Finality of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

This is really a non issue for most Muslims because this is known as fact that there is not other Prophet after Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) nor is there another Messenger, as this has also ended. But as per usual we had to speak about this even though we did not want to.


Definition


What we wish to do here is examine some proofs and then explain them. So firstly we must state that the words Prophet and Messenger are the synomyns, in terms of language.


The definition of a Prophet is he;

1. Who receives revelation in this world from Allah

2. Informs of the unseen; some of the past/present

3. His miracles manifest upon a challenge of prophethood

4. See Angels and speaks to them



In terms of sacred law the difference between a Prophet and Messenger is; a Prophet backs up the previous message (he doesn't bring a new law or is not ordered to convey it) and a Messenger brings a new law (he is ordered to convey it).

This is also one of the facts of a messenger/ prophet that they confirm the previous prophet/ Messenger. Prophethood was passed from father to son, father to son, father to son.

So when the passage speaks about the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) not being a father of any of the men. This means that Prophethood ended; it stopped; the passing of prophetic chain had finished.


The great lineage of the Prophetic era had come to a stop and it was to travel no more. "Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but the Messenger of Allah and the Last of Prophets. And Allah has knowledge of everything." [Qur'an 33:40]"

Translated Last of the prophets is خاتم النبين Khatam here is the active participle or Ism Fa'il which is the active participle in Arabic which means that a person is doing that action. Like a opener is fatih. Khatam can mean seal, stamp, make impervious, inaccessible, conclude, finish, terminate or last. (p.227 Hans Wehr Dictionary)


So we can take last as it says here and we can take seal either way, we can understand the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is one doing the sealing, the one doing the finishing, the one concluding, the one making prophethood inaccessible, Prophethood began with him and ended with him.


This is illustrated vividly in the following narration;

Abu Hurayra narrates (Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Certainly my example and the example of prophets before me is like the example of a palace, most elegant and most beautiful constructed by a person except with a blank space for a brick in one of its corners and that made the people (who were) going around it wondered and exclaimed (in perplexion): “Why not is this brick inlaid in here!” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “I am that brick and I am the last of the prophets.” (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 1, p.501 & Sahih Muslim, Vol. 2, p.248)


The following are further evidence to this; Amir b Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas reported on the authority of his father that the Messenger of Allah (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) addressing 'Ali said, "You are in the same position with relation to me as Aaron was in relation to Moses but that there is no prophet after me." Sa'd said: I had an earnest desire to hear it directly from Sa'd, so I met him and narrated to him what (his son) Amir had narrated to me, whereupon he said, "Yes, I did hear it." I said, "Did you hear it yourself?" Thereupon he placed his fingers upon his ears and said, "Yes, and if not, let both my ears become deaf." (Bukhari Book #031, Hadith #5913)


Narrated Abu Hurayra: The Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah said, "The tribe of Israel used to be ruled and guided by prophets: Whenever a prophet died, another would take over his place. There will be no prophet after me, but there will be Caliphs who will increase in number." The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What do you order us (to do)?" He said, "Obey the one who will be given the pledge of allegiance first. Fulfil their (i.e. the Caliphs) rights, for Allah will ask them about (any shortcoming) in ruling those Allah has put under their guardianship." (Bukhari Book #56, Hadith #661)


Narrated Jubair bin Mutim that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "I have five names: I am Muhammad and Ahmad; I am Al-Mahi through whom Allah will eliminate infidelity; I am Al-Hashir who will be the first to be resurrected, the people being resurrected there after; and I am also Al-'Aqib." (i.e. There will be no prophet after me)." (Bukhari Book #56, Hadith #732)


Saad narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) set out for Tabuk. Appointing 'Ali as his deputy (in Medina). 'Ali said, "Do you want to leave me with the children and women?" The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Will you not be pleased that you will be to me like Aaron to Moses? But there will be no prophet after me." (Bukhari book #59, Hadith #700)


It is narrated by Uqba bin Aamer, (Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “If there could ever be a prophet after me, indeed Umar bin Khattab would have been such”. (Tirmidhi, Vol. 2, p.209)


There are more hadith on this but I wanted to stop at this point making it very clear that no Prophet could follow him and then what about the station of Messenger?


