I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. And messengers We have already told them about you before, and messengers We have not told about you.
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Alhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu ala rasulillah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala hama ba'd. So in our last lesson or two lessons we've talked about the necessity of sending prophets and messengers and some of the roles and responsibilities of prophets and messengers. Why does Allah send anbiya and rusul and what does the Quran tell us about the function of the anbiya and rusul?
We're still doing our introductory series of lectures before we jump into the actual topic of the actual prophets. So today we're going to get into our first really technical issue And that is What is a Nabi? And what is a Rasool? And what is the difference between a Nabi and a Rasool? So today's topic is going to be a relatively advanced one, which is about a technical issue, that the distinction between the Anbiya, which is the plural of Nabi, and the Rasool, which is the plural of Rasool.
So let us begin with the linguistics. What do the words Nabi and Rasool indicate in the Arabic language? The word Nabi, It comes as Ibn Manzoor, the famous lexicographer of the Arabic language, who wrote one of the most significant early dictionaries, I should say medieval dictionaries in Islam.
It is called Lisan al-Arab, which is considered to be the first primary reference of the Arabic language or the Arabic dictionary, if you like. He writes that the word Nabi, it comes from Nabwah, Nun Ba Wa Ta Marbuta, Nabwah, which means nobility. or a high place. Nabwah is also used as a landmark that people will give you directions based upon. Oh, that's something over there.
So turn left over here, turn right over there. So a Nabwah is something that is raised, something that is respected, something that is used as a landmark. And from this, he said, the word Nabi is very obvious because a Nabi is someone that is respected, that Allah has raised him high.
and that he becomes a landmark and an icon for the rest of humanity. So according to this interpretation, the word Nabi comes from the concept of Nabwa. And he also mentions, and there's another interpretation or another derivation, and that is that the word Nabi comes from Nabah with a Hamza. Nabah, so Nabwa, Nunba, Waaw, Tamar, Buta. And then another interpretation, Nabi comes from Nabah, Nunba, and Hamza.
And the word Naba means news. عَمَّ يَتَسَأَلُونَ عَنِ النَّبَىِ الْعَظِيمِ This is the naba. And Allah says in the Quran, قُلْ أَنْبِئُونِي بِعِلْمٍ Say, tell me, inform me with knowledge. أَنْبِئُونِي Give me naba with ilm.
So the word naba means news or information. And so nabi is the conjugative fa'il, fa'in ya lam, which is basically the formal structure if you know your surah from the Arabic language. Nabi is the fa'il of naba. And so from this, Nabi would be the one who is informed and then informs others. So Nabi is informed by Allah and then he informs others.
So the information is two-way. So from this interpretation, Nabi is from knowledge and information. And from the first interpretation, Nabi is from nobility and to raise up. and to be a landmark. And in reality, both of these meanings are complementary and they all apply to a Nabi.
So a Nabi is someone whom Allah has given information that nobody else has. And the Nabi then tells people this information, okay? And a Nabi is also someone who is the most noble of humans.
And a Nabi has been raised up by Allah. And a Nabi becomes a landmark for the rest of mankind, someone that is an icon for the rest of mankind. So, this interpretation or this explanation makes us understand what is the linguistic understanding of the word Nabi. And by the way, the word Nabi...
It is pronounced with a Hamza in some Qiraat, even when it is Nabi-eena, you add a Hamza and some say Nabi-eena, okay? You make the Hamza into a yaa. And so because some of the Qiraat have Nabi-eena, so it does seem to indicate that in fact, the word Nabi comes from Naba with a Hamza on it.
And in any case, the other interpretation is also valid. As for the word Rasool, which is ala wazni or upon the structure of fa'ool. So nabi is fa'il and rasool is fa'ool.
And by the way, both fa'il and fa'ool have the same connotation. It just depends on the verb, on the actual verb. It goes back to the conjugations of the verb or the science of sarf.
And so in reality, as-samee' and al-ghafoor, they are on the same meaning, al-fa'il and al-fa'ool. They mean the same thing. And that is that the one in whom the verb is manifested powerfully. So, as-samee' the one who hears everything.
Al-ghafoor the one who forgives everything. So, al-nabi' the one who has so much information nobody else has. And al-rasool the same connotation.
So, as I said fa'ool and fa'eel, they have the same connotation. It's just that some verbs become upon the conjugation of fa'eel and other verbs go upon the conjugation of fa'ool depending on how the Arabs did it. All of this is a saraf lesson, by the way, for those of you who are studying saraf.
As for the word Rasool, it comes from Rasala. And this is a very interesting story of how Rasala came from its original meaning to imply what it finally implies. So the very origin of Rasala, the very base meaning of Rasala, meant in the very beginnings of Arabic language to send of a large group to send smaller groups one after the other.
This is what it meant way back in the beginning of time when the Arabs began speaking or the earliest records we have in poetry Rasala means to send in batches and eventually it became primarily to send small groups of camels to get water and then the connotation went on from moving small groups of camels to letting loose and setting free and allowing to go to another location him. And so the phrase was, the Arabs would say, Arsaloo ibilahum, they let their camels go. Okay, so from sending in batches, it became sending them out for the water and then it became letting it grow and being free.
