Allah's Messengers and Prophets

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Raihan - 25 Rasul

Allah states in the Holy Qur`ān,


"And We did not send any Messenger before you (O Muhammad SAW) but We revealed to him (saying): Lâ ilâha illa Ana [none has the right to be worshipped but I (Allâh)], so worship Me (Alone and none else)." [Al-Anbiyaa'(21):25]


It is our belief that Allah has sent a prophet to every nation and not necessarily to every generation. Allah has mentioned in the Qur'an,


"And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a Messenger (proclaiming): "Worship Allâh (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Tâghût[] (all false deities, etc. i.e. do not worship Tâghût besides Allâh)." Then of them were some whom Allâh guided and of them were some upon whom the straying was justified. So travel through the land and see what was the end of those who denied (the truth). "[An-Nahl(16):36]

"Verily! We have sent you with the truth, a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner. And there never was a nation but a warner had passed among them." [Al-Fatir(35):24]

As for the exact number of prophets the Prophet (ṣaw) was asked by Abu Dharr (ra), "O Messenger of Allah! What was the total number of prophets?" the Prophet (ṣaw) replied, "124,000 and from amongst them 315 messengers".

The difference between a prophet and a messenger, is that a messenger is a prophet to whom Allah reveals a new book or law, and orders them to propagate their new law. Whereas a prophet would merely upholds the law and scriptures of previous messengers.

Therefore all messengers are prophets but not all prophets are messengers.


About other prophets and messengers Allah said, "We have told you the story of some Messengers and of others We have not …" (al-Nisa' 4:164)

Allah alone has knowlege of true number and names of messengers and prophets chosen by Him. Allah's guidance to mankind began with Adam (peace be upon him) and was completed with Muhammad (peace be upon him).

In the Quran, Allah SWT has mentioned the twenty-five most prominent messengers and prophets by name:

Adam (Adam)
Idris (Enoch)
Nuh (Noah)
Hud
Salih (Salih)
Ibraheem (Abraham)
Isma'el (Ishmael)
Is'haque (Isaac)
Lut (Lot)
Ya'quob (Jacob)
Yusuf (Joseph)
Shu'aib
Ayyub (Job)
Musa (Moses)
Haroon (Aron)
Dhul-kifl (Ezekiel)
Dawud (David)
Sulaiman (Solomon)
Ilias (Elias)
Al-Yasa (Elisha)
Yunus (Jonah)
Zakariyya (Zechariah)
Yahya (John)
Isa (Jesus, the Messiah (Christ) of Israel)
Muhammad (Ahmad)
peace be upon them all.