What is the difference between the prophets and the messengers, and are there any books other than the four books revealed to the prophets?
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The questioner : Your Eminence, what is the difference between the prophets and the messengers, and are there any books other than the four books revealed to the prophets? And what are the scrolls revealed to Ibrahim? We ask you to answer.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment. All those mentioned in the Qur'an among the prophets are messengers, even if they are mentioned with the description of prophethood, due to the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:[Ghafir 40:78] and His saying, the Exalted: [An-Nisa 4:163] until He said: [An-Nisa 4:165] So every prophet mentioned in the Qur'an is a messenger. However, the scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, stated that a prophet is one to whom Allah revealed the law, but he was not obligated to convey it; rather, Allah revealed the law to him so that he would worship in accordance with it, either reviving a law that preceded him or renewing a law if there was no law before him.
An example of the first is the saying of Allah, the Exalted:[Al-Ma'idah 5:44].
An example of the second, where the revelation revealed to the prophet is prophethood without messengership, is Adam, peace be upon him. He was a prophet but not a messenger. Nevertheless, he did not renew a law that preceded him; rather, he worshipped Allah, the Exalted, with what He revealed to him of the law, and his children followed him in that. When people multiplied and differed, Allah sent the prophets as bringers of good news and warners, and He revealed the Book with them.
The first messenger sent by Allah, Mighty and Majestic, was Noah, peace be upon him, and with him was a book without doubt. The last of them is the last of the messengers and prophets, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family. Every messenger has a book with him, but we do not know of the previous books except the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, the scrolls of Ibrahim, and the scrolls of Musa.
The scholars differed regarding the scrolls of Musa: whether they are the Torah or something else. And Allah knows best. This is the answer to the question. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment. All those mentioned in the Qur'an among the prophets are messengers, even if they are mentioned with the description of prophethood, due to the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:
And We have already sent messengers before you. Among them are those [whose stories] We have related to you, and among them are those [whose stories] We have not related to you.
وَلَقَد أَرسَلنا رُسُلًا مِن قَبلِكَ مِنهُم مَن قَصَصنا عَلَيكَ وَمِنهُم مَن لَم نَقصُص عَلَيكَIndeed, We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him. And we revealed to Abraham, Ishmael
إِنّا أَوحَينا إِلَيكَ كَما أَوحَينا إِلى نوحٍ وَالنَّبِيّينَ مِن بَعدِهِ وَأَوحَينا إِلى إِبراهيمَ وَإِسماعيلَ[We sent] messengers as bringers of good tidings and warners so that mankind will have no argument against Allah after the messengers
رُسُلًا مُبَشِّرينَ وَمُنذِرينَ لِئَلّا يَكونَ لِلنّاسِ عَلَى اللَّهِ حُجَّةٌ بَعدَ الرُّسُلِAn example of the first is the saying of Allah, the Exalted:
Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light. The prophets who submitted [to Allah] judged by it for the Jews, as did the rabbis and scholars by that with which they were entrusted of the Scripture of Allah, and they were witnesses thereto
إِنّا أَنزَلنَا التَّوراةَ فيها هُدًى وَنورٌ يَحكُمُ بِهَا النَّبِيّونَ الَّذينَ أَسلَموا لِلَّذينَ هادوا وَالرَّبّانِيّونَ وَالأَحبارُ بِمَا استُحفِظوا مِن كِتابِ اللَّهِ وَكانوا عَلَيهِ شُهَداءَAn example of the second, where the revelation revealed to the prophet is prophethood without messengership, is Adam, peace be upon him. He was a prophet but not a messenger. Nevertheless, he did not renew a law that preceded him; rather, he worshipped Allah, the Exalted, with what He revealed to him of the law, and his children followed him in that. When people multiplied and differed, Allah sent the prophets as bringers of good news and warners, and He revealed the Book with them.
The first messenger sent by Allah, Mighty and Majestic, was Noah, peace be upon him, and with him was a book without doubt. The last of them is the last of the messengers and prophets, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family. Every messenger has a book with him, but we do not know of the previous books except the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, the scrolls of Ibrahim, and the scrolls of Musa.
The scholars differed regarding the scrolls of Musa: whether they are the Torah or something else. And Allah knows best. This is the answer to the question. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.