And this is why, for example, the Arabs would say that the hair of a lady is mursal, meaning it's flowing freely. Okay, so the connotation came to be going without any effort. and this is how Arsala eventually became to mean to send forth.
And then it meant to send forth with something, with a message. And so the term Risala was then derived to indicate a message that is sent. Modern Arabs use Risala for a letter. Okay, so when they say a letter, they say Risala from the origin of the connotation of letting the camels go into the water. And so Ar-Sala Nowadays, now means to send unconditionally and typically with something, but not always with something.
I'm talking about purely from a linguistic connotation. And this is how it is used in the Quran that Allah Azza wa Jal mentions that wa arsalna al-riyaha we have sent forth the winds. And Allah Azza wa Jal mentions that he sends the angels. And Allah even mentions أَلَمْ تَرَى أَنَّ أَرْسَلْنَا الشَّيَاطِينَ We have let loose the shayateen. So all of this term, أَرْسَلَ It means to let go, to let loose.
This is what the term means. So, رَسُول Therefore, is someone who has been let loose or set forth by someone with something. This is what رَسُول actually means now in the classical Arabic language. So, رَسُول is someone who has been sent. by somebody with something.
This is now the connotation that the message has. And Ibn al-Anbari, one of the great early scholars of the Arabic language, he actually derives an interesting point. And he says, a Rasool is only called Rasool if the person who is sent, the messenger, will follow up on the delivery of the message. He's not just gonna deliver and then walk away.
No, rather he's going to deliver and then... if you want to put it in simple English, the Rasool is the one who has been sent with a message and then actively engages in seeing what happens to the message after it is delivered. He doesn't just deliver and walk away. Rather, he is actively engaged in the delivery and continues to give the delivery and to monitor the delivery.
That is why a Rasool is called a Rasool classically. So this is the connotation of the term Rasool. and The notion of continuity and going bit by bit in multiple batches, this is actually mentioned in the Qur'an, ثُمَّ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُولَنَا تَتْرَى Then we sent our prophets continually, batch by batch, bit by bit, and this goes back to the origin of the term Rasool.
So Rasool is the one, therefore, who has been sent with a message by someone of authority, because only somebody of authority will give you a message, and the Rasool then monitors the delivery of the message actively and is engaged in seeing what happens to the message after it is delivered. This is the linguistic meaning of Rasool. And now we get from the linguistic. So we see now the difference between Nabi and we see the difference between Rasool from a linguistic perspective. We can say a Nabi is someone who knows what the rest of mankind does not know.
and he then informs mankind of that knowledge. And a Rasool is someone who has been sent with a message, and he then engages in that message. This is from a purely linguistic standpoint.
Now, remember these two, because we're gonna go back to this linguistic notion at the end of our lecture, after we've done all of the opinions out there. Okay, now we move on. This is from a purely linguistic standpoint. What do our ulama of this religion, what do they say about the functional differences between a Nabi and a Rasool? Is there even a difference between the two of them?
The vast majority of scholars of our tradition, they said that there is a difference between a Nabi and a Rasool. And they said this for multiple reasons. Of them is the reality of the fact that two separate words are used.
And whenever we have two words in the same language amongst the same group of people, whenever we have two words in the same language amongst the same subgroup of people, the reality is that those two words never mean the same thing. In other words, and this is a linguistic point, absolute synonyms, according to the majority of linguists, do not exist. You have synonyms that overlap.
in reality and people have tried to find examples of this in multiple languages and maybe there is an example in some obscure language, but the default is that there is no such thing as absolute synonyms because why would you have two words for the exact same concept? In reality, you have a lot of times synonyms that each one expresses a different nuance or is used in a different context. And so there are plenty of synonyms in every single language in the world, but To bring an example of two words that are spelled different, pronounced different, and are used exactly the same with every single connotation being the same, this is something that linguists have struggled to provide examples of. And the default, therefore, is that there is no such thing as absolute synonyms. And in fact, I cannot think of any such example in the Qur'an.
What you do have are two words, each of which... sometimes become synonymous, but at other times they become different. So for example, zakat and sadaqah, at times they overlap, but then at times they become different. For example, Islam and Iman, or mu'min and Muslim, these at times they overlap and at times they become different.
Because as we said, if two words that are different in sound and in spelling were exactly the same, it defeats the purpose of having two words. Why would you have two words? So the very fact that there's something called the Nabi and there's something called the Rasool indicates that they are not the same concept and the same connotation.
Now that's one reason why Nabi and Rasool cannot be the exact same thing. Another reason that is given is that the Quran and Sunnah clearly seem to indicate that. For example, Surah Hajj verse 52, Allah says, وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْ رَسُولٍ وَلَا نَبِيٍّ We have never sent before you neither prophet nor messenger.
Now the way that this wording occurs, even in English, neither prophet nor messenger, right? Min rasoolin wala nabi. And so the fact that Allah says wala nabi, neither this nor that, when you have that phrasing or structure, it is very clear that two separate things are being referenced. By separate, I mean they're not exactly the same.
you know, as we're gonna come to, one is larger than the other, right? Min rasool, which is a smaller category, wala nabi, and neither even a prophet, which is a larger category. And so this is a verse that is relatively clear.
