The Compendium of Reports on the Earlier Prophets

Allah Most High says:
“Those Messengers—We favored some of them over others: among them are those to whom Allah spoke, and some He raised in rank. We gave Jesus son of Mary the clear proofs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit …” (al-Baqarah 2:253).

He also says:
“Indeed, We have revealed to you as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him. We revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, and to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron and Solomon, and We gave David the Psalms—messengers of whom We have already told you and messengers of whom We have not told you. And Allah spoke to Moses directly—messengers bringing glad tidings and warnings so that mankind would have no argument against Allah after the messengers. And Allah is Ever-Mighty, All-Wise.” (al-Nisāʾ 4:163-165).

Ibn Ḥibbān records in his Ṣaḥīḥ, Ibn Mardawayh in his Tafsīr, and others likewise, through the chain of Ibrāhīm ibn Hishām from Yaḥyā ibn Muḥammad al-Ghassānī al-Shāmī—about whom scholars have expressed reservations—who said: My father narrated to me from my grandfather, from Abū Idrīs, from Abū Dharr, who said:

I asked, “O Messenger of Allah, how many prophets were there?” He replied, “One hundred and twenty-four thousand.”

I asked, “O Messenger of Allah, how many of them were messengers?” He said, “Three hundred and thirteen—a great multitude.”

I asked, “O Messenger of Allah, who was the first of them?” He answered, “Adam.”

I said, “O Messenger of Allah, was he a prophet who was sent?”

He replied, “Yes. Allah created him with His own Hand, breathed into him of His Spirit, and fashioned him perfectly.”

Then he said, “O Abū Dharr, four of them were Syriac: Adam, Seth, Noah, and Khanoch—who is Idrīs, the first man to write with the pen; and four were Arabs: Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, Shuʿayb, and your Prophet, O Abū Dharr. The first prophet among the Children of Israel was Moses and the last of them was Jesus. The first of the prophets was Adam and the last of them is your Prophet.”

Abū’l-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzī cited this ḥadīth in his work al-Mawḍūʿāt.

Ibn Abī Ḥātim transmitted it through another chain, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿAwf narrated to us; Abū’l-Mughīrah narrated to us; Muʿān ibn Rifāʿah narrated to us, from ʿAlī ibn Yazīd, from al-Qāsim, from Abū Umāmah, who said:

I asked, “O Messenger of Allah, how many prophets are there?” He replied, “One hundred and twenty-four thousand; of these, the messengers are three hundred and fifteen—a great multitude.”