WHO ARE THE ULU’L-AZM PROPHETS?

It is understood that some prophets chosen among the messengers are called ulu’l-azm due to their different qualities from the others. Although there are different views about the number and identity of these prophets, it is generally agreed that ulu’l-azm refers to the five greatest messengers, that is, Muhammad (pbuh), Abraham, Mosa, Isa, and Noah.

All prophets cited in the Quran strived greatly to fulfill the holy duty assigned to them by Allah. From this perspective, no prophet should be discriminated against because they were all sent as leaders to humans. Prophet Muhammad emphasized this issue in the following hadith: “I am the closest to Isa (Jesus), the son of Maryam, among all humans. Indeed prophets are half-brothers. Their religions are the same.” This should be taken into consideration when assessing prophecy and divine religions.

Another important issue to be considered is that the circumstances of their communities and the time period in which each prophet was sent significantly differed. In this regard, Allah's mentioning some prophets as ulu’l-azm is significant; those prophets sent at milestones of humanity were described as ulu’l-azm prophets.