Also, the fact that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la describes some prophets as rasool, and some prophets as nabi, and some prophets as rasoolan nabiya, if rasool and nabi were exactly the same, this would be repetitive. Why use the exact same adjective if it means the exact same thing? For example, in Surah Maryam, verse 51, وَاذْكُرْ فِي الْكِتَابِ مُوسَىٰ إِنَّهُ كَانَ مُخْلَصًا وَكَانَ رَسُولًا نَبِيًّا Recall the mention of Musa in this book.
Indeed, he was someone who was chosen, and he was a Rasul, and he was a Nabi. Why does Allah say he was a Rasul and Nabi? Because they're two not exact same things. He was both a Rasool and a Nabi, which indicates there is a difference between the concept of Rasool and the concept of Nabi. And in Surah Al-A'raf, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la mentions, Our own prophet, verse 157, Ar-rasool an-nabi al-ummi.
The rasool, the nabi, the ummi. He mentions these different adjectives and characteristics all together. If rasool an-nabi had been absolutely synonymous, it doesn't make sense for the Qur'an to use both of these terms back to back, okay? You don't use the exact same adjective to describe something back to back. Yet Allah does so multiple times in the Qur'an.
which means they are not the exact same adjectives, which means there is a difference between a Rasul and a Nabi. On the other hand, some prophets are not called Rasul, they're only called Nabi. For example, Yahya alayhi salam, that Allah says, Sayyidan wa hasuran wa nabiyyan min as-salihin.
He is a Sayyid, a leader, and a Hasur, somebody who never married, wa nabi from the Salihin. So he is called a Nabi. And there is a very, very interesting hadith that is so important that we should Thank you.
discuss this in detail because it is a fundamental hadith about the concept of prophets and messengers and the quantity of prophets and messengers which we're going to come back to next week as well inshallah and that's a separate topic but today we have talked about the difference between nabi and rasool and we have to use this hadith here so there is a very very interesting hadith that is is used by many people to indicate that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam explicitly demarcated between a Nabi and a Rasool. And it is a very, very important hadith about the concept of Anbiya and the concept of Rasool. So I brought the actual books with me so that we can, inshallah ta'ala, look at them and then discuss a little bit about the authenticity. Because obviously in the end of the day, this is not a very advanced class.
It is, I would call this, just like my seerah and the others, it's advanced to intermediate advance. It's not, you know, more than this is going to be like graduate level or something, which is not we're gonna not do this online of this or on a public podium. So the hadith in question, it is narrated or it is mentioned, referenced by Ibn Hibban. And Ibn Hibban was a great scholar of hadith.
And his book is called As-Sahih Ibn Hibban by later scholars. And he is one of the few people who attempted, who attempted to write a sahih compilation. We have Bukhari and Muslim, and then Ibn Khuzaymah, and Ibn Hibban. These are the four most famous attempts at writing Sahih only. But Bukhari and Muslim have a separate category and Ibn Khuzaymah comes number three and Ibn Hibban comes number four in that genre.
And he is the last of them. And he is also, you know, not the, he is even in terms of chronology and in terms of authenticity, there are many Hassan Hadith and there are even some weak Hadith in this compilation. so In Ibn Sahih Ibn Hibban, for those of you who are interested in volume 2, page 77, there is a very long hadith. It actually goes four pages, five pages actually.
A very long hadith, five pages. I'm not going to read all of it because it's simply too long. And it's the famous hadith of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari radiallahu anhu, in which he says that I entered the masjid and the Prophet ﷺ was sitting by himself. And then begins a very long conversation.
between him and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in which he asks him a whole bunch of questions. It's a very, very interesting, very atypical hadith. It's full of things that are not found in any other hadith, which is why it is so fascinating.
And so, and this hadith talks about what is the best ibadah and which verse is the best and describe to me the throne of Allah and this and that. So you have all of these different things here. And then we have over here that قُل ْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ Kamil anbiya? I said, O Messenger of Allah, how many anbiya were sent?
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Mi'atu alfin wa ishruna alfa, 120,000. Mi'atu alfin wa ishruna alfa, 120,000. Qultu ya Rasulullah, kamil rusulu min thalik?
I said, O Messenger of Allah, how many of those were rusul? Okay, so now we have in this hadith, we're gonna talk about it. its authenticity in a few minutes inshaAllah in this hadith we have a large number of anbiya 120 thousand then Abu Dharr says from them how many were rusul so we clearly have in this hadith that rusul are a category within anbiya and our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam responded thalathu mi'atin wa thalathata asharan jaman ghafeera that 313, a very large quantity.
Don't trivialize that. 313 might seem small to you, but it is very large. Out of 120,313 were were Rasool Qultu ya Rasool Allah man kana awwaluhum So I said, who was the first, i.e.
Nabi? And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Adam. Qultu ya Rasool Allah anabiyyun mursal.
I said, O Messenger of Allah, Adam was a Nabi whom Allah sent? Adam was a Nabi? And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, yes, Allah created him with his hands and blew the spirit into him and spoke to him directly. And then the hadith goes on and on. You know, four of them were Syriac, Adam, Ashith, and Akhnukh, and Idris.
and four of them were Arab, Hud and Shu'aib and Salih and your prophet Muhammad. How many books came down? You know, 100 books came down and four of them were the Qutub.
