Qur'anic characters

The prophets عليهم السلام

Those the Qur'an names as prophets and messengers.

• Ādam عليه السلام

  The first human, taught the names, tested in the Garden and forgiven.

  Al-Baqarah 2:30–39Al-Aʿrāf 7:11–25Ṭā Hā 20:115–123

• Idrīs عليه السلام

  A truthful prophet raised to a high station.

  Maryam 19:56–57Al-Anbiyāʾ 21:85

• Nūḥ عليه السلام

  Called his people for centuries; the Ark and the Flood.

  Hūd 11:25–49Al-Muʾminūn 23:23–30Nūḥ 71:1–28

• Hūd عليه السلام

  Sent to ʿĀd, who were proud of their strength.

  Hūd 11:50–60Ash-Shuʿarāʾ 26:123–140Al-Aḥqāf 46:21–26

• Ṣāliḥ عليه السلام

  Sent to Thamūd; the she-camel they were told not to harm.

  Hūd 11:61–68Ash-Shuʿarāʾ 26:141–159Ash-Shams 91:11–15

• Ibrāhīm عليه السلام

  Broke the idols, survived the fire, and built the Kaʿbah with his son.

  Al-Anʿām 6:74–83Ibrāhīm 14:35–41Al-Anbiyāʾ 21:51–73Aṣ-Ṣāffāt 37:83–113

• Lūṭ عليه السلام

  Warned his people against their indecency and was saved from their punishment.

  Hūd 11:77–83Al-Ḥijr 15:61–77Ash-Shuʿarāʾ 26:160–175

• Ismāʿīl عليه السلام

  Helped raise the Kaʿbah; true to his promise; the test of sacrifice.

  Al-Baqarah 2:125–129Maryam 19:54–55Aṣ-Ṣāffāt 37:101–107

• Isḥāq عليه السلام

  The son given as good news to Ibrāhīm and Sārah in old age.

  Hūd 11:71–73Aṣ-Ṣāffāt 37:112–113

• Yaʿqūb عليه السلام

  Patient through the loss of Yūsuf; his last counsel to his sons.

  Al-Baqarah 2:132–133Yūsuf 12:4–18Yūsuf 12:83–100

• Yūsuf عليه السلام

  Betrayed by his brothers, tested in Egypt, raised to authority, and forgave.

  Yūsuf 12:1–111

• Shuʿayb عليه السلام

  Sent to Madyan, who cheated in weights and measures.

  Al-Aʿrāf 7:85–93Hūd 11:84–95Ash-Shuʿarāʾ 26:176–191

• Ayyūb عليه السلام

  Patient through long illness and loss, then restored.

  Al-Anbiyāʾ 21:83–84Ṣād 38:41–44

• Dhul-Kifl عليه السلام

  Named among the patient and the best.

  Al-Anbiyāʾ 21:85–86Ṣād 38:48

• Mūsā عليه السلام

  Raised in Pharaoh's house, spoken to by Allah, led the Children of Isrāʾīl out of Egypt.

  Ṭā Hā 20:9–98Ash-Shuʿarāʾ 26:10–68Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:3–46Al-Kahf 18:60–82

• Hārūn عليه السلام

  Mūsā's brother and helper; left with the people during the calf.

  Ṭā Hā 20:29–36Ṭā Hā 20:90–94Al-Aʿrāf 7:142–150

• Dāwūd عليه السلام

  Killed Jālūt, given kingship, the Zabūr, and skill with iron.

  Al-Baqarah 2:251Sabaʾ 34:10–11Ṣād 38:17–26

• Sulaymān عليه السلام

  Given rule over wind and jinn and the speech of birds; the Queen of Sabaʾ.

  An-Naml 27:15–44Sabaʾ 34:12–14Ṣād 38:30–40

• Ilyās عليه السلام

  Called his people away from the idol Baʿl.

  Aṣ-Ṣāffāt 37:123–132

• Al-Yasaʿ عليه السلام

  Named among the chosen and the best.

  Al-Anʿām 6:86Ṣād 38:48

• Yūnus عليه السلام

  Left his people, swallowed by the whale, called on Allah from the darkness.

