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Surah 19. Maryam
Ayah 51 - 53
51 وَٱذْكُرْ فِى ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ مُوسَىٰٓ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ مُخْلَصًا وَكَانَ رَسُولًا نَّبِيًّا
52 وَنَـٰدَيْنَـٰهُ مِن جَانِبِ ٱلطُّورِ ٱلْأَيْمَنِ وَقَرَّبْنَـٰهُ نَجِيًّا
53 وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُۥ مِن رَّحْمَتِنَآ أَخَاهُ هَـٰرُونَ نَبِيًّا
[51-53] And mention in this Book Moses: he was a chosen person,29 and he was a Messenger Prophet.30 We called him from the right side31 of Tur, and honored him with secret talk,32 and We made his brother Aaron a Prophet and gave to him (as an assistant).
29The word used is mukhlas, which means "purified". In other words, Allah had specially chosen Prophet Moses for the Mission of Prophethood.
30"Rasul" literally means `the one who is sent'; therefore it is used for an ambassador, envoy, messenger and representative. The Qur'an has used this title for angels, who are sent by Allah on a special mission, or for the human beings who brought His Message to mankind.
As regards the word "Nabi", it literally means the one who brings news, or the one who is high in rank, or the one who shows the way. This title is used for the Prophets in all the three senses. Thus Moses was a Messenger Prophet because he was a Messenger of high rank who gave news from Allah and showed the Right Way to the people.
The Qur'an does not necessarily differentiate between the use of the two titles, for sometimes it uses the title Rasul for one person at one place and the title Nabi for the same person at another place, and sometimes uses both the titles together for one and the same person. However, at some places each title has been used in a way as to show that there is some technical distinction between the two, though that has not been precisely marked out, except that every Rasul (Messenger) is a Nabi (Prophet) as well, but every Nabi may not be a Rasul, and that a Rasul has a special and more important mission to perform. This is supported by a Tradition of the Holy Prophet, which has been reported by Imam Ahmad from Abu Umamah and by Hakim from Hadrat Abu Zarr. When the Holy Prophet was asked how many "Messengers" and "Prophets" had been sent to the world, he said that the number of the Messengers was 313 or 315 and of the Prophets 124,000
31"The right side of Tur" means the eastern side of the mountain. As Prophet Moses, on his way from Midian to Egypt, was passing from the southern side of Mt. Tur, the eastern side would lie on his right and the western on his left if he faced the mountain, otherwise a mountain by itself cannot have a right or a left side.
32See E.N. 206 of Surah An-Nisa (IV)