Jesus, Muhammad, Moses, Buddha. Globe-spanning religions grew on the backs of these men, and almost every person alive today has at least heard their names.
History records much of their lives… but what of their deaths? While you’re probably familiar with the deaths of one or two, the deaths of the major prophets run the gamut from the natural, to the violent, to the somewhat strange.
We found this incredibly detailed infographic on the subject from Diverse Travel:
That got us curious, so we decided to look a little deeper into what happened (as far as we know, anyway) to a selection of the prophets of major world religions.
Jesus Christ
Fate: Crucified, then resurrected.
He’s the lord and savior of Christianity, perhaps you’ve heard of him? Prophet, miracle worker, and traveling minister, Jesus’ travels eventually took him to Jerusalem, where he was arrested by Roman soldiers and betrayed by one of his apostles, Judas Iscariot, for 30 pieces of silver. After a trial, Jesus carried a cross to Calvary, where he was crucified alongside two thieves. According to the Bible, three days later, he was resurrected and ultimately ascended to heaven.
Muhammad
Fate: Succumbed to fever, possibly linked to poisoning-related illness some years earlier.
Born in Mecca around 570 AD, Muhammad is the founding prophet of Islam, the world’s largest religion. Muhammad was a merchant by trade until 610, when he had a vision of the archangel Gabriel, who told him to become the prophet of Islam. Muhammad began preaching and slowly amassed followers, later marching on and seizing Mecca with an army 10,000 strong.
Moses
Fate: Died at age 120, and was buried by the Lord – but no one knows precisely where.
The main prophet of Judaism, Moses was the leader of the Israelites and led their exodus out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, guides the slaves for forty years in the wild, and received the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai, dying just before he was able to enter the Promised Land.
Related Post: Was Moses Black? Why People Disagree on His Appearance to This Day
Buddha
Fate: Died of an illness, possibly food poisoning from eating tainted pork.
Siddhartha Gautama, more commonly known as The Buddha, was born in what is now Nepal in 563 BCE or 480 BCE. Scholars are often reluctant to make overtly declarative statements about the Buddha’s life, as many details remain unclear. However, it is known that he renounced a life of luxury to wander the world and practice asceticism, and ultimately attained enlightenment in India.
Lao Tzu
Fate: Unknown
Chinese philosopher Laozi, or Lao Tzu, is the author of the Tao Te Ching, the religious text of Taoism. Little is known about the life of Lao Tzu, and there are several different and sometimes contradictory reports of his life, and most accounts are believed by historians to be based on legend more than fact.
Zoroaster
Fate: Potentially murdered by members of a rival faith.
Zoroaster, also known as Zarathustra, was an ancient religious prophet who founded Zoroastrianism, one of the world's oldest continuously practiced religions. He is thought to have lived in the eastern part of the Iranian Plateau, although the exact date of his life remains uncertain
Zoroastrianism centers on the worship of Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord, who is the supreme deity and embodies goodness and light. The circumstances of Zoroaster’s death are not clearly documented, and historical accounts vary. Some traditions suggest he was killed by followers of an older religion opposed to his teachings.
The Báb
Fate: Executed by firing squad.
The Báb, born Siyyid `Alí Muhammad Shírází in 1819 in Shiraz, Persia (now Iran), was the founder of Bábism and a central figure in the Baha'i Faith. He declared himself the "Báb," meaning "Gate" in Arabic, in 1844, claiming to be a divine messenger.
The Báb's proclamation and the rapid spread of his teachings drew intense opposition from both the religious and political establishment of Persia. His followers, known as Bábís, faced severe persecution, and the Báb himself was arrested and imprisoned. Influenced by clerical opposition, the Persian government eventually ordered his execution.
The Báb was executed by firing squad in Tabriz, Persia, on July 9, 1850.
But this was no typical execution. According to accounts of the incident, an initial volley of shots miraculously failed to harm him, with the bullets merely severing the ropes that bound his arms. He was later found back in his cell, continuing a conversation with a disciple. The Báb was then brought out again, a new firing squad was assembled, and a second volley killed him.
His remains were secretly safeguarded by his followers for many years, eventually being interred in the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel – a site now revered by Baha'is as a place of pilgrimage.
Guru Nanak
Fate: Natural causes at the age of 70.
