Does Allah Almighty mention the total number of Prophets sent?

[Zainab_M]

 





Salaam Alaikum to all.  We continue our Reflections on the Glorious Quraan.

We do not know the exact number of prophets the Almighty Allah had sent to this world with His Message in the past since the creation of the earth.  This information is known to Allah alone.  According to some Hadith narrations the figure of 124,000 messengers in total is mentioned.  But this is just a guesswork and presumption of the clerics.  It has no compatibility with the information expressed in the Quran. 

Allah says in the Noble Quran that some of the messengers sent in the past have been mentioned by Him and some have not been mentioned.  This is Allah's final statement.  We must not speculate on the exact number of messengers sent by Allah.  Only He has knowledge of it.


"Verily We sent messengers before you, among them those of whom We have told you, and some of whom We have not told you; and it was not given to any messenger that he should bring a portent save by Allah's leave, but when Allah's commandment comes (the cause) is judged aright, and the followers of vanity will then be lost."  (40:78) Al-Momin   

As you read the Sublime Quran, you will also observe that in several passages of Allah's Message, He has cited events that took place during the times of various Prophets of the past without naming them.   For example, let us look at Surah Al-Mominun (Chapter 23).  In this Surah, Verses 23:23-30 narrate the events of the time of Prophet Noah (pbuh).  Then, Verses 23:31-44 contain the description of events during the times of various other Prophets.  But only the events are described, not the names of those Prophets.  To exemplify further, after the stating the era of Prophet Noah and his community, Verses 23:31-32  mention: "Then, after them, We brought forth another generation; And we sent among them a messenger of their own, saying: Serve Allah, you have no other God save Him. Will you not ward off (evil) ?"  As you read ahead, the Verses that follow contain more information of how the disobedient communities reacted to the Divine Message brought to them by their Prophets.   Verse 23:44 closes by stating "Then We sent our messengers one after another. Whenever its messenger came unto a nation they denied him;"  But none of these Prophets are mentioned by name.   If you read still further, you will find Verses 23:45-49 and 23:50 with information of three more Prophets who are mentioned by name, that is, Prophets Moses, Aaron and Jesus, son of Virgin Maryam.  Thus, apparently, those several Prophets not named from Verses 23:31-44 came some time between the eras of Prophets Noah and Moses/Aaron/Jesus son of Virgin Maryam.   

The Quran also does not mention the names of nations where the unnamed Prophets came.  But the Quran has already elucidated that Allah Almighty has sent His messengers with the message of Tawheed to every nation of the world.  That stands confirmed.

"And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], "Worship Allah and avoid Taghut (false gods)."  (16:36) Surah Al-Nahl.


Related posts:

-  Every community in the world had a messenger.

-  The names of Prophets which Allah Almighty has chosen to mention in the Quran are 25.
25 Prophets mentioned in the Noble Quran.

[N. Truth Seeker]

Thank you sister. 

Also check Verse 16:36 in our post How many messengers were sent by Allah?

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Thank you from me too Sister.  Very good piece.  I was recently having an argument with one of those Hadithist blood boilers who insisted the figure of 124,000 is confirmed ..... moron!