Islamic authorities use words nabi
and rasul
for non-prophets
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In this document we give examples of the use of the words nabi
and rasul for non-prophets
by the highest Islamic authorities, both ancient and modern.
Contents
1. Ordinary messengers called rasul
and mursal.
Relating the history of Joseph, the Quran records:
"So when the messenger (rasul) came to him
...." (12:50).
Rasul here refers to a messenger sent by the king to
convey a message to Joseph in prison.
Messengers sent by the Queen of Sheba to Solomon are called mursal
in the following verse which records her as saying:
"And I am going to send them a present, and see
what answer the messengers bring back" (27:35).
2. Holy Prophet's Companions called messengers.
A verse in the Quran says:
"O ye messengers (rusul), eat of the good
things and do good deeds" (23:51).
The word used here is rusul, plural of rasul.
In the renowned, classical dictionary of the Quran, the Mufradat
of Raghib, it is recorded that "messengers" here, being
in the plural, means the Holy Prophet Muhammad and his chief Companions.
3. The three messengers.
In Sura Yasin of the Quran, there is a story of three
messengers being sent to a town, who said to the people: "We are
messengers to you" (36:13-21). Renowned commentators of the Quran
have held that these three were not real messengers, but only saints
who are called mursal here metaphorically.
Explaining this verse, Maulana Shah Ismail Shaheed (d. 1831),
famous Muslim religious leader in India, writes:
"Bearing in mind the relationship between muhaddasiyyat
(sainthood) and messengership, it should be accepted that a muhaddas
is also called a rasul."
(Abqaat, Urdu translation by Manazir Ahsan Gilani,
published in A.P., India, p. 402).
4. "And no muhaddas".
A verse in the Quran says:
"We sent before you [O Muhammad] no messenger
and no prophet, but when he desired the devil made a suggestion
respecting his desire; but Allah annuls what the devil casts ..."
Ch. 22, v. 52.
This verse mentions messengers and prophets (rasul and
nabi) and states that their revelation is protected
by Allah against the interference of the devil.
Regarding the words "no messenger and no prophet",
Ibn Abbas, a Companion of the Holy Prophet Muhammad and a renowned authority
on the Holy Quran, said:
"And no muhaddas"
(See Bukhari, book: 'Qualities of the Companions',
ch. on Umar.)
meaning that the mention of messenger and prophet in this verse includes
muhaddas as well. Besides Bukhari, these words of Ibn
Abbas are also mentioned by the following authorities:
- `umdat al-Qari, a commentary on Bukhari, ch. Qualities
of Umar.
- Shah Wali-ullah of Delhi. See his book Al-Khair al-Kasir,
Fifth Khizana (see p. 97 of its English translation, published
by Ashraf, Lahore, 1974).
- Sayyid Muhammad Ismail Shaheed. He writes:
"The reason why messengership (risalat/)
is sometimes ascribed to those who are muhaddas is that the
Quranic verse, 'We sent before you no messenger and no prophet',
is reported in a reading from Ibn Abbas with the words 'and
no muhaddas' added.''
(Abqaat, p. 401).
1. Terms 'nabi, rasul' applied to saints.
In a well-known hadith, the Holy Prophet Muhammad is reported
to have said that the total number of prophets who appeared is 124,000.
Shah Wali-ullah, the renowned Muslim mujaddid, philosopher and
writer, who lived two centuries ago, writes as follows about this hadith:
"Know that the hadith which mentions a very large
number of prophets includes muhaddases in its count."
(Al-Khair al-Kasir, p. 246; see p. 97 of the English translation
published by Ashraf, Lahore, 1974)
Sayyid Muhammad Ismail Shaheed (d. 1831) wrote as follows:
"Some scholars of Hadith have said that in the
report quoted from the Holy Prophet about the number of prophets, the
word nabi refers not only to prophets but also to muhaddases."
(Abqaat, pp. 401-402)
2. rasul of the rasul of God.
In a long narration in Bukhari, a Companion of the Holy Prophet
relates:
"Then the rasul of the rasul of Allah
came to me"
(book 64, ch. 81).
Here a messenger sent by the Holy Prophet is described as his
rasul.
1. The eminent Egyptian author, Taha
Husain, writing about the students of the Islamic reformer
and scholar Muhammad Abduh (d. 1905), describes them as follows:
"They were messengers (rusul) of reform,
renovation and renaissance."
(Fis-Saif, Cairo, 1933, p. 44)
Here the word rusul is applied to those who brought
a message of reform for Islam (i.e. removing un-Islamic beliefs prevalent
among the Muslims, and restoring the original teachings of Islam).
2. When the Indian Prime Minister
Nehru visited an Arab country in 1956, he was greeted with the
words:
'Marhaba rasul as-Salam'
meaning 'Welcome, messenger of peace'
(reported in daily Kohistan, Pakistan, 27 September
1956).
1. Mujaddid Alif Sani
(d. 1624)
Referring to the first two Khalifas of Islam (Hazrat Abu Bakr
and Umar), this great Mujaddid of India wrote:
"These two men, on account of their eminence and
greatness, are counted among the prophets and have their qualities."
