The Issue of Termination of Prophethood
That the Holy Prophet was the last of the prophets who has sealed
and thus terminated prophethood, and that no other prophet is to be
appointed after him and every claimant to prophethood is a liar and an
infidel are well-settled issues on which there has been complete unanimity
and consensus right from the days of the noble companions & upto the
date. Therefore there was no need for a lengthy discussion on this subject.
But the QadiyZni sect has put in a lot of effort to create doubts in the
minds of Muslims on this issue; by publishing hundreds of pamphlets and
books they have tried to misguide those Muslims who are not well versed
in religious knowledge. So this humble author has written a book titled
"Khatm-e-Nabuwwat"
in which this issue has been fully detailed and
clarified in the light of one hundred Qur'Znic verses, more than two
hundred ahEdith and hundreds of dictum of the classic as well as later
scholars and learned people; the QadiyZni deception and doubts created
thereby have been fully refuted. Some important points from that book
are being reproduced here.
The Holy Prophet's $!
$ Being the Last Prophet does not negate
the descent of SayyidnZ 'is5 in the last days
It is proved from many verses of the Qur'an and from rnutawatir
ahEdith that in the last days before the doomsday, Sayyidna 'Is5
would come into this world again, kill Dajjal ( the Antichrist ) and bring
all misguidance to an end. The detailed proofs of this fact are given in my
Arabic book 'At-tasrih'.
Mirza QadiyanI, denying the descent of Sayyidna
'Is% m1, has proclaimed himself to be the predicted Masih with the
reasoning that if reappearance of SayyidnZ ?sa Ibn Maryam i.M-il L&
who was a prophet of Israelites, is accepted, then it would negate the Holy
Prophet's being the last of the prophets.
The clear reply is that the Holy Prophet's &!$ being the last prophet
means that nobody would be appointed as a prophet after him; it does not
imply that somebody who was appointed a prophet earlier would be
dismissed from his prophethood or that such a prophet would not be able
to return to this world. But, of course, the prophet who returns to this
world for the reformation of the Ummah of the Holy Prophet % while
maintaining his prophethood, would carry out the reforms in the Ummah
in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Prophet g,
as clarified in
authentic ahadzth.
Imam Ibn Kathir, in explanation of this verse, has said:
"The Holy Prophet $$ being the last of the prophets means that
the office of prophethood stands terminated after him. No one
would get this office after him. But it does not have any effect on
the fact of the descent and reappearance of SayyidnZ '7s~
&%\ in
the last days on which there is a consensus of the whole
Ummah and which is proved by a large number of ahadtth that
are almost mutawatir and by the Qur'Zn itself according to
some interpretations, because he had been given prophethood
before the Holy Prophet %."
Distortion of the Meaning of Prophethood and invention of new
kinds of Prophethood
This claimant of prophethood adopted a new trick to pave the way for
his claim by inventing a new kind of prophethood which simply does not
exist in Qur'iin and Sunnah and neither is there any proof for it, but
according to him this new kind of prophethood does not negate the decree
of Qur'iin regarding the termination of prophethood. Briefly, he has
introduced in prophethood the concept of reincarnation, which is well
known in Hinduism and other religions. His contention is that if a person
is dyed in the color of the Holy Prophet @, by virtue of his complete
obedience to him and by following his footsteps, his coming to this world is
the coming of the Holy Prophet & himself; such a person is in fact the
shadow and incarnate demonstration of none else but the Holy Prophet
B.
Therefore, his claim does not negate the belief in the termination of
prophethood after him.
But how can this invented kind of prophethood find its way to Islamic
beliefs? There is no proof of it. Besides, the belief in termination of
prophethood is a basic belief of Islam and as such it has been so
thoroughly clarified by the Holy Prophet @ under different topics at
various times that no imposter can distort it. The full details can be seen
in this author's book referred to earlier, but only some necessary proofs of
this belief are being presented here.
