Prophets and Messengers

Why did Allah sent prophets and messengers?

Allah has distinguished and honoured mankind with reason and freewill which gives us the ability to rationalise, to think and to make choices. Allah has given us this so that we may understand that He is our Lord, Creator and Provider and to choose to believe in Him and obey Him so that we may know what is good and what is evil, what will benefit us and what will harm us.

Perhaps it would be unfair for us to be left to stumble through life not knowing the purpose of our creation or how to conduct the affairs in our lives to get the most benefit out of this life. Perhaps we might have reason to complain if Allah had given us desires and put tests in front of us and let us bring harm to ourselves as a result of succumbing to these. It is not possible for us to know what Allah wants from us without Him telling us in some way.

However, Allah did not create people and then leave them alone with no path to follow. He knew that we would go astray and that people would create problems for themselves as a result of this. So He revealed the Books and sent Messengers to guide mankind to the Straight Path. These messengers were taught by Allah and sent with guidance and they were honoured by Allah as he kept them away from sin and supported their message with miracles so that they could prove to their people that they were in fact sent by Allah. They were the best people in character and were sent as an example to people.

If it were not for this guidance mankind would be unable to differentiate between what is beneficial and what is harmful, especially with regard to the details. This applies not only to what is beneficial and harmful in this life, but also in the Hereafter.

"Messengers as bearers of good news as well as of warning in order that mankind should have no plea against Allah after the (coming of) Messengers"

(Qur'an 4:165)

Allah created people with a natural inclination towards monotheism (belief in the One God). Every time people deviated from that, Allah sent a Prophet to bring them back to the Straight Path. The first of the Prophets was Adam and the last was Muhammad (PBUH):

"Mankind were one community and Allah sent Prophets with glad tidings and warnings, and with them He sent down the Scripture in truth to judge between people in matters wherein they differed."

(Qur'an 2:213)

The reasons why mankind needs messengers and prophets may be summed up as follows:

Man is created to worship his Lord, and he has to know his Creator and what He wants of him, and why man was created. Man cannot come to know that by himself. He has no way of finding that out except through knowing the Prophets and Messengers, and the guidance and light which they brought.
Man is composed of body and soul. His body is nourished by his food and drink, but the nourishment of his soul is that which was explained by its Creator, namely the true religion and righteous deeds. The Prophets and Messengers brought the true religion and taught people to do righteous deeds.
Man is religious by nature and he has to have a religion to follow, and this religion has to be correct. There is no way to the true religion except through believing in the Prophets and Messengers and believing in the message they brought.
Man needs to know the way through which he may attain the pleasure of Allah in this world, and reach His Paradise and bliss in the Hereafter. No one can show these ways and guide people to them apart from the Prophets and Messengers.
Man is weak by nature, and there are many enemies lying in wait for him, such as Satan who wants to lead him astray and bad companions who make evil things attractive to him, and his own self which is inclined towards evil. Hence, he needs something to protect himself from the plots of his enemies. The Prophets and Messengers guide him towards that and show it to him clearly.
Man is sociable by nature. In human meetings and interactions, there have to be laws to guide people in a fair and just manner - otherwise the law of the jungle would prevail. This guiding law must protect the rights of all those who have rights, without neglecting or exaggerating in any way. No one can produce a perfect law except Allah, and He sends the laws through the Prophets and Messengers.
Man needs something that will give him security and peace of mind, and guide him to the means of true happiness. This is what the Prophets and Messengers guide people towards.

The difference between a prophet and a messenger

Allah uses the terms 'Prophet' (Nabi) and 'Messenger' (Rasool) in many places in the Qur'an. The difference is that a Messenger is a person to whom a law is revealed and he is commanded to convey it, whilst a Prophet is not specifically given a law to convey, but has been sent to establish previously revealed laws, and judge people based on those laws accordingly. However, this definition is not necessarily as simple as that, since a Prophet is also commanded to call people, convey the message to them and judge between them.

It is clearer to say that a Messenger is one who is sent to a disbelieving people and thus brings the law with them, and a Prophet is one who is sent to a believing people with the law of the Messenger who came before him, to teach them and judge between them. Therefore, a person can be a Prophet and a Messenger (they judge between people and convey laws of previous Messengers as well as new laws), or they can be just a Messenger (they simply convey a message but are not obliged to judge between the people).

Who were the prophets and messengers?

To the best of our knowledge, all the prophets and messengers that were sent were male. This is not because they are more pious in the sight of Allah nor that they were more trustworthy. All prophets have to some extent been rejected by the people they were sent to. As such, the prophets and messengers were put through incredible hardship and suffering in every way - financial, physical, emotional, spiritual. They often lost their friends, their families, their property and wealth and suffered ill health. Undoubtedly this would have been more difficult for a woman to bear and it is possible that Allah chose those men for this reason. Allah only sent men as prophets/messengers who He knew would be able to carry out the task of guiding the people he was sent to. Furthermore, the societies to which the prophets/messengers were sent would have been unlikely to accept such a message from a woman.