And it goes on and on. So you find a very, very interesting, if you like, hadith in this regard. However, however, this particular chain has in it somebody by the name of Ibrahim ibn Hisham al-Ghassani. And this particular person is considered to be a liar, mutahamoon bil kadhib, he's accused of lying.
And because of this, the famous scholar of hadith, Ibn Al-Jawzi, who died 597, he considered this hadith to actually be fabricated. He said, this hadith is forget, it's not even supposed to be in the sahih, he said, actually it is supposed to be fabricated. And so he went to a very harsh level in this regard.
And he said, we should not use this hadith at all because in it is not just somebody with a weak memory, but somebody who's been accused of lying. However, there are supporting evidences, you know, for this narration. And of them, also from Abu Dharr al-Ghafari, but with a totally different chain, we have in the Musnad of Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal, which is the famous collection of hadith all of you should be familiar with, in volume 35, page 341 of the famous Dr. Shaykh al-Arnaut edition, the famous one that was printed in 40 volumes, that we have...
The hadith of Abu Dharr al-Ghaifari in which he mentions the same relatively long hadith and he says, Ya Rasulullah, ayyul anbiya'i awwal, so which prophet was first? He says, Adam. And I said, was he a Nabi? And he said, yes, he was somebody whom Allah spoke to.
Qultu Ya Rasulullah, kamil mursaloon, how many were the prophets? And the Prophet ﷺ responded, thalathu mi'atin wabid'a'ata ashar. 310 and something Ibn Hibban says 313 Musnad Ibn Ma'ma said 310 and something Jamman ghafeera A large quantity And then it goes on to other sections And in this hadith The 120,000 is not mentioned We only have the notion of the Rasul Being 310 and something So this is used as some supporting evidence because it is from a totally different chain.
It has nothing to do with this previous chain. However, this chain, it does have in it a number of people that are problematic as well, not as problematic as this one, but nonetheless, some people are unknown. So for example, it says that an unknown person in this chain, and also you have somebody by the name of Ubaid ibn al-Khashkhaj home And again, there's a whole long commentary on this on the channel. I want to go into all of those details here.
So the point is that a lot of scholars, even by the way, the editors of this book who are considered to be great scholars, they also come to the conclusion that this hadith is a weak hadith. This hadith is a weak hadith. Now, there are other evidences as well that are used of them.
is a narration from Abu Umama, another companion, not Abu Dharr. And it is reported in the Tafseer of Ibn Abi Hatim, which has been recently published in its entirety. And there is a chain in there in which Abu Umama says, Ya Rasulullah, how many Anbiya? And the Prophet ﷺ responded, Mi'atu alfin wa arba'atun wa ishrun, 124,000.
The one in Ibn Hibban mentions 120,000. And this one mentions 124,000. Min dhalika thalathu mi'atin wa khamsata ashara rusul So of them were 315 Ibn Hibban mentions 313 Muslim Ibn Ahmed says 310 and something And this one says 315 We get a similar figure Jamman ghafeera A large quantity And that chain as well has issues with it In other words And some have found other even more weak chains In other words you have 3 or 4 different chains that have a similar concept, not exactly the same by the way, because each hadith is slightly different, but a similar concept, that Anbiya are very large, 120,000, 124,000, Rusul are 310, 313, 315. Now, what to do?
Well, some of the scholars of our times, and in particular, the famous Albanian Jordanian scholar, Al-Albani, Sheikh Al-Albani, And he was well known to, you know, for the scholars of hadith to take such chains and consider them to be supporting evidences. He actually considered this hadith that the prophets are 124 and the rusul are 310 and something to be not just hasan. He made it saheeh, mashallah, tabarakallah, right?
And most of the scholars of hadith That are considered to be the experts They consider Shaykh al-Albani To be somewhat lacks when it comes to these types of issues to bring forth chains and then consider them to be very easily because in reality each one of these chains is actually very weak and to take these very weak or maybe even munkar chains and then to consider the hadith to be sahih for example this is not something that anybody before him had done nonetheless you should be aware this is Sheikh al-Albani's position and because of this the hadith has become very popular in those circles that look up to this particular Shaykh that they consider this to be an authentic hadith and it is found in many many books to be an authentic hadith. Shaykh Khulasam ibn Taymiyyah he comments on this hadith as well in his Majmu'ah volume 7 page 409 and he mentions that Imam Ahmad himself despite the fact that it is in his book Imam Ahmad himself did not consider this hadith to be authentic and this also seems to be the position of ibn Taymiyyah that we don't know The quantity of anbiya And the quantity of rusul We do not know them Now Allah knows best It is my humble opinion Azi bin Taymiyyah concluded That the tradition is not authentic That this notion of 124 or 120 anbiya And then 300 something rusul That it is simply not authentic And therefore because the hadith is not authentic It cannot be used to derive theology Or to base our aqeedah on We do not base our theology on sources that are not certain. Theology has to be certain. Nonetheless, if somebody were to say, there is a hadith in Musnad Imam Ahmad, and some have considered it to be da'if, that the prophets are so many in number, and Ibn Hibban, and you just mentioned it, that it is there, but you point out that, you know what, Ibn Taymiyyah and Imam Ahmad did not consider this to be authentic.
