A Prophet of God must satisfy many criteria to be worthy of the claim, so we shall apply some of these to him - based only on objective, independent analyses of his life, mission and achievements.
PART I
1. A PROPHET OF GOD MUST HAVE DIVINE AUTHORITY FOR HIS CLAIM, AND THIS MUST BE EVIDENT TO THOSE WHO STUDY HIS LIFE OBJECTIVELY - EVEN THOSE WHO ARE NOT HIS FOLLOWERS.
“The essential sincerity of Muhammad’s nature cannot be questioned: and a historical criticism that links no facts, yields nothing to credulity, weights every testimony, has no partisan interest, and seeks only the truth, must acknowledge his claim to belong to that order of prophets...”
- Annie Bessant (Theosophist/The Life & Teachings of Muhammad/Madras 1932.
“He was Caesar and Pope in one; but he was Pope without Pope’s pretension and Caesar without the legions of Caesar: without a standing army, without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a fixed revenue; if ever any man had the right to say that he ruled by the right divine, it was Mohammad, for he had all the power without its instruments and without its support.”
- Rev. Bosworth Smith/Mohammad and Mohammadanism/London 1874