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Subject: Nadheer/Basheer, Rasool/Nabi

by "M. Hamed" <[email protected]>

Salamu &aleykum all.

I have some new additions in the article written about the meaning of Rasool and Nabiy and the verse 3:81. That addition is regarding the verse 22:52 That goes:

22:52, "Never did We send a messenger or an announcer/prophet (*min rasoolin wala nabiy*) before you, but, when he framed a desire, satan threw some (vanity) into his desire: but God cancels anything that satan throws in and then God confirms His ayaats, for God is full of knowledge and Wise"

They say that God clearly distinguishes between rasool and nabiy in this verse!?

Verse No	Khalifa	Pickthall	Shakir	Yusuf Ali
22:52	We did not send before you any messenger, nor a prophet, without having the devil interfere in his wishes. GOD then nullifies what the devil has done. GOD perfects His revelations. GOD is Omniscient, Most Wise.	Never sent We a messenger or a prophet before thee but when He recited (the message) Satan proposed (opposition) in respect of that which he recited thereof. But Allah abolisheth that which Satan proposeth. Then Allah establisheth His revelations. Allah is Knower, Wise;	And We did not send before you any apostle or prophet, but when he desired, the Shaitan made a suggestion respecting his desire; but Allah annuls that which the Shaitan casts, then does Allah establish His communications, and Allah is Knowing, Wise,	Never did We send an apostle or a prophet before thee, but, when he framed a desire, Satan threw some (vanity) into his desire: but God will cancel anything (vain) that Satan throws in, and God will confirm (and establish) His Signs: for God is full of Knowledge and Wisdom:

From all over the Quran we have seen that these two words when used for human they are used for the same person but with different aspects.

That is true, it indicates a difference somehow, different aspects. That is why different terms are used. So the question we must ask ourselves is, "What are the different aspects between the terms messengers and prophets?"

In the previous article adressing this, this has been sufficiently adressed and Quranic evidence provided that God does indeed make a clear distinction between the two terms. Click here to read the entire article.  

We will GW see that this expression in 22:52 does not distinguish between these two words as separate entities.

They represent separate functions. Sometimes that is also separate entities, sometimes not. As for prophets, they always perform both functions, as they have to convey what they recieve.  

We know that NADHEER (warner) and BASHEER (bringer of news) are but aspects of rasool (messenger) and nabity (annoucner) too.

In 5:19 God says:

"O people of the book! now hath come unto you, making (things) clear unto you, Our messenger, after the break in (the series of) Our messengers, lest ye should say: "There came unto us no bringer of glad tidings and no warner" (*min basheerin wala nadheer*): But now hath come unto you a *bringer of good tidings and a warner* (qad jaa'kum basheerun wa nadheerun) and God hath power over all things.

Verse No	Khalifa	Pickthall	Shakir	Yusuf Ali
5:19	O people of the scripture, our messenger has come to you, to explain things to you, after a period of time without messengers, lest you say, "We did not receive any preacher or warner." A preacher and warner has now come to you. GOD is Omnipotent.	O People of the Scripture! Now hath Our messenger come unto you to make things plain unto you after an interval (of cessation) of the messengers, lest ye should say: There came not unto us a messenger of cheer nor any warner. Now hath a messenger of cheer and a warner come unto you. Allah is Able to do all things.	O followers of the Book! indeed Our Apostle has come to you explaining to you after a cessation of the (mission of the) apostles, lest you say: There came not to us a giver of good news or a warner, so indeed there has come to you a giver of good news and a warner; and Allah has power over all things.	O People of the Book! Now hath come unto you, making (things) clear unto you, Our Apostle, after the break in (the series of) our apostles, lest ye should say: "There came unto us no bringer of glad tidings and no warner (from evil)": But now hath come unto you a bringer of glad tidings and a warner (from evil). And God hath power over all things.

It is clear that a bringer of good tidings AND the warner mentioned in this verse refers to the same person, that is the Rasool mentioned at the beginning of the verse. So, RASOOL, BASHEER and NADHEER are all aspects of the same human send from God to some people.

Yes, every messenger is not only a preacher and a warner, but also a deliverer of good news, one who brings proofs from God, authorized by Him, one who explain things to people, who reveals from the past and future specific news (72:28). 

See also these verses:

35:23 "In anta ila nadheer/ you are but a *warner*. 35:24, "Ina arsalnaak bil haqi basheeran wan nadheeran wa in min umatin ila khala fiha nadheer/We have sent you with truth as *bringer of glad tidings and warner* and every umaah had a warner.

Now, to the expression under discussion.

22:52, MIN RASOLLIN WALA NABIY 5:19, MIN BASHEERIN WALA NADHEER.

If it distinguisghes in 5:19 between BASHEER and NADHEER then it distinguishes in 22:52 between RASOOL and NABIY.

I think that this makes the issue quite clear. WALA in these too verses does not make the two aspects of the same person to be two persons.

You are almost there.... If only you could extend your understanding to see that these different aspects you obviously recognize, can be functions of the same person but does not have to be. At least, for your own sake, try to answer the question what those different aspects mean, from a Quranic perspective. This may help shed light on the issue for you. 

The bottom line is this: messengership and prophethood are jobs humans blessed by God occupy. The men chosen by God to do these jobs have other functions as well. They are husbands with wives, fathers, workers, believers required to believe in and submit to the same things as everyone else. 

Another important point is that God says “ messenger to make things clear to you”.

We know that this is one of the expressions the sunni use to justify their following of the hadeeth,, man made stories. But those sincere believers in God alone understand that the messenger makes things clear to people with God’s revelations and not on his own and by his own hadeeth.

You got that right. If what you are saying is that all we need we find in God's scripture. We agree 100%. 

This simply means that what Muhamed brought from God to make things clear is the Quran itelf and not the hadeedths.

RK is the only “messenger” to "explain God's revelations" with his own hadeeths. A messenger does not explain God’s revelations with his hadeeth.

Peace MH

Explaining and reciting is not the same thing. 

By definition, ANY TALKING besides reciting the scripture is hadith (narrations) outside the words of Quran. If we talk about God and religion, preach, give khutbas, remind, invite or explain to our children, neighbours and friends, using any of our own words we are uttering hadith (narrations) outside the words of the Quran.

This is no problem AS LONG AS what we are attributing to God and His religion have basis in His scripture. By God's inifinte grace and mercy, God sent a messenger to our generation to extract secrets that were hidden in the Quran for 1400 years, unnoticed by the millions of people that have been studying the Quran from cover to cover, back and forth, counting every letter and every sign in it. He illustrated his awesome findings in appendices in his translation of the Quran. The text there could be seen as someone staring at the stars in the heavens for the first time and someone pointing, "There you have the belt of Orion" and "And there you have the Three Wise Men." They've been there all along, and once pointed out everyone can see it. It's just that no one noticed before, or knew what they were. The example with the stars are of course just that, an example to illustrate a point. 

By God's inifinte grace, design and promise, everything God's Messenger said is verifiable in the Quran. This is the first time in history we have the preachings of a messenger of God recorded on videotapes, audio tapes and writings published by him.