IRRIGATION

Islamic Belief of Finality of
Prophethood

ACCORDING TO THE QURAN, THE SUNNAH

AND CONSENSUS OF UMMAH

By: Maulana Muhammad Yusuf Ludhianvi

CONTENTS

INTERPRETERS OF THE HOLY QURAN

· Imam Hafiz Ibne Katheer

· Imam Qartabi

· Hujjat ul Islam, Imam Ghazali

KHATME NUBUWWAT AND AHADITH

· Hafiz Ibne Hazm

· Hafiz Ibne Katheer

· Allama Syed Mahmood Aloosi

HADITH (1) The Last Brick

HADITH (2) Line of Prophethood Terminated

HADITH (3) Address to Hazrat Ali

HADITH (4) Neither Tashreei Nabi nor Ghair Tashreei Nabi in this Ummah

HADITH (5) Thirty liars in the Ummah

HADITH (6) “No Nabi, No Rasool after me.”

HADITH (7) Last Prophet, Last Ummah

HADITH (8) If there could be a prophet that would have been Umar

HADITH (9) I am Hashir, I am Aaqib, I am Muqaffi(Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam)

HADITH (10) Forefinger and Middle Finger

CLARIFICATIONS by distinguished elders of Ummah

· To claim Prophethood is infidelity

· To claim Prophethood is unlawful

· Deniers are infidels

· Himself misled and misleading others

· Capital punishment of dualist infidel obligatory

· Who is a dualist infidel

· Punishment of a dualist infidel

· Different types of infidels

· Dualist infidels publicly guillotined

WRITTEN VERDICTS of Jurists of Ummah

(1) Fatawai Alamgiri

Who is not a Muslim

(2) Fatawai Bazzazia

Claimant of Prophethood is an infidel (Kafir)

(3) Bahrur Raiq Sharah Kanzud Daqaiq

Who is an infidel (Kafir)

(4) Jameul Fasulain

Demander of miracle from Claimant of Prophethood is also Kafir

(5) Fiqah Shafai’s Mughni ul Muhtaj Sharah Minhaj

Ten types of Kafir

(6) Fiqah Hambali: Mughni Ibn Qudamah

Follower of Claimant of Prophethood is also an apostate

(7) Al Sharah al Kabir Sharah al Muqney

TO CONCLUDE

“ahmedi” or “qadiyani”?

Islamic Belief of Finality of Prophethood

The holy Quran and the holy Prophet’s Ahadith (Traditions) eloquently prove that Prophethood (‘nubuwwat’ and ‘risalat’) came to an end with our Prophet Muhammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) There are decisive verses to that effect. Being the last Prophet in the chain of prophethood no one ever shall now succeed him to that status of dignity.

“Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets; and Allah is Aware of all things.”

(Quran, Al-Ahzab 33:40).

INTERPRETERS OF THE HOLY QURAN

All the interpreters of the holy Quran agree on the meaning of ‘Khatam-un-Nabieen’ that our Prophet (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) was the last of all the prophets and none shall be exalted to the lofty position of Prophethood after him.

(1) Imam Hafiz Ibn-e-Katheer

His explanatory remarks on the above verse are as follows:

“This verse is conclusive of the precept that our Prophet is the last prophet and that there shall be no ‘nabi’ after him. When there shall be no ‘nabi’ to follow him the ordainment of a ‘rasool’ cannot arise by logic of anteriority because the status of a ‘rasool’ is more exclusive than that of a ‘nabi.’ Every ‘rasool’ is a ‘nabi’ but every ‘nabi’ is not a ‘rasool’. There exists a continuous and unbroken chain of citations of Ahadith from a large number of venerable ‘sahabah’ or Companions of the Prophet (Allah be pleased with them), that there shall be no ‘nabi’ or ‘rasool’ after Muhammad.( Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam)”

(Tafseer Ibn-e-Katheer, Vol. 3, p.493).

NOTE: Every prophet is called a ‘Nabi’ whether he was given a ‘Shariat’ or not; and the prophet who was given a ‘Shariat’ is called a ‘Rasool.’

