| Answer: The word الّرُسُل
(al-rusul) is a plural of الّرَسُوْل
(al-rasul). It has two connotations: one as a common Arabic
word and the other as a term having a specific meaning. As a
common Arabic word, it means a “messenger.” So the rusul of
the Almighty can be His angels and His Prophets since both
bear His message.
Here are some usages
of rusul in the Qur’an as a common Arabic word signifying the
angels and prophets:
i. Signifying Angels:
إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ
This is the word of a
gracious and mighty messenger. (81:19)
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ فَاطِرِ السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَالْأَرْضِ جَاعِلِ الْمَلَائِكَةِ رُسُلًا أُولِي أَجْنِحَةٍ
مَّثْنَى وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ
Praise be to God,
Creator of the heavens and the earth! He sends forth the
angels as His messengers, with two, three or four pairs of
wings. (35:1)
اللَّهُ يَصْطَفِي مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ
رُسُلًا وَمِنَ النَّاسِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ بَصِيرٌ
God chooses messengers
from the angels and from men. Indeed, God hears all and
observes all. (22:75)
ii. Signifying
Prophets:
آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن
رَّبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللّهِ وَمَلآئِكَتِهِ
وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ
The Messenger believes
in what has been revealed to him by his Lord, and so do the
faithful. They all believe in God and His angels, His
scriptures, and His messengers. (2:285)
يَا مَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنسِ أَلَمْ
يَأْتِكُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّنكُمْ يَقُصُّونَ عَلَيْكُمْ آيَاتِي
وَيُنذِرُونَكُمْ لِقَاء يَوْمِكُمْ
Then He will say: “O
Jinn and men! Did there not come to you messengers of your own
who proclaimed to you My revelations and warned you of this
day?” (6:130)
يَا بَنِي آدَمَ إِمَّا يَأْتِيَنَّكُمْ
رُسُلٌ مِّنكُمْ يَقُصُّونَ عَلَيْكُمْ آيَاتِي فَمَنِ اتَّقَى
وَأَصْلَحَ فَلاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
Children of Adam! When
messengers of your own come to proclaim to you My revelations,
those that take warning and mend their ways will have nothing
to fear or to regret. (7:35)
As a term of the Qur’an, the word rasul
signifies a cadre among the prophets (anbiya’) of Allah. The
difference between a prophet (nabi) and a rasul is that the
latter decides the fate of his immediate and direct addressees
from among his nation in this world. The righteous among them
are rewarded and wrongdoers punished. The Qur’an says:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحَادُّونَ اللَّهَ
وَرَسُولَهُ أُوْلَئِكَ فِي الأَذَلِّينَ . كَتَبَ اللَّهُ
لَأَغْلِبَنَّ أَنَا وَرُسُلِي إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ .
Indeed, those who show hostility to Allah
and His rasul are bound to be humiliated. The Almighty has
ordained that I and my rusul shall always triumph. (58:20-1)
In other words, the direct addressees of
a rasul cannot triumph over him, and they must end up as
losers in the end. This humiliation has various forms. In most
cases, the addressees are destroyed in their capacity as a
nation if they deny their respective rasul. Take, for example,
the case of Muhammad (sws). Some of his active adversaries
were destroyed by the swords of the Muslim believers until at
the conquest of Makkah, the remaining accepted faith. In the
case of Moses (sws), the Israelites never denied him. The
Pharaoh and his followers however did. Therefore, they were
destroyed. In the case of Jesus (sws), the humiliation of the
Jews has taken the form of servitude to the Christians till
the day of Judgment as referred to by the Qur’an in 3:55 and
59:3. The ‘Ād, nation of the rasul Hud (sws), the Thamud, the
nation of the rasul Salih (sws) as well as the nations of Noah
(sws), Lot (sws) and Shu‘ayb (sws) were destroyed through
natural calamities when they denied their respective rasul as
is mentioned in the various surahs of the Qur’an. In this
regard, Surah Qamar can be referred to since it summarizes the
fate of the nations who denied their respective rasul.
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