Diference between a prophet and messenger

[AbdArRahman]

Walaikum as Salaam wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatahu

From what I understood from Shaykh Waleed Basyouni, was that there is no difference between a Prophet and a Messenger. When we refer to their knowledge, we refer to them as Prophet(nabi) and when we refer to their act of da'wah or spreading the message we refer to them as Rasul(messenger).

Wallahu Alam.

[Ibn Abi Ukhti]

BismiLlah,

Wa 'Alaykum Assalam Wa RahmatuLlah,

Note: I did not attend the seminar.

Messenger --> رسول is the one upon whom a new Shari'ah is revealed and he gives da'wah according to that. Example: Musa عليه السلام
Prophet --> نبي is the one who affirms the Shari'ah of a Messenger, no new Shari'ah is given to him and gives da'wah according to that. Example: Zakariyyah and Yahya عليهما السلام

And indeed Allah سبحانه و تعالى knows best.

[mahmoudm]

It mentions the two opinions in page 17.
I will type up what he extra shaykh Waleed hafidahullah mentioned on the
1st opinion: You do not have to say I believe in Allahs messenger and prophet. Therefore a prophet and messenger are the same. And you can find the proof [2:285]

2nd opinion: The hadeeth of Abu Dharr (mentioned in the textbook) is a munkar type of hadith because it includes (Ali son of Yazeed) as one of the narrators and he is a weak narrator. And in the second opinion they believe that a Nabiyy (prophet) does NOT bring anything new and just follows. And now if that is the case then what about Adam - alayhe as-salam - he did not follow anyone.

Wallahu alam.

[safa_709]

First Opinion: Each prophet is a messenger and each messenger is a prophet

[2:285] {Each one (of them) believes in Allah, His Angels, His books, and His Apostles, we do not distinguish between them....}

Evidence that prophets include messengers; and by default when Jibreel sent to someone means what was sent was sent to be delivered---thus automatically a prophet must be a messenger.

Also, no authentic evidence to proof otherswise.

Second Opinion: There is a difference between messenger and prophet.

Hadeeth of Abu Dharr: The Prophet (saw) was asked about the number of Prophets and messengers. He replied that there were 124,000 Prophets among whom 315 were Messengers. [Ahmad, Ibn Hibban, At-Tabaranee]

BUT, this hadeeth considered munkar because all other ahadeeth do not have any addition of numbers; Ali bin Abdul-Aziz added this to the narration so make the hadeeth Munkar. Ibn Jawzee even considers it to be fabricated or mawdoo3.



Thus, STRONGEST opinion is there is no difference.
Note: Linguistic difference does NOT equal technical difference.
( Prophet or Nabiyy = one who's been informed, given knowledge/
Messenger or Rasul = carries a message & delivers it

When in quran states messenger, the emphasis is role in delivering the message whereas when prophet mentioned emphasis is on knowledge given to him by Allah (swt)

[safa_709]

But what about this verse?
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رَّسُولٍ وَلا نَبِيٍّ

{Never did we send a Messenger or a Prophet before you...} [22:52]

Well, here the وَ or and doesn't necessitate they are two different entities; just different descriptions, known in Arabic as مغايرة في الوصف


Another example of the above Arabic grammar is in this verse:
مَن كَانَ عَدُوًّا لِّلّهِ وَمَلآئِكَتِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَجِبْرِيلَ وَمِيكَالَ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ عَدُوٌّ لِّلْكَافِرِينَ (2:98) )
"whosover is an enemy of God and His angels and His messengers, and Gabriel and Michael, [should know that,] verily, God is the enemy of all who deny the truth.

So, we see in the above that just because angels and jibreel mentioned in the same sentence with and; does not mean that Jibreel (alayhi salam) was NOT an angel.



I hope I made sense.

Wa Allahu 3alam.

[Abd- Allah]

Assalam Alaikum

There is a difference between Rasoul and Nabiyy, and if there was no difference then why would the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him correct the companion Albara' bin 'Azib when he switched the 2 words, and used the word rasoul instead of nabiyy in the du'a that the prophet was teaching him. So there is a difference between the two.

Allah knows best.