(2) Imam Qartabi

Imam Qartabi comments on the quoted verse as follows:

“Said Ibn-e-Atiya that the words (Khatam-un-Nabieen) according to the learned men of the Ummah of the present and the past indicate perfect comprehensiveness and signify, in consonance with the Quranic injunction, that there shall be no prophet after Muhammad.( Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam)

(3) Hujjat ul Islam, Imam Ghazali

Hujjat ul Islam, Imam Ghazali explains the said verse in these words:

“No doubt the Ummah has unanimously understood from this word (‘Khatam-un-Nabieen’) and its circumstantial reference to mean non-existence of a ‘nabi’ or ‘rasool’ ever after Muhammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) and that (this word calls for) no reservation or tacit interpretation in it; hence its dissident is certainly the one who rejects (Ummah’s) unanimity.” (Al Iqtisad fil Etiqad, p.123)

“KHATME-NUBUWWAT” AND AHADITH

The Prophet (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) unequivocally declared that he was ‘Khatam-un-Nabieen.’ There are a large number of Ahadith to sustain this article of Islamic faith. Not only that but the Prophet (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) was also pleased to bring forth such expositions of this word that all doubts relating to his finality in Prophethood stand void and misinterpretations exposed. Many people having theological distinctions to their credit have stressed upon the unbroken and consecutive nature of those Ahadith which concern Khatme-Nubuwwat. Opinions of some of them are quoted below:

(1) Hafiz Ibn-e-Hazm says on page 77 (Vol. 1) of his Kitab-ul-FasI:

“All those personages who have dwelt upon the subject of Muhammad’s (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) Prophethood, his miracles and expounded the holy Quran, have stated that he (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) had informed that there would be no prophet after him”.

(2) Hafiz Ibne-Katheer writes under the caption, ‘Khatam-un-Nabieen’:

“And on this (precept of ‘Khatme Nubuwwat’) there have come from Allah’s Messenger (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) ‘mutawatir’ ahadith which have been transmitted by an unbroken chain of his ‘sahabah’. (Allah be pleased with them).

(Tafseer Ibne Katheer, Vol. 3, p.493)

(3) Allama Syed Mahmood Aloosi writes in his Tafseer Roohul-Maani under the verse Khatamun-Nabieen:

“That he (Muhammad) (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) was ‘Khatam-un-Nabieen’ is ordained by the Book (Quran), acknowledged by the Sunnah, and agreed upon by the Ummah; hence a claimant to the contrary will be (determined as) Kafir and put to death if (he is) persistent”. (Rooh ul Maani, Vol. 22, p.41).

To conclude therefore, ‘Khatme Nubuwwat’ is an article of faith by the Quran’s text and ‘mutawatir’ Ahadith. For the sake of brevity some of them are reproduced below:

HADITH: (1)

THE LAST BRICK

1:1 “From Abu Hurairah, (Allah be pleased with him): Allah’s Messenger (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) said: “Certainly my example and the example of prophets earlier than me is like the example of a palace most elegant and most beautiful constructed by a person except (that he left in it) a blank space for a brick in one of its corners and that made the people (who were) going around it wonder (at its marvellousness) and exclaimed (in perplexion): “Why not is this brick inlaid in here!”. The Prophet (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) said, “I am that (corner’s last) brick and I am the last of the prophets”.

(Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 1, p.501 & Sahih Muslim, Vol. 2, p.248).

1:2 The above Hadith is also related by Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah, (Allah be pleased with him,) and is included in Musnad Ahmad, Sahih Muslim and Jama-e-Tirmizi. Sahih Muslim’s narration ends with these words:

“Said Allah’s Messenger (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) So I am in place of this brick; I came and so I completed the chain of the prophets’”.

(Musnad Ahmad, Vol. 3, p.361; Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 1, p.501; Sahih Muslim Vol. 2, p.248; Tirmizi, Vol. 2, p.202; Ibn-e-Abi Shaibah, Vol. 11, p.499).

1:3 The above Hadith is also related by Hazrat Abi bin Ka’b, (Allah be pleased with him,) as recorded in Musnad Ahmad and Tirmizi”:

“My example among the prophets has a likeness (in the sense) that a man constructed a palace most lovely and perfect and extremely elegant but left the place of one brick incomplete in it (for subsequent inlaying); then people went around the palace and wondered (on its excellence) and said, “Would that space for one brick be also filled up!” The holy Prophet (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) said, “I am in place of this brick among the prophets”. Imam Tirmizi calls this Hadith Hasan-Sahih.

(Musnad Ahmad, Vol. 5, P.137 & Tirmizi, Vol. 2, p.202).

