Islam

=== Prophets ===
{{Main|Prophets and messengers in Islam|Sunnah|Hadith}}
[[File:Medieval Persian manuscript Muhammad leads Abraham Moses Jesus.jpg|thumb|left|A 15th century<ref>{{cite web |title=BnF. Département des Manuscrits. Supplément turc 190 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/view3if/ga/ark:/12148/btv1b8427195m/f16 |publisher=[[Bibliothèque nationale de France]] |access-date=7 September 2023 |archive-date=9 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230909130407/https://gallica.bnf.fr/view3if/ga/ark:/12148/btv1b8427195m/f16 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Persian miniature]] depicting [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]] leading [[Abraham in Islam|Abraham]], [[Moses in Islam|Moses]], [[Jesus in Islam|Jesus]] and other prophets in prayer]]
Prophets (Arabic: {{lang-ar|أنبياء|label=none|translit=anbiyāʾ}}) are believed to have been chosen by God to preach a divine message. Some of these prophets additionally deliver a new book and are called "messengers" ({{lang-ar| رسول&lrm;|label=none|translit=rasūl}}).<ref>Esposito, J. L. (2003). The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Vereinigtes Königreich: Oxford University Press, US. p. 225</ref> Muslims believe prophets are human and not divine. All of the prophets are said to have preached the same basic message of Islam – submission to the will of God – to various nations in the past, and this is said to account for many similarities among religions. The Quran recounts the names of numerous figures considered [[prophets in Islam]], including [[Adam in Islam|Adam]], [[Noah in Islam|Noah]], [[Abraham in Islam|Abraham]], [[Moses in Islam|Moses]] and [[Jesus in Islam|Jesus]], among others.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Reeves |first=J. C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WNId86Eu4TEC |title=Bible and Qurʼān: Essays in scriptural intertextuality |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |year=2004 |isbn=90-04-12726-7 |location=[[Leiden]] |page=177 |access-date=21 August 2019 |archive-date=19 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419164019/https://books.google.com/books?id=WNId86Eu4TEC |url-status=live }}</ref> The stories associated with the prophets beyond the Quranic accounts are collected and explored in the ''[[Qisas Al-Anbiya|Qisas al-Anbiya]]'' (Stories of the Prophets).

Muslims believe that God sent Muhammad as the final prophet ("[[Seal of the prophets]]") to convey the completed message of Islam.<ref>Esposito, John L. 2009. "Islam." In ''{{Doi-inline|10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001|''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World''}}'', edited by J. L. Esposito. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-19-530513-5}}. (See also: [https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100012298 quick reference] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110124812/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100012298 |date=10 January 2021 }}.) "Profession of Faith...affirms Islam's absolute monotheism and acceptance of Muḥammad as the messenger of Allah, the last and final prophet."</ref><ref name="OEIW-allah2">Peters, F. E. 2009. "Allāh." In {{Doi-inline|10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001|''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World''}}, edited by J. L. Esposito. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-19-530513-5}}. (See also: [https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095403960 quick reference] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926053837/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095403960 |date=26 September 2020 }}.) "[T]he Muslims' understanding of Allāh is based...on the Qurʿān's public witness. Allāh is Unique, the Creator, Sovereign, and Judge of mankind. It is Allāh who directs the universe through his direct action on nature and who has guided human history through his prophets, Abraham, with whom he made his covenant, Moses/Moosa, Jesus/Eesa, and Muḥammad, through all of whom he founded his chosen communities, the 'Peoples of the Book.{{'"}}</ref> In Islam, the "normative" example of Muhammad's life is called the ''[[sunnah]]'' (literally "trodden path"). Muslims are encouraged to emulate Muhammad's moral behaviors in their daily lives, and the sunnah is seen as crucial to guiding interpretation of the Quran.<ref>{{harvp|Martin|2004|p=666}}</ref><ref>{{harvc|c=Hadith|in=Encyclopaedia of Islam Online|year=n.d.|author=J. Robson}}</ref><ref>{{harvc|c=Sunna|in=Encyclopaedia of Islam Online|year=n.d.|author=D.W. Brown}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Goldman |first=Elizabeth |title=Believers: Spiritual Leaders of the World |date=1995 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-508240-1 |location=Oxford |page=63}}</ref> This example is preserved in traditions known as [[hadith]], which are accounts of his words, actions, and personal characteristics. [[Hadith qudsi|Hadith Qudsi]] is a sub-category of hadith, regarded as God's verbatim words quoted by Muhammad that are not part of the Quran. A hadith involves two elements: a chain of narrators, called [[Hadith studies#Traditional importance of the sanad|''sanad'']], and the actual wording, called ''[[Hadith studies|matn]]''. There are various methodologies to classify the authenticity of hadiths, with the commonly used grading grading scale being "authentic" or "correct" ({{lang-ar|صحيح|links=no|translit=[[Authentic hadith|ṣaḥīḥ]]|label=none}}); "good", ''hasan'' ({{lang-ar|حسن|links=no|label=none|translit=[[Hasan (hadith)|ḥasan]]}}); or "weak" ({{lang-ar|ضعيف|label=none|translit=[[Da'if|ḍaʻīf]]}}), among others. The ''[[Kutub al-Sittah]]'' are a collection of six books, regarded as the most authentic reports in [[Sunni Islam]]. Among them is ''[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]'', often considered by Sunnis to be one of the most [[Hadith terminology#Terminology relating to the authenticity of a hadith|authentic]] sources after the Quran.<ref name="Muqaddimah">[[Aisha Abd al-Rahman|al-Rahman, Aisha Abd]], ed. 1990. ''[[Introduction to the Science of Hadith|Muqaddimah Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ]]''. Cairo: Dar al-Ma'arif, 1990. pp. 160–69</ref> Another well-known source of hadiths is known as ''[[The Four Books]]'', which Shias consider as the most authentic hadith reference.<ref>Awliya'i, Mustafa. "[https://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/vol1-n12-3/outlines-development-science-hadith-dr-mustafa-awliyai/part-1#four-books The Four Books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912144702/https://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/vol1-n12-3/outlines-development-science-hadith-dr-mustafa-awliyai/part-1#four-books |date=12 September 2017 }}." In ''Outlines of the Development of the Science of Hadith'' 1, translated by A. Q. Qara'i. – via [[Al-Islam.org]]. Retrieved 24 May 2020.</ref><ref>[[Sa'id Akhtar Rizvi|Rizvi, Sayyid Sa'eed Akhtar]]. "[https://www.al-islam.org/quran-and-hadith-allamah-sayyid-saeed-akhtar-rizvi/chapter-4-hadith#four-books-al-kutubul-arbah The Hadith §The Four Books (Al-Kutubu'l-Arb'ah)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912191319/https://www.al-islam.org/quran-and-hadith-allamah-sayyid-saeed-akhtar-rizvi/chapter-4-hadith#four-books-al-kutubul-arbah |date=12 September 2017 }}." Ch 4 in ''The Qur'an and Hadith''. Tanzania: [[Bilal Muslim Mission]]. – via [[Al-Islam.org]]. Retrieved 24 May 2020.</ref>