Sahih of Bukhiir?, Sahih of Muslim and almost all books of Hadith
have reported from Sayyidnii AbE Hurairah & with authentic chain of
narrators that the Holy Prophet has said,
"The example of a;l the prophets before me and of myself is like
a Inan has built a very strong and well decorated house in one
corner wall of which space has been left vacant for one brick;
people roam about in the home to see it and admire the
construction but all of them say that why did not the builder
put a brick in that space also which would have completed the
construction. I am that last brick (of the palace of prophethood)"
and in some versions he said "I have filled up that vacant space
and thus completed the palace of prophethood."
The gist of this eloquent simile is that prophethood is like a grand
palace composed of Prophets $&. This grand palace was complete in all
respects before the Holy Prophet except for the placement of one brick.
The Holy Prophet #!
$ completed this grand palace by filling up that
vacant space for one brick. Now there is no more space for any prophet or
messenger. Even if it is supposed that there are other kinds of prophets
and messengers, there is just no more space for them in the palace of
prophethood.
In another Hadith narrated by SayyidnZ Abii Hurairah & reported
in SahThs of BukhSS, Muslim, Musnad of Ahmad, etc., the Holy Prophet
$!$ has said:
"The politics and administration of Banu IsrZ'il was being
handled by the prophets themselves. When one prophet expired,
another prophet would take his place. And after me there is no
prophet, but of course, there would be my khulam (caliphs -
successors) who would be numerous."
This HadTth has made it clear that there would be no prophet after
the Holy Prophet $!$ and the education and instruction of the Ummah
would be carried out by his Khulaf?. The Holy Prophet has explicitly
and clearly told us that there is no prophethood of any kind after him,
otherwise he would have mentioned it in this Hadith where he has
mentioned KhulaG'.
Sahihs of BukhSri and Muslim have reported a HadTth narrated by
SayyidnZ Abii Hurairah & :-
"Nothing is left of prophethood except mubashshirat (true
dreams )".
As reported in Musnad of Ahmad, etc., Sayyidah Siddiqah 'A'ishah
y &, and Sayyidah Umm Kurz al- Kabiyyah ki &I
pi
have stated
that the Holy Prophet % has said:
"Nothing is left of prophethood after me except mubashshirat.
The noble companions & asked: 0 Holy Prophet @! What is
mubashshirat? He replied, 'True dreams that a Muslim sees
himself or somebody else sees about him."
This Hadith has so explicitly told that no kind of prophethood, either
one with a new law or without it, either Zilli (shadowy) or Buruzi
(incarnate), is possible after the Holy Prophet &; people would only have
mubashshirat (true dreams) through which they would find out a few
things.
Musnad of Ahmad and Tirmidhi carry a narration of SayyidnZ Anas
Ibn MZlik &$6 wherein the Holy Prophet % has said:
"No doubt risalah (messengership) and nubuwwah
(prophethood) stand terminated after me; after me there would
neither be a rasiil (messenger) nor a Nabi(prophet)".
This HadTth has made it clear that prophethood even without a new
law is simply not there after the Holy Prophet % what to say of zilli or
buruzi prophethood which are neither any form of prophethood nor are
they recognized as such in Islam.
The objective is not to collect here all the ahEdith pertaining to the
issue of termination of prophethood; more than two hundred ahEdith on
this subject have been put together in my book "Khatm-e-Nabuwwat".
The objective, by quoting a few of them is to advise that the categories of
gilli and buruzi prophethood invented by Mirzii Qadiyiini is without any
basis or proof, and moreover the ahEdith quoted above have told
explicitly that there is no kind of of prophethood whatsoever left to come
after the Holy Prophet %. That is why, right from the days of the noble companions & uptill
today, all the schools of Muslim Ummah are unanimous on the belief that
there cannot be any kind of Nabi or Rasfil after the Holy Prophet and
whoever claims to be so is a liar and denier of the Qur'an and is a
disbeliever. The first general consensus of the noble companions & had
evolved on this very issue as a result of which a holy war ('jihad) was
fought with Musaylimah, the liar, the false claimant of prophethood,
during the period of the first Khal2ah Sayyidna Abii Bakr &,
.in which
he (Musailimah) and his followers were killed.
The dictums and clarifications of the past Imams and wise scholars of
the Ummah are reproduced in considerable detail in the book
"Khatm-e-Nabuwwat", some of them are being copied here also.
