THE FINALITY OF PROPHETHOOD-
PROPHETHOOD ENDS WITH PROPHET MUHAMMAD ﷺ
The prophethood (nabuwwat e risalat) came to an end with Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Being the last prophet in the chain of prophethood, no one ever shall now succeed him to that status of dignity.
Allah Ta'ala states in The Holy Quran:
'Muhammad is not the father of any of your men. But he is the Messenger of Allah, and the last of the prophets. And Allah knows of all the things'
(Surah Ahzab. verse 40)
This verse of The Holy Quran is a reply to the objection of the infidels that Prophet ﷺ married Hazrat Zainab(Radi Allaahu Anha)- the wife of his adopted son, Hazrat Zayd(Radi Allaahu Anhu) (after they had divorced). In the Arab custom the adopted son was regarded as one's own son, and marriage to his wife was regarded as unlawful. From this we learn that a minor child cannot be called a man because Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had a few sons, but they passed away in their infancy.
Prophet ﷺ is their father, but they are not men.
The wife of an adopted son is forbidden in your custom, but her becoming lawful is according to the 'Divine Law'. Without doubt, the law of Allah Ta'ala is absolutely correct.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah Ta'ala and he is the last of the prophets-the final prophet.
The finality of prophethood is also based on the Divine Law. There can be no other prophet after Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. If anyone now believes in the coming of another prophet or gives the status of prophethood to any other person, then such a person is an apostate. Just as 'LAA ILAAHA ILLAL LAAH' means that none can be worthy of worship besides Allah Ta'ala, similarly 'LA NABIYA BA'DI' signifies that no prophet can come after Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Because the SEAL OF PROPHETS is one who comes at the end.
In a hadith, Prophet ﷺ spread his palm and showed the distance between two fingers, and said: 'qayamat and myself are like these two fingers. Just as there is nothing in-between the two fingers, the same way there is no Nabi between qiyamat and me.
Allah Ta'ala states in The Holy Quran:
'And who believe in what has been sent down to you. O Beloved Prophet! And what has been sent down before you are certain of the hereafter'
(Surah Al-Baqara. verse 4)
Allah Ta'ala states 'what has been sent down before you'. If another prophet had to come after Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, then it would have been mentioned here, but Allah Ta'ala states 'before you'. The prophets who came before Prophet ﷺ told of the prophets who were to come after them. Hazrat Isa(alaihis salaam) told of 'Ahmad'- Prophet Muhammad ﷺ coming after him. But Prophet Muhammad ﷺ explicitly told of himself as the final of all the prophets. And this has been recorded in numerous hadith.
It is narrated by Hazrat Thauban(Radi Allaahu Anhu) that Prophet ﷺ has said: 'In my ummah there shall be born thirty liars, each of them will claim that he is a prophet, but I am the last of the Prophets; there shall be no prophet after me'.
(Abu Dawood and Tirmizi)
Hazrat Uqba Ibn Aamir(Radi Allaahu Anhu) narrates that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has said: 'had there been a Prophet after me then it would have been 'Umar bin Khattab'.' (Sunnan-Tirmizi)
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: 'prophets guided the tribe of Bani Israel. When a prophet passed away, another prophet succeeded him. But, no prophet will come after me; only caliphs will succeed me' (Bukhari)
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has said: 'Abu Bakr(Radi Allaahu Anhu) is the best amongst all people (after me). 'But he is not a prophet'.'
It is proved from this hadith that had there been any prophet after Prophet ﷺ, then the companions(Radi Allaahu Anhum) deserved the best of it, even Hazrat Abu Bakr(Radi Allaahu Anhu) was not a prophet as clearly and explicitly mentioned in this hadith. Then how can Mirza Gulam Ahmad claim to be a prophet.
Before the arrival of Hazrat Adam(alaihis salaam), nobody had the name 'Adam' and the same is for Hazrat Nuh(alaihis salaam), Hazrat Ibrahim(alaihis salaam), Hazrat Musa(aliahis salaam) Hazrat Muhammad (Ahmad) ﷺ. But how many Mirza, Gulam, and Ahmad have passed before Mirza Gulam Ahmad.
Anyone believing someone else to be a prophet after Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is not a Muslim. He/she is out of fold of Islam. Imam, Hazrat Abu Hanifa says if anyone just asks for a proof for Mirza Gulam Ahmad to be a prophet, he/she also becomes out of fold of Islam.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has said: 'my position in relation to the prophets who came before me can be explained by the following example: a man constructed a building and decorated this complex with great beauty, but he left an empty niche, in the corner where just one brick was missing. People looked around the building and admired its beauty, but wondered why a brick was missing from that niche? I am like
unto that one missing brick and I am the last in the line of the prophets'
(Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmizi, Musnad Ahmad)
This finality of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is most dignified, an honour most distinguished and esteem most high. No person after Prophet Muhammad ﷺ can be called a prophet in any meaning or sense and nobody can fix for himself a prophetic stance by his cunning intelligence or guise. Such a person is a dajjal and a liar. He who does or tries to do so or if anybody believes in the prophethood of that claimant, then such a person is a cast from the fold of Islam.
And the ummah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ have to denounce such liars and their fictitious sects.
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This article is an abridged English translation of an Urdu sermon delivered by his eminence, Peer Syed Imroz Dean Saifi, Hanfi, Maturidi of Masjid Anwaar e Madina, Surrey BC Canada
If there is an inaccurate translation, please pardon it and not let it be a means to negatively reflect on the honoured presenter.