In reality, to state this without firmly believing in it, there's no problem. In other words, what I'm saying is that to believe that there were around 124,000 prophets and around 310 messengers, there's nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't become a point of theology because there is no authentic hadith in this regard. And whoever believes the hadith is authentic must believe in it, obviously. And so the main point for us is that there does not seem to be any definitive number. However, what can be said without a doubt is that the notion of Anbiya and Rusul being two distinct categories and that Rusul are a subcategory within Anbiya, that this is found in the Hadith books.
That much is factually true. So we can bring this and say that the Anbiya and the Rusul are not the same and that the Anbiya is a larger category, 124, and the Rusul are a smaller subcategory within them. 310 of them are are Rasool so this seems to therefore be a very good premise from which to begin our discussion by the way although this was a preliminary now we get to some of the opinions out there what exactly is the difference between a Nabi and a Rasool And we will now begin with a quick opinion that we will dismiss immediately.
Al-Qadir Iyad mentions this in his shifa and he says that of the opinions is that there is no difference between a Nabi and a Rasool. That every Nabi is a Rasool and every Rasool is a Nabi and the two circles completely overlap. There's two Venn diagrams completely overlap. And we say based on all that I have just said for the last 20 minutes, we should dismiss this opinion altogether. Allah Azzawajal does not use two words to indicate the exact same thing.
So this position simply is untenable from a linguistic point of view, and from a Quranic point of view, and from a Hadith point of view, even if some ulama have said it, even in our time, Shaykh Abdul Razzaq Afifi, the famous scholar of Saudi of the last generation, would also claim this, but it doesn't really add up in many different ways. And also it has been a very, very minority opinion in Islamic history. So that is the first opinion and we respect it and we move on.
The second opinion is that another group said, and this is the opinion of quite a lot of ulama, including the great theologian of the 11th century, Al-Imam As-Saffarini. Al-Imam As-Saffarini said that a Nabi is somebody who is inspired, but not commanded to propagate the message. And a Rasool is somebody who is inspired and sent to a people and commanded to propagate the message. So a Nabi has information but he doesn't share it with others.
He's not commanded to share it. And a Rasool is sent to others and he shares the information with others. Now this is a common opinion that is found in quite a lot of early books. The problem though is twofold.
The problem with this opinion is twofold. Firstly, there are plenty of texts to indicate that nabees were also sent to people. And secondly, it is difficult to imagine Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la inspiring a person with knowledge.
And this person knows what no other person on earth knows. And then he stays quiet and doesn't preach to the people. A person who is not a prophet, that's me and you, we are required to spread whatever we have.
We must speak the truth, we must guide our family and friends, we have to be, you know, role models as much as possible. How can one believe that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala inspires somebody and then he sits in the corner and does not do anything? In reality, neither does this make textual sense, nor does it make logical sense.
And the Qur'an is explicit. Allah says in the Quran, وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ مِنْ رَسُولٍ وَلَا نَبِيٍ We have never sent before you neither prophet nor messenger. وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ نَبِيٍ So the Nabi is also Mursal. Allah sends the Nabi, right?
He's not called the Rasul, but he is still Arsal. Look at the technicality here, right? Allah Arsal the Anbiya and the Rusul. So the fact that Allah Arsal does not make him a Rasul.
Allah sent the Nabi, it doesn't make him the messenger. And Allah sent the Rasul and he becomes the messenger. Both are mursal, but only one is Rasul and the other remains Nabi.
And also Allah says in the Quran very explicitly, وَإِذَا خَذَ اللَّهُ مِثَاقًا الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ لَتُبَيِّنُنَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ وَلَا تَكْتُمُونَهُ Allah took the covenant from the people of the book that you are going to You are going to reveal this message to mankind and you are not going to hide it. So Allah Azzawajal has a very clear contract. When you have knowledge, you have to preach and teach it and you do not hide it.
And we also have the famous hadith in Sahih Muslim as well. Kanat Banu Isra'ila tasoosuhumu al-anbiyaa kullama halaka nabiyyun khalafahu nabi The children of Israel, they were governed by anbiyaa. Every time a nabi, died or was killed, another Nabi replaced him, okay?
So this hadith shows that the Anbiya were sent to Bani Israel and the Bani Israel were aware of their existence. They didn't just sit in a corner and meditate and not preach to others. And we have the famous hadith of Sahih Bukhari as well, that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Uridat alaiya al-ummah, the nations were shown to me.
And they saw a Nabi who had one person with him, and a Nabi that had two people, and a Nabi that has a small group, and a Nabi that nobody followed him. So we clearly have the notion of Anbiya preaching to their people, and people are following. And if nobody follows, it's not because the Nabi didn't try, it's because his people did not, his people did not accept. So the Nabi is also sent by Allah And this is proven as well in the famous hadith of Amr ibn Abasa Of Amr ibn Abasa which is one of the very interesting hadith that is mentioned In a number of source books That Amr ibn Abasa says that he came to Mecca He came to Mecca in early Islam And he heard that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam was preaching something new.
He heard the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam was preaching something new. So he went up to him and he asked him, Ma anta, what are you? This is a really interesting question.
He didn't say man anta, who are you? Because he knows he is the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. He said, Ma anta, what are you? And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Ana nabi, I am a nabi.
Now the concept of nabi, as we're gonna come to in a later lecture, was not known amongst the Arabs. They didn't know what a Nabi was. And so Amr ibn Abasa said, وَمَا نَبِي؟ And what is a Nabi?
