Imamate And Prophethood in the Shias' Viewpoint 3 - Al-Shia The Scientific and Cultural Website of Shia belief Imamate And Prophethood in the Shias’ Viewpoint 3 2023-02-17 713 Views Prophethood, Imamate, Imamate in the Qur'an In continuation of the discussion on the concepts of Imamate and Prophethood, we shall highlight about the difference between Nabi and Rasul in this part. Difference between Nabi and Rasul In Arabic, there are no separate words for Messenger and Apostle. The distinction is between Nabi (Prophet) and Rasul (Messenger or Apostle): 1- Nabi (i.e., Prophet) 2- Rasul (i.e., Messenger=Apostle) Note that the degree of prophethood is lower than the degree of messengership/apostleship. By definition: 1. A Prophet (Nabi) is a person to whom the Divine Law (Shari’ah) descends; this divine law may be concerned with beliefs (aqa’id) or with practical activities (Ibadat, like prayer). This Divine Law either deals with the Nabi’s personal life or with that of his community; or both. This is the fundamental definition of prophethood, though the prophet may also be informed of other things. The descent of the Divine Law (Shari’ah) may be direct, or through an intermediary like an angel. 2. A Human Messenger/Apostle (Rasul) is a Prophet who receives a Divine Law that concerns himself and people other than himself. So every (human) Rasul is Nabi, while the reverse is not true. Also every Nabi whom Quran has mentioned along with a community (Umma), is consequently a Rasul. Thus when Quran states that Mohammad (PBUH&HF) is the last Prophet,(1) then by the above definition, he is the last Messenger/Apostle also. Note that the word “Human” is important in the definition of Rasul because the Quran uses the term “Rasul” also for angels who issue a command at the will of Allah (SWT): “Allah chooses Messengers from ANGELS and from men, for Allah is He Who hears and sees (all things) (2). “There came Our Messengers to Abraham with glad tidings. They said,”Peace!” he answered, “Peace!” and hastened to entertain them with a roasted calf. ” “When Our Messengers came to Lut, he was grieved on their account and felt himself powerless (to protect) them. He said: This is a distressful day.” “(The Messengers) said: O Lut! we are Messengers from thy Lord!…” However, a Nabi is only a human being — no angel can be called a Nabi. So every (human) Rasul is a Nabi, while every human Nabi is not necessarily a Rasul. The number of Messengers (Rusul) is less than the number of Prophets (Nabiyoon); and every Rasul received a book, while some Nabees received a book. In addition, since he has to convince his people to accept a new religion with new practices, a Rasul’s work is much harder than that of a Nabi. This is on top of the fact that people’s needs, minds, and abilities have changed; and accepting a new religion is not an easy task. This is while a Nabi’s new religious instructions are for himself (unless he is a Rasul). Surely a Nabi invites people toward Allah (SWT): however, he does not set any new practices for the people. So, in essence, if a Nabi is NOT a Rasul, the people that he invites to Allah (SWT) would be ordered to follow the custom and practices of a previous Rasul. Among the Rusul, however, there are five individuals who are higher than the others. As you might know, the only difference between those five and other Rusul is that they are assigned universally (for the whole mankind at their time), while the rest of Rusul were locally (just for one city or area). My recollection is that the word ‘Alameen and/or Jamee’an has been used in Quran for Prophet Jesus (PBUH) supporting this idea. Once a Bahai claimed that the Rusul (who came before Bab were only those five who had book. But the rest were Nabi. This is not correct since Quran states that Dawood had Zabur and yet he is not counted among those five great Messengers. So he is Rasul because he brought a book for people. Imam/Muhaddath Imam means a person who is appointed by God as a leader and as a guide (6) to whom obedience is due, and whom people should follow. Messengers are Warners and Imams are Guides. (7) Imams are the Stars of Guidance. (8) Imam does not receive divine revelation about Sharia (divine law). He does not receive any commands concerning new religous practices, and so on. However, he may be informed of the events about the past and future. Another difference between Rasul and Nabi and Muhaddath (i.e., Imam) is on how they communicate with the angels, and is given in Usul Kafi:(9). Rasul sees and hears the angel in awakness and sleep. Nabi hears the angel and sees him while asleep, but does not see him while awake though hears the speech. Imam (muhaddith) is the one who hears the angel in awakness while does not see him in awakness or sleep. In the previous part we quoted from Quran that Mary (PBUH) had communication with angels. If according to Sahih al-Bukhari, Fatimah (PBUH) was the best of ladies in this world and in hereafter, then why can’t she communicate with the angels? (10) Narrated ‘Aisha: The Messenger of Allah said to Fatimah (who was crying at her father’s deathbed): “Are you not satisfied that you are the chief of all the ladies of Paradise or the chief of all the believing women?” Furthermore, Ibn Abbas narrated: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) said: Four women are the mistress of the worlds: Mary, Asiya (the wife of Pharaoh), Khadija, and Fatimah. And the most excellent one among them in the world is Fatimah.” For those who love Sahih al-Bukhari, I will quote this book once more which confirms that Lady Fatimah (PBUH) had, indeed, communication with Gabriel (11). Narrated Anas: When the ailment of the Prophet (PBUH) got aggravated, he became unconscious whereupon Fatima said, “Oh, how distressed my father is!” He said, “Your father will have no more distress after today.” When he expired, she said, “O Father! Who has responded to the call of the Lord Who has invited him! O Father, whose dwelling place is the Garden of Paradise (i.e. al-Firdaus)! O Father! We convey this news (of your death) to Gabriel.” When he was buried, Fatima said, “O Anas! Do you feel pleased to throw earth over Allah’s Apostle?” Not only that, but also Sunnis reported that Imam Hasan Ibn Ali has said that Gabriel used to descend to Ahlul-Bayt. It is reported that Imam al- Hasan Ibn Ali (PBUH) said the following in a discourse which he delivered on the martyrdom of Imam Ali: “I am from the Ahlul-Bayt that Gabriel used to descend on us and ascend (back to heavens) from among us.”(12) Now, when Imam Hasan uses the word “us”, it means that it was not just prophet who used to received Gabriel. Surely Gabriel did NOT reveal anything of Quran to Imam Hasan. But, the above Sunni tradition shows that, they could communicate with the Gabriel. Mushaf (book) of Fatimah (PBUH) was also of this type. Some booklets of hatred and lie published by anti-Shi’i groups alleged that based on Usul Kafi, Shia believe there is a the Quran called “the Quran of Fatimah”! This is a false accusation. There is no tradition in Usul Kafi saying “Quran of Fatimah”. There are however, very few traditions in one chapter of Usul Kafi which assert that Fatimah (PBUH) wrote a book (mushaf). The tradition states “The book of Fatimah”. Surely, the Quran is a book (mushaf), but any book is not the Quran. This allegation is as silly as saying “Quran of al-Bukhari” instead of “book of al-Bukhari”! Also those few traditions in al-Kafi clearly state that there is NO single verse of the Quran in the Book of Fatimah. This shows that the book of Fatimah is totally different from Quran. Of