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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Shia Rebuts Question 35 : Why is the station of Imamate {imamah} higher than that of prophethood {nubuwwah}? Reply: First, we will examine the precise meaning of three of the words we find in the Qur’an and the hadith and these are: prophethood { nubuwwah }, messengership { risalah } and Imamate { imamah } so as to clarify why the station of imamah is higher than each of the other two mentioned positions.

The station of nubuwwah The word nabi {prophet} is derived from the word naba’ which means an important piece of news.

Therefore, the literal meaning of nabi is “bearer of very important news” or “announcer of very important news”.[^1] The word nabi which is equivalent to the English word “prophet” is used by the Qur’an to mean a person who receives divine revelation from God, the Exalted, through various means, and conveys to people the news revealed to him without the intervention of other human beings. Scholars define this word as follows: إنه من مؤدّ من الله بلا وساطة من البشر.

“A prophet is a person who conveys the divine revelation to the people without the intervention of other human biengs.”[^2] On this basis, the nature of the duties of a nabi is confined to receiving revelation and conveying to the people what is revealed to him.

The Glorious Qur’an says in this regard: فَبَعَثَ اللّهُ النَّبِيِّينَ مُبَشِّرينَ وَ مُنْذِرينَ “Then Allah sent the prophets as bearers of good news and as warners.” [^3] The station of risalah In the lexicon of revelation, the word rasul is referred to a prophet who, apart from receiving the revelation and conveying it to the people, shoulders the burden of conveying a divine message { risalah } and has the responsibility of delivering the message to the people.

In this regard, the Glorious Qur’an says: فَإِنْ تَوَلَّيْتُمْ فَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّما عَلىٰ‏ رَسُولِنَا الْبَلاغُ الْمُبينُ “But if you turn your backs, then know that Our Apostle’s duty is only to communicate in clear terms.” [^4] Therefore, the position of risalah is another station which is given to a nabi .

In other words, each of the concepts of nubuwwah and risalah points to one of the peculiarities of the prophets who receive revelation from God in that they are called anbiya’ (plural form of nabi ) because they receive divine revelation and bear news. And they are called rusul (plural form of rasul ) because they have the responsibility of delivering the message { risalah }.

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