The founder of Sikhism and the first of Sikhism’s gurus, Guru Nanak was born in modern-day Pakistan to a merchant family. When he was around 30 years old, Nanak had a divine encounter with God while bathing in a river which shaped the rest of his life. After emerging from the river, he stated, “there is neither Hindu nor Muslim,” and set on a decades-long quest to spread his unique new philosophy of Sikhism.
Ramakrishna
Fate: Died of throat cancer in 1886.
Often called the oldest religion in the world, Hinduism encompasses a collection of various Indian philosophies, belief systems, and cultures – and there is no formal founder or prophet. However, the 19th century Hindu mystic Ramakrishna is regarded by his followers as divine. Ramakrishna was a Hindu guru who preached of the unity of faiths, that all religions can lead to the same outcome, a message which resonated strongly with Indian Hindus during British colonial rule.
55 comments
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Chrystal King
Does any of this really matter in the end besides one thing. Do you. Believe in God and that he sacrificed his only son for our sins? Whatever your fellow brother or sister believe love without envy love without judging love without bitterness love without end. Everyone needs someone to love them. Have a Blessed Day everyone
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Heidi Gould
yeah, Buddhism and Confucianism are debatable as religions or philosophies.
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Alejandro Medina de Wit
Taoism is not a religion. Ergo, the Tao Te Ching is not a religious text.
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Bridget Kielas-Fecyk
There are many gods and goddesses out there. Many various prophets of many various religions. From the main Christian / Catholic / Jewish / Muslim religions, to what are known as the "Pagan" religions. That is to say Shamanic practices, Wicca, Taoism, etc.
For those that claim there is only ONE "true god", no, sorry, there isn't. Maybe your bible tells you that, maybe your pastor tells you that, but there isn't. There are many. And to say otherwise is not only foolish, but selfish. It is openly refusing to acknowledge other people of other beliefs. For those claiming everyone else "won't go to paradise" or "will be eternally punished" because of their beliefs? Again that is very selfish, not to mention, evil, of you. It is basically you stating that anyone who does not believe in the same things you do should forced to suffer and be tortured.
The person who has a true heart. A person who is truly a gentle spirit, is the person who accepts others no matter what their views, what their beliefs, where they come from, what they look like, who they love, etc. Even in the christian / catholic bibles, the man they call Jesus taught the exact same thing. That the true pure spirit are those that accept all without judgement or cruelty.
I'm not seeing a lot of pure spirits these days, sadly.
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Walter J. Holbrook
What has happened to the Prophets. I ask this questions because there are many wolves dressed as lambs.
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Lionheart
Prophets are just human constructs, but it’s an interesting thought, Sir Walter.
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Emanuel Garcia Rosario
The situation is acceptance is keen. Can you think how God looks for you, but also how it will look to someone else. Religious being knew this many eras ago. Knowing the desire of the human on the quest of the explanation of their existence others had profit from that normal and truly understandable desire. Things have escalated to a point of war for that. Something is very certain we are creation created by something. Our experience in planet earth let's us know that. However I think coexist is important and tolerance knowing boundaries and respect create a good balance self acceptance brings new levels of awareness that can generate a lot of good balance into this planet. The human need to be understand that chaos and war would never be able to let humanity listen to the new rhythm. All this is new for us. The human must learn to Coexist to make it way through the others from else where and the Galaxy and the being that created us. Is so important to embrace the peace factor and the silence that brings that will generate many good changes and understanding that will bring us to a new FATE the real. God will not ever come under this state of chaos.
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Valerie Zenobia Haughton
Christianity was started when the disciples and other followers accepted Jesus as their Messiah. The Christianity that you're talking about was started when Rome under Constantine Incorporated his Pagan believes into Christianity and stop persecuting the Christians. That's when all of their Pagan festivals were given Christian names and we still follow them today.
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Karla McDuffie
I believe I read that the Buddha was inadvertently poisoned by mushrooms brought by a follower; it was said, as he was dying he remarked that he held no animosity toward the gift giver although it caused his death.
Doesn’t make sense about the pork— although the Buddha was not a vegetarian. Undercooked pork can cause short-term illness. Pork products can carry liver flukes, but that takes a long time to manifest and can never be fatal. Trichinosis bacteria from pork can be fatal. Death can occur 4-6 weeks after infection, but in those days, they wouldn’t have the instruments to determine the cause of death, or link it to pork consumption.
