Many figures appear in more than one Abrahamic scripture, often with different emphases. The overviews below note how each tradition remembers them.
Abraham
The patriarch whose call and covenant begin the story of Israel in the Hebrew Bible. Christians honour him as a model of faith; Muslims revere Ibrāhīm as a prophet, a ḥanīf (حنيف, pure monotheist) and the friend of God.
Sarah
Abraham’s wife and the mother of Isaac. The Hebrew Bible counts her among the matriarchs of Israel; the Qur’an alludes to her when angels bring the news of Isaac’s birth.
Hagar
Sarah’s servant and the mother of Ishmael. Her search for water in the desert is commemorated in the saʿy (سعي, ritual walk) of the Muslim pilgrimage.
Isaac
Abraham’s son with Sarah and the father of Jacob. Jewish tradition remembers the near-sacrifice of Isaac, the Akedah; the Qur’an names Isḥāq as a prophet.
Ishmael
Abraham’s son with Hagar. Islamic tradition regards Ismāʿīl as a prophet who, with his father, raised the foundations of the Kaaba, and as an ancestor of the northern Arab tribes.
Jacob
Isaac’s son, renamed Israel, and the father of the twelve tribes. The Qur’an names Yaʿqūb among the prophets.
Joseph
Jacob’s son, sold into slavery and raised to high office in Egypt. His story fills the last chapters of Genesis and a complete sūrah of the Qur’an.
Moses
The prophet who led the Israelites out of Egypt and received the Torah at Sinai. Mūsā is the prophet named most often in the Qur’an.
David
The shepherd who became king of Israel and, by tradition, the author of many psalms. Muslims honour Dāwūd as a prophet who received the Zabūr (زبور, the Psalms).
Solomon
David’s son, remembered for his wisdom and for building the First Temple. In the Qur’an, Sulaymān is a prophet-king granted command over the wind and the jinn.
Mary
The mother of Jesus. Christians honour her as the mother of God’s Son; Maryam is the only woman the Qur’an mentions by name, and a sūrah bears her name.
Jesus
For Christians, Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of God, crucified and raised from the dead. Muslims honour ʿĪsā as the Messiah and one of the greatest prophets, born of the Virgin Mary, and do not regard him as divine. Jewish tradition does not accept him as the Messiah.
Muhammad
The Prophet of Islam, born in Mecca around 570 CE. Muslims regard him as the final messenger of God, through whom the Qur’an was revealed.