He's asking him, and what is a Nabi? And so the Prophet ﷺ said, that Arsalanillah, Allah has sent me. Allah has sent me. And Amr said to him, with what?
And the Prophet ﷺ said, to fulfill the ties of the family and to destroy the idols and so that only Allah is worshiped. Now, all of this is a beautiful hadith. Why am I quoting it? The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, I am a Nabi whom Allah has sent and a Nabi Arsalanillah. So this second opinion that a Nabi does not preach to the people simply doesn't add up.
All of the texts and even common sense and logic dictate that that does not make sense. Okay, so then we... Park this opinion as well. Let's move on to the third opinion. The third opinion we find is mentioned by a group of great classical ulama of the early, the flourishing time of Islam.
And this is the fourth and fifth century when the knowledge was beginning to be crystallized. One can say that six, seven, eight, the knowledge now somewhat ossified and set into stone. And then you get the somewhat of a decline, but that's beyond the scope of our class here.
So fourth, fifth century, you have a lot of thought coming out and processes and trying to look back and figure out what's going on and categorize. So you have some really brilliant minds. And of the minds that we have is the Mufassir Al-Tha'alibi, who died 429 Hijrah.
And somebody who was greatly influenced by him, his student Al-Wahidi, who died 468 Hijrah, who has a multi-volume book called Al-Basit, and also another one called Al-Wajiz. And these came out recently, 30 volumes of Tafsir. They were discovered in a manuscript form.
So these are great ulama of the past. And the both of them, and they are student teacher, the both of them have pretty much the same opinion. Al-Thalibi said in his tafsir that the Rasool is the one who was sent to mankind through Allah sending Jibreel down to him. And Jibreel communicating with him directly and through visual, he could see him directly and speak to him directly.
And as for the Nabi, the Nabi, His nubuwa comes through inspiration that is not Jibreel, and through dreams. And so he said, the Nabi and the Rasool. The Rasool is one whom Jibreel comes to, and the Nabi is the one whom Allah communicates without Jibreel.
Okay, so that's his interpretation. And he said, therefore, every Rasool is a Nabi, but not every Nabi is a Rasool. The same thing we said, that this notion is pretty much... You know unanimous For everybody besides the first group The first group of course That the Rasool and the Nabi are exactly the same And Al-Wahidi has the same concept Now the response to this is that There does not seem to be Any shred of evidence for this It seems just to be something that is There's no evidence Well what is the evidence? How do we know Jibreel did not come to the Anbiya?
Where do we get this from? In fact there seems to be a lot of indications That Jibreel went to every single Nabi and Rasool So it's an interpretation, we should mention it, but it doesn't add up and there's no evidences for it. So that is a third opinion. A fourth opinion is mentioned by perhaps a lot of great ulama, perhaps some of them being of the greatest of the theologians of certain schools. Imam al-Nasafi is considered to be the primary or one of the primary architects and expounders, I should say, of the Ash'ari school.
of theology, Imam Al-Nasafi says, Al-Faqhubainahuma An-Narasoola Man Jama'a Ilal Mu'ijizati Al-Kitab Al-Munazzal Alayhi Wal-Nabi Man Lam Yunazzal Alayhi Kitab Wa-Innama Umira An Yadu'i La Shari'ati Man Qablahu So the difference between the Rasool and the Nabi is that the Rasool has a miracle. and the book that Allah has sent down to him. And the Nabi does not have any book necessarily.
He doesn't have a book. Rather, he calls to the book and the Sharia of those before him. And therefore he said, the Rasul is the one who brings a new Sharia and the Nabi protects the Sharia of the one before him. Okay, so this is a fourth opinion of Imam al-Nasafi.
Before I critique it, let's mention one more and then we critique all the last three ones. A fifth opinion, which is very similar to the fourth one, is that a Rasool was sent with a new Sharia and the Nabi is one who was sent to uphold the previous Sharia. In other words, this is the second half of a Nasefi statement. The first half of a Nasefi says, he must be given a book and he must be given a Mu'ajiza or a miracle. Whereas a Nabi is not given a Mu'ajiza or a miracle.
The fifth opinion is a modified version of the fourth one. It's basically the last half of Imam Nasefi and that is that, The Rasool comes with a new Sharia and the Nabi upholds the previous Sharia. And this is one of the dominant positions that one finds scattered throughout many books of Tafseer and in many books of commentary and creed and great ulama past and present, including the great Mufassir al-Alusi, he held this position.
Also we have, you can even say a sixth opinion or modified fifth one if you like. in which one of the scholars of our times and somebody whom I consider a teacher and mentor, Sheikh Safran Al-Hawali, he says that the difference between the Rasool and the Nabi is that both the Rasool and the Nabi convey information, but the Rasool ya'tee bi-shara'in jadeed, comes with a new sharia, ila qawmin kafireena bihi, to a group that have rejected him, wayakoonu baynahum wabaynahut taktheeb wal-rad, and between him and his people, There's a back and forth of refutations and of rejection until finally Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la causes him to win over his people. As for the Nabi, he comes to revive the Sharia of the previous Rasool and to correct what was ratified, to simply uphold what was ratified.