(Maktubat, Daftar I, part iv, letter no. 251, p. 64)
He has thus applied the word "prophet" to Hazrat Abu Bakr
and Umar, who were muhaddases and not prophets.
2. Jalal-ud-Din Rumi (d. 1273)
He was one of the greatest mystical poets and philosophers of
Islamic history, and his work Masnawi is commonly known as 'the Quran
in the Iranian language'. He has used the word prophet for non-prophets
in the following verses of poetry:
i. "O disciple! He [your spiritual guide] is the
prophet of the time because he reflects the Holy Prophet's light."
ii. "In the path of virtue, be anxious to serve humanity,
so that you may attain prophethood within the Muslim nation."
We give below the opinion of three modern-day Muslim theologians on these
verses.
a. Allama
Khalid Mahmud, an opponent of the Ahmadiyya Movement, quotes
the second verse above and explains it as follows:
" `In the path of virtue be anxious to serve
humanity, so that you may attain prophethood within the Muslim nation.'
"This does not refer to the attainment of the rank of
prophethood, but the attainment of qualities of prophethood. If there
is brevity here, it should be interpreted in the light of Maulana
Rumi's belief about the finality of prophethood given earlier. To
interpret a writing contrary to the intent of the author is utterly
against the rules of knowledge and integrity. In this respect, the
Maulana refers to every spiritual guide who follows the 'Sunna' as
metaphorically a prophet: `O disciple, he is the prophet of his time,
for he shows the light of the Prophet'."
(Aqidat al-Umma fi Ma`ni Khatam an-Nubuwwat, p. 112)
We only ask Allama Khalid Mahmud to apply the same principle to
the writings of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
b. Maulana
Abdul Majid Daryabadi (d. 1977) was an Indian religious scholar
of recent times. Regarding the use of the word nabi for saints,
who are not prophets, he once wrote in his newspaper as follows:
"Recently, by co-incidence, I found an example of
it in the poetry of Maulana Rumi. And that too, not in some apocryphal
work, but in the renowned and famous, authentic book 'Masnawi.' Regarding
the status and excellence of the spiritual guide it is written:
`When you give your hand into the hand of a spiritual guide,
you seek to imbibe wisdom as the mentor is the knowing and discerning.
O disciple, he is a prophet of his time, as his person radiates the
light of the Prophet.'
"It is clearly stated here that the perfect spiritual
guide is the prophet of the time because he reflects the light of
prophethood. Great theologians, philosophers, and spiritual men have
written commentaries on the 'Masnawi,' but none of them took exception
to this form of expression. Rumi's own son, Sultan Walad, has made
the following comment: `The exaggeration in likening a saint to a
prophet refers to the penetrating effect of his guidance; otherwise,
at no time was prophethood thinkable after the Holy Prophet Muhammad.'
--- Masnawi, vol. v, p. 67, footnote 13, printed at Kanpur.
"Obviously we will still call it lacking in due caution,
but it is equally obvious that instances of such lack of caution are
to be found in the writings of the great religious leaders of classical
times."
(Newspaper Sidq Jadeed, 8 August 1952)
c. In an introduction to Rumi's Masnawi,
Maulana Sajjad Ahmad writes:
"Usually the word 'nabi' is used in a specialised
sense, but Rumi applies 'nabi' to reformers of a high rank, as in the
verse: `In the path of virtue be anxious to serve humanity, so that
you may attain prophethood within the Muslim nation'."
(Muqaddama Masnawi Rumi, p. 23)
3. Maulana Ashraf
Ali Thanvi.
He quotes the classical theologian Sayyid Abdul Wahhab Shi`rani
and then gives his own comment:
" `When the Holy Prophet Muhammad realised that
some people among his followers would take the termination of revelation
with dislike, he proposed a part of apostleship (risalat) for
the specially-chosen ones of his nation. He instructed those who were
present at his preaching to convey the teachings to those who were absent.
Hence he commanded them to deliver the message, so that the word rusul
[pl. of rasul] may apply to them.'
"Now look, in this text he has referred to mere preaching
as apostleship."
(Al-Tanbiyya al-Tarbi fi Tanziyya Ibn Arabi, pp.
100-101)
4. Maulana Sana-ullah
of Panipat.
A classical commentator of the Quran, he writes in his commentary:
"rasul has a broad significance, applying
both to men and angels. . . . Some scholars say that, as a general metaphor,
the word rasul is applied to saints as well."
(Tafsir Mazhari, p. 140)
5. Maulana Mufti Kifayat-ullah.
He was a theologian of this century, and head of the Jami`at
al-`Ulama, India. He defined a 'muhaddas' as follows:
"A muhaddas is he who receives the word
of God by special revelation. Some scholars consider such a one to be
a prophet of a low rank, and others consider him to be a saint of a
high order."
(Majalis al-Abrar, footnote, p. 18)
1. Abu Bakr Shibli
(d. 945 C.E.).
