About the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h)

Supplement 3

These are the expositions of the leading savants, jurists, scholars of Hadith and commentators of every realm of Islam, from the sub-continent of India to Morocco and Spain (Andulus) and from Turkey to Yemen. We have indicated their years of birth and death in each case so that the reader may realise at first glance that this list includes eminent authorities of every century of the Islamic History falling between the first and thirteenth century.

We might even have added expositions by the learned doctors of Islam belonging to the fourteenth century; but we omitted the Ulema of the 14th century purposely because someone might state that these scholars had explained the meanings of Khatam-i-Nabuwat as 'the Seal of all Prophets' to refute the claim of the 'new prophets' of the modern age.

It cannot, however, be said that the ulema of the past centuries entertained feelings of animosity against a later day personality claiming to be a prophet. These writings also make it clear beyond doubt that from the first century up to the present-day the entire Muslim world has unanimously taken the expression Khatam-un-Nabiyyin to mean the Last of all Prophets.' Muslims of all periods have been unanimous in the belief that the office of prophethood has been sealed after the advent of the holy Prophet(PBUH).

There has never been any difference of opinion among muslims that any person who prefers a claim to prophethood and those who believe in such a claim to prophethood are outside the pale of Islam. It is now up to all reasonable persons to judge that in the face of all this massive evidence- the plain dictionary meaning of the phrase 'Khatam-un-Nabiyyin' the interpretation of the Quranic verse in its true perspective, the exposition of the Holy Prophet himself and the consensus on the finality of prophethood of Muhammad(PBUH) of the entire body of muslims all over the world from the time of the companions of the Holy prophet to the present day followers of Islam-what scope is left for an alternative interpretation and what justification can they give for opening the door of prophethood for a new claimant.

Furthermore, how can those people be recognized as Muslims who have not only expressed their opinion in favour of opening the door to prophethood, but they have, in fact, catapulted a man into the mansion of the Prophets of God and have become the followers of this trespasser?

In this connection three more points are noteworthy. Is GOD the Enemy of our Faith?In the first place, Prophethood is a delicate matter. According to the Holy Qur'an the idea of Prophethood is such a fundamental article of faith that one who believes in this idea is a believer and he who disbelieves is an infidel. If a man does not put his faith in a prophet, he is an apostate; similarly if he believes in the claim of an imposter to be a prophet, he becomes an infidel. In such a delicate and important matter Omniscient God certainly cannot be expected to have made a slip.

If there were to be a Prophet after the time of Muhammad (PBUH), God would have made this possibility clear in the Holy Qur'an or He would have commanded His Apostle Muhammad to make a clear declaration of it. The Apostle of God would never have passed away without having forewarned his people that other Apostles would succeed him and that his followers must put their faith in the succeeding prophets.

Had God and His Messenger (PBUH) any intention of undermining our faith by hiding from us the possibility of opening the door of Prophethood after the advent of Muhammad (PBUH) and the coming of a new prophet, thus leaving us in a quandary that if we did not believe in the ministry of a new prophet we would apostate from Islam? Further than this, not only were we kept in the dark by God and His Messenger (PBUH) about all this, but, on the contrary, they made observations and affirmations which the Ummah for the last thirteen [now fourteen] hundred years has taken to mean and even today holds the view that no prophet will come after Muhammad (PBUH).

Could God and His Messenger really temper with our faith? Supposing for a moment that admittance to the office of Prophethood is open and a new Prophet does appear, we shall refuse him without fear.

For this refutation, God might call us to account on the Day of Judgement; but we shall place the whole record of His own affirmations and injunctions before Him and this evidence will prove that (God-forbid) Allah's Book and the Sunnah of His Messenger had led us to disbelieve the new prophet and had thus condemned us to be infidels. We have no fear that after considering this record God Almighty will consider it fit to punish us for blasphemy against the new Prophet.

