Being a Muslim I was curious as to the line of Prophets the Jews hold in esteem. Who was the first after Adam Noah or Abraham? Also, there was a jew in 7th century Mekkah who said Muhammad SAWS was an authentic Prophet. Why is he not taken as a Prophet in Judiasm? Becuase hes not jewish?
Asadullah, The emphasis on prophethood in Islam is not found to the same degree in Judaism, so it's not as important who the next prophet is after Adam. But I believe that Enoch lived before Noah, so he may have also been a prophet before Abraham. Individual Jews are free to have their own opinions. It's very possible an individual Jew thought Muhammad was a prophet. But that doesn't make him a prophet for the Jewish people. Judaism leaves open the possibility for there to be prophets to other nations who are not Jewish, nor whose message is necessarily meant for the Jewish people. Whether or not Muhammad is a prophet isn't really a question that concerns Judaism. Whether he is or isn't is of course within the realm of possibility according to Jewish thinking. According to traditional Judaism, the age of Jewish prophets ended a long time ago, although I forget what event is supposed to have marked the end of Jewish prophecy. There are alternative opinions about achieving prophecy that appear from time to time, but as to your question, I think it would be similar to asking a Muslim if Baha'u'lah is taken as a prophet of Islam.
I think it's more accurate to say "Yes, it's because he was not Jewish" Although the Torah mentions Billam as a prophet of the nations, all of the prophets that Judaism hold to have been true prophecy are Jewish. There is a sect of Judaism (albeit a small one) that feel their Rebbe or spiritual guide is a prophet. In fact, many followers of Chassidic sects do consider their leaders to be prophets.
Questing, I disagree. First of all, there's Bilaam. Then there's Adam, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham before the bris. Rambam saw prophecy as something any individual could be gifted with, not something inherently Jewish, and I believe that Abulafia would agree with him, although his understanding of what the prophet is would clearly differ.
Dauer, Rambam holds that to merit prophecy you must be a tzadik. This hardly includes any individual. And I think my point was to be included in the cannon of Jewish prophets (which I believe was the OP's question) you do need to be Jewish. There are no non-Jewish prophets that are part of Tanach. Oh, and what does Dauer mean?
Questing, I didn't mean that it could happen without work. He sees a need for refinement. But if you're relating his concept of a tzadik to, for example, Schneur Zalman's concept of the tzadik, then you're off base. Your argument also fails to address the real issue, which is whether or not a gentile can become a prophet. And there are non-Jewish prophets in the tanach, not in neviim, but they are there. I listed some in my last post. None of them have books of their own, but that's not what you said. I'm not sure what Dauer means.
