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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Islamic Question & Answer Question 35 : Why Is the Position of Imamate Considered Higher That That of Messengership? ANSWER: In order to give an answer to this question, we shall first start by elaborating the exact meaning of three phrases i.e., 'Prophethood', 'messenger ship' and 'imamate' which are all mentioned in both the Quran and the tradition that makes the fact clear as to why the position of imamate is higher than the other two positions.

Position of 'prophethood' The phrase, 'Nabi'-prophet comes from the rood word, 'Naba' meaning important news. Therefore, the meaning of nabi is the one carrying the important news or the one who informs it. The word, Nabi in the dictionary of the Quran is used for the person who receives the divine revelation of the Exalted Allah in different ways and is in other words a reporter from God, without any intermediate of a human being.

Thus the duty of the prophet is only limited to receiving and reporting the divine revelation to the people. The Holy Quran says in this regard that, "So Allah raised the prophets as the bearers of glad tidings and warners against hell fire." Position of messenger ship. The phrase 'messenger' is used for the prophets who in addition to receiving the revelation and report form God, have the responsibility of communicating the divine message and the mission of its propagation.

The Holy Quran says in this regard, " Then know that only a clear deliverance of the message is (incumbent) on our Apostle." Thus, the position of messenger ship is different from that given to the Prophet.

In other words, each of the two concepts of prophethood and messenger ship are referring to the certain properties of the prophets and the way of revelation of the message by God such that the prophets who are receivers of the revelation and the harbingers of news are called 'prophets' and when they have the duty of communicating the message, then they are called 'messengers' of Allah.

Form all that has been mentioned so far about the prophet and mes, we come to the following result that the prophets up to the moment that that they are in the domain of prophecy and messenger ship, are only guides who declare the lawful and the unlawful, show the people the ways of happiness and salvation, and have no duty other than getting the information from God or propagating it to the mankind.