But if the door of Prophethood is in fact closed and no Prophet will arise after Muhammad (PBUH), and despite this fact a person puts his faith in the claim of a new prophet, that person should think well indeed as to what record can be presented before God in his defense to avoid the punishment for blasphemy and to achieve salvation? Such a man should look through the material of his defense before he is produced in the August Court of the Almighty. He should compare this material with the record that we have presented and then judge for himself if the material upon which he is relying for his defense is worth the trust of a reasonable man and can he court the risk of facing the charge of blasphemy and be punished for it with the kind of defense that he has at his disposal? Do We Need a Prophet Now?The second point which requires consideration is that Prophethood is not a quality to be acquired by any person who proves himself worthy of it by devoting himself to prayers and righteous deeds.

Nor is it anything like a reward given in recognition of good service. Prophethood is an office and Allah appoints some person to this office to fulfill a special need. When such a need arises, God appoints a Prophet to fulfill it. Allah does not send prophets in rapid succession when there is no need or when the need has been fulfilled. When we refer to the Quran in order to find out conditions when the Prophets were appointed by Allah, we come to know that there are only four conditions under which the Prophets have been sent unto the world.

Firstly there was need for a prophet to be sent unto a certain nation to which no prophet had been sent before and the message brought by the Prophet of another nation could not have reached these people.

Secondly, there was need for appointing a prophet because the message of an earlier Prophet had been forgotten by the people, or the teachings of the former prophets had been adulterated and hence it had become impossible to follow the message brought by that Prophet. Thirdly, the people had not received complete mandate of Allah through a former prophet. Hence succeeding prophets were sent to fulfill the task of completing the religion of Allah.

Fourthly, there was need for a second prophet to share the responsibility of office with the first prophet.

It is obvious that none of the above needs remains to be fulfilled after the advent of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The Holy Quran says that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has been sent as a bearer of instructions for the whole mankind. The cultural history of the world bears testimony to the fact that since the advent of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) up to the present time such conditions have always prevailed in the world which were conducive to transmitting his message to all nations at all times. It follows,

therefore, that different nations no longer need different prophets after the time of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The Holy Quran and the records of Hadith and the biographical details of the life of Muhammad (PBUH) stand witness to the fact that the Divine message brought into this world by the Holy Prophet is extant in its original and pure form. The Prophet's message has suffered no process of distortion or falsification. Not a single word has been added to or expunged from the Holy Book which the Prophet (PBUH) brought unto the world from Almighty Allah, nor can anyone make additions to or delete anything from it till the Day of Resurrection.

The message which the Holy Prophet (PBUH) conveyed by word and action has been transmitted to us in such comprehensive, pure and original form that we feel as if we were living in the environment and period of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

In this way the second condition under which prophets are sent unto the world has also been fulfilled. Thirdly the Holy Qur'an clearly affirms that God has finally completed His Divine Mission through the agency of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Hence there is no room for a new prophet to carry the divine mission to completion.

As regards the fourth condition, if a partner were really needed he would have been appointed in the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to share the burden of his ministry. Since no co- prophet was appointed, this condition also stands fulfilled.

We should, therefore, look around for a fifth condition under which a new prophet might be needed after Muhammad (PBUH). If a man argues that people have fallen into depravity, hence there is need for a new prophet to reform the degenerate people, we shall ask him: when did a prophet ever come to introduce reforms only that we should need one now to carry out the work of reformation? A prophet is appointed so that he may be the recipient of Divine revelation and Divine revelations are made with express purpose of transmitting a new message or to correct the wrongs that have crept into an earlier religion.

When the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) have been preserved in their original and comprehensive form and when the Divine mission has been completed by Muhammad (PBUH), all possible need for the transmission of Divine revelations have now been fulfilled and there is further need only of reformers to cleanse the evils of mankind, but there is no room for the prophets.

A New Prophethood is a Curse Rather than a Blessing for the UmmahThe third point which needs consideration is that whenever a prophet is sent unto a certain people the question of faith and infidelity invariably arises among these people. The faithful form one Ummah and the disbelievers automatically form different community. The difference that keeps these two communities apart is not peripheral or superficial but a basic and fundamental difference of belief or disbelief in a prophet; and those two communities can never merge with each other unless people of one side decide to surrender their faith.