  Al-Anbiyāʾ 21:87–88Aṣ-Ṣāffāt 37:139–148Al-Qalam 68:48–50

• Zakariyyā عليه السلام

  Guardian of Maryam; prayed for a child in old age.

  Āl ʿImrān 3:37–41Maryam 19:2–11

• Yaḥyā عليه السلام

  Given wisdom as a child; gentle and dutiful to his parents.

  Āl ʿImrān 3:39Maryam 19:12–15

• ʿĪsā عليه السلام

  Born to Maryam without a father; his miracles; raised up to Allah.

  Āl ʿImrān 3:45–59Al-Māʾidah 5:110–118Maryam 19:16–36

• Muḥammad ﷺ

  The final Messenger; his life is told year by year in the Seerah Library.

  Al-Aḥzāb 33:40Al-Fatḥ 48:29Aṣ-Ṣaff 61:6Seerah Library

Righteous men and women

Believers whose stories the Qur'an keeps for us.

• Al-Khiḍr

  The servant given knowledge whom Mūsā عليه السلام followed: the boat, the boy and the wall.

  Unnamed in the Qur'an; named in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.

  Al-Kahf 18:60–82

• Dhul-Qarnayn

  A just ruler who travelled east and west and built the barrier against Yaʾjūj and Maʾjūj.

  Al-Kahf 18:83–98

• Luqmān

  Given wisdom; his advice to his son.

  Luqmān 31:12–19

• Maryam عليها السلام

  Dedicated before birth, chosen above women, mother of ʿĪsā عليه السلام.

  Āl ʿImrān 3:35–47Maryam 19:16–34At-Taḥrīm 66:12

• The wife of ʿImrān

  Vowed her unborn child to Allah's service.

  Āl ʿImrān 3:35–36

• The mother of Mūsā

  Placed her baby in the river on Allah's inspiration, and he was returned to her.

  Ṭā Hā 20:38–40Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:7–13

• The wife of Pharaoh

  Took the infant Mūsā in and asked Allah for a house in Paradise.

  Named Āsiyah in the ḥadīth literature.

  Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:9At-Taḥrīm 66:11

• The believer of Pharaoh's family

  Hid his faith, then spoke up to defend Mūsā عليه السلام.

  Ghāfir 40:28–45

• The man from the far end of the city

  Ran to urge his people to follow the messengers.

  Yā Sīn 36:20–27

• The People of the Cave

  Young believers who fled to a cave and slept for years.

  Al-Kahf 18:9–26

• Ṭālūt

  Appointed king over the Children of Isrāʾīl; led them against Jālūt.

  Al-Baqarah 2:246–251

• The Queen of Sabaʾ

  Ruled Sabaʾ, tested Sulaymān عليه السلام, and submitted to Allah with him.

  An-Naml 27:22–44

Those who opposed the truth

Rulers, relatives and individuals who rejected guidance.

• Firʿawn (Pharaoh)

  Claimed lordship, oppressed the Children of Isrāʾīl, and drowned.

  Yūnus 10:75–92Ṭā Hā 20:43–79Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:4–42An-Nāziʿāt 79:15–26

• Hāmān

  Pharaoh's minister, told to build a tower.

  Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:6–8Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:38Ghāfir 40:36–37

• Qārūn

  Proud of his wealth, swallowed by the earth.

  Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:76–82Al-ʿAnkabūt 29:39

• As-Sāmirī

  Made the golden calf.

  Ṭā Hā 20:85–97

• Āzar

  Ibrāhīm's father, who kept to the idols.

  Al-Anʿām 6:74Maryam 19:41–48

• The king who argued with Ibrāhīm

  Disputed with Ibrāhīm عليه السلام about his Lord and was left speechless.

  Al-Baqarah 2:258

• Jālūt

  Led the army against Ṭālūt; killed by Dāwūd عليه السلام.

  Al-Baqarah 2:249–251

• The man with the two gardens

  Thought his gardens would never perish, and lost them.

  Al-Kahf 18:32–44

• The wives of Nūḥ and Lūṭ

  Married to prophets but betrayed them; it did not save them.

