Ancestor of the people of Israel (Isrāʾīl), whose name appears most frequently in the Qurʾān within the title “Children of Israel” (q.v.; Banū Isrāʾīl). Only in two places does it occur separately (q 3:93; 19:58). The commentators identify Israel with Jacob (q.v.; Yaʿqūb), the son of Isaac (q.v.; Isḥāq). q 3:93, which deals with Jewish dietary restrictions (see jews and judaism ), makes allusion to a specific event in Israel's life. It ¶ is stated here that all food was lawful (see lawful and unlawful ) to the Children of Israel save what Israel forbade for himself before the Torah (q.v.) was…

Those individuals who receive divine revelation and their collective vocation. In Arabic (as in Hebrew), the word for “prophet” is nabī, plural nabiyyūn and anbiyāʾ. These forms occur seventy-five ¶ times, apart from the term nubuwwa, “prophethood,” which occurs five times. Much more prevalent, however, is the term rasūl (pl. rusul) which denotes a “messenger” (q.v.) or “apostle” (of God). Messengers are mentioned more than 300 times. A messenger is also referred to as mursal, which, together with its plural form (mursalūn), occurs more than thirty times. The form risāla (pl. risālāt)…