[safa_709]

Originally Posted by Abd- Allah

Assalam Alaikum

There is a difference between Rasoul and Nabiyy, and if there was no difference then why would the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him correct the companion Albara' bin 'Azib when he switched the 2 words, and used the word rasoul instead of nabiyy in the du'a that the prophet was teaching him. So there is a difference between the two.

Allah knows best.

Asalamu Alaykum-

I dont think you should automatically make up an opinion based on something you have read without having further knowledge, as implied in your above post..... And please provide evidence to support your answer; also sometimes it would help for someone to explain a story; b/c if that story was in fact authentic there is a strong possiblity that it denotes something other than what one may percieve to be the correct understanding.

What I posted above is a compilation of differences in opinion of the majority of the scholars (most of whom support that there's no difference), according to what we have learned in Aqeedah 201: Rays of Faith with Shaykh Waleed Basyouni (hafidhahullah).

Wa Allahu A'laam.

[Yusuf513Khan]

Originally Posted by Fatooba lil Ghurabaa'

Asalamu Alaykum-

I dont think you should automatically make up an opinion based on something you have read without having further knowledge, as implied in your above post..... And please provide evidence to support your answer; also sometimes it would help for someone to explain a story; b/c if that story was in fact authentic there is a strong possiblity that it denotes something other than what one may percieve to be the correct understanding.

What I posted above is a compilation of differences in opinion of the majority of the scholars (most of whom support that there's no difference), according to what we have learned in Aqeedah 201: Rays of Faith with Shaykh Waleed Basyouni (hafidhahullah).

Wa Allahu A'laam.

jazakAllahukhair

[Abd- Allah]

Originally Posted by Fatooba lil Ghurabaa'

Asalamu Alaykum-

I dont think you should automatically make up an opinion based on something you have read without having further knowledge, as implied in your above post..... And please provide evidence to support your answer; also sometimes it would help for someone to explain a story; b/c if that story was in fact authentic there is a strong possiblity that it denotes something other than what one may percieve to be the correct understanding.

What I posted above is a compilation of differences in opinion of the majority of the scholars (most of whom support that there's no difference), according to what we have learned in Aqeedah 201: Rays of Faith with Shaykh Waleed Basyouni (hafidhahullah).

Wa Allahu A'laam.

Assalam Alaikum

this isn't an additional opinion on this issue. It is just one piece of evidence that supports the already existing opinion that some scholars hold that there is a difference between the two.

The hadith that I mentioned is in Sahih Muslim, and it is when the prophet was teaching one of the companions what du'a to say when going to bed, and when the companion repeated the du'a to see if he had memorized it correctly, he used the word "rasul", so the prophet corrected him that it is "nabi". Here is the hadith:

Al-Bara' bin 'Azib may Allah be pleased with him, reported:
Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: When you go to bed, perform ablution as that you perform for the Prayer; then lie down on your right side and recite: "O Allah, I turn my face towards You and entrust my affair to You. I retreat unto You for protection with hope in You and fear of You. There is no resort and no deliverer (from hardship) but You only. I affirm my faith in Your Book which You revealed and in Your Prophet whom You sent." Make this as the last word of yours (when you go to sleep) and in case you die during that night, you would die upon Fitrah (upon Islam). And as I repeated these words in order to commit them to memory, I said: "I affirm my faith in Your Messenger (Rasul) whom You sent." He said: Say: "I affirm my faith in the Prophet (Nabi) whom You sent."

So this above hadith supports the opinion that there is a difference between Rasul and Nabi, because the prophet used one of the two in the du'a, and when that companion switched the two words, he corrected him, and he wouldn't have corrected him if they were both the same and if there was no difference.

You said that most scholars support that there is no difference, can you please provide evidence for that. From what I know, most scholars do make a distinction between the two.

The hadith that was said to be munkar that mentions numbers, some scholars like sheikh Al-Albani have classified it as Sahih.

Allah knows best.

[brother_bruce]

Salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullah

You said that most scholars support that there is no difference, can you please provide evidence for that. From what I know, most scholars do make a distinction between the two.

Br Abd-Allah, the additional opinions were mentioned in class by Shaykh Waleed, with daleel and explanations. It was one of my favorite classes; I recommend you take it as well.