Ibn Kathir, in his tafsir, writes under this verse: "Allah Ta'ZlE in this Book and the Holy Prophet % in successive
ahGdTth has informed that there is no Nab: after the Holy
Prophet % so that people should know that whoever claims to
be a prophet after him is a liar, a cheat, an imposter, a deviator
who misguides others, no matter how many conjuring tricks he
shows, magic spells he binds or talismanic wonders and
sorceries he performs which are, in fact, sheer fallacies
recognized as such by the people who have have knowledge and
understanding. Allah Ta'ZlE had let such perverse acts and
utterances manifested at the hands of Aswad Al-'Ansi (claimant
of prophethood) in Yemen and Musaylimah, the liar, (another
claimant of prophethood) in Yamamah in a way that every
intelligent and comprehending person, after hearing and seeing
them, knew that both of them were liars and misguided. May
Allah curse them. In the same way anyone who claims to be a
prophet upto the Doomsday is a liar and an infidel and this
stream of claimants of prophethood would end at Dajjal, the
Anti-Christ."
Imam Ghazzali, ,while explaining the above mentioned verse and
discussing the belief in the termination of prophethood, has observed in
his book 'Al-IqtisEd fil TtiqEd' as follows,
"The entire Ummah has unanimously understood from these
words and from circumstantial evidences that there will never
be a prophet after him ever, nor will ever come a messenger of
Allah. These words (of the verse) can neither be interpreted in
any other sense, nor can their generality be restricted."
Qadi 'IyZd in his book 'Ash-shifa', after declaring that a person who
claims to prophethood after the Holy Prophet $& is a liar and an infidel
who does not believe in this verse, has observed as follows:
"The Ummah holds by consensus that this discourse bears the
obvious meaning and that this verse means what it says,
without any other interpretation or any exception. Therefore,
there is no doubt in the kufr (infidelity) of all those sects (who
follow any claim out of prophethood) rather their kufr stands
absolutely proved in view of the consensus of the Ummah and
the express texts of the Qur'Zn and Sunnah.
Extracted from Mariful Quran Mufti Shafi Usmani vol 7 pg169-221
That the Holy Prophet was the last of the prophets who has sealed
and thus terminated prophethood, and that no other prophet is to be
appointed after him and every claimant to prophethood is a liar and an
infidel are well-settled issues on which there has been complete unanimity
and consensus right from the days of the noble companions & upto the
date. Therefore there was no need for a lengthy discussion on this subject.
But the QadiyZni sect has put in a lot of effort to create doubts in the
minds of Muslims on this issue; by publishing hundreds of pamphlets and
books they have tried to misguide those Muslims who are not well versed
in religious knowledge. So this humble author has written a book titled
"Khatm-e-Nabuwwat"
in which this issue has been fully detailed and
clarified in the light of one hundred Qur'Znic verses, more than two
hundred ahEdith and hundreds of dictum of the classic as well as later
scholars and learned people; the QadiyZni deception and doubts created
thereby have been fully refuted. Some important points from that book
are being reproduced here.
The Holy Prophet's $!
$ Being the Last Prophet does not negate
the descent of SayyidnZ 'is5 in the last days
It is proved from many verses of the Qur'an and from rnutawatir
ahEdith that in the last days before the doomsday, Sayyidna 'Is5
would come into this world again, kill Dajjal ( the Antichrist ) and bring
all misguidance to an end. The detailed proofs of this fact are given in my
Arabic book 'At-tasrih'.
Mirza QadiyanI, denying the descent of Sayyidna
'Is% m1, has proclaimed himself to be the predicted Masih with the
reasoning that if reappearance of SayyidnZ ?sa Ibn Maryam i.M-il L&
who was a prophet of Israelites, is accepted, then it would negate the Holy
Prophet's being the last of the prophets.
The clear reply is that the Holy Prophet's &!$ being the last prophet
means that nobody would be appointed as a prophet after him; it does not
imply that somebody who was appointed a prophet earlier would be
dismissed from his prophethood or that such a prophet would not be able
to return to this world. But, of course, the prophet who returns to this
world for the reformation of the Ummah of the Holy Prophet % while
maintaining his prophethood, would carry out the reforms in the Ummah
in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Prophet g,
as clarified in
authentic ahadzth.
