Mormons: I have a question about prophets?

Question

After having read the pamphlet that a Mormon girl gave me at my door the other day, I have a question...
In the pamphlet, it says that the true teachings of Jesus have been lost, skewed, and turned around....and that every so often, when the world is ready (when believers are searching for true teachings) a prophet will come back into the world and attempt to lead God's children back to the right path.

This being said, there was Jesus, whom you acknowledge as a prophet and savior to us all.
Then about 600 years later, Muhammed was given God's teachings from Gabriel (as the voice of God). Muhammed also states that the Children of the Book fell away from Truth and that the Koran is what we should follow now.

My question to you is this: Is Muhammed considered a prophet in your teachings, whose teachings followers also eventually forgot? Or is he automatically discounted because he believed merely that Jesus was a prophet and not a savior?

Sorry this is so long! I have a BA in Religious Studies with an emphasis on ancient christianity - so I never had a chance to explore modern sects.

To the Future Mrs. Davis F: I hate to tell you, but none of the texts in the Bible -New or Old, were written down immediately either. Scholars have proven, by carbon dating, tree ring dating, etc., that most of the gospels in the Bible weren't written for at least 45 years after the fact of the event happening.
Thanks for your answer though, it was insightful

rac: I am going to wholeheartedly disagree with you on this one...While Jews may have taken up arms to erradicate heresy and poly worship from the world, they most definitely took a "convert or die" stance with the lands they pillaged and "cleansed."
Muhammed is no different than the Israelites of the Old Testament, or the Christian Crusaders of the medieval period.

Answer 1

Thank you for your thoughtfulness and respect in asking you question.

The best way that I can answer your question is this- Mohammmed is not viewed by the LDS faith as a prophet. We are not taught much about him. I know very little about him or about Islam. The little I have learned is that he was visited by the Angel Gabriel and given instructions and then he taught his people but never wrote anything down. The Koran was not written until several generations after Mohammed when people were starting to forget his teachings- so they decided to write them down. This being said, there is no way to know whether his teachings really were doctrine from God- or even what they really were. we all know that things passed by word of mouth get changed - many times unintentionally over time. It is my personal belief that this is what happened with him- for what ever reason he did not write down his teachings and anything that may have been pure and correct got lost in translation and corrupted over time. I am not saying that he really was a prophet and I am not saying that he was not. Just that since he did not record the information- nobody really knows who he was and what he taught. That is not LDS doctrine, rather my personal belief based on what I have learned. ( I could have received incorrect information about the history of the Koran as well).

It is my belief that all religions, or most, started as a single religion. They are all break offs of the same initial religion. That is why we will see similarities between the different faiths. It is like religion is a giant puzzle where the pieces were all scattered throughout time- most faiths have some of the pieces to this puzzle, but without them all it is not complete. We believe that the LDS church is the only church with all the pieces. We have the fullness of the gospel- or all the pieces to the puzzle. I think there may have been many like Mohammed who recieved revelation from God, but never received the fullness, or never correctly passed it on, so it never stuck.

Anyway- I hope that makes sense to you, but that is my belief on the subject.

Edit**
Thank you for pointing out that inconsistency- I had not considered that, I will have to ponder a little more on that However, Here is what I can tell you right now-

LDS regard the bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. We know that it has been re-translated and rewritten many times and that there are many precious truths missing from it. I do understand that. I also know that it was written by many different people and compiled by many people years later after the fact. We accept the KJV as the most correct translation, but understand that it has flaws.

Answer 2

I don't know of specific doctrine or church stance on Muhammed, however, in my view, he was not a true prophet of God. The reason is simply this: a prophet of God always testifies of the divinity of the Son of God, whether prophesying of his birth, life, mission, doctrine, resurrection or return. By lessening the status of Jesus Christ to a prophet, Muhammed demonstrated a lack of understanding of the fullness of the gospel. There are too many plain and precious parts of the gospel of Jesus Christ which Islam and the Koran do not contain nor do they teach. In addition to that, Muhammed persecuted the Christian branches throughout the middle and far east - a man who teaches conversion or death is not a man of God. We are here to exercise free agency. The jews were commanded of God, not to convert at the point of a sword, but to use the sword to remove the wicked nations which surrounded the promised land. The reason for this, again was not conversion, but so that the wicked and perverted ways of those nations would not lead ancient Israel away from the true God by following false traditions.
Jesus Christ was the only Begotten Son of the Father in the Flesh. He is the literal Son of God. His mission was to provide a Savior for all of mankind through his Atonement. There is no other way to heaven than thru Jesus Christ. He is the center of our religion.
I don't know if Muhammed's original teachings perhaps have been perverted to reduce the role of the Savior, but as they currently stand, I cannot accept them as scripture.

