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The rabbaniyyun (training and belonging to the Lord)

الربانيون (التربية والنسبة إلى الرب)

Sha'rawi holds that belonging to the Lord means that what the trainer teaches from the scripture is ascribed to God. Being rabbani requires receiving the text of the law and then understanding it through study together. He answers the claim that people might be made to worship prophets or angels by saying that no law is given by anyone other than God, and presents this without a verdict 1234.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Religious authoritiesEthics and character

Summary

Sha'rawi explains the verse (Al Imran 79) which asks people to be rabbaniyyun by teaching and studying the scripture. He reads its corrective turn as answering those who would make people worship someone other than God after he has been given the scripture, wisdom and prophethood 1.

The meaning of rabbani

Sha'rawi says the root r-b-b carries the senses of upbringing, guardianship and care, as in the word for Lord and the word rabbani. Belonging to the Lord means that what a trainer takes from the scripture is ascribed to God and to no one else, so he is rabbani in what he receives 23.

Teaching and study

Sha'rawi distinguishes teaching, meaning receiving the text of the law, from study, meaning the intellectual understanding of the text through mutual exchange. He compares it to threshing wheat so that the useful grain separates from the chaff. Some texts are clear and some admit more than one meaning, so the rabbani needs both 34.

Honouring the Prophet without worship

Sha'rawi holds that the one whom God has given scripture, wisdom and prophethood would not tell people to worship him, nor order them to take angels and prophets as lords. He notes that some Muslims wanted to honour the Prophet ﷺ by prostrating to him, and that the Prophet made clear that prostration is due to God alone; agreeing would have taken them out of Islam 4.

Note on this entry

This is Sha'rawi's reading alone, taken from a scanned copy whose edition is not yet verified, and it is presented under his name. No academic study of veneration of the prophets in early Islam has been added (needs_source). See also Prophet and messenger and The covenant of the prophets.

Opinions on the question

The question: May people be asked to honour a prophet or angels by worship, or must honour stop short of worship?

First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference

No one may ask to be worshipped besides God, nor may angels or prophets be worshipped

Sha'rawi holds that one whom God has given scripture, wisdom and prophethood would not tell people to worship him, nor to take angels and prophets as lords. He says that when some companions wanted to honour the Prophet by prostrating to him, the Prophet did not accept it, and that prostration is due to God alone {cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan-vol-2 p.1564}{cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan-vol-2 p.1566}.

Held by: Muhammad Mutawalli al-Sha'rawi

More opinions (1)

Academic viewSecondary opinion

Studies of veneration of prophets in early Islam

No academic reading is set out here; it needs a named source (needs_source).

People and things also explored

Ada' al-dayn (paying a debt: its ruling, the manner of payment, insolvency and the debts of the dead)· Ada' al-shahada (performing testimony: the duty on request, the excused witness, and the wording)· Manners of the Qur'an bearer· Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)· Adha (harm of a slight kind: removing harmful things and the duty not to harm)· Justice and grace (adl wal-fadl)· Pardon (afw) in purity, worship, contracts and penalties· Covenant (ahd) and the duty to keep it; oath by the covenant of God

Sources

  1. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1563
  2. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1564
  3. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1565
  4. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1566
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The rabbaniyyun (training and belonging to the Lord)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/rabbaniyyun/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

Ada' al-dayn (paying a debt: its ruling, the manner of payment, insolvency and the debts of the dead)

Paying a debt in the form owed is obligatory by consensus. A debt due now must be paid on demand when the debtor can pay; a deferred debt is not due before its term. Payment is made in like items, with value owed where there is no like; a better payment is allowed when unconditioned. Remission, gift, assignment, set-off and settlement take the place of payment. A solvent debtor who refuses is compelled, imprisoned and his apparent property sold; the majority hold that a bankrupt is put under interdiction and his property divided among creditors, against Abu Hanifa. The insolvent is given respite, and his debt may be paid from zakat if he borrowed for himself in a lawful matter. A dead person's debt attaches to his estate and takes precedence over bequests and inheritance.