Not all Al-Asbaat are prophets

9-1-2014 | IslamWeb

Question:

Who are the Al-Asbaat mentioned in the Noble Quran? Are they all prophets?
Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

Al-Asbaat are the twelve sons of Ya‘qoob (Jacob) may Allaah exalt his mention. According to the preponderant opinion, not all of them are prophets. Al-Aloosi said in Rooh Al-Ma‘aani: “People had different opinions regarding whether all of Al-Asbaat, the sons of Ya‘qoob, are prophets or not. I find the latter opinion sounder and that was also reported by Ja‘far As-Saadiq may Allaah have mercy upon him and that is what Imaam As-Suyooti adopted and wrote about. That is because what they have done with Yoosuf (Josef) may Allaah exalt his mention definitely contradicts prophethood. Some claimed that it was before they reached the age of puberty, however, this cannot be accepted for they had done some actions that cannot be done except by adults. Supposing so (that they did that while they were below the age of puberty), it will also be a fragile excuse, for their actions imply many major sins and this will go against the descriptions and the attributes of the prophets. Furthermore, there is no evidence in the Quran indicating that they were prophets.

Allaah Knows best.

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