Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!naim
From: naim@eecs.nwu.edu (Naim Abdullah)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Muhammad (pbuh) had no divine qualities
Message-ID: <1825@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 5 Dec 89 16:21:06 GMT
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Approved: naim@eecs.nwu.edu (Naim Abdullah)

hakim%bigq.enet.dec.com@oxy.edu writes:
>The Muslim Scripture classifies the intermediaries between man and
>God into three groups:
>
>1- Nabi = Prophet: Who is a messenger, Who does not have an independent Book.
>   A very good example of that are the Prophets of Israel like Isaiah, Jeremiah,
>   Daniel, etc..... They all promulgated the Mosaic Law, without adding any new
>   laws, or abrogating the past laws.
>
>2- Rasool = Apostle: Who is a messenger, who has a Book, thus, He can abrogate
>   the previous laws, but, He comes only to bring the Laws of God for His own
>   tribe or nation. Like Hud and Salih.
>
>3- Peighambar-e-OllolAzm = A universal Apostle, or a major Manifestation of God:
                                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>   Who is a messenger, Who has a Book, (i.e. thus can abrogate the laws of past
>   religions) and His message is not specific to one tribe or one nation, but
>   the whole world. Examples of this, according to the Muslim Scripture are:
>   Jesus, Moses, and Muhammad.
>
>

Muslim scripture has no such clear cut classification. Sometimes the
Quran use the word "nabi" and sometimes it uses the word "rasool".
The Quran is silent about the difference between the two.
To the best of the my knowledge, the Quran never uses "Peighambar-e-OllolAzm".
If I am wrong about these, please give a reference to the specific verse
of the Quran.

Please also give a Quranic reference where these three categories are 
described. To the best of my knowledge there is no such description in
the Quran.

>Unquestionably, both Shi'ahs and Sunnis believe that Muhammad, Peace be upon
>Him, was a messenger of the third category. That is to say, He had a Book, and
>His revelation was not specific to the people of Arabia, as we can clearly see.

It is certainly NOT true that both shias and sunnis believe that Muhammad
was "a major Manifestation of God". The Quran does not say any such thing 
about Muhammad. On the contrary, it is repeatedly stressed in the Quran
that Muhammad was a human being like you and me, with not a shred of divinity.

Bahais may believe that Muhammad was "a major Manifestation of God" but please
be careful in what you attribute to Islam and in what you claim muslim
scriptures to say.

    Naim