In addition, these two Ummahs obtain guidance and derive their law from two different sources. One sect follows the law emanating from the Divine message and Sunnah of the Prophet they believe in; the other community is fundamentally opposed to the idea of this Prophet being the law-giver. On this basis, it becomes an impossibility for these two sections to join in a unified and cohesive society. It will be perfectly clear to a man who keeps the above facts in view that the Finality of Prophethood is a great blessing from Allah for the people of Islam. It is due to this that the Ummah has been able to form a permanent universal brotherhood.

The belief in the finality of Prophethood has secured Muslim society from the danger of any fundamental dissension which might result in permanent division in its ranks. Now every man who accepts Muhammad (PBUH) as a divinely appointed Guide and Leader and also is not inclined to seek instruction from any other source except the Divine message of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is a member of the brotherhood of Islam and on this basis, can join this brotherhood at any time.

If the office of Prophethood had not been sealed once and for all after Muhammad (PBUH), the people of Islam could never have forged a cohesive society; for every new prophet would have shattered the unity of the Ummah.

A reasonable man after a little deliberation will come to the conclusion that when a prophet has been sent to the whole mankind (not just to a certain group or nation), and when the Divine message has been completely transmitted through this Prophet and further when the teachings of the Prophet have been fully preserved, the office of prophethood should be sealed after him in order that the whole world may unite in allegiance to this Prophet and form one brotherhood of the faithful. Only in this way can universal brotherhood of Islam be secured against needless dissensions which might have repeatedly erupted on the appearance of every successive prophet.

A prophet may be a shadow or a buruzi prophet; or "a prophet who is law-giver and the bearer of a Divine book." The appearance of anyone of the above God-appointed prophets will invariably have the social consequence of his followers forming one Ummah and his detractors being condemned as infidels and hence outside the pale of Islam. This division of mankind is unavoidable when the need for a prophet is inevitable.

But in the absence of such a need, it is utterly impossible to expect that Allah in His Wisdom and Beneficence will needlessly cause strife among His creatures on the question of faith and disbelief, thus for ever preventing His creatures to form one Ummah. Hence what is confirmed by the Qur'an and what is clearly affirmed to be true by the Sunnah and the consensus of the Ummah, is also corroborated by reason. Reason demands that the office of prophethood should remain sealed hereafter for all time to come.

The Reality of Masih' i.e. "The Incarnation of Jesus Christ"The propagandists of the new prophethood usually tell the Muslim laity that the traditions have foretold the arrival of a Christ incarnate'. They argue that Christ was a prophet, hence his re-emergence is not contrary to the concept of the finality of prophethood. The concept of the finality of prophethood is valid, but, nevertheless the idea of the arrival of Christ incarnate' is also tenable.

Further on, they explain that Christ incarnate' does not refer to the Christ, son of Mary(PBUH). Christ(PBUH) is dead. The person whose arrival has been foretold in the tradition is a man like Christ',An incarnation of Jesus. And he is such and such a person who has already arrived. To follow him is not contrariwise to belief in the Finality of prophethood.'

To expose the fallacy of this case we record here authentic traditions on this subject with full references to the authoritative works on Hadith. After going through this collection of Ahadith, the reader can judge for himself as to how the observations of the Holy Prophet(PBUH) are being presented today in a form which bears no relation to their original shape and content. Traditions Relating to the Descent of Christ, Son of Mary Hadrat Abu Huraira reports that the Prophet (PBUH) of God said: "I swear by Him Who hath power over my life, the son of Mary shall descend among ye as a Just ruler. He will break the cross and kill the swine;[see footnote 5] and he will put an end to war." (Bukhari, Kitab Ahadith al-Anbiya; Bab:

Nuzul 'Isa Ibn Maryam; Muslim, Bab: Bayan Nuzul 'Isa; Tirmidhi, Abwab-al-Fitan; Bab Fi Nuzul 'Isa; Musnad Ahmad, Marwiyat Abu Huraira) In another tradition the word jizya has been substituted for harb, "war", i.e., he will abolish the jizya on non-believers. [see footnote 6] Another tradition reported by Hadrat Abu Huraira says, "The Doomsday shall not be established before the descent of Jesus, son of Mary," and these words are followed by the text as given in the tradition above. (Bukhari, Kitab-ul-Muzalim: Bab: Kasr-ul- Salib Ibn Majah, Kitab-ul-Fitan al-Dajjal.)