Brannon Wheeler in his article: ”Arab Prophets of the Quran and Bible.” Journal of Quranic Studies 8.2 (2006): 24-57: a study that focuses on the question of the ‘Arab’ prophets Hūd, Sālih, and Shucayb. Of all the prophets mentioned by name in the Qur’an, only these three appear not to be mentioned in the Bible, and, as such, they provide a helpful example to examine the treatment of historical materials in the Qur’an.

In addition to Islamic exegesis, this paper uses a number of non-Qur’anic literary sources, and archeological findings, to demonstrate that there is a fair amount of evidence external to the Qur’an for the historicity of the Arab prophets, suggesting the need for a much more varied and wider consideration of the phenomenon of prophecy in the ancient world as the common heritage of the (3 Abrahamic) religions of the Book.

Prophet Muhammad whom God addresses in Qur’an 28:46 as being sent to warn a people to whom no warner had come before. Qur’an. 32:3 likewise describes a warner, identified by Muslim exegesis as the Prophet Muhammad, sent to a people to whom no warner had come before. Abd al-Haqq ibn Atiyya (d.546/1151) relates that the Arabs were a people who had been taught by Abraham and his sons, but had received no messenger like the Prophet Muhammad before.

Ibn Atiyya also reports that Ibn Abbas and Muqatil ibn Sulayman interpret the statement about there being no warner before in Qur’an 32:3 to refer only to the period of time between Jesus and Muhammad. Mahmud ibn Umar al-Zamakhshan (d.538/1144) explains also that the lack of a warner mentioned in Qur’an 28:46 and Qur’an 36:6 refers to the 550 years between Jesus and Prophet Muhammad. It is possible that the unique role of Muhammad among Arabs is related to the distinction made by Muslim scholarship between the ‘apostles’ (rusul) and the prophets (anbiya1).

Muhammad ibn Sacd (d.230/845) reports that the number of apostles, including Prophet Muhammad, is 315, and the total number of prophets is 2,000: Ibn Abbas says: Between Moses and Jesus ibn Mary were 1,900 years and there is no pause between them,........

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