The Divine scheme whereby prophets were raised for the regeneration of the world, as disclosed in the Holy Qur’ān, may be briefly summed up as follows. Prophets appeared in every nation, but their message was limited to that particular nation and in some cases to one or a few generations. All these prophets were, so to say, national prophets, and their work was limited to the moral upliftment and spiritual regeneration of one nation only. But while national growth was of necessity the first step, when each nation lived almost an exclusive life and the means of communication were wanting, the grand aim which the Divine scheme had in view was the upliftment and unification of the whole human race. Humanity could not remain for ever divided into water-tight compartments of nationality, formed on the basis of blood or geographical limitations. In fact these divisions had, through jealousy, become the means of discord and hatred among different nations, each looking upon itself as the only chosen nation, and despising the rest. Such views tended to extinguish any faint glimmerings of aspirations for the unity of the human race. The final step, therefore, in the institution of prophethood was the coming of one prophet for all the nations, so that the consciousness of being one whole might be brought to the human race. The day of the national prophet was ended; it had served the purpose for which it was meant, and the day of the world-prophet dawned upon humanity in the person of Holy Prophet Muḥammad.
The idea of the world-prophet is not based on a solitary passage occurring in the Holy Qur’ān, as to the extent of the mission of this or that prophet; but is a fully developed Divine scheme. When mentioning the earlier prophets, the Holy Qur’ān says that Noah was sent “to his people”,8 and so Hūd9 and Ṣāliḥ10 and Shu‘aib11 — every one of them was sent to his people. It speaks of Moses as being commanded to “bring forth thy people from darkness into light”,12 it speaks of Jesus as “a messenger to the children of Israel”13 but in speaking of Holy Prophet Muḥammad it says in unequivocal words
8 7:59; 71:1.
9 7:65.
10 7:73.
11 7:85.
12 14:5.
13 3:49.