Aayan Iqbal on Plato's The Trial and Death of Socrates

Student Note: This paper is about the status of Socrates and his great personality in Islam, specifically the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, as other Muslims within F&C disagree about this issue. The fact is that Socrates is a Prophet overall, not Islamically. Although this perspective is Islamic, this evidence can also be seen in other religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and so on.

Acronyms for salutations used in this publication for the ease of the reader the notation (sallallahu alaihi wasallam ) (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) (Peace be upon him) a.s./a:‘Alaih-is Salām (May Allah be pleased with him/her) r.a.: Raḍiyallāhu ‘Anhu/‘Anha (May Allah shower His mercy on him) r.h.: Rahimullah Ta‘ālā (May Allah support him with His mighty help) a.b.a.: Ayyadahullāhu Ta‘ālā Bi-Naṣrihil-‘Aziz. For the ease of the reader, the notation "saw" is used after the term "Holy Prophet" or the name "Muhammad." It stands for "sallallahu alaihi wasallam" or "peace and blessing of Allah be upon him."

Was Socrates a Prophet?

Greek philosophy had a major role in the ideas of philosophy and influenced wisdom, knowledge, and religion. Throughout the philosophers we see in Greece, it is hard to find a philosopher who fits the description of both a philosopher and a prophet. However, Socrates is an exception. A prophet is a man of God (in this context, a supreme monotheistic being), a reflection of what the teachings of God are, and the direct recipient of God (meaning a direct man, receiver from God). Socrates is a prophet because of his belief in the Unity of God, his divine guidance, and his prophetic qualities.

God states in The Holy Quran: “And for every people there is a Messenger. So when their Messenger comes, it is judged between them with equity, and they are not wronged” (Chapter 10 Verse 48), and “There are no people (in the world) to whom We have not sent a Warner” (Chapter 35 Verse 25). Throughout religious history, there is always a story that is similar to each prophet's story. Every prophet is sent down with a mission and will face hardship, this is a known fact. This is seen in the life of Prophet Adam (as), Prophet Noah (as), Prophet Moses (as), Prophet Jesus (as), Prophet Muhammad (saw), and the list goes on. All Prophets have two missions: one to spread the Unity or the Oneness of God, and the other something specific to their nation. One example is in the case of Prophet Abraham (as)-- through Islamic history, we know that Prophet Noah (as) was before him, and that Noah’s teachings of the oneness of God were wiped away from society. The people of his nation worshiped idols (statues) and because of this Prophet Abraham’s (as) mission was to put an end to idol worshiping.

Similarly, this is seen in the life of Socrates. Socrates was given the mission to spread the unity and oneness of God and to awaken his fellow nation to a realization of the moral, spiritual, and divine purpose of creation which would not have been understood without Socrates’s wisdom. Some may argue that Socrates did not do either of these things, but this is wrong. We do not know if he preached the oneness of God directly; however, through the writings of Plato, we see that he indirectly preaches the Oneness of God through his actions. He also fulfills his mission of awakening his nation so much that he was put in court for “corrupting the youth.” In addition, with many prophets, another similar story seen is the rebellion of the nation against the prophet. One example is that when the Prophet Muhammad announced his prophethood, the people of Mecca rebelled against him and thought he was crazy, so much so that he faced persecution every day of his life. This is also seen during the life of Socrates, in which he is put in court for “corrupting the youth,” as seen in the Apology.

In “The Trial and Death of Socrates''' by Plato, there is a change seen in how Socrates describes a supreme being. He mentions in Euthyphro “the gods” (Plato 3) and it goes to “the god” in the Apology (Plato 26). But does his view on a supreme being change? It must be interpreted that because he mentions “the gods” it can only mean the Greek gods, right? NO! Even though Socrates mentioned Greek Gods like Zeus, Socrates never mentioned Zeus, or any other Greek gods to be HIS supreme beings. Socrates says in the Apology, “If one asks them what he does and what he teaches to corrupt them, they are silent, as they do not know, but, so as not to appear at a loss, they mention those accusations that are available against all philosophers, about “things in the sky and things below the earth,” about “not believing in the gods” and “making the worse the stronger argument”... have been proved to lay claim to knowledge when they know nothing” (Plato 34). This supports the arguments about Socrates’s mission and his belief in One God. Although he states the accusations against him, this is also seen as reasons why he would not be accepted in Athenian society. God States in the Holy Quran: “They are deaf, dumb, and blind — so they do not understand” (Chapter 2 Verse 172).