1:4 This Hadith is also related in Sahih Muslim on the authority of Hazrat Abu Saeed Khudri, (Allah be pleased with him.) In Musnad Ahmad the words of the Hadith are:

“My example and that of other Prophets is as though a person constructed a palace and completed it but left (open) space for one brick only (in it); then I came, and I completed this one brick.”

(Musnad Ahmad, Vol. 3, p.9; Sahih Muslim, Vol. 2, p.248,

Jamea ul Usool, Vol. 8, p.539; Ibn-e-Abi Shaibah, Vol. 11, p.499).

All these Ahadith, given above, are tangible examples of the precept of ‘Khatme-Nubuwwat’. If human sensibility plays a fair game, honestly and judiciously, then these Ahadith are obvious in meaning and no interpretational twisting is called for.

HADITH (2)

LINE OF PROPHETHOOD TERMINATED

2:1 “From Abu Hurairah, (Allah be pleased with him): Allah’s Messenger Muhammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) said: I have been bestowed with excellence over (other) Prophets in six respects: (1) I have been gifted with comprehensive words; (2) I have been supported through awe (being put in the hearts of enemies) (3) spoils have been made lawful to me; (4) the whole earth turned into a mosque for me and a means of purification; (5) I have been ordained as the Prophet for all humanity; and (6) the line of the Prophets has been terminated with me.”

(Sahih Muslim, Vol. 1, p. 199; Mishkat, p.512)

2:2 One Hadith containing similar subject matter is narrated in Sahihain from Hazrat Jabir, (Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) said: “I have been gifted with five qualities not bestowed upon anybody before me.” At the end of this Hadith are the following words:

“Former prophets were sent to their people alone, whereas I have been sent as the Prophet to all mankind.” (Mishkat, p.512).

HADITH (3)

ADDRESS TO HAZRAT ALI

3:1 “From Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas, (Allah be pleased with him): said Allah’s Messenger Muhammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) to Hazrat Ali, (Allah be pleased with him) “You have the same relation with me as Haroon had with Moosa (peace be on them) except that there shall be no prophet after me.”

(Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 2, p.633).

3:2 According to another narration in Muslim the words are: “No prophethood after me.” (Sahih Muslim, Vol. 2, p.278).

This Hadith is ‘Mutawatir’ (i.e., it is transmitted by an unbroken chain of reliable narrators) because, apart from Hazrat Sa’d, similar narrations are accredited to the following distinguished Sahabah, (Allah be pleased with them):

3:3 Hadith from Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah; (Allah be pleased with him).

(Recorded in Musnad Ahmad, Vol. 3, p.338)

(Recorded in Tirmizi,Vol. 2, p.214)

(Recorded in Ibn-e-Majah, p.12)

3:4 Hadith from Hazrat Umar, (Allah be pleased with him).

(Recorded in Kanzul Ummal, Vol. 11, p.607, Hadith No. 32934).

3:5 Hadith from Hazrat Ali, (Allah be pleased with him).

(Recorded in Kanz, Vol. 13, p. 158, Hadith No. 36488 and in Majmauz Zawaid, Vol. 9, p.110).

3:6 Hadith from Asma bint Amees, (Allah be pleased with her).

(Recorded in Musnad Ahmad, Vol. 6, p.438, and in Majma, Vol. 9, p. 109: and in Kanz, Vol. 11, p.607, Hadith No. 32937).

3:7 Hadith from Abu Saeed Khudri (Allah be pleased with him.)

(Recorded in Majma, Vol. 9, p. 109 and in Kanz, Vol. 11, p.603, Hadith No. 32915).

3:8 Hadith from Abu Ayub Ansari, (Allah be pleased with him).

(Recorded in Majma, Vol. 9, p. 111).

3:9 Hadith from Jabir bin Samrah, (Allah be pleased with him).

(Recorded in Majma, Vol. 9, p. 110)

3:10 Hadith from Umme Salma, (Allah be pleased with her).

(Recorded in Majma, Vol. 9, p. 109).

3:11 Hadith from Bra bin Aazib (Allah be pleased with him).

(Recorded in Majma, Vol. 9, p. 111).

3:12 Hadith from Zaid Bin Arqam, (Allah be pleased with him).

(Recorded in Majma, Vol. 9, p. 111).

3:13 Hadith from Abdullah bin Umar, (Allah be pleased with them).

(Recorded in Majma, Vol. 9, p. 110 and in Khasais Kubra Suyutee, Vol. 2. p. 249).

3:14 Hadith from Hubshi bin Junadah, (Allah be pleased with him).

