No difference do we make between any of them and to Him...

No difference do we make between any of them and to Him (alone) have we submitted (ourselves)." (2:136) The above verse is clear in its declaration that a Muslim has to believe in God and the Holy Qur'an and all the heavenly Scriptures revealed to the ancient prophets who preceded the , and there should be no distinction made about their personal purity and truthfulness, and a Muslim is be who has submitted himself to God.

Though the names of all those apostles of God are not given in the Holy Qur'an, the number of them is reported to be a lakh and twenty4our thousand, and this number may mean the innumerable numbers of guides given to humanity since its advent on earth.

And verily sent We apostles before thee, of them there are those whom We have mentioned unto thee; and of them are those whom We have mentioned not unto thee; and it was not given to any apostle to bring a sign (miracle) save with the leave of God, but when came the 97 behest of God, (it) was executed with truth, and those who stood on falsehood were then the losers.

(40:78) The first of them was Adam and the Last the Holy , with whom concluded the apostleship and after whom neither any other apostle came nor would ever come until the end of the world. A Muslim has to believe in the finality of the apostleship of Muhammad, the last Apostle of God.

Belief in the Prophets preceding the Holy : This is another proof of Islam's being the universal religion of man that, unlike any other religious order of the world, Islam demands faith in the infallibility and the truthfulness of all the prophets preceding the Holy , that they were truly Messengers of God sent for the guidance of the human race throughout the world.

A Muslim has to believe in a lakh and twenty-four thousand prophets, of whom only a very few have been mentioned in the Holy Qur'an. The following are a few of the verses concerning the divinely sent Messengers of God: This Our argument We gave to Abraham against his people; We exalt (any one) whom We please; Verily thy Lord is All- Wise, All-Knowing. And Zachariah and John and Jesus and Elias; every one was of the righteous (ones).

And Ishmael and Elisha and Jonah and Lot; and every one We did exalt (with Our apostleship) over the worlds. These are they to whom gave We the Book and the authority of apostleship; so if these (people) disbelieve it, indeed have We (already) entrusted it unto a people who are not disbelievers.