Ishmael in Islam writ, Ishmael. Behold, he was always true to his promise, and was an apostle [of God], a prophet, who used to enjoin upon his people prayer and charity, and found favour in his Sustainer's sight." As a descendant of Ishmael, Muhammad is justified as the Prophet and continues the line of prophets from pre-Islamic times. As Islam became established, the figure Ishmael and those descended from him, the Ishmaelites, became connected, and often equated, with the term "Arab" in early Jewish and Christian literature. Before Islam developed as a religion, Ishmael was depicted in many ways, but after its establishment,
Prophets and messengers in Islam and Malachi were the last prophets, all of whom lived at the end of the 70-year Babylonian exile. With them, the authentic period of "Nevuah" ("prophecy") died, and nowadays only the "Bath Kol" (בת קול, lit. "daughter of a voice", "voice of God") exists (Sanhedrin 11a). In the New Testament, however, the word "messenger" becomes more frequent, sometimes in association with the concept of a prophet. "Messenger" may refer to Jesus, to his Apostles and to John the Baptist. But the last book of the Old Testament, the Book of Malachi, speaks of a messenger that Christian commentators interpret as