ABSTRACT
The centrality of prophethood in the Islamic tradition is gleaned from the declaration of faith, the shahada, which couples the profession of divine unity with prophethood. Prophethood intrinsically relates to the guidance, edification and enlightenment of the creatures. Prophethood is an appointment and a divine designation. One aspect of divinely appointed prophethood is the ability to bring about miracles, to challenge false claims to prophethood, those that are without a divine mandate. The outward function of a prophet is to guide and instruct so that people are able to attain their individual perfections according to their capacity and potential. One of the foundational concepts in Sufism is wilaya which is often translated as sainthood, but also means guardianship and spiritual authority. General sainthood is attained by the believers, commensurate with their level of faith. Specific sainthood is the annihilation of the servant in God and the wali is one who is annihilated in Him and subsists through Him.
