about the difference between a Nabi and a Rasul.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The student: ... or he was revealed to but not commanded to convey it. If someone asks: How is it that the Ummah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not receive the message, yet they were commanded to convey it?
The Shaykh : This issue is based on the disagreement among scholars regarding who is a Nabi and who is a Rasul. The majority of scholars hold that a Rasul is one to whom the Shari'ah was revealed, he was sent with it, and he was commanded to convey it. As for the Nabi, he is one who was informed, meaning he was told. Being informed does not necessarily entail the obligation to convey it. He is one to whom a Shari'ah was revealed, but he was not commanded to convey it; rather, he was commanded to act upon it himself. Thus, this informing serves as a renewal of a previous message or the establishment of a Shari'ah that did not previously exist. This is what the majority said, and it is the correct view. If we were to say that a Nabi is one who renewed a previous Shari'ah and was commanded to convey it to people and awaken them, then the prophethood of Adam would be problematic for us. Adam was a Nabi who was spoken to by Allah, yet no Rasul preceded him. If someone asks: What is the benefit then? We say: The benefit is, first, the benefit to this Nabi himself, in that a Shari'ah was revealed to him. Second, if there was a previous Shari'ah, it serves as a renewal of that Shari'ah. And if there was no previous Shari'ah, as in the case of Adam, the people in his time were in their initial state; they had not multiplied, they had not differed, and the world had not been opened up to them. So they would look at what their father did and do it, without the need for a messenger to be sent to them. For this reason, Allah said:[Al-Baqarah 2:213] meaning they differed, so Allah sent the prophets as bringers of good news [Al-Baqarah 2:213] So, in my view, the view of the majority of scholars is more probable: that a Nabi is one to whom a Shari'ah was revealed but he was not commanded to convey it. As for us, since there has been no Nabi after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we have become commanded to convey his message. In reality, we are the messengers of the Messenger of Allah. This is why it came in the hadith that scholars are the heirs of the prophets. Yes.
The Shaykh : This issue is based on the disagreement among scholars regarding who is a Nabi and who is a Rasul. The majority of scholars hold that a Rasul is one to whom the Shari'ah was revealed, he was sent with it, and he was commanded to convey it. As for the Nabi, he is one who was informed, meaning he was told. Being informed does not necessarily entail the obligation to convey it. He is one to whom a Shari'ah was revealed, but he was not commanded to convey it; rather, he was commanded to act upon it himself. Thus, this informing serves as a renewal of a previous message or the establishment of a Shari'ah that did not previously exist. This is what the majority said, and it is the correct view. If we were to say that a Nabi is one who renewed a previous Shari'ah and was commanded to convey it to people and awaken them, then the prophethood of Adam would be problematic for us. Adam was a Nabi who was spoken to by Allah, yet no Rasul preceded him. If someone asks: What is the benefit then? We say: The benefit is, first, the benefit to this Nabi himself, in that a Shari'ah was revealed to him. Second, if there was a previous Shari'ah, it serves as a renewal of that Shari'ah. And if there was no previous Shari'ah, as in the case of Adam, the people in his time were in their initial state; they had not multiplied, they had not differed, and the world had not been opened up to them. So they would look at what their father did and do it, without the need for a messenger to be sent to them. For this reason, Allah said: