Prophets In Islam
- Prophets are human beings chosen by Allah to guide human beings. A prophet is referred to as Nabi in the Qur'an. Out of respect for prophets we always follow the name of any prophet with the words "peace be upon him" (pbuh).
- Allah has sent prophets throughout history. The first nabi/prophet was Adam (pbuh) and the last prophet was Muhammad (pbuh).
- Some prophets received revelations which were documented in some form (scripture). Prophets who received scriptures are referred to as messengers / Rasul.
- Each prophet came at a particular period in history to guide his people. Only the last prophet, Muhammad (pbuh), came as a universal messenger to all mankind.
- As Muslims we believe in all the prophets and messengers of Allah and we respect all of them.
- 25 prophets are mentioned in the Qur'an. There are many others who are not mentioned. Among those who are mentioned are the following:
Adam,Idris, Nuh, Hud, Saleh, Ibrahim (Abraham), Isma'il, Ishaq (Isaac), Lut, Ya'qub (Jacob), Yusuf (Joseph), Shu'aib, Ayyub, Musa (Moses), Harun (Aaron), Dhulkifl, Dawud (David), Sulaiman (Solomon), Ilyas, Al-Yasa', Yunus (Jonah), Zakariyya, Yahya (John), 'Isa (Jesus), Muhammad.
- From this list, following were prophets / anbiyaa' as well as messengers / rusul:
- Nuh (pbuh)
- Ibrahim (pbuh) who received the Suhuf
- Musa (pbuh) who received the Torah
- Dawud (pbuh) who received the Zabur
- 'Isa (pbuh) who received the Injil
- Muhammad (pbuh) who received the Qur'an
- The Qur'an was the final revelation sent by Allah to the final prophet Muhammad. The Qur'an is the only revelation of Allah that has remained in its original form. It has been preserved in memory by thousands of memorizers of the Qur'an (Hafiz).
in history. It is has also been saved in written form from the earliest time until today. All the Qur'ans in the world are the same and the language of the Qur'an (Arabic) is still a living and a spoken language of the world
Arabic is the 5th most commonly spoken language in the world at present.
- As good Muslims we must follow the examples of the prophets because they were the best among human beings and they were guided by Allah to show us the Straight Path (sirat-almustaqim).
- In order to live a good life in this world and to get the best reward in the hereafter we should follow the final revelation of Allah, the Qur'an, and the life example of the Prophet Muhammad, the Sunnah which is collected in books of Hadith.