The Fatrah Era
In the Quran and the classical Islamic sources, the phrase “Fatrah al-Rusul” refers to a time before the appointment of the Prophet to Prophethood, in which the sending of Prophets was stopped for a long period of time (more than 5 centuries).
The Linguistic Definition and Term Definition
Linguistically, Fatrah means tranquillity and calmness, and it is used to refer to the time between two movements. In the Quran and Islamic sources however, it refers to the time between the ascension of Prophet Jesus and Prophet Muhammad being appointed as a Prophet. Until the time of Prophet Jesus, Prophets were sent one after another in order to guide humanity, however after the ascension of Prophet Jesus until the appointment of Prophet Muhammad, revelation and the sending of Prophets was stopped for either 500 or 600 years. [1]
The Fatrah Era in The Quran and Nahj al-Balaghah
The following has been mentioned in the Quran “O People of the Book! Certainly Our Apostle has come to you, clarifying [the Divine teachings] for you after a gap in [the appearance of] the apostles, lest you should say, ‘There did not come to us any bearer of good news nor any warner.’ Certainly there has come to you a bearer of good news and a warner. And Allah has power over all things.”
The Quran has named this period as “Fatrah al-Rusul” because it is a period of time which was empty of Prophets, and the affair of sending Messengers was stopped. Some of the Muslim exegetes have mentioned that between these two Prophets, there was at least three Messengers and some have said that there were four. [2] In any case, between the death of those Messengers and the time of the Prophet of Islam, a gap existed and this is why the Quran mentions it is the Fatrah Era.
In four places in Nahj al-Balaghah, Imam Ali mentions the Fatrah Era when describing the conditions before the appointment of the Prophet. For example in Sermon 89 he says:
“Allah sent the Prophet after the mission of other Prophets had stopped and the peoples were in slumber for a long time. Evils were raising heads, all matters were under disruption and in flames of wars, while the world was devoid of brightness, and full of open deceitfulness.”
Here a question is raised that how is it possible for human society, which is always in need of a representative of Allah, to go through a time period in which there is no messenger sent? In response to this question we must pay attention to the phrase in the Quran which says “after a gap in [the appearance of] the apostles” which means that apostles (messengers) were not sent in this time, it does not mean that their successors did not exist and that no one would invite people towards the truth. In other words, the “Messengers” were guides who had a law, would spread the religion extensively, would give glad tidings and give warnings, they would break the inactiveness of communities, and they would make their words reach the ears of all. Their successors however did not all have all of these tasks to carry out, in fact it was possible that due to a series of social factors, they would be forced to live an anonymous and secret life in society. [3]