Messengers are Forever!

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By Abdul H. Fauq, Ph.D

We all know that God Almighty does not mince words.  He has used two distinct words in His Final Testament—nabi (commonly translated as “prophet”) and rasool (commonly translated as “messenger or apostle”).  There is no dispute, whatsoever, concerning the “Finality of the Prophethood (nabuwwah)” of Muhammad (sws).  This belief is based on the Qur’anic verse 33:40 that declares Prophet Muhammad as the “Seal of the Prophets (khatam-un-nabiyyun) and reflects a general agreement among Muslims of the past and the present. However, it is commonly believed that Muhammad was also the “Last messenger (khatam-ur-rusul or khatam-ul-mursaleen).

In other words, this belief asserts that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) held both offices, i.e., he was a "nabi” as well as a “rasool".  While the latter statement is true and qur’anically verifiable, we do not find the phrase “khatam-ur-rusul or khatam-ul-mursaleen” anywhere in the Qur’an. The word “nabi” means an individual who BRINGS the “nabuwwah’-- the news from on high (the news is revealed to him) and then CONVEYS it to the people.  In other words, the nabi refers to a human being to whom Allah's message is revealed for onward transmission to mankind.  A nabi’s function refers to receiving the Message while a rasool’s function refers to transmission of the Message.  Thus, all the “nabiyyoon (prophets)” were “rusul/mursaloon (messengers/apostles)” by default, but all the “rusul/mursaloon (messengers/apostles)” are not necessarily “nabiyyoon (prophets)” .

It is also worth noting that the Qur’an does not command the believers to follow or obey  a man named “Muhammad” per se. This injunction would have required the believers of all times to follow a 'mortal human being by the name of "Muhammad" who, like all the other mortal human beings, had a limited life span on this planet.  The Qur'an was not revealed to one particular human being for one particular nation existent at one particular time but it was revealed to the heart of a mortal human being as a 'vehicle for Allah's revelation/message' that was to last for all mankind till the end of times.  Thus, it is the "nabi's office" that is important and not the person that has a finite life time to convey the Message.  The ‘messenger’ will be gone but the 'Message' will live on forever.

Now let’s take a look at some of the verses of the Qur’an in support of this author’s assertion that while the “nabuwwa” (prophethood) has ended with the Last Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the risalat (messengership) continues after his passing away:

We know that at the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) there was only ONE prophet—Muhammad himself an that no prophet came after him. That’s why we find several verses in the Qur’an that address him directly by calling out “Ya ayyuha-an-nabiyyu (O’ Prophet!)” (66:9, 8:65, 8:70) but that address is never found in the plural form as in “Ya ayyuha an-Nabiyyoon (O’ prophets!).  We now ask: Was there only ONE messenger, at that time? Even though we see verses where Allah addresses the Rasoolallah individually (such as 5:41, 5:67), we also see at least one verse where the addresses is made to more than two messengers (Ya ayyha ar-rusul). Thus, the verse 23:51 says:

23:51:"O ye messengers! Eat of the good things, and do right. Lo! I am Aware of what ye do".

Now here you will find that there are two commands issued to the “messengers”—Allah, the Most High, calls the messengers saying “O’ the Messengers!” and then goes on to issue the directive “Eat of the good things and Do right!”.  It seems that this command is applicable to all the messengers—at least those present at the time of the prophet (sws), if not those that keep coming after him.  I could not find a verse addressing the prophets by “Ya ayyha an-nabiyyoon (O’ the prophets!)” because there was only one prophet at the time of revelation.  On the other hand, we see “Ya ayyuha an-nabiyyu—O’ Prophet” at many places in the Qur’an (66:9, 8:65, 8:70 etc) as well “Ya ayyha ar-Rasoolu—O’ the Messenger (5:41, 67)” where the Prophet has also been called a rasool.

Let’s take a look at anther verse:

7:35: "O ye Children of Adam! whenever there come to you apostles from amongst you (Rusulun minkum), rehearsing My signs unto you,- those who are righteous and mend (their lives),- on them shall be no fear nor shall they grieve".

Here Allah is addressing all mankind (Ya bani aadama!) and tells us that there will be “messengers AMONG US” who will be rehearsing Allah’s verse (ayaat) to us, and that those who follow the messengers’ message will have no fear.  Apparently, this is a directive to “all mankind” as long as there are “messengers among them”.  That means there still are, always have been, and always will be—messengers that will rehears Allah’s signs to people in the language of their own people because the address of this verse is to all mankind. 