  At-Taḥrīm 66:10

• Abū Lahab

  The Prophet's ﷺ uncle who opposed him; a sūrah was revealed about him and his wife.

  Al-Masad 111:1–5

Nations and peoples

Whole communities and what became of them.

• ʿĀd

  People of Hūd عليه السلام, destroyed by a furious wind.

  Al-Aʿrāf 7:65–72Al-Ḥāqqah 69:6–8Al-Fajr 89:6–8

• Thamūd

  People of Ṣāliḥ عليه السلام, who carved homes from rock and killed the she-camel.

  Al-Aʿrāf 7:73–79Al-Qamar 54:23–31Ash-Shams 91:11–15

• The people of Lūṭ

  Persisted in indecency and were overturned.

  Al-Aʿrāf 7:80–84Al-Qamar 54:33–39

• Madyan and the dwellers of the wood

  People of Shuʿayb عليه السلام, who cheated in trade.

  Al-Aʿrāf 7:85–93Ash-Shuʿarāʾ 26:176–190

• The Children of Isrāʾīl

  Saved from Pharaoh, given the Torah, and tested again and again.

  Al-Baqarah 2:40–74Al-Aʿrāf 7:136–171Al-Isrāʾ 17:2–8

• The Sabbath-breakers

  A town that tricked its way around the Sabbath.

  Al-Baqarah 2:65–66Al-Aʿrāf 7:163–166

• The people of Yūnus

  The one town that believed in time and was spared.

  Yūnus 10:98

• Sabaʾ

  Given two gardens, turned away, and the dam burst.

  Sabaʾ 34:15–19

• The People of the Trench

  Burned believers in a fire-pit for their faith.

  Al-Burūj 85:4–10

• The owners of the garden

  Planned to harvest without giving to the poor, and found their garden ruined.

  Al-Qalam 68:17–33

• The Companions of the Elephant

  The army that marched on the Kaʿbah and was destroyed by birds.

  Al-Fīl 105:1–5

• Yaʾjūj and Maʾjūj

  Held back by Dhul-Qarnayn's barrier until their time comes.

  Al-Kahf 18:94–99Al-Anbiyāʾ 21:96

• Quraysh

  The Prophet's ﷺ tribe, reminded of their safety and their trade journeys.

  Quraysh 106:1–4

The unseen (al-ghayb)

Angels, jinn and Iblīs, as the Qur'an describes them.

• Jibrīl عليه السلام

  The angel who brought the revelation down to the Prophet's ﷺ heart.

  Al-Baqarah 2:97–98At-Taḥrīm 66:4

• Mīkāʾīl عليه السلام

  Named beside Jibrīl among Allah's angels.

  Al-Baqarah 2:98

• The Angel of Death

  Put in charge of taking souls.

  The name ʿIzrāʾīl is not established in the Qur'an or authentic Sunnah.

  As-Sajdah 32:11

• Mālik

  The keeper of Hell, called on by its people.

  Az-Zukhruf 43:77

• The bearers of the Throne

  Angels who carry the Throne and ask forgiveness for the believers.

  Ghāfir 40:7–9Al-Ḥāqqah 69:17

• The noble recorders

  Angels who write down every deed.

  Qāf 50:17–18Al-Infiṭār 82:10–12

• The nineteen over Hell

  The angels set over Saqar, their number a test.

  Al-Muddaththir 74:26–31

• Hārūt and Mārūt

  Two angels in Babylon through whom people were tested.

  Al-Baqarah 2:102

• Iblīs

  Refused to bow to Ādam out of pride and swore to mislead people.

  Al-Baqarah 2:34Al-Aʿrāf 7:11–18Al-Ḥijr 15:28–42Al-Kahf 18:50Ṣād 38:71–85

• The jinn who listened

  A group of jinn who heard the Qur'an and believed.

  Al-Aḥqāf 46:29–32Al-Jinn 72:1–15

• The ʿifrīt of the jinn

  Offered to bring the Queen's throne to Sulaymān عليه السلام.

  An-Naml 27:39

People of the Seerah

The Prophet's ﷺ family, companions and opponents. Each opens their profile.