Key beliefs in IslamRisalah (prophethood)

Risalah is the Arabic word for ‘message’. It refers to ‘prophethood’ and represents the various ways Allah communicates with humanity to reveal his messages.

Risalah as revelation

Islam teaches that Allah wants to help people live good lives, so he sends messages to guide them. This is called revelation. Many of these messages are found in the Qur’an. Muslims believe that revelations from Allah were communicated through prophets.

• The prophets are the connection between Allah and humanity.
• There are 25 named prophets in the Qur’an, although many people believe there may have been as many as 124,000.
• All of the prophets are considered to be equal: We make no distinction between any of them (Surah 2:136).
• Allah chose the prophets to reveal his truth. They are responsible for the revelation.
• Messages from Allah were sent to the prophets using angels (malaikah).
• These messages are recorded in the holy books.
• The prophets performed miracles, which proved they really were prophets.

In the Qur’an, Allah warns against ignoring the messages given by the prophets:

All of the prophets received the same message about there being one God, which shows that Allah is unchanging and that Islam is the true religion. Muslims believe that Muhammad was the final prophet.