There are 25 prophets mentioned by name in the Qur'an. Their names, the nation they were sent to and the place they were born are given below.

Arabic Name	Biblical Name	Born in...	The Nation sent to
Aadam	Adam	Heaven	-
Idrees	Enoch	Iraq	Egypt
Nuh	Noah	Iraq	Iraq
Hud	-	Saudi Arabia	Oman
Salih	-	Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia
Ibraaheem	Abraham	Iraq	Palestine / Egypt
Isma'il	Ishmael	Jordan	Mecca / Saudi Arabia
Ishaq	Isaac	Jordan	Palestine
Lut	Lot	Iraq	Jordan
Ya'quub	Jacob	Palestine	Iraq / Palestine
Yusuf	Joseph	Iraq	Egypt
Shu'aib	Reuell	Jordan	Jordan
Ayyuub	Job	Syria	Syria
Moosa	Moses	Egypt	Egypt
Haarun	Aaron	Egypt	Egypt
Dhul-kifl	-	Syria	Syria
Daawood	David	Palestine	Palestine
Sulaimaan	Solomon	Palestine	Palestine
Ilyaas	Elias	Palestine	Lebanon
Al Yasa'	Elisha	Lebanon	Syria
Yoonus	Jonah	Syria	Iraq
Zakariyya	Zechariah	Palestine	Palestine
Yahya	John	Palestine	Palestine
'Isa	Jesus	Palestine	Palestine
Muhammad	-	Mecca, Saudi Arabia	All humanity

The great prophets are all related. Muhammad (PBUH) is a descendant of Ishmael (Abraham's son) (PBUH) and the only prophet that we know of, that came down this line. Jacob, Aaron, Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus and many other prophets (peace be upon them all) are descendents of Isaac (another of Abraham's sons) (PBUH). So all of these prophets are related since the Jews (Israelites) came from Isaac's descendents whilst the Arabs came from Ishmael's. However, because Muhammad came from the 'other' line, he was rejected by many of the Jews since they assumed the prophet that they were waiting for (from the prophecies in their scriptures) to come from their own lineage, like all of the other prophets. This was a test for the Jews from Allah.

To see how the prophets since Abraham are related click on the link below showing the Prophets' lineage from Abraham (PBUH). Note: not all descendents are necessarily shown, only those that are relevant.

Lineage of the last Prophets

To see the lineage of Adam to Abraham please refer to the previous section on Creation: Generations or click here to go directly to the lineage diagram.

Whilst only the 25 prophets and messengers listed in the table above are mentioned in the Qur'an, Allah tells us that He has sent approximately 124,000 prophets and messengers:

"And, indeed We have sent Messengers before you (O Muhammad), of some of them We have related to you their story. And of some We have not related to you their story"

(Qur'an 40:78)

However, we are told that every group of people before Muhammad (PBUH) was sent a messenger and they called people to the same truth, which is to worship Allah, and Him alone and to reject all gods besides Him:

"And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a Messenger (proclaiming): "Worship Allah (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Taaghoot (all false deities, i.e. do not worship anything besides Allah)."

(Qur'an 16:36)

"Whoever goes right, then he goes right only for the benefit of his ownself. And whoever goes astray, then he goes astray to his own loss. No one laden with burdens can bear another's burden. And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger (to give warning)."

(Qur'an 17:15)

Sometimes messengers and prophets were sent for just one person. Other times they have been sent for a group of people (such as a family, tribe or nation).

Muhammad was the last prophet and messenger

In one case, that of Prophet Muhammad, a prophet was sent for everyone during his time and for all time to come, so he is the Messenger that we here today were sent. Muhammad (PBUH) was the last of the Prophets that Allah sent and He will send no more:

"Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last (end) of the Prophets"

(Qur'an 33:40)

"Say (O Muhammad): 'O mankind! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah'"

(Qur'an 7:158)

However, right from the first Prophet to the last the religion with which Allah sent the Prophets and Messengers was the same, i.e., Islam and every Prophet (including Moses, Jesus (peace be upon them) and so on was a Muslim (i.e. they submitted themselves to the will of the One and Only God, Allah):

"Truly, the religion with Allah is Islam"

(Qur'an 3:19)

The religion which was brought by Muhammad (PBUH) confirms the message brought by the Prophets before him, in its basic principles and advocation of noble characteristics, as Allah says:

"He (Allah) has ordained for you the same religion (Islamic Monotheism) which He ordained for Nooh (Noah), and that which We have revealed to you (O Muhammad), and that which We ordained for Ibraheem (Abraham), Moosa (Moses) and 'Eesa (Jesus) saying you should establish religion (i.e. to do what it orders you to do practically) and make no divisions] in it (religion) (i.e. various sects in religion).

