The Number of the Prophets in the Quran and Its Critical Analysis in Islamic Sources

The Holy Quran refers to the names of only 25 prophets. Still, the number of the prophets varies from 23 to 2225000 in the exegeses, narrative collections, and other Islamic sources. Most of these statistics have either no isnad or a weak isnad and are invalid. Yet from early Islam until now, by relying on the verse " And certainly We sent messengers before you: there are some of them that We have mentioned to you and there are others whom We have not mentioned to you"(Walaqad ar sal nā rusulam min qab lika min hummanqaṣaṣ nā ‘alay ka wamin hummallam naq ṣuṣ ‘alay k) (40:78), regarding the number of the prophets, no conflict has been observed between the Quran and the narrations. So, the number 124000 prophets have been accepted by Muslims and become famous. However, this verse as well as its co-content verse; " And (We sent) messengers We have mentioned to you before and messengers we have not mentioned to you" (Warusulan  qad  qaṣaṣ nāhum  ‘alay ka  min  qab lu  warusulallam  naq ṣuṣ hum  ‘alay k)(4:164) are not about the names of the prophets. Instead, both of them are stating that the stories of some prophets such as Noah and Abraham (AS) have been referred to in the Quran and, on the contrary, the stories of some others including Idris and Ezekiel (Dhul Kifl) have not been mentioned, and only their names have been nearly or definitely stated in it.  Allah has guided the people who didn't have any prophet through the intellect- the inner prophet-, and the group of Warners and Guides. Increasing the number of prophets stems from Jewish culture; as the term "nabī/ navī" has had a general meaning and also included rabbis, augurs, and Torah commentators.