Q: Okay so how many Prophets / Religions came before Islam? I still haven't figured it out and always wondered how many religions and messengers were there before Islam came... I want to understand Islam more.. So thanks and answer me!
A: Like the previous answerer's said, the first prophet was Adam (pbuh) the last was Muhammad (pbuh) and several in between. Some of the more well known prophets were Noah (pbuh) Moses (pbuh) Abraham (pbuh) and Jesus (pbuh). Allah said that there has been a messenger sent to every nation throughout the world at different periods in history. The actual word Islam, pronounced in that exact way, was used at the time of Muhammad (pbuh), but the concept of the religion has known many names such as Judaism and Christianity. Each messenger came to meet the needs of the people at that specific time period (like Noah's arch, Moses to liberate the Jews etc..), so though the majority of the teachings were the same (i.e. Belief that there is only one God, capable of all things etc...) some things were slightly different, like certain animals were not permitted to eat during the time of Moses that are now permitted to eat, Jesus was instructed to encourage Monogamy (according to the Bible), yet during the time of all the other messengers polygamy was allowed, things like that. Every messenger had a set of rules for the specific group to which they were sent. Muslims however, believe Muhammad was the last messenger to be sent, and the Quran the final book from God. Edit: the person above me sais it much more eloquently