A loose definition in English is that a Nabi (pl. Anbiya) is a Prophet, and a Rasul (pl. Rusul) is a Messenger. Linguistically, a a!

i is so"eone who has !een given revelation or news (of an i"portant nature, i""ediately concerning the"selves or their co""unities). A #asul, linguistically, is so"eone given a "essage to deliver. $here are two "ain classical opinions (of course) a!out whether there is a difference !etween the two ter"s or not. $he first opinion is that the two ter"s are interchangea!le % that every a!i is a #asul and every #asul is a a!i. $he second is that there is a difference. $he evidence for the first opinion are the various ayaat in the &ur'an that tal( a!out #usul only, e.g. 2)2*+. $he evidence for the second opinion are "ainly two) 1. $he hadith of A!u ,harr al%-hifari) $he Prophet (saws) was as(ed a!out the nu"!er of An!iya and #usul. .e (saws) replied that there were 12/,000 Prophets a"ong who" 11+ were Messengers. $his hadith is collected in Musnad Ah"ad and the collections of at%$a!arani, and i!n .i!!an. 2. Allah 23$ .i"self "entioned #usul and An!iya separately in 22)+2 % and a principle of Ara!ic gra""ar is that when two si"ilar things are "entioned together with a waw then attention is !eing drawn to the difference !etween the two. .owever there is a strong re!uttal to the second opinion as well) 1. .adith A!u ,harr is "un(ar % is has one chain with a wea( narrator, and the other 1 chains o"it the 411+ where Messengers4 phrase. 2. #e. 22)+2, the answer is that the two words descri!e the sa"e 5uality of the sa"e person, li(e saying so"ething is !oth tall and long. 1. 6inally, how do you define a 4new "essage47 $here is no clear definition. '8sa (as) is called a #asul in the &ur'an, !ut his "essage was largely the sa"e as Musa (as)'s "essage. Allah 23$ referred to 9usuf (as) as a Messenger, !ut he didn't co"e with any new "essage. And the other points of evidence are re!utted si"ilarly. 8n the end it's all a!out how you define things. And the tl:dr version of this answer is that there is no clear well%defined difference !etween the two ter"s. And Allah (nows !etter ))

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