Messenger

Is the station of Messenger still open seen as prophethood is ended?

For a Messenger to come there needs to be a new law, there is no new law to come, the Shariah is the final law for mankind.


“Truly the religion with Allah is Islam.” The Family of Imran 3:19


Allah said, "Whoso desires another religion than Islam, it shall not be accepted of him; in the next world he shall be among the losers." The Family of Imran 3.85


"Muhammad is a Messenger of Allah." 48:29


"Today I have perfected your religion for you, and I have completed My blessing upon you, and I have approved Islam for your religion." The Table spread 5:3


These are proofs that no other Messenger could come with a new message or a new sacred law after the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) his law is final and conclusive.


To further prove this see the following hadith; The Prophet of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) affirmed, "The chain of Messengers and Prophets has come to an end. There shall be no Messenger nor Prophet after me." (Tirmidhi, Kitab-ur-Rouya Babu Zahab-un- Nubuwwa, Musnad Imam Ahmad, Marwiyat-Anas bin Malik)



What about Jesus (upon him peace)?


Jesus (upon him peace) will return to kill the Antichrist and re-establish the sacred law before the end of time. He will follow the law of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and will not bring about new message he will affirm the previous Message.


Also note he is not a new prophet, he was a prophet before and now he is coming again. Therefore he is not bringing anything new he is affirming and this is more an exception to the normal case of the prophets.


The Prophet of God (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) observed: "God Almighty hath sent unto the world no apostle who did not warn his people about the appearance of Anti-Christ. I am the last in the line of Prophets and you are the last community of believers. Without doubt, then, Anti-christ shall appear from amongst you". (Ibn Majah, Kitabul-fitan, bab:Dajjal).



What about Ibrahim the son who passed away?


The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had three sons all who died in childhood or in Ibrahims case a few months after birth. We said before that Prophethood passed through from father to son.

Now there is a narration that the Prophet said,لو عاش لكان صديقاً نبياً

"If Ibrahim had lived he would be a truthful prophet."


Reported by Ibn Majah chapter on funerals no. 1511.

First of all according to Yahya ibn Ali Al-Shawkani this is a forged narration. (Siddiqqi Hadith literature p.212)

Some people use this as proof that prophethood could have passed on. Lets examine the words, لو lo means you are wishing for something that you know could never come true. For example I could say; If only today was Friday but I know that today is Saturday and that could not be friday because that has gone. In either case the hadith is rejected.


Bukhari narrates that Ibn Abu Awfa said, "If there could be a prophet after Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) it would be his son but there is no prophet after him."


Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "He means that if he was not the seal of prophethood then his son would have been a prophet after him." (Tafsir Al-Khateeb As-Sharbini page.318)


This now cannot be understood in other way as it is proved beyond a shadow of a doubt the progeny is from our lady Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her) and our master Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), this brings us back to our first point.



Concluding remarks

We have proved in this that the stations of prophethood and messenger are both ended. It ended with his message, it was not passed on nor was there a new message. No one can now claim that they are a prophet or a Messenger, they cannot claim that they are bringing a new message or following an old one.


Disbelief is defined as someone who rejects the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Those who do this cannot consider themselves Muslims.

This is a lie against God and this is worst sin that anyone can do, do you really want to be caught out by God? This can only be an act of foolishness. I have not used all the evidences that I had, I have picked some and not others, so if you find other information that is appropriate to this subject then do not be surprised. This article refutes those who claim to follow another prophet in and outside Islam, as well as another messenger.


Imagine a relay race, there are several runners, each runner takes the batton and runs with it to the next runner who then takes it on to the next runner. This cycle continues until the final runner receives the batton, he takes it to to end of the race. This is likeness of prophethood, each one carried the light and passed it on until it came to a end. Prophethood is not a station that someone can achieve, it is a station that someone is given. All claims of prophethood outside this are false and without truth.