Prophets: An Introduction

Have faith in prophets is part and parcel of becoming a Muslim. It is documented in the Quran that belief in all the prophets is essential on every Muslim. It particularly says, “So [you believers], say, ‘We believe in God and in what was sent down to us and what was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and what was given to Moses, Jesus, and all the prophets by their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we devote ourselves to Him.” (2:136)

Muslims revere all prophets

In accordance to this citation, a Muslim is obligated to simply accept and revere all of the prophets. The Quran additionally ties between the belief in the prophets and righteousness to one another. One cannot be righteous and reject authentic prophets. An example is, “Goodness does not consist in turning your face towards East or West. The truly good are those who believe in God and the Last Day, in the angels, the Scripture, and the prophets; who give away some of their wealth, however much they cherish it, to their relatives, to orphans, the needy, travelers and beggars, and to liberate those in bondage; those who keep up the prayer and pay the prescribed alms; who keep pledges whenever they make them; who are steadfast in misfortune, adversity, and times of danger. These are the ones who are true, and it is they who are aware of God.” (2:177)

Prophets Discussed in Quran

Those who are mentioned particularly by name are a total of twenty five. Eighteen of which appear in four sequent verses of the Quran: “Such was the argument We gave to Abraham against his people – We raise in rank whoever We will – your Lord is all wise, all knowing. We gave him Isaac and Jacob, each of whom We guided, as We had guided Noah before, and among his descendants were David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses, and Aaron – in this way We reward those who do good – Zachariah, John, Jesus, and Elijah – every one of them was righteous – Ishmael, Elisha, Jonah, and Lot. We favored each one of them over other people.” (6:83-86)

In 5 other locations in the Quran the other seven are discussed. They are Adam, regarded as being the first prophet, Hud, Shuaib, Idrees, Thulkifl (believed to be Issaquah) Salleh and finally prophet Muhammad ﷺ , may peace and blessings of God be upon them all. A total of twenty five are mentioned by-name in the Qur’an and most of them are familiarized to the Judeo Christian faiths.

Simultaneously, the Quran also mentioned that these were not the only prophets that have been raised to humanity. Indeed, the Quran says, “and there never was a people, without a warner having lived among them (in the past)” (35:24). The warner in this context is the same as a prophet. More specifically, God declares in the Quran: “to every people (was sent) an apostle.” (10:47) He goes on to explain, “We did aforetime send apostles before thee: of them there are some whose story We have related to thee, and some whose story We have not related to thee.” (40:78)

The stories of prophets in the Quran usually are not there just for historical interest. For people who are familiar with the Bible, it is not only just a chronology telling a story as a result. The Quran discusses the story and from time to time omits some minor details while being focused on the lessons that can be learned from studying the history of those prophets.

The Final Prophet

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was the final of all the prophets and messengers of God through whom the complete mission of prophet-hood was delivered to its final most comprehensive and complete format.