(Recorded in Majma, Vol. 9, p. 109 and in Kanz, Vol. 13, p. 192, Hadith No. 36572).

3:15 Hadith from Malik bin Hassan bin Huwarith, (Allah be pleased with him).

(Recorded in Kanz, Vol. 11, p. 606, Hadith No.32932).

3:16 Hadith from Zaid bin Abi Aufa, (Allah be pleased with him).

(Recorded in Kanz, Vol. 13, p. 105, Hadith No.36345).

3:17 Hadith from Hazrat Muawiah (Allah be pleased with him).

(Recorded in Minassawaiq-al-Mohriqah, p.179)

3:18 Ibn-e-Abbas, (Allah be pleased with them). (Al-Musnad, Vol. 1, p.331; Majma, Vol.9, p. 109).

It should be noted that a Hadith which is accredited to more than ten distinguished Sahabah, (Allah be pleased with them), is classified among the Ahadith Mutawatirah as per decision of the noted Muhadditheen (Tradition Narrators). Since there are more than ten accreditions in this case, Hazrat Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlavi, (Allah’s mercy on him), has included it among the ‘mutawatirat’. He writes in his Izalat-ul-Khifa under the caption, Maathir-e-Ali”( Allah be pleased with him):

“From among the Mutawatir Ahadith there is a Hadith that the holy Prophet (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam)said to Hazrat Ali (Allah be pleased with him) “Thou art to me in the same position as Haroon was in relation to Moosa.” (Allah’s peace be upon them).

(Izalatul Khifa Mutarjam, Vol. 4, p.444. Printers: Qadeemi Kutub Khana, Karachi).

HADITH (4)

Neither Tashreei Nabi’ Nor
Ghair Tashreei Nabi’ in this Ummah

4:1 “Abu Hurairah (Allah be pleased with him) relates from the Prophet ................that the Bani Israel were led by their own prophets; when one prophet died, another prophet took his place but there shall be no prophet after me except that there shall be Caliphs and they will be many.”

(Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 1, p.491,Sahih Muslim, Vol. 2, p. 126, Musnad Ahmad, Vol. 2, p.297)

It is well-known that the prophets who came among the Bani Israel did not bring with them any new Shariat (Divine Statutes); they only strengthened those laws which were sent down earlier through Hazrat Moosa, (peace be on him), because they were simply ‘ghair tashreei’ prophets.

NOTE: ‘Tashreei Nabi’ means Prophet with a Shariat; ‘Ghair Tashreei Nabi’ means Prophet without a new Shariat.

4:2 In the case of our Prophet (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) even such prophets will not come, except that there shall be religious revivalists of the Ummah. They will come most certainly as is related in the Hadith of Abu Dawood and others:

“Verily, Allah the Exalted will send down to this Ummah such men at the head of every century as will revive the Deen for it.”

(Abu Dawood, Vol. 2, p.233).

HADITH (5)

THIRTY LIARS IN THE UMMAH

5:1 It is related by Hazrat Thauban, (Allah be pleased with him) that our Prophet (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) said, “In my Ummah there shall be born thirty liars; each of them will pretend that he is a prophet but I am the last of the prophets; there shall be no prophet after me.” (Abu Dawood, Vol. 2, p.228;Tirmizi, Vol. 2, p. 45).

This Hadith is also Mutawatir. Besides Hazrat Thauban (Allah be pleased with him), the following venerable Sahabah, (Allah be pleased with them all), have also related it:

5:2 Hadith from Hazrat Abu Hurairah, (Allah be pleased with him).

(Recorded in ‘Sahih Bukhari’, Vol. 1, p. 509, and ‘Sahih Muslim,’ Vol. 2, p.397).

5:3 Hadith from Hazrat Nuaim bin Masud, (Allah be pleased with him).

(Recorded in ‘Kanzul Ummal’ Vol. 14, p. 198, Hadith No. 38372).

5:4 Hadith from Abu Bakrah, (Allah be pleased with him).

(Recorded in Mushkil ul Aasar, Vol. 4, p.104).

5:5 Hadith from Abdullah bin Zubair, (Allah be pleased with them).

(Recorded in Fath ul Bari, Vol. 6, p.617, Hadith No.3609).

5:6 Hadith from Abdullah bin Amr, (Allah be pleased with them).

(Recorded in Fath ul Bari, Vol. 13, p.87, Hadith No. 7121).

5:7 Hadith from Abdullah bin Masud, (Allah be pleased with him).