Samuel had selected Talut as the king of Israel later he was killed by the son of Goliath. Earlier having displeased the Prophet Samuel, Talut harboured enmity towards the following Prophet David, and therefore sought asylum with the son of Goliath. Talut belonged to the tribe of the Bani-Yameen, while Prophet David belonged to that of the Bani-Yehuda. After the death of Talut, one of the twelve tribes of the Children of Israel, the Bani Yehuda recalled Prophet David and made him their King in the city of Hebron. Yet, the other tribes accepted Ashbost ibn Talut as their spiritual and temporal leader. Their schism led to an outbreak of civil war between them and having won, Prophet David was accepted as the sole leader of the tribes of the Children of Israel. He followed the dictates of the Taurah, and to him was revealed the Psalms (Zuboor). He died and was buried in Jerusalem.
1.9 Solomon
After Prophet David, Prophet Solomon arrived as king of the Bani Israil, and he too a remarkably prosperous and popular ruler. His reign was the golden age of the Children of Israel’s ancient history whilst following the Taurah strictly. He was buried near the grave of David near Jerusalem. His son, Ruj’am became king of Palestine, but as unworthy successor to his father his efforts were insignificant. As a result, the tribes of the Children of Israel, notwithstanding Bani Yehuda, declared Yarba’Am their king and the civil war continued amongst the tribes. One of the descendants of Prophet Solomon, king Akhi-Ab had married a polytheist queen Isabel, resulting in open idolatry amongst the Children of Israel. He was responsible for having many Prophets and clergy men executed.
1.10 Ilyas
It was the time of Hadrat Ilyas among them when the kings of Palestine, in ascending order, Yahu, Akhtaryah, and Yahuram endured the continuing rebellion of the Children of Israel against their leadership with the astonishing result that both Prophet Ilyas and Prophet Al-Yasa surrendered their hope for the Children of Israel to return back to the truth and face correction. As a result, God raised the Prophet Ilyas to the Heavens; and Prophet Al-Yasa having passed to the next life opened Palestine for attack by Nebuchadnezzar,[9] king of Babylonia, when Al-Yaqeem sat on the throne of the Children of Israel. Al-Yaqeem was killed in battle, accompanied by his family, while Jerusalem was destroyed and the Children were made slaves. Those who escaped this calamity fled to neighbouring countries and regions. At the end of his rule Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, King Xerxes of Iran invaded Babylonia, and after having it conquered, overran Palestine and prepared the Children of Israel as his subjects.
1.10.1 Alexander of Macedonia et al.
Thereafter, when Iran was under King Dara (Darius), Alexander (Sikander) of Macedonia (Greece) conquered Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Iran and entered the land which is now Pakistan crossing over Afghanistan and Transoxiana. [10] After the death of Alexander, King Ardsher Babak bin Bahman bin Asfandyar liberated Iran from the Greeks, but the Children of Israel continued to remain a captive people, at first of the Kings of Babylonia, then of those of Iran, then of the Greeks and Romans, and eventually of Islam.
1.11 More Prophets of the Children of Israel
As slaves of Nebuchadnezzar, the Prophets Uzair and Yarmiyah were sent to them, and it was Prophet Uzair who, after having remained dead for almost a century, was revived by God in Jerusalem. Prophet Ayub, whose incredibly super-human qualities of patience, forbearance, piety and complete devotion to God are proverbial testament during these tribulations amongst the Children of Israel. Their other Prophets Yarmiyah, Yas’iyah, Daniyal, Hosiyah, ‘Amus, Abdiyah among others and certainly Prophet Yunus, from Nineheva (Assyria); in repute his test in being swallowed by a whale, where he remained imprisoned for an extended period of time, until God answered his supplications and released him.