Imam Ibn Kathir, in explanation of this verse, has said:
"The Holy Prophet $$ being the last of the prophets means that
the office of prophethood stands terminated after him. No one
would get this office after him. But it does not have any effect on
the fact of the descent and reappearance of SayyidnZ '7s~
&%\ in
the last days on which there is a consensus of the whole
Ummah and which is proved by a large number of ahadtth that
are almost mutawatir and by the Qur'Zn itself according to
some interpretations, because he had been given prophethood
before the Holy Prophet %."
Distortion of the Meaning of Prophethood and invention of new
kinds of Prophethood
This claimant of prophethood adopted a new trick to pave the way for
his claim by inventing a new kind of prophethood which simply does not
exist in Qur'iin and Sunnah and neither is there any proof for it, but
according to him this new kind of prophethood does not negate the decree
of Qur'iin regarding the termination of prophethood. Briefly, he has
introduced in prophethood the concept of reincarnation, which is well
known in Hinduism and other religions. His contention is that if a person
is dyed in the color of the Holy Prophet @, by virtue of his complete
obedience to him and by following his footsteps, his coming to this world is
the coming of the Holy Prophet & himself; such a person is in fact the
shadow and incarnate demonstration of none else but the Holy Prophet
B.
Therefore, his claim does not negate the belief in the termination of
prophethood after him.
But how can this invented kind of prophethood find its way to Islamic
beliefs? There is no proof of it. Besides, the belief in termination of
prophethood is a basic belief of Islam and as such it has been so
thoroughly clarified by the Holy Prophet @ under different topics at
various times that no imposter can distort it. The full details can be seen
in this author's book referred to earlier, but only some necessary proofs of
this belief are being presented here.
Sahih of Bukhiir?, Sahih of Muslim and almost all books of Hadith
have reported from Sayyidnii AbE Hurairah & with authentic chain of
narrators that the Holy Prophet has said,
"The example of a;l the prophets before me and of myself is like
a Inan has built a very strong and well decorated house in one
corner wall of which space has been left vacant for one brick;
people roam about in the home to see it and admire the
construction but all of them say that why did not the builder
put a brick in that space also which would have completed the
construction. I am that last brick (of the palace of prophethood)"
and in some versions he said "I have filled up that vacant space
and thus completed the palace of prophethood."
The gist of this eloquent simile is that prophethood is like a grand
palace composed of Prophets $&. This grand palace was complete in all
respects before the Holy Prophet except for the placement of one brick.
The Holy Prophet #!
$ completed this grand palace by filling up that
vacant space for one brick. Now there is no more space for any prophet or
messenger. Even if it is supposed that there are other kinds of prophets
and messengers, there is just no more space for them in the palace of
prophethood.
In another Hadith narrated by SayyidnZ Abii Hurairah & reported
in SahThs of BukhSS, Muslim, Musnad of Ahmad, etc., the Holy Prophet
$!$ has said:
"The politics and administration of Banu IsrZ'il was being
handled by the prophets themselves. When one prophet expired,
another prophet would take his place. And after me there is no
prophet, but of course, there would be my khulam (caliphs -
successors) who would be numerous."
This HadTth has made it clear that there would be no prophet after
the Holy Prophet $!$ and the education and instruction of the Ummah
would be carried out by his Khulaf?. The Holy Prophet has explicitly
and clearly told us that there is no prophethood of any kind after him,
otherwise he would have mentioned it in this Hadith where he has
mentioned KhulaG'.
Sahihs of BukhSri and Muslim have reported a HadTth narrated by
SayyidnZ Abii Hurairah & :-
"Nothing is left of prophethood except mubashshirat (true
dreams )".
As reported in Musnad of Ahmad, etc., Sayyidah Siddiqah 'A'ishah
y &, and Sayyidah Umm Kurz al- Kabiyyah ki &I
pi
have stated
that the Holy Prophet % has said:
"Nothing is left of prophethood after me except mubashshirat.
The noble companions & asked: 0 Holy Prophet @! What is
mubashshirat? He replied, 'True dreams that a Muslim sees
himself or somebody else sees about him."