Answer 3

Very interesting question. There is no doubt that Mormons believe that Mohammed was inspired of God. In a statement made by the first presidency in 1978, the Church proclaimed: "The great religious leaders of the world such as Mohammed, Confucius, and the Reformers, as well as philosophers including Socrates, Plato, and others, received a portion of God's light. Moral truths were given to them by God to enlighten whole nations and to bring a higher level of understanding to individuals."

There is a difference, however, between being inspired of God and being a prophet of God, with the authority to act in God's name. Regarding whether or not Mohamed was a true prophet, the Mormons Church has no official position, so you'll find varying opinions:

1. The vast majority have never given the question any thought and have no opinion one way or the other.

2. Of the remaining minority, most would say Mohamed was inspired of God but not a prophet. They believe the last prophets were the apostles of the New Testament.

3. A small minority would be open to the idea that Mohamed was a true prophet, but that his teachings have since been corrupted. These would speculate that Mohamed did originally teach Christ's divinity and position as Savior of the world, but that his subsequent followers modified/abandoned those teachings. I seem to recall reading once that this opinion was had among a few church leaders in the early 20th century, but that it was never taught as doctrine or accepted as “official” by the Mormon community.

If you'd like to learn more about Mormons, please visit my site at http://www.allaboutmormons.com .

Answer 4

For me, the main reason I reject Mohammed as a true prophet is that he sought to enforce his doctrine by the sword. He spread his beliefs forceably throughout the Arab world and beyond. This has never been God's way. You can look at the Old Testament and ask why then did God demand that the Israelites cleanse the land of its inhabitants before moving into Palestine? That wasn't to enforce or spread the law of God as given to Moses, but rather to remove evil influences from contaminating the House of Israel. By today's standards that seems rather harsh. Understand that Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses and brought in the law of love instead of carnal commandments. Life under the law was much more cut and dried than under the gospel.
So, no, the LDS do not consider Mohammed to be a prophet of God or to one of the dispensations of the gospel.

Answer 5

Mormons believe that Jesus Christ is the the truth, the light, and the way---the only way that we can return back to Heaven. Accordingly, everything or person that teaches of Christ is good. Those that do not teach of Christ, while being good people, they are not leading you back to Christ. therefore, Mormons do not believe that Mohammad was a prophet in that regard.
Mormon doctrine does teach that good righteous men can have the opportunity to learn of Christ in the next life. Perhaps Mohammad is now a Christian. I cannot say.

Answer 6

muhammed is not considered a prophet by the LDS. Because his teachings depart from the teachings of Christ in what we consider to be the fullness of the gospel. Christ is the center of our religion, and the most important part of that is the plan of salvation provided to us through Him. Christ was definately the Savior of this planet according to LDS doctrine.

We do, however, believe that God has provided a prophet to the earth to lead and guide us in His teachings.

Answer 7

No, Muhammed is not considered a prophet by LDS doctrine. Jesus proclaimed Himself to be more than a prophet. He proclaimed Himself to be "I Am", which you undoubtedly know from your studies was equivalent to Him saying "I am Jehovah, God of the Old Testament, who spoke from heaven to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc." We don't believe that Jesus was lying when He said this.

Answer 8

Muhammad was a Prophet for the People of Ismael= Islam
But they have distorted His message to look evil.

The Church of Jesus Christ accept Islam as a congregation of God's people.

Answer 9

Thank you for your question.
No, we don't consider Muhammed a prophet. We are not taught about him in church, so what little any of us know of him is from private study not church led study.

It sounds like you might enjoy either meeting with the missionaries, or reading more about our church through books, magazines, etc.

Answer 10

We do not view Muhammed as a true prophet of God, or Buddha, Confuscious, or Martin Luther. They may have been great men and inspired in their teachings, but a true prophet must be called of God and have authority given to him to act in the calling.