This is the position of some modern theologians. And of the evidences that are given for this is the statement of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam in which he said, Al-ulama warathatu al-anbiya Scholars are the inheritors of the prophets. He did not say of the messengers. Scholars are the inheritors of the prophets. What does a scholar do?
A scholar cannot bring forth a new sharia. A scholar... reinforces the Sharia that the prophets came with.
And that is why the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is saying, Al-ulama warathatu al-anbiya. The scholars are now gonna do the jobs that the prophets used to do, right? Allah is not gonna send any more prophets.
So then who's gonna uphold the Sharia, interpret the Sharia, make sure the Sharia, that's gonna be the role of the ulama. He didn't say the ulama are the inheritors of the rusul. Nobody can take on that job other than the rusul. And so this position I would say, let's call this both four and five and five, basically the last five minutes that I was mentioned. These types of ideas that the sharia comes with a rasool or that a book comes with a rasool and that the nabi is somebody who upholds the previous sharia or doesn't have a book.
This is something that is perhaps the most common or versions of this interpretation are perhaps the most common that are found across the board. And the reality is that this seems to be a very good opinion at first stroke. And it makes a lot of sense.
And that's why a lot of people propagate it. And if we look at so many names amongst the Anbiya and Rasool, everything fits into place. So for example, we know that Yahya is a Nabi, whereas his cousin Isa is a Rasool. Yusha is a Nabi, but Musa is a Rasool. And if we look at the bulk of the names that we're familiar with, then clearly this definition makes sense, okay?
Especially in light of the Anbiya of the Banu Israel. All of the Banu Israel prophets were Anbiya, they were not Rusul, until Isa comes because he has given a new Sharia and a new book. And so if you look at Musa is a Rasul, he's given a book and he's given a Sharia, all the prophets after Anbiya, all the way down to Isa, because Isa has also given a book. And Isa is given a new Sharia And so that seems to make a lot of sense However, it doesn't make complete sense Or I should say It's not right to use the word sense I should say If we were to look at all of the names we have About Anbiya and Rusul And use them as litmus tests Let's compare our definitions With the actual names in the Quran We find that there are specific names That do not match up And of them is Adam An-Nuh alayhi salam Now, if we say that a Rasool is somebody who comes with a new Sharia and the Nabi has to affirm the Sharia of the Prophet before him or the Rasool before him. Okay, we know from a Hadith in Sahih Bukhari that Nuh is the first Rasool ever sent.
And we know from Hadith in Muslim Imam Ahmad and others that Adam is a Nabi. So Adam is Nabi, Nuh is Rasool. Okay, now, if we say a Nabi, must uphold the Sharia of the previous Rasool. What is Adam coming with?
Adam is a Nabi. There is no Sharia before him. So Adam and Nuh, they don't fit up with this definition.
And we also have Yusuf as well. The Quran mentions in Surah Ghafir, وَلَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ يُوسُفٍ مِنْ قَبْلُ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ فَمَا زِلْتُمْ فِي شَكٍّ مِمَّا جَاءَكُمْ بِهِ حَتَّى إِذَا هَلَكَ قُلْتُمْ لَنْ يَبْعَثَ اللَّهُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ رَسُولًا Okay, Rasul. Allah calls Yusuf a Rasul.
Okay, did Yusuf get a new Sharia? Did he get a new revelation? No, Yusuf is following the Sharia of Ibrahim A.S. No new revelation.
Yet he is called Rasul. So, Adam and Yusuf are two examples and we can find more as well that don't make sense. A third example is Harun. Harun is a Rasool even though he did not get his own Sharia he followed the Sharia of Musa Allah says in the Quran that inna rasoola rabbik right Allah Azza wa Jalla says in the Quran very explicitly that both Musa and Haroon came to Firaun faqula the both of you say that Allah has sent us okay so Musa and Haroon are sent by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. They are both Rasul.
And yet Harun did not get a new Sharia. He is following the Sharia of Musa Alayhi Salaam. Yet they're both called Rasul. So we have a number of key examples in which these definitions do not match up. And therefore, we need to go back to another definition.
Oh, there's yet one more example, by the way, and that is Dawood Alayhi Salaam. That is Dawood alayhis salam. Dawood was given a book, but no new sharia. And Dawood was a nabi, not a rasool.
Dawood was a nabi, not a rasool. Because he followed the sharia of Musa, but he was given a book. Wa aatayna Dawooda zabura.
And in the hadith in Muslim, Imam Ahmed, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, kana Dawood al-nabi, the prophet Dawood, al-nabi Dawood. And then the hadith goes on. So these are examples that don't match with the definition that is given by a lot of ulama.
So therefore, let us pause on this definition and now get to our final definition, which is inshaAllah ta'ala the strongest candidate and really it makes the most sense and it also goes back to the linguistic meanings as we will see. And that is the definition that is propounded by none other than Shaykh al-Islam Taqiuddin Ahmed, the famous Shaykh al-Islam ibn Taymiyyah al-Harrani. that Shaykh al-Islam mentions in his famous book, Kitab al-Nubuwat, which is a massive attempt by Ibn Taymiyyah, a really erudite book to talk about prophecy and prophets.
He wrote two volumes, Kitab al-Nubuwat, which is one of the most amazing books. I mean, to be frank, almost everything he wrote is a very, very ingenious, very amazing book. In this book, Kitab al-Nubuwat, he discusses the notion of prophecy. He discussed what is a prophet and how do we know prophets are prophets and the reality of prophets.
