In a minute
All three faiths honour prophets, people whom God called to speak His word. Abraham, Moses and David are in all three books. The differences are about Moses' place, whether prophecy has stopped, and who Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace be upon him) are.
These are exactly the places where the three faiths part. They are told here as each tradition tells them.
Shared ground
- Many of the same people. Abraham, Moses (peace be upon him), David, Solomon, Elijah, Jonah and Job appear in all three scriptures. The site's 28 prophet pages set the three tellings side by side.
- A prophet is a messenger, not a god. The Qur'an has the Prophet ﷺ say, "I am only a mortal like you" (18:110, Pickthall). Maimonides called Moses the master of all prophets. The New Testament says:
For no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:21 · WEBBE
- A call to justice and mercy. The prophets of all three faiths call people back to God and to kindness. Isaiah's vision of nations that will not lift up sword against nation belongs to all of us (Isaiah 2:4, JPS 1917).
The prophets spoke God's word
I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy
Joel 3:1 · JPS 1917Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Luke 24:27 · WEBBEWe make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered.
Qur'an 2:136 · PickthallHonest differences
Honest differences
- Judaism. Moses is unique: "there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face" (Deuteronomy 34:10, JPS 1917). Maimonides makes this his seventh principle. Jewish tradition teaches that prophecy ceased after Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, though a heavenly voice, the bat kol, remained (Sotah 48b). Jewish tradition does not count Jesus or Muhammad ﷺ among the prophets of Israel, and teaches that Moses' prophecy was unique.
- Christianity. The prophets pointed to Christ, in the Christian reading. Christians confess Jesus not as one prophet among others but as the Son and the Word (Nicene Creed; Hebrews 1:1-2: God "has spoken to us by his Son", WEBBE).
- Islam. Muslims believe in all the prophets, and that Muhammad ﷺ is "the messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets" (33:40, Pickthall). Jesus is honoured, born of a virgin (19:20-22) and spoken of with love (3:45-47; 19:30-33). The Qur'an says:
The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. — Qur'an 4:171 · Pickthall
Muslims do not hold that he is God's son. Muslims also believe he will return (see the Last Day in Islam). - These are differences we do not try to settle. Each community has the first and last word on its own prophets.
Read next
- Judaism: The prophets
- Christianity: Jesus
- Islam: Belief in the prophets and messengers
- Stories of the prophets, side by side
Which prophet's story speaks to you, and have you ever read it in the other two traditions?
Next: The Last Day. Back to the overview.