How many prophets came in the world? How many prophets are there?
The prophecy that started with Adam (as) continued until Muhammad with the arrival of many prophets in between. In the Qur’an, it is stated, “To every people (was sent) a messenger…”[1], and “Nor would We visit with Our Wrath until We had sent a Messenger (to give warning).”[2] Although there is no information about the number of prophets in the Qur’an, according to the following verse there is no doubt that there are prophets whose names are not mentioned in the Qur’an, “Of some messengers, We have already told thee the story; of others, We have not…”. [3] It is repeated in various Qur’anic verses that every nation has had a prophet.[4]As a matter of fact, in one of his hadiths, Muhammad (saw) reported that the number of prophets was 124,000, and 315 of them were rasūl.[5]
The chronological order of the twenty-five prophets whose names are mentioned in the Qur’an is as follows: Adam, Idris, Noah, Hud, Salih, Lot, Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq, Ya’qūb, Yusuf, Shuayb, Musa, Harun, David, Solomon. Ayyub, Ilyas, Alyasa, Dhulkifl, Yunus, Zakariyya, Yaḥyā, Isa and Muhammad (saw). There are also the names of Uzayr, Luqman, and Dhulqarnayn; there is a difference of opinion as to whether they were prophets or saints. However, it has also been argued that this number is not a definite limiting number, but is stated to express a large quantity.
Yet, whether their names have been mentioned in the Qur’an or not, the truth is that there has been no community in existence that did not receive a prophet before the last and universal prophet Muhammad (saw). Moreover, with this fact, the possibility of people using ignorance as an excuse on the Day of Judgment has been eliminated.
[1] Yunus, 10: 47.[2] Al-’Isrā, 17: 15.[3] Al-Nisā, 4: 164.[4] See al-Naḥl, 16: 63; Fāṭir, 35: 24; Yunus, 10: 48; al-Rad, 13: 7.[5] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, V, 266; ʿAbd al-Qāhir Baghdādī, ʿUṣūl al-Dīn, Istanbul 1928, p. 157.
Source: Basic Islamic Principles (ʿilmi ḥāl) According to the Four Sunni Schools With Evidence From The Sources of Islamic Law, Prof. Hamdi Döndüren, Erkam Publications
