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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Basic Beliefs of Islam Chapter 12 : Nabuwwat - Prophethood The third basic belief in Islam is prophethood. It means that Allah Subhanahu taala has sent His messengers to teach mankind about the purpose of their creation. The Divine scheme of sending the prophets was that no one should be left out without Divine teachings. For this reason the first man on the ear th i.e. Hazrat Adam himself was a prophet.

Then Allah Subhanahu taala sent prophets to all nations and all communities to preach. Definition of Prophethood Prophethood has been defined by a great Alim, Allama Hilli, as " the Prophet is the person who reports from Allah Taala without any human mediation." What is the meaning of Nabi and Rasul ? In Islamic terminology two different words are used for messenger of Allah Taala.

1 - Prophet [Nabi] 2 - Apostle [Rasul] A Messenger of Allah can be a Nabi [Prophet] or a Rasul [Apostle] or both Nabi and Rasul at a time. Nabi [Prophet] Nabi is an Arabic word, which has been derived from the word, Naba, meaning, True News of great importance. In Arabic language, the word naba is not used for ordinary news (Khabar), but is applied to a news which is absolutely true (confirmed truth) and a news of great value. Thus, the word Naba refers to a great and true news.

Now we can easily explain the meaning of Nabi which is as follows; The Nabi [Prophet] is a truth-speaking person who receives the truthful news of high value from Allah Taala and conveys it to people. Thus, we can say that the Nabi is an exalted and high-ranking person who has an assignment from Allah Subhanahu taala to communicate with His servants on His behalf. Rasul [Apostle] Rasul is also an Arabic word which is derived from the word, Risalat, meaning, to send.

Thus, the meaning of Rasul is, one who is sent from Allah. In Islamic terminology, both Nabi and Rasul are the most high-ranking people chosen by Allah Subhanahu taala to guide the mankind. What is the difference between Rasool and Nabi ? After knowing the terminological meanings of Rasul and Nabi, it is also impor tant to understand the difference of these two great positions. The Quran has used both the words, Nabi and Rasul, which shows that there were two kinds of messengers.

1 - Some of the messengers were Nabi only. 2 - Some messengers were both Nabi and Rasool. The difference between Rasul and Nabi is that, 1- A Rasul was a messenger of Allah who was given a new Shariat (codes of law) from Him.