1.1. Conveying the message in a clear manner
The primary mission of the messengers is to fulfil the trust that they took on and convey the message to the people. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "The duty of the Messenger is only to convey the message in the clearest way." (al-Nur 24:54)

Ibn Jarir said, “In other words, the only duty required of the one whom Allah has sent to people with a message is to convey His message to them clearly so that they understand what Allah wants of them.” And Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "O Messenger, convey all that has been sent down to you from your Lord. If you do not do that, you will not have conveyed it at all." (al-Ma’idah 5:67)

Al-Khazin said, “The scholars are unanimously agreed that it is not possible for the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to have been faithless in conveying the revelation and the warning, or to have overlooked any part of what was revealed to him in favor of some human being, because if that were possible, it would lead to doubt about his conveying of the laws and teachings, and religious duties. That is because the purpose behind sending the message is to convey the message to those to whom he was sent, so if that is not achieved, then the benefit of sending the messenger is lost.”

Part of conveying the message is explaining the revelation which Allah sent down to His slaves. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, said to His Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning), "And We have sent down to you the Reminder the Qur’an, so that you may explain to the people what has been sent down to them." (al-Nahl 16:44)

Al-Sam‘ani said, “The scholars have stated that the explanation of the Qur’an is to be found in the Sunnah.” The Messenger’s explanation of the divine revelation may be done in words. Or his explanation may be done in actions, so the actions of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) – in prayer, charity, Hajj and so on – offer an explanation for many verses of the Qur’an.

1.2. Calling people to Allah
The mission of the messengers is not limited to explaining and conveying the truth; rather they must also call people to accept their call and respond to it, and they must make sure that people put it into practice so that it is reflected in their beliefs, words, and actions. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in a way that is best." (al-Nahl 16:125)

Ibn Kathir said, “Here Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, is instructing His Messenger Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to call people to Allah with wisdom.

Ibn Jarir said, This refers to what was revealed to him of the Qur’an and Sunnah. and goodly exhortation that is, that which contains warnings and mention of the fate of those who disbelieve, so that you may remind them of it and that they will fear the punishment of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted.”

The angels gave the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) a likeness in order to explain his role and task, which was to call people to Allah, may He be glorified and exalted. It was narrated that Jabir ibn ‘Abdillah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “The angels came to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) when he was sleeping. One of them said: ‘He is sleeping.’ Another one said: ‘His eyes are asleep but his heart is awake.’ They said: ‘There is a likeness for this companion of yours, so give a likeness for him.’ One of them said: ‘He is sleeping.’ Another one said: ‘His eyes are asleep but his heart is awake.’ They said: ‘His likeness is that of a man who built a house, then prepared a feast in it, and sent someone to invite the people. Whoever accepted the invitation entered the house and ate there, and whoever did not accept the invitation did not enter the house and did not eat there.’ They said: ‘Explain it to him so that he may understand it.’ One of them said: ‘He is sleeping.’ Another one said: ‘His eyes are asleep but his heart is awake.’ They said: ‘The house is paradise, and the one who invites the people to it is Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Whoever obeys Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) has obeyed Allah, but whoever disobeys Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) has disobeyed Allah, for Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is the dividing line between the people.’” (al-Bukhari)

Ibn Hajar said, “This has to do with calling people to Islam, and the categories of those who respond and those who refuse.”

Ibn Taymiyah said, “Calling people to Allah is calling people to His religion, the foundation of which is worshipping Him alone, with no partner or associate; this is the message with which Allah sent His Messengers and sent down His Books.”

‘Ali al-Qari said, “The only reason the prophets (peace be upon them) came was to explain Tawhid and affirm that there is only one God, therefore all the prophets brought the same message and their call is the same and is united in the belief that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah.”

Ibn Baz said, “Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, sent them as callers to the truth and guides for humankind, blessings and peace of Allah be upon them.”

Examining the call of the Messengers will prove that they were completely truthful. The messengers came with a complete, integrated methodology to rectify man and human society. The prophets who brought that methodology said that it was sent down from Allah, therefore it must be absolutely perfect and free of shortcomings and defects, and not contrary to sound human nature and the laws that govern the universe.

1.3. Enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil." (al-A‘raf 7:157)

Ibn al-Qayyim said, “Can this mean anything other than that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) enjoined them to do what is right, that which is recognized on the basis of rational thinking to be good and is in accordance with sound human nature? Thus he enjoins them to do that which is recognized to be good in and of itself by everyone who possesses sound reasoning, and he forbids them to do that which is recognized to be wrong on the basis of sound human nature and sound reasoning, to the extent that if it is presented to people of sound reasoning, they will denounce it vehemently, just as if what he enjoined was presented to people of sound reasoning, they would accept it wholeheartedly and testify to its beauty. This is like what one of the Bedouin said, when he was asked how he would know that he was the Messenger of Allah? He said: He never enjoined anything and reason said, Would that he forbade it; and he never forbade anything and reason said: Would that he enjoined it.”