1.12 Dhakarya, Yahya, and Isa’
When the Romans ruled over the Children of Israel, Dhakarya was the latter’s Prophet. Until the time of the Prophet Jesus, all his predecessors had asked their respective followers to obey the commands of the Taurah. God so willed that, in the old age of the Prophet , a son was born to him whom he called Yahya. However, both of them were killed by the Children of Israel who were admonished by the Prophets for their irreligious deeds. Dhakarya was an uncle of Virgin Mary (maternal aunt’s husband). Both the wife of Prophet Dhakarya, Al-Yashba and that of Prophet Imran with Hannah were childless. As Prophet Yahya was born to Al-Yashba, in her older age, similarly, Virgin Mary was born to Hannah in the latter’s old age. [11]
When Mary came of Age, in the town of Nasirah, God’s angel whispered in her ears that, she had become pregnant by the Grace and Mercy of God. Jesus was born without a father; but the Jews threw aspersions on Virgin Mary whom they chastised and maligned.[12] Later, Prophet Isa, a young man returned to Bethlehem from a journey to Egypt with his mother when some rabbis interrogated him on various dutiful queries. When Jesus scolded them for their hypocrisy they cast him their mortal enemy. The rabbis falsely implicated him in cases of sedition and high- treason against the Romans insinuating Prophet Isa incited Jews against them and called the emperor an idolater. They complained to the Roman governor of Jerusalem, Herod, that he maligned their ancestry in determination to destroy the Jewish religion; whereupon Herod permitted them to pursue their desired course of action. Whilst concealed inside a house, his captors in hot pursuit, all ‘Isa’s companions deserted him. Ultimately one of his companions, Yahud al-Ashkar, betraying his own master, with a simple bribe, guided the inimical captors to ‘Isa’s place of safety. Prophet ‘Isa was not allowed by God to suffer from an ignominious death, but his betrayer was, as a Divine punishment, made to resemble Prophet ‘Isa and it was this man who was crucified in his likeness. [13]
2. ANCIENT RELIGIONS AND ZOROASTRIANISM
As a result of Alexander’s conquests in Iran, the Zoroastrian beliefs were interpolated with polytheist traditions of the Greek and Chaldean civilizations and way of life. [14] The southwestern area of the Caspian sea (Azerbaijan, Hamdan, Gilan, et al.) known to ancient history as Media, and their inhabitants as the Medes. When the multitudes of Tatarians [15] , passing through and capturing the fertile lands of Babylonia, overpowering the Hamitic colonists, and when, after a period they merged within them, there came into existence the ‘Acadian’ nation, known to Jewish and Christian tradition as ‘Kusites.’ From them emerged the Chaldean kingdom. The Assyrian kingdom eliminated by the combined onslaught by the Mede and Babylonian assailants, Assyrian beliefs persisted throughout even after its destruction.
2.1 Assyrians and Zoroastrians
The community directly influenced by the Assyrian belief system and traditions were the Zoroastrians, who pay direct worship to fire as a means of submission to God. The assimilation of the Muzdic or Zoroastrian beliefs with those of Assyrian origin is an historic sequence under compulsion of time and space. Thus in place of the deity of Assur, the deity of Ahurmuzd was observed and worshipped. The Assyrians had borrowed a majority of their traditions from religious beliefs of the Acadians, and the Babylonians from the Assyrians. When Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed the Jewish Kingdom of Judea, the Jews were influenced by the Babylonian faith and way of life. The Babylonian religious beliefs still persist among some of those who claim to be Jews and through them in Christianity. These influences are the same as were the fundamental components of the Assyrian and Chaldean beliefs.
2.2 Sassanian Period
Under the Parthian kingdom, both Jews and Zoroastrians suffered as a consequence of their practices, but continued so in this manner in secret. At that time, the Zoroastrian faith was much affected by the ancient Sabeanism of the Medes and the Chaldeans. After this period of trials and tribulations, the Zoroastrians eventually gained repute during the Sassanian period in Iran, where they became members of the influential elite. For centuries thereafter, the Zoroastrian Sassanian Empire of Iran continually struggled with the Roman Empire for supremacy in Asia. [16]
- Parthia, regarded as the Greek-Iranian Kingdom established in the regions of the south-east of the Caspian Sea. Parthian invaders conquered Iran, where they ruled for five centuries from 248 BC to 226 CE, when they were ousted from Iran by the Sassanian Empire.
- Bacteria, which was also known as the Greek-Afghan or Turkish Kingdom. It was established in the Chinese and Afghan Turkistan, between the Hindu-Kush Mountains and the River Oxus. They conquered, occupied all the lands upto present day Punjab in Pakistan and continued for more than a century. It was conquered in 120 BC by the Parthian kingdom, ruling over these areas until the beginning of the first Christian century.
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