What form should our belief in prophets take?

Question: What form should our belief in prophets take?
ANSWER
The fourth fundamental of îmân is belief in prophets. The statement Wa rusulihî in the Âmantu expresses the belief in Allahu ta’âlâ’s prophets.

The first of the prophets is Âdam ‘alaihis-salâm and the last of them is our Prophet, Muhammad Mustafa sall-Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. Many prophets were sent between these two. Their number is not known. It is well known that they were more than 124,000.

Belief in prophets means believing the fact that all prophets, without exception, are devoted and truthful people ed by Allahu ta’âlâ. A person who does not believe in one of them is regarded as not believing in any.

Prophethood cannot be attained by working hard, by performing a lot of acts of worship, by suffering hunger and discomfort. It is possessed only with Allahu ta’âlâ’s favor and ion.

Every thousand years since Âdam ‘alaihis-salâm, the first human and the first prophet, Allahu ta’âlâ sent humankind a new religion through a new prophet with a Sharîa. Through them He showed human beings the way of living in peace and comfort and attaining endless felicity in the Hereafter. Those prophets by whom a new religion was revealed are called rasûl. The superior ones of rasûls are called Ulul’azm. They are Âdam, Nûh (Noah), Ibrâhîm, Mûsâ (Moses), ‘Îsâ (Jesus), and Muhammad ‘alaihimus-salâtu wassalâm.