1.4. Bringing glad tidings and warnings
The messengers’ call to Allah is always accompanied by glad tidings and warnings. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "We sent the Messengers only as bearers of good news and as warners. So those who believe and mend their ways will have no fear, nor will they grieve. But as for those who reject Our revelations, punishment will strike them because of their defiant disobedience." (al-An‘am 6:48-49)

Ibn Jarir said, “Here Allah says that He never sends his messengers except with glad tidings of paradise and a clear triumph on the Day of Resurrection for those who obey Him, as a reward from Him to them for obeying Him, and with warnings of punishment on the Day of Resurrection for those who go against His commands, as a requital from Him for disobeying Him, so that there will be no excuse and those who are doomed will be doomed on the basis of knowledge.”

Ibn Baz said, “Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), 'Messengers sent as bearers of glad tidings and as warners, so that humankind would have no excuse before Allah, after the coming of the Messengers." (al-Nisa’ 4:165) Thus Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, explains that the messengers were sent with glad tidings and warnings; they brought glad tidings to those who obey them of divine support, paradise and honor, and they warned those who disobey them of loss, regret and the fire.”

1.5. Rectifying people’s character and purifying their souls
Allah sent His Messengers with His signs to bring people forth from the depths of darkness to the light. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "We sent Musa with Our signs saying: Bring your people forth from the depths of darkness into light." (Ibrahim 14:5)

Ibn Kathir said, “That is, call them to goodness, so that they may come forth from the darkness of what they used to follow of ignorance and misguidance to the light of guidance and clarity of faith.”

The messengers’ bringing the people forth from the depths of darkness to the light could only be achieved by telling them of the teachings of the Lord; purifying their souls by telling them about Allah and His names and attributes; teaching them about His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day; teaching them about what will benefit them and what will harm them; showing them the way that will lead them to loving Allah; and teaching them how to worship Him.

Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Just as We have sent among you a messenger from yourselves reciting to you Our verses and purifying you and teaching you the Book and wisdom and teaching you that which you did not know." (al-Baqarah 2:151)

Ibn Kathir said, “Here Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, reminds His believing slaves of the blessing that He bestowed upon them by sending His Messenger Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to them, who recited to them the clear verses of Allah and purified them, meaning that he cleansed them of bad characteristics, the filth of their evil inclinations, and the deeds of jahiliyyah; he brought them forth from the depths of darkness into light and taught them the Book, which is the Qur’an, and wisdom, which is the Sunnah, and he taught them what they did not know. For during the Jahiliyyah they were ignorant and uttered fabrications; but by the blessing of his message they were transformed and became close friends of Allah and they attained knowledge and they became the most well versed of people in knowledge, the most pure at heart, the least pretentious and the most truthful in speech.”

1.6. Establishing proof
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Messengers sent as bearers of glad tidings and as warners, so that humankind would have no excuse before Allah, after the coming of the Messengers." (al-Nisa’ 4:165)

Jamal al-Din al-Ghaznawi said, “The sending of the messengers established proof and will leave no excuse when judgement is passed on them. It is the fulfilment of Allah’s promise of paradise and hell, because if no message was sent to them, then the disbelievers would have an excuse for their not believing.”

Ibn Baz said, “The sending (of the messengers) establishes proof and leaves no excuse, so that no one can say, No bringer of glad tidings and no warner came to us.”

And Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Those who are in the fire will say to the keepers of hell: Call upon your Lord to alleviate the
They will say: Did your Messengers not come to you with clear signs? They will say: Yes. They will say: Then call upon Him yourselves! The supplication of those who disbelieve is all in vain." (Ghafir 40:49-50)

Al-Sa‘di said, “They will say: Yes, evidence came to us and the irrefutable proof of Allah was established for us, but we wronged ourselves and stubbornly rejected the truth after it had become clear.”

1.7. Ruling the ummah
The prophets judged between people, led their nations in war and in peace, took care of judicial matters, and paid attention to people’s interests and well-being. In doing all of that, they were obeying Allah, and obeying them in all of that was obedience to Allah, may He be glorified and exalted. Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) says (interpretation of the meaning), "We said: O Dawud, verily We have made you a ruler in the land, so judge between the people in truth." (Sad 38:26)

Al-Sa‘di said, “O Dawud, verily We have made you a ruler in the land to lead them in religious and worldly affairs.”

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, “The Children of Israel were ruled by the prophets. Every time one prophet died, another prophet would succeed him.” (al-Bukhari, Muslim)

Al-‘Ayni said, “That is, they took charge of their affairs as rulers and governors take care of the affairs of their subjects, looking after their well-being in the manner that was best for them.”

Ibn Taymiyah said, “The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) established his blessed mosque on a foundation of piety, and it was a place of prayer, recitation of Qur’an, remembrance of Allah (dhikr), teaching and khutbahs. In it the Muslim community was ruled, expeditions were made ready, banners were prepared, and commanders, governors and chiefs of tribes were appointed. In it the Muslims would gather with him to discuss whatever concerned them of their religious and worldly affairs.”