subject to anything except the Divine Law. The rasool, from this
point of view, appears as a great revolutionary who does not content
himself with sermons but practically enforces by example the
Divine Law and seeks to bring all men under its sway. This is the real
function of the rasool (risalah).
In view of the above explanation it is clear that nabi and rasool are
two facets of a single entity, or two faces of the same coin. A nabi is
also a rasool, and vice versa. The plural form of rasool is rusul.
Nubuwwah, or the reception of the revelation of Divine
Guidance by anbiya or rusul, ended with Muhammad (PBUH). The
Guidance revealed to him is preserved and enshrined fully and
exactly in the Qur’an. But the function of risalah, or the delivery of
the Divine Message to all mankind and the establishment of a social
order in accordance with is principles, has devolved upon the nation
or ummah that believes in that Book, that is, the Qur’an.
- Ruh usually translated as spirit or soul. “Spirit” has a
special meaning in Christian metaphysics, and “soul” is the
expression for a peculiar notion in Greek philosophy. The Qur’anic
conception of ruh differs essentially from “soul” as well as “spirit”.
Its most appropriate translation would be “Divine Energy,” which
expresses itself through a free and self-determining will. Free will is
possessed only by God, who imparts it to human beings also; no
other being is endowed with this power. The Qur’an holds that the
power of the human will is not a product of man’s natural
constitution; it cannot, therefore, be called a material force. It is a
power specially bestowed by God upon men; that explains why God
has described it as “His ruh” – meaning thereby the human
personality, which is the bearer of the free will.
This should not, however, be taken to mean that the human
personality is a part of the Divine Personality. Personality is
absolutely indivisible; no personality, therefore, can possibly be a
part of any other personality. We are all familiar with the fallacy that
the human spirit is a part of the Spirit of God bogged down in the
world of matter, and that the whole end and purpose of man’s life
on earth is to purge this spirit of its material impurity, so that it may
merge again with the Divine Spirit. This misconception is thoroughly
repugnant to the spirit. God has endowed every individual with an
inchoate personality, and the purpose of his worldly life is to
Islam: A Challenge to Religion 30