Muslims identify the ‘Prophets of Islâm’ (Arabic: نبي) as those humans chosen by God and given revelation to deliver to mankind. Muslims believe that every prophet was given a belief to worship God and their respective followers believed it as well. Each prophet, in Muslim belief, preached the same main belief of worshiping God (which in Arabic is translated as Allâh) and in the avoidance of idolatry and sin. Each came to preach Islâm (submission to God) at different times in history and some including Jesus. Muslims claim that the ‘parakletos’ (the Greek word for the Holy Spirit), mentioned in the Gospels, is a reference to Muhammed. When one looks at the actions of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts it is clear that Muhammed could not have been the Holy Spirit because these events took place 540 years before Muhammed was born.
Each prophet directed a message to a different group of people, and thus would preach submission to Allâh in accordance with the times. Although many lay Muslims and many Western scholars and writers hold the view that Islâm began with Muhammad in Mecca, this contradicts the Qur’an, which says that Muhammad simply was the last prophet who preached the same faith that Adam preached to his children. Being the last prophet implies that there were many prophets before him, it behoves the serious seeker after God, and truth, to study carefully the messages of the prophets before Muhammed to understand the major themes of their messages.
The Covenant which God made with Abraham contains the essence of all the messages of the prophets. It is recorded in Genesis 12 verses 1-3 and in Genesis 28 verses 13 – 15: ‘Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.’
God’s prophets are speaking God’s words of good news about God’s love and his salvation for all mankind. This is the major theme of the prophets of God throughout history. God also speaks against evil and injustice, and calls all people everywhere to repent. Islâmic tradition holds that God sent messengers to every nation. The assumption can be made that God in the Qur’an loves and cares for all people of every race. It is difficult to explain why some Muslims and Christians have a deep racial hatred towards some groups of people on earth.
Muslims believe that God finally sent Muhammad to transmit the message of the Qur’an, the holy book which, according to Islâm, is universal in its message. The reason the Muslims believe the Qur’an is universal and will remain uncorrupted is because they believe that the previous Islâmic holy books – namely, the Torah given to Moses, the Psalms given to David, and the Gospel given to Jesus – were for a particular time and community. Because they believe that, even if the books were corrupted, many prophets were still to come who could tell the people of what was correct in the scripture and warn them of corruptions. There is no scholarly evidence of corruption of these holy books in any Muslim literature. Muhammad therefore, being the last prophet, was entrusted with a book which, in Muslim belief, will remain in its true form till the Last Day. This is the reason why Muslims jealously guard the Qur’an to ensure its perfect preservation until the Last Day.
The table below charts the twenty-five named Qur’anic prophets, and reference key elements of their role in Islâm. Muslims believe that many prophets existed, including many not mentioned in the Qur’an. The Qur’an itself refers to at least four other prophets but does not name them.
Leaders, Messengers and Prophets of Gold in the Qur’an
(List of the messenger and prophets will be put here later.)
Christians view prophets as people who are gifted by God to deliver God’s message at a certain time to a particular people because they are gifted with the gift of prophecy, and speak the words and messages God gives them to speak on his behalf. These messages are usually confirmed by miraculous signs from God to confirm their authenticity.
Yunus (Jonah) Prophet Messenger People of Jonah (Nineveh)
Dhu’l-Kifl (Ezekiel) Prophet Messenger
Zakariya (Zechariah) Prophet Israelites
Yahya (John the Baptist) Prophet Israelites
‘Isa (Jesus) Prophet Messenger Leader Gospel Israelites All Mankind Matt 28 verses 18-20
Muhammad Prophet Messenger Leader Qur’an Mankind
Christians view prophets as people who are gifted by God to deliver God’s message at a certain time to a particular people because they are gifted with the gift of prophecy, and speak the words and messages God gives them to speak on his behalf. These messages are usually confirmed by miraculous signs from God to confirm their authenticity.