Why Muhammad Was Both Prophet and Messenger
The Difference Between Prophets and Messengers in Islam
Summary
This lecture examines the Islamic distinction between prophets (nabī) and messengers (rasūl). The speaker explains that while some scholars consider these terms synonymous, the majority view holds that every messenger is a prophet, but not every prophet is a messenger. This is supported by a hadith mentioning 315 messengers and 124,000 prophets sent to humanity. A prophet is defined as someone who receives divine revelation, while a messenger has the additional role of being sent to people who fundamentally reject monotheism and must be called from disbelief to faith. The speaker uses examples like David (Dāwūd) as a prophet but not a messenger, and Muhammad as both a prophet and messenger. The lecture also covers conditions universal to all prophets and messengers, such as being male, human, and free.
Note: This transcript was generated using YouTube's automatic captioning, with AI-assisted cleanup for readability. It may contain inaccuracies due to background noise, audio quality, or limitations of the transcription software — particularly during Arabic recitation. Listener discretion is advised; please refer to the original video for precise wording.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as the scholars of Islam tell us and as we've gone through in great detail appointed our prophet Muhammad Sam. Wasam as a prophet with the verses. And he appointed him and sent him as a messenger with the verses.
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He was appointed a prophet with the verse and the command meaning those first five verses. and he was appointed and sent as a messenger with the verses. We mentioned the story of the revelation of these verses last night. But tonight we want to examine the difference between a prophet and a messenger if there is one. And what is really the difference in the tone and the obligations and responsibilities between a prophet and a messenger? Why is this bit of information important? Why do the scholars say this? First of all, the scholars of Islam are of a few opinions as to the difference between a prophet and a messenger. a prophet. Some scholars like the great say that there is no difference between a prophet and a messenger. Every prophet is a messenger and every messenger is a prophet. They are synonymous. However, the majority of the scholar of the scholars of Islam articulate a difference between the prophets and the messengers. And in understanding this difference, we will understand the statement that is repeated oftenly repeated amongst the scholars in their circles and that is If we remember this point, it will take us one step closer into understanding the difference. They say every messenger is a prophet, but not every prophet is a messenger. There's a narration on the authority of it was collected in a and also in which the prophet was asked.
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He was asked, "How many messengers did Allah send to humanity?" He said, "315, more than enough." He then asked, "How many prophets?" He responded 124,000. This narration very clearly distinguishes between a prophet and a messenger because we have a huge difference in numbers between prophets and messengers. 315 messengers. However, 124,000 prophets. So we see that prophethood is much more common than messengership. Messengerhood. And so when we examine the Quran and its verses, we start to see this pattern. We start to see that Allah does make a distinction between prophets and messengers. And he mentions them together. For instance, he says in And we have not sent any messenger nor prophet to the end of the verse. So here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions that we have sent prophets and we have sent messengers. If they were the same thing, it would be saying saying the same sentence twice. So there is a difference. So what is that difference? We see that messengership is much more rare. It's a higher position. And so the scholars then try to distinguish and come up with a definition that is to be able to distinguish between a prophet and messenger. Some of them were correct. Some of them weren't as correct. Some were accurate. Some were less accurate. However, the strongest opinion as to the definition of a prophet. Whoever is sent revelation to, it doesn't mean whoever a a an angel speaks to, that is a type of, but that doesn't necessarily make a person a prophet. For instance, when the companions were in the masid and Jirel came in in the form of a man, perhaps he interacted with them. There were companions who had spoken to angels. Does that mean that they were prophets? No. The mere act of interacting with an angel doesn't make a person a prophet. No. But what makes a person a prophet is receiving revelation. That is prophethood. So prophethood is the receiving of revelation. Now what the prophet is commanded to do with that revelation may vary based on the task. He may be sent to a people. He may not be sent to a people. He may be commanded to uphold the laws and religion of the prophets that ca the messengers that came before him. He might be given revelation to and not commanded to share it with anyone. It's possible. And so when a person receives revelation, this is what makes a person a prophet. A messenger is a higher rank than that. A messenger is defined as.
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And yourself. Your cell.
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Was.
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And so the major major difference between a prophet and messenger is that a messenger is sent to a people that are fundamentally differing with him on the of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. A messenger is sent to disbelievers. He has sent to a people who are disbelievers and he is commanded to bring them from disbelief into ean. This is a messenger. However, a prophet is not necessarily so. A prophet may be appointed may be commanded to uphold the message of the messenger before him like Disam was one of the prophets of Bias. He was a prophet. He was not a messenger. He was a prophet and he was upon the religion of beni is and most notably the book and the laws of the laws of misam was given a book correct he was given a zab but he was not sent to a people who were disbelieving he is sent to a believing people, right? And a zabur works within a and that is why a zab is mentioned along with and collected with a messenger but he was a messenger of ben is yes but by the time Isa was sent to beni is they had perverted their religion so much that they no longer agreed with the messengers on the basics and fundamentals of the of Allah subhanahu.
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And so was sent and there's a big difference of opinion amongst the scholars on whether alil abregated atra or was a continuation of a difference of opinion the point isam was a messenger. Musam was a messenger. Ibraim was a messenger. All those who were fought against by their people on the issue of and shik and kufur and iman these are messengers. There are a lot of distinctions between prophets and messengers. Not every time you see the word the rasool in the Quran it's speaking about a messenger necessarily because the word the rasool could be used meaning someone who is sent but it's speaking about a prophet. So for instance, one of the specifics of a messenger as opposed to a prophet is that a messenger home.
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And so messengers Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protects them when they come to humanity. to bring the people from into there are two options. Number one, their people will accept Islam and be spared or two their people will be destroyed and they will be saved. This is specific to messengers prophets. Prophets are were killed very often by benel. These were prophets that were sent to Bani Israel and they turned against them and killed them. And Benny is had many many many prophets and between MS and there was never a day in which there was no prophet amongst them. There was always a prophet. And so the point here is that a messenger is someone who is sent to a people who fundamentally differ in their belief system. They worship idols. They worship other than Allah. Whereas prophets not necessarily. They are sent to people. If they are sent, they are sent to people who are they are in agreement with them in the basic and fundamental religion of Allah. So we see that this statement of the pro of the scholars when they say he was appointed as a prophet with what happened here? What made him a prophet? He received revelation. He was not sent these words did not did not send him. However, when he was sent to a people that were disbelieving, they were idoltors. They were polytheists. When he was sent with here, he was appointed as a messenger and messengers have very specific things about them. But there are issues that are shared amongst prophets and messengers such as all prophets and messengers are male. All of them. There are no prophetesses. There are no female prophets. This is the sole domain of males. All prophets and messengers are human beings. There are no jin that are prophets or messengers. Right after Adam before that Allah but after Adam all prophets and messengers all revelation is the sole dominion of human beings and jin are secondary in that no prophets and messengers are slaves. All of them are free men, right? Even Ysefam, Ysef was sold into bondage, but he was never a legitimate slave and he was given mehood after being emancipated and so there are some conditions that the scholars point out and these are things that are you know common amongst all prophets and messengers. They call them the conditions of prophethood. But it suffices us today to know that every messenger is a prophet. But not every prophet is a messenger. If we understand this, you notice the words that are chosen in the Quran and the Quran will start to come to life for you. You start to see the precision of the usage of the various words. Subhanahua.
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Subhanahu He was happy. Alhamdulillah.