Now that we have established the existence of God, wouldn’t it make sense that our Creator would communicate what He expects from us? That’s where the prophets come in. Here’s a quick introduction to the family tree of the prophets:
Did they really exist? What was their purpose and common message:
Throughout history, there were many prophets, as shown in the “Tree chart of the prophets,” but only a few were given scriptures. For example, David received the Psalms, Moses the Torah, Jesus the Gospel (distinct from the modern Bible, as explained in detail on page 07), and Muhammad the Qur’an. Their primary mission was to call people to worship God alone and uphold pure monotheism: “God is One.” They were sent to guide humanity in understanding God’s expectations, showing us how to live with justice, worship sincerely, treat others with compassion, and face life’s challenges with hope for the afterlife. While some argue that certain prophets may never have existed, most of their names appear repeatedly in scriptures dating back as far as 3,000 years before Jesus. Proving their historicity, however, can be challenging but in the case of the last two prophets, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them), their existence stands on solid historical ground, supported by multiple independent sources, contemporary records, and, in Muhammad’s case, even archaeological evidence, making their lives and messages not only matters of faith but also of credible historical record.
In Islam is there a distinction between these prophets? Are some considered higher in rank or divine?
There is no distinction between them, and none of them are divine. They were just prophets and messengers.
God says in the Qur’an:
“Say, We have believed in God and what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the descendants, and what was given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have surrendered.” Qur’an (2:84)
Was it an easy task to be a prophet and deliver God’s message?
No, far from it! All prophets faced tremendous hardship and adversity while delivering God’s message. Many of them were met with rejection, violence, mockery, and hostility from their own people and communities, they all faced brutal opposition, including attempts on their lives, imprisonment, or exile and some were murdered like Prophet Zakariya and Prophet John the Baptist (Yahya). Others, like Prophet Noah faced ridicule for preaching about the coming flood, and his people rejected him, even his own son turned against him and perished. Prophet Abraham was thrown into a blazing fire by his people for rejecting idolatry, and Prophet Moses faced Pharaoh’s tyranny, enduring threats to his life and the suffering of the Israelites. Prophet Joseph, was betrayed by his own brothers and thrown into a well, abandoned to die, he was later sold into slavery in Egypt, he also endured years of hardship and imprisonment, Prophet Jesus (Aissa in Arabic) was opposed by the religious leaders of his time and was ultimately betrayed by one of his own disciples, leading to attempt on his life. Prophet Muhammad faced severe persecution in Makkah, including physical abuse, few attempted assassination, economic boycott, exile, and the loss of loved ones, including his beloved wife Khadijah and uncle Abu Talib. Despite these immense challenges, the prophets remained steadfast, showing patience and unwavering trust in God, never abandoning their mission to guide their people to the truth. Their endurance in the face of hardship serves as a powerful example of faith and perseverance.
Why should we believe them?
They all shared remarkable qualities, including honesty, patience, trustworthiness, humility, compassion, courage, wisdom, and unwavering devotion to God. While a few, such as Jesus and John the Baptist, were born as prophets, the majority were chosen by God and received their prophethood later in life as they become older and wiser (the majority after the age of 40). Though they lived in different times in history, different places, and spoke different languages without knowing one another (except for very few), they all conveyed the same message of monotheism “God is one”.
If only one, two, ten, or even twenty had claimed to have received such a revelation, we might question their credibility or even their sanity. However, despite the approximately 2000 years gap between Abraham and Jesus, and the roughly 540-600 years between Jesus and Muhammad (depending on whether we count from their birth or death), they all conveyed the same message and NEVER CONTRADICTED ONE ANOTHER, the message was always the same: “God is one and you will meet Him after death”. Additionally, most of them couldn’t read or write or even understand each other’s languages (from Ugaritic, Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Ancient Egyptian, Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew to Arabic) significantly strengthens the authenticity of their claims.
The last time Angel Gabriel appeared to a human was to the Prophet Muhammad, delivering the final testament, the Qur’an, over a period of 23 years. Gabriel informed Muhammad that he was the final prophet and messenger, sent to all of humanity. God promised that, unlike previous scriptures, the Qur’an would remain unchanged and uncorrupted until the end of time. This promise has held true to this day, as you will read more about on page 11 of this website in “What is the Qur’an”.
The Afterlife:
Another thing they all reported was an insight into the afterlife, they described what awaits us after death: the rewards of Heaven for the righteous and the consequences of Hell for those who reject God’s existence and or disobey His commands.
Above all, they emphasized God’s endless love and His readiness to forgive those who seek His mercy and repent. However, they also stressed that God demands devotion through acts of worship, including prayer, fasting, kindness, and charity to the less fortunate. All acts of worship must be directed exclusively to Him, without any intermediaries or partners whether saints, idols, humans, prophets, nature (the sun, the moon) etc.. otherwise, it will not be accepted. This highlights the importance of pure monotheism, nothing is divine except God alone, everything else is created and can not be divine.
Today, Islam is the only religion left that truly embodies “pure monotheism” as taught by all the prophets. You can either conduct further research on this topic or watch the video coming next in page 03, titled “Islam: Our Choice,” and you’ll quickly grasp why it stands out to be the only pure monotheistic religion among the 4,500 religions that exist on Earth today.