This is further supported by the verse 14:4: “We sent not an apostle except (to teach) in the language of his (own) people, in order to make (things) clear to them”, as well as in 10:47: “To every people (was sent) an apostle: when their apostle comes (before them), the matter will be judged between them with justice, and they will not be wronged”.

Here we see that ALL people (not only of the past but also of the present as well as of the future) need to have a messenger so the message (the Book, the Qur’an) be taught to them.
In another verse (17:15), it is made clear to people that unless there is a living messenger to teach the Book, there is no punishment for them.

17:15: "We are not punishers until we have sent a messenger"

I wonder why the words “rusul (messengers) and “nabiyyoon” (prophets) have not been interchangeably in the Qur’an.  The compelling conclusion is that the messengers have to be LIVING teachers of the Qur’an.  The Final Message is sealed in the Arabic language and is perfectly Divinely preserved as per -

(15:9): "We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption)"

However, Allah sends messengers to teach His Message to ALL nations and communities to make it clear to them in their own language.

It is to be noted that invoking the concept of a “messenger” who is not a prophet does not mitigate the messenger status of the Muhammad (sws) in any conceivable way because it was ONLY he whom Allah gave the awesome title of the “Final Prophet” that no one can claim after him.  Additionally, the term “ Rasool (messenger)”, as used in the Qur’an at many places,  should not be confused with the Qur’anic term “Rasoolallah (messenger/apostle of Allah”, a title which is reserved for Prophet Muhammad himself or other prophet-messengers mentioned in the Qur’an.

An additional point to note is that the words “rasool” and one of its plural forms “mursaloon” have also been used in the Qur’an in very ordinary sense of “message-bearer/s” (12:50, 15:61) but one will not see such trivial use of the word “nabi” or “nabiyyoon” anywhere in the Qur’an. A nabi seems to be ‘special’

Now to make one final point: It is commonly believed---and I have heard it during Friday Khutbas around the area I live--that there are only “five mighty messengers” or that there are very limited number of messengers while there are many more prophets (124,00 according to a “Prophetic tradition” (hadith)—whatever that means).  Yet, there are comments from many classical commentators claiming that there were many thousands of prophets after Prophet Moses (sws).  The verse clearly tells us that those Post-Moses prophets were messengers as well:

2:87: "We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of messengers;

That does not sound to be ‘few’ or “some” or even limited to me”.

In sum, the esssence of this write-up is that the primary recipient of the Message is always a “nabi (prophet)” who is also the “rasool (messenger)” by default.  The rasool, on the other hand', does not have to be a “nabi”. ANYONE who would receive the Message, imbibe it into his heart, and then pass it on, is a “messenger”.  That is the reason we almost ALWAYS find "Obey the rasool" as a general command in the Qur’an and not “Obey the nabi” when Muhammad (sws) is not specifically mentioned by name or implied.

By saying what I have said in this article, I am not, in any way, trying to carve out a path of “messegership” for myself or anyone else.  Of course, no one is obligated or even asked or urged to think the way I think because this belief---or the more common belief of 124, 000 prophets has little bearing on how we can be good and upright Muslims.  All said and done, my belief should be considered as “one opinion or one understanding” of these two terms. 

Also, I do not wish to divert attention of the readers to vainglorious pursuits that threaten to shake people’s faith, or waste their time and, finally, leave them in the middle of nowhere.  The fact is that I just don’t want to say or claim something that Allah did not say or claim—I consider that a serious transgression.  I only thought I share my views with the audience of this forum because this forum seems to be the right place to discuss some of the ‘thorny’ topics without repressive consequences. If I have hurt readers’ feelings by this writing of mine, I ask for their forgiveness.

[antediluvian]

Nabi and Rasul are used interchangeably in the Quran, unless they occur at the same place- there are other examples of such words (Muslim and Mu'min). The article above is using piecemeal verses, which is what the traditional scholars themselves are guilty of- you need to look at the Quran from a holistic perspective, and not only rely on translations..

[Truth Seeker]

Salaam,

I don't think that they are interchangeable, as with Muslim and Mumin, these words have different remits.

A Mumin is a term specifically for those who follow the Quran and its laws and obviously believe in the previous scriptures and prophets/messengers.

I think the article posted by Abdul Fauq is interesting as it raises some important issues and the verses he provides are at odds concerning the 'traditional' understanding of what defines a nabi and rasool.

Thanks

[antediluvian]

AoA,

My point was that Muslim and Mu'min (or Rasul and Nabi) are not interchangeable when used in the same discourse by the Quran. But when used separately they often refer to the same thing. I'll post some examples soon..

Take care.