Socrates says “that they have been proved to lay claim to knowledge when they know nothing” which correlates with the very idea that the verse represents-- that the people have no knowledge and because of this they would not understand, as the teachings of God that a prophet preaches are way more complex than the human mind. Socrates believes being wise and being knowledgeable are two different things.

According to “Revelation Rationality, Knowledge and Truth,” The fourth caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hadrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (ra), mentions “A careful study of Socrates reveals that by the term ‘gods,’ he sometimes refers to angels or any other spiritual form of life above men and under God” (Ahmad 91). Putting this meaning of gods into context, it shall be seen that it makes more sense. The only time when Socrates mentions “the gods” as Greek gods is seen in Euthyphro. Socrates says, “And do you believe that there really is war among the gods, and terrible enmities and battles, and other such things as are told by the poets, and other sacred stories such as are embroidered by good writers…” (Plato 6). This correlates with the whole idea Socrates contradicts where Euthyphro believes whatever is pious is whatever the Gods say is pious. Socrates contradicts this very idea because the Greek gods make mistakes as they are not perfect. Some gods are way too harsh and do things that are just immoral and disgusting, for example, the act of raping someone, which was done by Zeus. This itself is a way Socrates preached that the whole idea of believing in the Greek gods is wrong and showed his belief in the Unity of God.

A man is given the role of a prophet not solely because of just the title, but by their qualities of wisdom and their qualities as a man. One quality seen in Socrates and other prophets is the idea of questioning everything. As seen in the life of Abraham, his nation consisted of followers who believed in idols. He questioned the idea, that if a statue was made a week ago, and you (a human) was born years before, how can he be God if that statue was made after? This is seen in the life of Socrates as he questioned everything, even the most simplest thing. What is Piety? How do you know? And so on. Another quality of a prophet seen in Socrates is the quality of humility. Although some may argue that Socrates was arrogant, his famous quote “All I know is that I know nothing” (Plato 25) shows one that he reminds himself that he is not smart in his own eyes, and that all his knowledge is from a supreme being. Some may also argue that Socrates was attracted to the youth (pederasty). This argument is weak because it is not directly stated anywhere that he had these affairs. For example, in Xenophon’s “Apology,” Socrates states, “I had a brief association with the son of Anytus and I found him not lacking in firmness of spirit” (Xenophon 30). It is taken that the word “association,” because not defined, can only mean a sexual affair. Socrates was happily married to two wives and had three sons. Many books have also stated on how Socrates never cheated on them. Furthermore, Socrates’s wisdom can be seen as prophetic. Guthrie, a Scottish scholar, translates the Greek term arete into excellence, while many other scholars translate it into “virtue.”

Socrates had a moral code he followed, just as other prophets do, that contradicted the code of his nation. For example, it was a moral norm that a father is the highest thing in society, a father should be respected, and so on. So when Euthyphro brings his father to court, Socrates is surprised that he would do this. Socrates mentions, “Good heavens! Certainly, Euthyphro, most men would not know how they could do this and be right. It is not the part of anyone to do this, but of one who is far advanced in wisdom” (Plato 4). This shows an example of Socrates’s virtue, that because killing is morally wrong, Socrates thinks this is right, and he wants to know why Euthyphro would do this, as he questions if he has some wisdom behind this idea. As my friend Muhammad Ashiq contradicts, he is not a prophet because he does not believe in heaven and death. This argument is weak as Socrates had fear in God and belief in the idea of an afterlife, both the good and the bad. Socrates mentions in Crito, “In order that when you arrive in Hades you may have all this as your defense before the rulers there… the laws of the underworld, will not receive you kindly… Let it be then, Crito, and let us act in this way, since this is the way the god is leading us” (Plato 54). It is seen in this quote that Socrates uses the word “Hades,” not referring to the Greek god, as he uses “in Hades;” biblically “Hades” would mean the place or state of departed spirits, or Hell.

This not only shows the belief in Heaven and Hell but also shows not the fear of death but of God, which is a fear every Muslim is told to have. Another prophetic trait of Socrates was his intellectualism. As James Baldwin states in his Talk to Teachers, "One of the paradoxes of education" is that "precisely at the point when you begin to develop a conscience, you must find yourself at war with your society" (Baldwin 678). This quote relates to Socrates because with his wisdom, his knowledge, and his divine guidance, he chose to go to war with society.

To conclude it all, because of his belief in the oneness of God, his divine guidance, and his prophetic qualities like humility, piety, and intellectualism, Socrates achieved the status of a prophet. These are just some of many reasons why Socrates is a prophet. With all this, now you answer, Was Socrates a prophet?