One might well ask:
How many prophets has God sent to humanity? We are only sure of what is clearly mentioned in the Quran, that God has sent a messenger to every nation. That is because it is one of God’s principles that He will never call a people to account unless He has made clear to them what to do and what not to do. The Quran mentions the names of 25 prophets and indicates that there have been others who were not mentioned to Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him. These 25 include Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (may God praise them all). These five are the greatest among God’s messengers. They are called ‘the resolute’ prophets.
An outstanding aspect of the Islamic belief in prophethood is that Muslims believe in and respect all the messengers of God with no exceptions. All the prophets came from the same One God, for the same purpose: to lead mankind to God. Hence, belief in them all is essential and logical; accepting some and rejecting others has to be based on misconceptions of the prophet’s role or on a racial bias. The Muslims are the only people in the world who consider the belief in all the prophets an article of faith. Thus the Jews reject Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them), and the Christians reject Muhammad. The Muslims accept them all as messengers of God who brought guidance to mankind. However, the revelations which those prophets before Muhammad brought from God have been tampered with in one way or another.
The belief in all the prophets of God is enjoined upon the Muslims in the Quran:
