The Finality of Prophethood

According to Islamic belief, the chain of prophethood came to an end with Prophet Muhammad, he being the final Prophet. No prophet is now going to be sent to the world by God. This is repeatedly mentioned in the Quran and Hadith. There is a specific verse to this effect in the Quran:

Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but is God’s Messenger and the seal of the Prophets. God has knowledge of all things. (The Quran, 33:40)

The word ‘seal’ (in Arabic khatam) as used in the above verse signifies a means of complete closure. (It should not be confused with ‘stamp’ which is something affixed to a document to guarantee its authenticity). Prophet Muhammad being the ‘seal of the Prophets’ means that his advent put a stop to there being any continuation of the chain of prophets.

Abdullah Yousuf Ali, a well-known commentator on the Quran writes: ‘When a document is sealed it is complete and there can be no further addition. Thus, Prophet Muhammad put an end to the long line of Messengers. There has been and will be no Prophet after Muhammad. Thus, when something is sealed, it is finally closed: nothing will come out and nothing will go in.

There are many traditions to this effect, a few of which we reproduce here:

Messengership and Prophethood have been severed. Now there will he no Messenger and no Prophet after me. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 13824).

I came and I brought to an end the chain of prophethood. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2287)

I am the last comer, there is no prophet after me (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 523) I am Muhammad, the unlettered prophet and there is no prophet after me. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 6606)

All these traditions have been collected by Ibn Khatir, a commentator on the Quran. (Tafsir ibn Kathir, vol. 6, pp. 381-83)

Besides the verse mentioned above in Chapter 33, there are several verses, which indirectly prove that there would be no other prophet and that there was no need for the advent of any other prophet according to the divine scheme. Here is another verse on this topic:

Those who deny the truth have this day despaired of ever harming your religion. So do not fear them. Fear Me. Today I have completed your religion for you and completed My blessing upon you. I have chosen for you Islam as your religion. (The Quran, 5:3)

‘Today I have perfected your religion’ means that God has sent all the commands required by human beings. Here the perfection of religion is not referred to in the absolute sense. Rather it refers to the completion of the Quran as revealed to Prophet Muhammad over a period of 23 years. Thus, it is the completion of the revelation, which is mentioned here, and not the completion of Divine Religion. That is why the wording is not ‘Today I have completed religion,’ but, ‘This day I have completed your religion for you.’ The truth is that God has given His religion to man in a perfect form in every age. God has never given man an imperfect religion.

The community of believers in the Quran has been made by God to stand on such a solid foundation that it has the potential, to remain safe from all external dangers. Now, if it is ever to be harmed, it will be by its own internal weakness and not by external attacks or other dangers. The only guarantee of remaining free from internal weakness is that its members always go in fear of God.

In this verse ‘perfection of religion’ does not refer to the comprehensiveness of its rendition by the Prophet. That is to say that it does not mean that all the possible commands relative to all walks of life have been revealed to the final Prophet. In this verse ‘the perfection of religion for you’ means not the completion of the commands but the consolidation of religion. That is, now the religion of God is based on solid foundations. This consolidation is so perfect that it has risen above all enemy plots and will not be harmed by them. From now until Doomsday, no antagonistic moves will ever affect it. The commentator An Nasafi has explained this verse as follows: “I have completed your religion” means that God had made the believers secure from the fear of enemies. He had given them dominion over the disbelievers. It is just like the kings saying that today “Our power has been consolidated. That is, we are now secure from our enemies.” (Tafsir an Nasafi, Vol. 1, p. 426)

This verse is an indirect declaration of the finality of prophethood. A new prophet comes when the religion brought by the previous prophet is not preserved in its original form, that is, when the world is deprived of true guidance from God. Now when the consolidation of religion has become a guarantee that no plot or antagonistic move can distort the original form of God’s religion, then in this situation there is no need for the arrival of a new prophet.

In more recent times, some self-styled claimants to prophethood arose and produced new religions, for instance Bahaullah (d. 1892) and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani of India (d.1908). The argument common to all these self-styled prophets was that since times had changed, humanity had passed from the traditional age to the scientific age, or from the handicraft age to the machine age, and therefore the need had arisen to give man fresh guidance in view of the changed circumstances. On the basis of this thesis, they claimed that God had made them prophets to fulfill that need and had revealed His words to them.

This argument is wholly baseless and irrelevant. It is, of course, true that with the aid of the latest technology, many changes have been made in modem times, which have affected the course of civilization. But all these changes have nothing to do with revelation or prophethood. These words of the Prophet: “You know your worldly matters better.” (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2363) are applicable to the ways and means of daily existence.

God’s prophets came to tell us of the principles that govern life. They did not come to guide us as to how to develop our civilization. Therefore, advancing arguments to prove the need for a new prophet with reference to cultural progress is quite futile. It has to do neither with shariah nor with reason.

Sir Zafarullah Khan, a Qadiani has written a book in English in support of Qadianism. He believed that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a prophet of the modern age, holding that since the modern world had changed considerably, a new prophet was required to give people guidance, and that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had come to meet this need.

This argument is nothing but a fallacy. The advent of a prophet does not relate to the changes of the times; it is meant rather to rectify the distortion or non-existence of the divine scriptures. If the world keeps changing, what is required is to re-interpret the divine religion according to the altered circumstances. And this task of re-interpretation is performed by religious scholars (ulama) and mujtahids (one who may exercise ijtihad). Therefore, no new prophet is required for this task.

As we know, the Quran exists even today in its perfect, original state. Not even minor changes have occurred in its text, and when God’s word in the form of the Quran is preserved, there is no need for the coming of a new prophet.

One aspect of this issue is that the modem claimants to prophethood share the common viewpoint that one of the problems, created in the industrial age is that of the pluralism of society. Communications having now greatly improved throughout the world, people adhering to different religions have felt encouraged to settle abroad, thus creating multi-religious societies in many countries. This is a new state of affairs, one with very few precedents. It is maintained that while commandments may exist in Islam for a uni-religious society, there are none for a multi-religious society. This situation, it is claimed, necessitates the advent of a prophet to tell us the divine commands regarding this problem.

The solution to this problem offered by latter day claimants to prophethood was that truth is found in all religions, as alluded to in this verse of the Quran:

Surely, it is foretold in the ancient scriptures. (The Quran, 26:196).

They held that since truth was to be found in all religions, the adherents of one religion must believe in other religions, just as they believed in their own religions.

But this is not a problem for the solution of which a new prophet is required who would bring new commands. Indeed, the answer to this question is found in the sirah of the Prophet himself. When the Prophet migrated to Madinah from Makkah, at that time Jews and idolaters too lived there alongside the Muslims. Madinah’s society, in effect, was multi-religious in character.

At that time the Prophet of Islam issued the “Charter of Madinah.” This Charter, establishing the administrative leadership of the Prophet, declared that the affairs of each religious group would be decided according to its own religious and tribal traditions. This gives us the principle that a multi-religious society should be organized in a way that the central administration rests largely in the hands of the majority community, while each religious cultural group will enjoy the right to organize its internal matters according to its own beliefs and traditions.

Again, the problem of producing a peaceful atmosphere in a multi-religious society is not a religious issue in itself. It is a different matter altogether. It is not true that if each religious group considered that other religious groups possessed the truth, the desired peace would ensue. The most important factor in bringing about a peaceful society is rather the feeling of tolerance. A society which nurtures tolerance will be one in which tranquility reigns, whereas a society without this quality will be split by dissension.

History tells us that an atmosphere of conflict exists equally in uni-religious and multi-religious societies. For instance, the battle of the Mahabharat took place between two groups of Hindus. The Second World War took place between Christian countries. In Afghanistan, a bloody war is taking place between two groups of Muslims, and so on. To put it briefly, the secret of social peace lies in mutual respect and not in mutual recognition.

Thus, this problem is not one of common belief but rather of common respect-respecting the adherents of all religions. This is the solution we have been given to this problem in Islam.

Of the many verses in the Quran which relate to this issue of the finality of prophethood, the following is of particular significance:

And during the night wake up and pray, as an additional prayer: it may well be that your Lord will raise you to a station of praise and glory. (The Quran, 17:79)

(A ‘position of praise and glory’ is translated in Arabic as Maqam-e-Mahmood). One aspect of this exalted station pertains to this world and another to the Hereafter. This is called by the commentators, The Great Recommendation (shafa’at). As we find from the traditions, on the Day of Judgement all the prophets will testify to the sincerity of faith of their followers, then they will be ushered into heaven—for they are, indeed, the ones whom God wants to be sent to heaven. The believers thus vouched for by the Prophet of Islam will be the largest in number. The other, worldly aspect of his high station is that such historical glory has gathered around him that he has earned universal acclaim in the eyes of all the nations of the world. This was the plan of God, which was completely fulfilled in his favour. Today the people of the world are compelled to acknowledge his greatness. His prophethood has become established, no longer being controversial as it was in the early years.

Exalted prophethood, from the worldly point of view is another name for established prophethood. In the case of Prophet Muhammad, so many historical proofs exist that there is no room for any doubt as regards his personality and his teachings. Man by his own accepted academic standards is compelled to acknowledge his position. The ultimate form of recognition is praise and glory. That is why this position is called the muqam-e-mahmood.

This verse on muqam-e-mahmood was revealed in the second stage of the Makkan period at a time when Islam had not been consolidated. Later God made such changes in circumstances that the religion of Islam in every respect became perfectly consolidated. The Quran was so perfectly preserved that now there is no possibility of any changes, or interpolations in it, or of any additions being made. The sunnah or the traditions were compiled after the Prophet became an acknowledged historical figure. A vast community (ummah) and countless institutions and so on, were established to safeguard the religion of Islam.

When God’s religion is so preserved and consolidated, it becomes possible even without the personal presence of the Prophet to fully understand God’s religion and practice it. After such momentous events have taken place, as marked the life of the Prophet, humanity does not continue to live in the darkness of ignorance; it is brought into the light of knowledge. Thus, for any seeker after truth it becomes not only possible but also easy to learn the will of God. And this is the reason for sending the prophets to the world. When this purpose is being served, there is no reason whatsoever to send another prophet.