It is recorded of this famous Iraqi saint:
"Have you not considered this, that when the Holy
Prophet Muhammad appeared in the form of Shibli, he [Shibli] said to
a student of his who was a recipient of visions: Bear witness that I
am the Messenger of God. So the student said: I bear witness that you
are indeed the Messenger of God. This is not something unlawful and
wrong. It is just as a sleeping man [in a dream] sees one person in
the form of another. And a low-ranking type of vision is one where what
a person sees in a dream he sees while awake."
(Al-Insan al-Kamil, vol. ii, p. 46, by Abdul Qadir
Jili; see also the English translation in R. A. Nicholson's Studies
in Islamic Mysticism, Cambridge University Press, 1980, p. 105)
2. Abdul Qadir Jilani
(d. 1166 C.E.).
i. The following spiritual experience was related by him:
"God gave me the blessing of attending at Madina.
One day I was busy in the remembrance of God in solitude when He took
me from this world and from my own self, and then returned me. And I
was saying: `Had Moses been alive he would have obeyed me'. This was
as if I was the author [of the Saying], and not as relating this Saying.
So I knew that this was due to me being drawn away by God. I was effaced
[fana] in the Holy Prophet, and at that time I was not just so-and-so
[i.e. Abdul Qadir], but I was certainly Muhammad. Otherwise, what I
had said would merely have been relating something from the Holy Prophet."
(Saif ar-Rabbani by Sayyid Muhammad Makki, published
in Bombay, p. 100)
The words `Had Moses been alive he would have obeyed me'
are a Saying of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
ii. He writes in a poem:
"I was in the higher world with the light of Muhammad,
In God's secret knowledge was my prophethood."
(From poem known as Qasida Ruhi)
3. Khawaja Mu`in-ud-Din
Chishti of Ajmer (d. 1236 C.E.)
He was the mujaddid of his time and the saint who laid
the foundations of the propagation of Islam in India.
i. He wrote the following verses:
"Every moment the Holy Spirit [angel Gabriel] inspires
into Mu`in,
"So it is not me who says this, but the fact is that I am the second
Jesus."
(Diwan Khawaja Ajmeri, ode no. 70, p. 102)
ii. It is recorded:
"Once in our presence a man came to enter into the
discipleship of the Khawaja of Ajmer. The Khawaja asked him to recite
the Kalima [i.e. 'There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is
the Messenger of Allah']. The man recited the Kalima. The Khawaja
said to him: Say it like this, 'There is no god but Allah and Chishti
is the Messenger of Allah'. The man did so, and the Khawaja accepted
the pledge from him and invested him with the robe of honour."
(Fawa'id as-Salikeen, p. 18)
4. Farid-ud-Din
Shakar Ganj of Pak Patan (d. 1265 C.E.)
He says in a poetic verse:
"I am wali [saint], I am Ali, I am nabi
[prophet]."
(Haqiqat Gulzar Sabiri, sixth edition published
by Maktaba Sabiriyya, Qasur, Pakistan, 1983, p. 414.)
1. Maulana Ashraf
Ali Thanvi (d. 1943)
He was a very famous Deobandi religious scholar. In his magazine,
he published a letter written to him by a disciple as follows:
"I see in a dream that while reciting the Kalima,
`There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah',
I am using your name instead of 'Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah'.
Thinking that I am wrong, I repeat the Kalima, but despite wishing
in my heart to say it correctly, my tongue involuntarily says 'Ashraf
Ali' instead of the Holy Prophet's name. .... When I wake up and
remember my mistake in the Kalima, .... to make amends for the
mistake I send blessings upon the Holy Prophet. However, I am still
saying: 'O Allah, bless our master, prophet
and leader Ashraf Ali', even though I am awake and not dreaming.
But I am helpless, and my tongue is not in my control."
The reply given by the Maulana, printed after the letter, is as follows:
"In this incident, it was intended to satisfy you
that the one to whom you turn [for spiritual guidance, i.e. Ashraf Ali]
is a follower of the Holy Prophet's example."
(Monthly Al-Imdad, issue for the month of Safar,
1336 A.H., circa 1918, p. 35)
2. Allama Sir Muhammad
Iqbal (d. 1938)
In praise of the perfect believer, he writes in a poem:
"No one knows the secret that the believer, apparently
only reciting the Quran, is in reality the Quran.
The world is a house of idols, and the man of truth is khalil
[i.e. Abraham]; this is the idea which lies concealed in la ilaha
[There is no god but Allah].
The true believer strikes like lightening from the sky, his
fuel is the cities and uninhabited areas of east and west.
We are as yet enveloped in the darkness of creation, but he
takes part in running the world.
He is kalim [Moses], and Masih [Messiah], and
khalil [Abraham],
he is Muhammad, he is the Book, he is Gabriel."
An interpreter of Iqbal, Professor Yusuf Salim Chishti, explains this
as follows:
"He is the heir to the spiritual qualities of Moses,
Jesus, Abraham and Muhammad, peace be upon them all. In him is manifested
the image of the attributes of the prophets. He is potentially a prophet,
but not actually a prophet because prophethood has come to an end. This
point has been explained by Mujaddid Alif Sani in his Maktubat."
(Yusuf Salim Chishti, Sharh Jawaid Nama, Ishrat
Publishing House, Anarkali, Lahore, 1956, pp. 1198-1199.)
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