So he has an entire book about Kitab al-Nubuwat, the book of prophets. And in this, he defines Nabi. He says, An-Nabi huwa alladhi yunbi'uhu Allah wa huwa yunbi'u ma anba'a ma unbi'abihi.
That the Nabi is somebody whom Allah gives information to. And then he shares the information that Allah has given to him. Okay, that's a Nabi. A Nabi by linguistic definition is anybody whom Allah communicates with directly. And because Allah communicates with him, he is obliged to share that knowledge to some people at least, his people.
He is obliged to do that. Allah does not, you know, make somebody a Nabi and then tell him to sit in his house. Every Nabi is going to preach, even if it's to a group of people, not to all of mankind, he must preach. So that is a Nabi. Then.
Fa in ursila maa thalika ila man khalafa amrallahee If the Nabi is now sent to a group who openly rejects the command of Allah, the existence of Allah, the worship of Allah, and he now teaches the message of Allah to that group, he becomes a Rasool. He becomes a Rasool. And he then mentions that, generally speaking, the Rasool might also come with a new Sharia, but that's not a condition. It is just a norm.
It's not necessarily a condition. So Ibn Taymiyyah gives a very, very precise definition that in reality fits perfectly with all of the examples and it fits perfectly with the linguistic origins of Nabi and Rasool. And that is why we will conclude with this definition. The Nabi is someone whom Allah informs directly, inspires directly, communicates with directly, and Allah teaches knowledge that no other human knows.
And that Nabi is then required to spread that knowledge and share that knowledge. However, if the Nabi is now sharing it or being sent to a group that doesn't accept him, that is going to reject him, that doesn't believe in his message and he must establish himself amongst them, now he gets an upgrade and he is now a Rasool. He is sent to a people that are rejecting him. As for a Nabi who is not a Rasool, his people want this information. His people are eager and they're waiting for it and they accept him by and large.
So the Nabi is not being sent to a disbelieving Qawm. A Nabi is sent to people who already believe Like Adam alayhi salam Adam, his children believed in him Dawud was a king And a mighty prophet But his people believed in him He's not a Rasul Yusuf didn't have a new Sharia But he is sent to the people of Fir'aun, or I should say the people of Egypt He is sent to the people of Egypt So it's not about Sharia Even though Generally speaking Every Rasool would have a new Sharia, generally speaking, but it's not about Sharia. And it's not about book, because books are, as we're going to come to, in reality a book is nothing other than the compilation of the revelation.
And in some sense, every single prophet was, because they were given inspiration, in some sense every prophet had the rudimentary nature of a book, i.e. something that came down from Allah. some of those prophets Their books were compiled and others were not. Some were given larger books and others were not. Some were given non-legal books. وَآتَيْنَا دَوُودَ زَبُورًا The Zaboor was a non-legal book.
It had nothing to do with the Sharia. It was just praise of Allah. That's all that it was. It was just praise of Allah. And it was a book that Allah revealed.
But it didn't contain laws. Musa was given the laws. Dawood followed the laws of Musa. Yusuf was not given a book nor a Sharia. But he was a Rasool.
because he followed the Sharia of Ibrahim, but he was sent to the people of Egypt. So if you look at this particular definition, it's not about what they were given, whether books or whatnot, it's about the reception. It's about where they sent to, and that's what Arsala means. Now, in one sense, every Nabi is sent to his people, no doubt.
But to be sent to those who are welcoming you is not the same as to walk into the palaces of Fir'aun. as Musa did. It is not the same as to fight the Quraysh like the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam did in Badr and Uhud and Ahzab. That is a higher level of being sent.
And that is why they are called Rasool. Because they are now being sent to a group of people that are going to battle with him. And that's why as well, what does the meaning of Rasool mean?
He is an active messenger. A Nabi is going to inform. A Rasool is going to actively engage.
by preaching. There's going to be a struggle back and forth that goes back to the connotation of Rasool because the Rasool doesn't just deliver the message. The Rasool is engaged in delivering the message which means there's going to be resistance and they must be pushed back and that's included in the term Rasool.
And that is why the reality therefore which seems to be the strongest opinion Allah knows best. And by the way, there are some other opinions as well out there which I just left because they're even more obscure. I quoted you six opinions which are really... the main positions that are found. There are others as well, but again, this is enough for our level.
And the sixth one, the final one, seems to be watertight. There's not a single example that I can think of that does not fit with this definition of Rasool and Nabi. And so with this, inshaAllah ta'ala, we come to the conclusion of this lecture of ours.
And we explained that a Rasool is a Nabi who has been sent to a Qawm, that doesn't believe in him or doesn't believe in God and that he has to then establish his credentials. And as for a Nabi, he is sent to a Qawm that already believes in him or is expecting him or shall not reject him. And therefore he is a Nabi and he's going to inform them of the revelation of Allah on him. Inshallah, in our next class, we will continue other introductory topics about the concept of Anbiya and Rusul.
And now you know the difference between the two. Until then, Jazakumullahu khairan. Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh O you who answered the call of Noah, and you succeeded, and you carried him in your ship, the shipwrecked.
O you who turned the fire around his companion, and you were moved by the word of your Lord.