A prophet (nabbiy in Arabic) is a person who is chosen to receive words from Allaah. A Messenger (rasool in Arabic) also receives words from Allaah, but he is also required to convey these words to his people, in other words, these words become a public message he undertakes.

Therefore, every messenger is a prophet, but not vice versa. Mu’hammad was a messenger and subsequently also a prophet in the same time.

An issue that is worth noticing here is that the concept of prophecy in the West is not the same as in Islaam. Mohamed Zakariya [Mu’hammad Zakariyya], a Muslim calligrapher says, “When we think of prophecy, we come from a tradition in America where we think of Charlton Heston, you know, the great big beard and the winds always blowing. And he’s, wearing raggedy clothes, and they’re ranting people …and raving. In the Islamic view, a prophet isn’t this kind of person at all.”

The number of prophets and messenger Allaah sent to mankind is not exactly known, but amongst the prophets and messengers mentioned in the Holy ’Qura~n are: Adam (A~dam) who is the father of prophets, Abraham (Ibraheem) Noah (Noo’h), Jacob (ya‘’qoob), Joseph (Yoosuf), Jonah (Yoonus), John (Ya’hya), Solomon (Sulaymaan), David (Daawood), Mosses (Moosa), Jesus (‘Eesa) , and Mu’hammad, the seal of prophets and messengers