(Qur'an 42:13)

The Qur'an is the last heavenly book

Similarly, whilst Allah sent Books before the Qur'an (Torah, Gospel and the Psalms in their original forms), the Qur'an is the last. The Qur'an, confirmed the Books which came before it, and as a guidance to all of mankind:

"(This is) a Book which We have revealed unto you (O Muhammad) in order that you might lead mankind out of darkness (of disbelief and polytheism) into light

(Qur'an 14:1)

The Qur'an is the last and greatest of the heavenly Books and Muhammad (PBUH) is the last and best of the Prophets and Messengers. Allah has abrogated (cancelled out or overwritten) all of the heavenly Books with the Qur'an since it is Islam in its final, complete form for all time.

No religion other than Islam will be accepted

So whoever does not follow the Qur'an and enter Islam and believe in the Messenger (PBUH) and follow him, his/her deeds will not be accepted:

"And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers"

(Qur'an 3:85)

It is not correct to say that because Moses or Jesus (Peace be upon them both) were prophets of Allah that following them now will cause a person to have their religion accepted.

It is true however, that at the time of those prophets before Muhammad, if the people of that time followed that prophet that had been sent to them by Allah, then their religion will be accepted. For this reason, the Jews who followed the message with Moses (PBUH) before Jesus (PBUH) was sent, will have their religion accepted (if Allah wills).

Similarly, those Christians before Muhammad (PBUH) who followed the message that Jesus (PBUH) was sent with will also (if Allah wills) have their religion accepted. However, those Jews who continued to follow Prophet Moses (PBUH) after the new message was sent with Jesus (PBUH) and those people who continued to follow Prophet Moses or Prophet Jesus (peace be upon them), or any other religion after Prophet Muhammad was sent, will not have their religion accepted (and Allah knows best). In other words, the message of the most recent prophet takes precedence. However, as mentioned above, the essence of the message was the same (i.e. Allah is the One and Only God, and worship Allah alone), but it would be a terrible sin for a believer to reject a prophet of Allah. For this reason, the Jews made Allah very angry since they killed many of the prophets Allah sent to guide them because they didn't like the message that they brought and wanted to follow their own whims and desires.

Belief in all of the prophets

It is one of the Articles of Faith that a Muslim must believe in all of the Prophets and Messengers that Allah has sent. Failing to do so does not make a person a true Muslim. Belief in the prophets means that a person believes that they were all truthful, righteous and wise people and that they conveyed Allah's message to their people without adding or omitting anything. It means following the message they brought with them, honouring them and having great respect for them.

"Each one believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. (They say,) 'We make no distinction between one another of His Messengers.'"

(Qur'an 2:136)

The above verse refers to the fact that in terms of the Messengers all speaking the truth and that they were indeed sent by Allah, there is no distinction between them, because they all exhibited these qualities.

However, whilst the prophets and messengers have a higher status that the rest of mankind because of the noble task they were given, some of the prophets were preferred over prophets too.

"And indeed, We have preferred some of the Prophets above others"

(Qur'an 17:55)

The five who are the most revered and superior to all others are Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them all). Of these, Muhammad is the greatest of all of them.

Prophets could never be guilty of the major sins, nor could they lie about the message they were sent with. Allah says in the Qur'an:

"And if he [Muhammad (PBUH)] had forged a false saying concerning Us [Allah], We surely would have seized him by his right hand (or with power and might), and then certainly should have cut off his life artery (aorta)."

(Qur'an 69:44-46)

Allah only sent His message with the most trustworthy people and Allah does not make mistakes. Prophets are however, human and they are not perfect - only Allah is perfect. So whilst prophets and messengers are infallible in terms of carrying out their mission, Allah tests them too. Sometimes they were placed in a situation where they had to use their own judgement and sometimes they made the wrong judgement. However, this was only with regard to minor sins and it is surely a terrible lie to accuse any of the prophets or messengers of committing anything such as adultery and so on since this would imply that Allah had sent His message with someone who could not be trusted with the message and would not be a good example of how to implement Allah's commands. Since Allah has knowledge of and power over everything, He chooses only those of the best morals and character for such an important job.

It is hoped that in the future this website will detail the biographies of some of the great prophets according to Islamic texts. In the meantime, it is important to note that whilst Judaism and Christianity naturally share most of the same prophets as Islam, the biographies about the lives of these prophets are not always the same. In many aspects the details will be similar, but there are very small, yet very significant differences - particularly with regard to claims that some prophets committed major sins, which is not something that Islam teaches.

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