This Hadith has so explicitly told that no kind of prophethood, either
one with a new law or without it, either Zilli (shadowy) or Buruzi
(incarnate), is possible after the Holy Prophet &; people would only have
mubashshirat (true dreams) through which they would find out a few
things.
Musnad of Ahmad and Tirmidhi carry a narration of SayyidnZ Anas
Ibn MZlik &$6 wherein the Holy Prophet % has said:
"No doubt risalah (messengership) and nubuwwah
(prophethood) stand terminated after me; after me there would
neither be a rasiil (messenger) nor a Nabi(prophet)".
This HadTth has made it clear that prophethood even without a new
law is simply not there after the Holy Prophet % what to say of zilli or
buruzi prophethood which are neither any form of prophethood nor are
they recognized as such in Islam.
The objective is not to collect here all the ahEdith pertaining to the
issue of termination of prophethood; more than two hundred ahEdith on
this subject have been put together in my book "Khatm-e-Nabuwwat".
The objective, by quoting a few of them is to advise that the categories of
gilli and buruzi prophethood invented by Mirzii Qadiyiini is without any
basis or proof, and moreover the ahEdith quoted above have told
explicitly that there is no kind of of prophethood whatsoever left to come
after the Holy Prophet %. That is why, right from the days of the noble companions & uptill
today, all the schools of Muslim Ummah are unanimous on the belief that
there cannot be any kind of Nabi or Rasfil after the Holy Prophet and
whoever claims to be so is a liar and denier of the Qur'an and is a
disbeliever. The first general consensus of the noble companions & had
evolved on this very issue as a result of which a holy war ('jihad) was
fought with Musaylimah, the liar, the false claimant of prophethood,
during the period of the first Khal2ah Sayyidna Abii Bakr &,
.in which
he (Musailimah) and his followers were killed.
The dictums and clarifications of the past Imams and wise scholars of
the Ummah are reproduced in considerable detail in the book
"Khatm-e-Nabuwwat", some of them are being copied here also.
Ibn Kathir, in his tafsir, writes under this verse: "Allah Ta'ZlE in this Book and the Holy Prophet % in successive
ahGdTth has informed that there is no Nab: after the Holy
Prophet % so that people should know that whoever claims to
be a prophet after him is a liar, a cheat, an imposter, a deviator
who misguides others, no matter how many conjuring tricks he
shows, magic spells he binds or talismanic wonders and
sorceries he performs which are, in fact, sheer fallacies
recognized as such by the people who have have knowledge and
understanding. Allah Ta'ZlE had let such perverse acts and
utterances manifested at the hands of Aswad Al-'Ansi (claimant
of prophethood) in Yemen and Musaylimah, the liar, (another
claimant of prophethood) in Yamamah in a way that every
intelligent and comprehending person, after hearing and seeing
them, knew that both of them were liars and misguided. May
Allah curse them. In the same way anyone who claims to be a
prophet upto the Doomsday is a liar and an infidel and this
stream of claimants of prophethood would end at Dajjal, the
Anti-Christ."
Imam Ghazzali, ,while explaining the above mentioned verse and
discussing the belief in the termination of prophethood, has observed in
his book 'Al-IqtisEd fil TtiqEd' as follows,
"The entire Ummah has unanimously understood from these
words and from circumstantial evidences that there will never
be a prophet after him ever, nor will ever come a messenger of
Allah. These words (of the verse) can neither be interpreted in
any other sense, nor can their generality be restricted."
Qadi 'IyZd in his book 'Ash-shifa', after declaring that a person who
claims to prophethood after the Holy Prophet $& is a liar and an infidel
who does not believe in this verse, has observed as follows:
"The Ummah holds by consensus that this discourse bears the
obvious meaning and that this verse means what it says,
without any other interpretation or any exception. Therefore,
there is no doubt in the kufr (infidelity) of all those sects (who
follow any claim out of prophethood) rather their kufr stands
absolutely proved in view of the consensus of the Ummah and
the express texts of the Qur'Zn and Sunnah.
Extracted from Mariful Quran Mufti Shafi Usmani vol 7 pg169-221
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