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Gina Cornett
Believing what you feel in your heart is the answer. It’s all Spiritual and about LOVE… If you know right from wrong your doing good by deciding which way your going to go. Everyone has a choice on what there believe is one day we will all know the truth when we die! And believe me we are all going to take that Journey. Be governed with your life and make the best decisions there is. One thing for sure there is definitely something super natural and I myself call Him GOD.<>< ❤️ You have the choice pick it wisely.
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Jimmy Moon
Out of all this article talks about, ONLY JESUS rose again and is still alive at the right hand of the FATHER. HE is the ONE TRUE GOD. And one day everyone will see HIM face to face. Repent now while you have a breath. Now go ahead, Satan, speak your lies.
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Lionheart
Do you have any demonstrable evidence of your claims, or are you just reciting things that you have read in that book, Sir James?
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Lori-Ann Neeb
I am of a gnostic belief that Jesus survived and lived a long happy life with his wife, Mary Magdalen , and family. And that all but dark entities return Home when they pass regardless of what man-made religions they did or did not follow or practice. And that there is one God and Goddess. If different people from different cultures refer to him by different names doesn't matter. The fixation in names is a human issue. They do not care st Home. The Bible is a man-made publication pug out by the corrupt church at the time according to their own agendas. They picked and chose what to include then edited that some more to fit their needs. You can disagree aĺ l you wish. That is your right. But if you are going to argue that your book is God's word and every word truth and say that I have no proof otherwise, of course history bears Mr out, but aside from that... if you shoot me down saying I have no proof then I putvyhr same argument to you. Can you prove me wrong either? And no the Bible says or just because type replies count. Jimmy Moon
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ServantOfJudgement
Yay! Only Jesus was resurrected!!! WOOT!!!!
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Bridget Kielas-Fecyk
It is said buddha never really died. He became a living god.
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Bishop William Dusenberry, DD
As per above; reviewing the monastery’s offerings of certificates available to its ministers, et al, I saw that monastery is certifying prophets — ergo, I just placing my order for mine, because I’ve successful prophecised many things, now and then, since I first started driving.
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Daniel Gray
And yet another fantasy from you as after checking, they do not and never have offered any such thing.
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Russel A. Kester
This was good information. It's good for us to have a general understanding of these religions and information about their founders is very important to that understanding. Thank you for the article..
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Bishop William Dusenberry, DD
There’s no such thing as a prophet; only individuals (real, or not) categorized as prophets, from eras before all prophets were found to be man-made, and now are categorized at best, as mere memes.
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Daniel Gray
And there is no such thing as a Bishop here either but yet you continue to claim otherwise
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Daniel Gray
Why was this thread posted in the first place? All its going to do is get people upset as some will see this as attacking their religion? This should be removed ASAP.
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Lionheart
You sound like a member of the JW faith. They insist on making sure members only read approved literature to ensure their minds are not corrupted into thinking different from how they want you to think. It’s called control, which is what religion does best in case human beings start using logic, reason, and critical thought causing them to question “faith”.
There are various historic cultures on earth that have insisted people only think the way they want you to think. Kim Jong Un’s regime is currently one of them. Islam and JW’s are another, and it sounds like you are wanting the owners of this forum to be similar. It really is good to have open minds, Daniel. Freedom of thought is healthy.
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Daniel Gray
No I just say that if you are going to try and use this to attack someone elses religion then you need to stop right now.
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Lionheart
Freedom of thought is still healthy, even if using logic, reason, and critical thought using one’s brain goes against what some have always felt comfortable by just believing because it feels nice to believe it. Having a higher intellect will always win out.
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Daniel Gray
Again yes it is freedom of thought, BUT AGAIN if you are going to try and use your "claimed" freedom of thought to attack religions, then you need to just stop before you start
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Lionheart
I just love the 1st Amendment of free speech don’t you? 🤗
Thank you for all your replies. It’s nice to know they are being read.
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Amber Fry
Why would posting facts about various religions make people upset? Knowing about other religions doesn't take anything away from your beliefs.... unless, of course, you are afraid you are just not strong enough to adhere to your personal religion by understanding other beliefs?
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Daniel Gray
Then prove that the claims they made of the other religions leaders are fact. I'll wait.
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Joy
Way to stand up for censorship!! Jesusmaryandjoseph...
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Daniel Gray
And how is it censorship to ask that if you are going to make a statement then you need to back it up?
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Timothy Paul. Forrester
There is only one true Religion and one true Savior which is Jesus Christ: all other so called Religion cannot save your soul: cannot get you into heaven: cannot heal you of your sickness. Jesus Christ is the true way to heaven.
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Rev. Michael Gerraghty II
How incredibly narcissistic and holier than thou of you to put yourself above everyone else.
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Rev. Dr. Father JJ
that's true but...only if you happen to believe that particular fairy tale version. what about other people and their beliefs? how do you know you've been suckered into believing the proper religion? and please, for the love of Dog do NOT quote the bible, it's just silly
see the problem is that people like you who are so quick to dismiss and put down other people and their beliefs. if you were nice about it you'd just say that you believe such and such and leave it at that. instead people like you have to make claims about what will happen to someone else, as if YOU KNEW THE MIND OF god. such lame and judgey people. I have it on good authority in fact that people like you will never know the peace that is the afterlife. so enjoy it while you can because when you die you are really going to wish you had been nicer to everyone
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James Hage
Perhaps you would like to read your post and correct the part where you tell others where they're going, right after telling them not to tell you where you will go. My 2 cents: There is one Creator we all long to reconnect with. Nobody knows if only one religion will lead you there or if none of them will. We cling to the teachings that make the most sense to us, which usually coincides with the brain washings of our families. I know 1 thing to be true, There is 1 Creator. The Creator made the angels, profits, stars, galaxies and all the worlds contained therein. This is my belief that the Creator loves everyone even those who make threats when they feel uncomfortable. Regardless of your choice of religion, Go in love, speak from a place of love, and always try to be kind.
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Lionheart
Awe….bless you, Sir Timothy. You’ve been reading that book again haven’t you?
It has a fascinating story and plot. Some things are kinda weird, like animals that talk, and a woman being turned to salt, and a guy walking on water, and that’s what makes books of fiction sell, but for the most part there are some very interesting little tales. Some are quite bloodthirsty but you can pass those up. It doesn’t end well though for one of the leading characters, but I don’t want to spoil the story for you. Have fun with it.
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Robert Louis Rada
The Dogma of religion.
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Barbara Harris
Muhammad was born in 570 CE(AD) not 570 BCE.
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ULC Admin
Good catch, thank you! Fixed :)
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Robert Louis Rada
616 A.D. the reciting of the Koran.
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Colleen McAllister
Interesting article. Thank you for sharing.
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Ealdormon Piparskeggr Robinson
I always though Jesus was a Jew, preaching reforms to his fellow Jews. Christianity was created well after his death.
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Amber Fry
He was a Jew and it's fairly well described in the new testament. People will make holy what they decide is holy, even figure heads from other religions can birth new religions.
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James Hage
Jesus was in fact a Palestinian Jew.
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Valerie Zenobia Haughton
I put my reply in a comment I should have put it in a reply. Christianity started when the disciples and other individuals except that Jesus as their Messiah. The Christianity that you were talking about was when Constantine accepted or so he says Christianity and began combining Christianity with his Pagan beliefs. Proof of that is that all of our holidays are basically pagan holidays that were baptized with Christian names.
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Robert Louis Rada
313 A.D. Considered the birth wChristianity. 🙏🏾💙
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Melaine Rae Thompson
You are correct, Christianity was crated because of Jesus.
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Rev. BH
Lords - plural. A Freudian typo? Or many prophets of many gods? Could be.
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Michael Sciulli
From minster mike keep faith trust the lords our god as I said before follow the Bible.
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Lionheart
Why follow the Bible? Are you wanting to bring back Slavery, and stoning people to death? All condoned by that mythical biblical deity.
Thank goodness there’s no demonstrable evidence of its reality, but hey, keep believing whatever you want to believe, I have a feeling you just might not be on your own. 🤭
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ServantOfJudgement
Not sure if you've been outside lately lionheart, slaves nowadays are called Human Resources, Taxpayers and Human Capital by their various owners. Which one are you?
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Stanley Mac Donald
Sad but True
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Lionheart
Possibly all three 🤭.
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Bridget Kielas-Fecyk
Sorry, but now narcissistic of you. And untrue. There are MANY religions out there and not all of them worship your Jesus. I mean hell, there are those who've never even HEARD of your Jesus. And frankly don't care.
Your Jesus would be disappointed in you for being so narrow-minded.
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Danny D. Maynard
What were the divinities native to Western Hemisphere?
I personally am tired of Christian's thinking that they are the only way and one