The word as it is recited in the Quran: Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hussary, Ali ’Imran 3:55.
Rafi in Islam
Rafiʿ ibn Khadij, an Ansari of Medina, fought at Uhud and later battles. He reported that when the Prophet ﷺ arrived in Medina, the people were pollinating palm trees; they stopped after a remark by the Prophet ﷺ, and the harvest was smaller. The Prophet ﷺ then told them: “I am only a human being: when I command you something of your religion, take it; when I tell you something from my own opinion, I am only a human being” (Muslim 2362).
Rafiʿ is the active participle of rafaʿa, “to lift, to raise, to elevate” (root r-f-ʿ): it means one who raises, literally and figuratively. Al-Rafiʿ, “the One who exalts”, appears in the traditional list of the ninety-nine names of Allah; borne by a man, the word keeps its human sense. The Quran uses it when Allah says to ʿIsa: “I will take you and raise you to Myself” (3:55). It should not be confused with Rafīʿ (رفيع), “high, eminent”.
[Mention] when Allāh said, "O Jesus, indeed I will take you and raise you to Myself and purify [i.e., free] you from those who disbelieve and make those who follow you [in submission to Allāh alone] superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your return, and I will judge between you concerning that in which you used to differ.
