Back to search

How many prophets are mentioned by name in the Quran before their birth?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the prophets who were foretold before their birth are meant, then there are five of them whose glad tidings were mentioned in the Quran:

1. Yahya (John) peace be upon him: Zechariah was given the glad tidings of his coming. Allah the Almighty said: "O Zachariah, indeed We give you good tidings of a boy whose name will be John (Yahya)." 2. Isaac and Jacob, peace be upon them: Abraham and his wife were given glad tidings of their coming. Allah the Almighty said: "And We gave him good tidings of Isaac, a prophet from among the righteous," and He said: "So We gave her good tidings of Isaac and, after Isaac, Jacob." 3. Muhammad, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him: Jesus gave glad tidings of his coming. Allah the Almighty said: "and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad." 4. Jesus, peace be upon him: Mary was given glad tidings of his coming by Gabriel. Allah the Almighty said: "He said, 'I am only the messenger of your Lord to give you a pure boy.'"

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy