Difference between a Rasul and a Nabi

“Rasul” is an Islamic word for “messenger” while “Nabi” is the Islamic as well as the Hebrew word for “prophet.” ... A Rasul is always a Nabi while a Nabi may or may not become a Rasul. While a Rasul receives a new Sharia from Allah, a Nabi does not and only follows the Sharia of the Rasul before him.

There are several definitions of Nabi and Rasul which can be found in Islamic text, however, following definitions are the most comprehensive and accurate.

·         Nabi: Nabi (Prophet) is a person who has all of the following characteristics:

·         He is chosen by Allah to receive revelation & guidance from Him.

·         He is appointed by Allah to convey to the people he is sent to, what has been revealed to him.

·         He is incapable of committing any mistake in conveying to the people what has been revealed to him.

·         His obedience is obligatory on the people to whom he is sent.

·         Everyone who believes in him is a muslim, and anyone who disbelieves in him is a kafir.

All the above characteristics are evident from various ayat of the Quran e.g. “Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and their descendants, and that which was given to Moses and Jesus, and that which was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered.” (2:136). The ayah obligates belief in all the prophets as well as what was revealed to them. This ayah also rectifies a misconception that only messengers are given message/books while prophets are not given any message/book. However, the ayah mentions that prophets also received message/books; “and that which was given to the prophets (النبیون) from their Lord”.

Many of the prophets were rulers over their people as mentioned in the hadith of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ): "The Bani Israel used to be ruled by prophets: Whenever a prophet died, another would take over his place. There will be no prophet after me, but there will be Caliphs who will be many in number…" (Bukhari). However, several prophets were also killed by the disbelievers as mentioned in the Quran: “And when it is said to them, "Believe in what Allah has revealed," they say, "We believe [only] in what was revealed to us." And they disbelieve in what came after it, while it is the truth confirming that which is with them. Say, "Then why did you kill the prophets of Allah before, if you are [indeed] believers?" (2:91)

There have been people in the previous nations who received revelation but they were not Prophets e.g. Maryam (as) the mother of Prophet Isa (as) (Al-Quran 19:17–21), or mother of Prophet Musa (as) (Al-Quran 28:7). They are not considered as prophets because the revelation they received was meant for them only. It was not meant to be conveyed to the people, nor was the people obliged to follow them.

However, this type of revelation has been terminated after Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Before you were nations with divinely inspired people. If such a person were in my nation, it would surely be Umar.” (Bukhari). We know that Umar bin Khattab (ra) received no such revelation and hence, we conclude that such revelations have been terminated altogether and no one will receive such revelations till the last hour.

Rasul: Rasul (Messenger) is also a Nabi, so he has all the 5 characteristics of a Nabi. In addition, he has the first of the following characteristics, while some may have the second characteristic too.

The people to whom he was sent, disbelieved in him, rejected him and fought against him, thus he had to struggle a lot against his own people to convey the call. This is common for all the messengers.

Some of the messengers were also given a Book and a new Sharia (Code of Law) from Allah Ta’ala as guidance for the people, because the people they were sent to had forgotten and abandoned any previous sharia sent to their ancestors.

The first characteristic i.e. of being rejected by their people is mentioned in the Quran: “Ah! Alas for (My) Servants! There comes not a messenger (Rasul) to them but they mock him!” (36:30), “And no messenger would come to them except that they ridiculed him.” (15:11). Moreover, all the messengers mentioned in the Quran e.g. Nuh (as), Hud (as), Saleh (as), Ibraheem (as), Yousuf (as), Lut (as), Shuayb (as), Musa (as), Isa (as) and Muhammad (ﷺ) have this specific characteristic i.e. the people, to whom they were sent, rejected each of these messengers and disobeyed them, and consequently all of them had to struggle tirelessly to spread their call.

As a result of this struggle, either the messengers embraced martyrdom (Al-Quran 2:87), or the disbelieving people were destroyed and the messengers were saved by Allah, as was the case with many of the messengers mentioned in the Quran e.g. Nuh (as), Hud (as), Lut (as) etc. Or they prevailed over the disbelievers and established Allah’s rule over the land e.g. Messenger Muhammad (ﷺ).

The second characteristic is evident in messengers like Musa (as) who was given the Torah, Isa (as) who was given the Injeel and Muhammad (ﷺ) who was given the Quran. However, it is not necessary that all the messengers be given a new Sharia and Book. Allah says in the Quran: “And We did certainly give Moses the Scripture [i.e., the Torah] and followed up after him with messengers. And We gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear proofs and supported him with the Pure Spirit [i.e., the angel Gabriel]. But is it [not] that every time a messenger came to you, [O Children of Israel], with what your souls did not desire, you were arrogant? And a party [of messengers] you denied and another party you killed.” (2:87). In this ayah, Allah mentions sending His messengers to the Jews, after Musa (as). However, most of these messengers did not receive a new Book or sharia, rather all of them followed the Torah.

This is also clear from the following ayat of the Quran: ”And present to them an example: the people of the city, when the messengers came to it - When We sent to them two but they denied them, so We strengthened [them] with a third, and they said, "Indeed, we are messengers to you." (36:13–14). In these ayat, it has been mentioned that three messengers (Rusul) were sent towards a city, however, all of them could not have been given a new Sharia and a Book, rather it has been specifically mentioned that the third one was sent to strengthen the previous two.

From the above discussion it can be seen that there is not much difference between a prophet and a messenger. Messengers are prophets, with the additional characteristic of having to struggle against the people in order to convey the call. And Allah knows best.

The Ulul-'Azm Messengers (i.e The Resolute Ones):

Allah has specifically mentioned those messengers who had perseverance and strong will; Allah says in the Quran: “Therefore be patient (O Muhammad) as did the Messengers of strong will and be in no haste about them (disbelievers).” [Surah Al Ahqaf 46: 35].

These prophets have been mentioned by name is the following ayah: ”We took from the Prophets their covenant: As (We did) from thee: from Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, the son of Mary: We took from them a solemn covenant:” [Surah Al Ahzab 33: 7]

In light of the above, the five resolute messengers are the following:

·         Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)

·         Prophet Nuh (as)

·         Prophet Ibraheem (as)

·         Prophet Musa (as)

·         Prophet Isa ibn Maryam (as)

 

All of them had to face extremely rigid and disobedient people who opposed and fought them in every possible way. Hence, their struggle was marked with the highest order of perseverance and very strong will. All of these prophets are also messengers of Allah and their status is above all other prophets & messengers.

The last Prophet and Messenger:

The last Prophet of Allah and His last Messenger is Muhammad (ﷺ). Allah says in the Quran: “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but is the Messenger of Allah and the seal of the prophets. And Allah has ˹perfect˺ knowledge of all things.” (33:40). This ayah mentions Muhammad (ﷺ) as a messenger of Allah and seal of the prophets. The ayah makes it clear that messenger of Allah is also His last prophet. It means that no one after Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) will be given Prophethood by Allah. And since messenger is also a prophet, there will be no new messenger after him. This has also been confirmed by Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) in many ahadith e.g.: "The Hour will not be established until tribes of my ummah (community) unite with the idolaters, and until they worship idols. And in my ummah there will be thirty liars, each of whom will claim to be a prophet, (but) I am the seal of the prophets, there is no prophet after me." (Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud).

Hence, anyone who claims prophethood after Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is considered a lair, fraudster and kafir. This include people like Musailimah al-Kazzab, who declared his prophethood in the life of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani who declared his prophethood in the last century.

As far as second coming of Messenger Isa ibn Maryam (as) near the end of times is concerned, it should be clear that he became a prophet before Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), hence, it does not violate any ayah of Quran or any hadith.