Among all the tribulations that have arisen against Islam in the present age, the claim to a new prophethood is extremely serious. This claim to a new prophethood is creating immense misguidance among the Muslim community. Generally, the emergence and spread of this tribulation have become possible because Muslims lack a complete and correct understanding of the religion. We believe that if Muslims had not been unfamiliar with the religion and had properly understood the finality of prophethood, this tribulation could never have emerged and spread in the twentieth century.

The correct way to eradicate this tribulation is to inform and acquaint the people with the significance and importance of believing in the finality of prophethood. There is no other way, nor can there be. The doubts and suspicions created in Muslims’ minds on this matter require a reasoned and proper critique and answer.

The distinguished Islamic thinker of the modern world, Allama Sayyid Abul A‘la Maududi, composed a booklet entitled “The Finality of Prophethood” in 1962. Immediately after its publication in Urdu, a Bengali translation of the aforementioned book was presented to readers. The book went out of print in a very short time. Because of repeated requests from the reading public, it was possible to present the book’s second edition in 1967 and third edition in 1977, but this edition too soon went out of print. After overcoming various obstacles and difficulties, its fourth edition is now being presented to the reading public. If respected readers derive even the slightest benefit from this booklet in resisting the misleading doctrine being created in Muslim society concerning the finality of prophethood, we shall consider our labour worthwhile.

-Publisher

The Last Prophet

(Arabic **********)

“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men. Rather, he is Allah’s Messenger and the last of the prophets. And Allah has knowledge of all things.”

The verse is cited in the fifth rukūʿ of Surah al-Ahzab. In this rukūʿ, Allah the Exalted answered the unbelievers and hypocrites who had begun spreading false propaganda against the Messenger of Allah’s marriage to Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her). Their claim was this: Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her) was the wife of Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him), the adopted son of Hazrat Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. That is, she was the daughter-in-law of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Therefore, after Zayd divorced her, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had married his own daughter-in-law. In reply, Allah the Exalted says in verse 37 of the aforementioned surah: This marriage took place by My command, and it took place to show that Muslims incur no blame for marrying the divorced wife of an adopted son. Then, in verses 38 and 39, He says: No power can prevent a prophet from carrying out what Allah has made obligatory upon him. The duty of the prophets is not to fear people but to fear Allah. Allah’s established practice regarding the prophets is that, without caring for anyone, they always convey Allah’s message to the world and carry out His command with complete certainty. Immediately afterward, He presented the verse under discussion. This verse has uprooted all the questions and false propaganda of the opponents.

Their first question is: You have married your own daughter-in-law. Yet your own Shariah also says that a son’s married wife is forbidden to his father. In reply it was said: “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men.” In other words, was the person whose divorced wife was married Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) son? You all know that Muhammad (peace be upon him) had no son.

Their second question is: Even accepting that an adopted son is not one’s biological son, one may say that marrying his divorced wife could be permissible, but why was it necessary to marry her, and where was the need? In reply it was said: “But he is Allah’s Messenger.” In other words, it was the Messenger’s necessary duty to eliminate all hostility and prejudice concerning a lawful matter that your customs and conventions had needlessly turned into something unlawful, and to make its lawfulness certain and beyond doubt. [Those who deny the finality of prophethood raise the question here: In which hadith is this question of the unbelievers and hypocrites mentioned? But this question is actually the result of their ignorance of the Qur’an. In many places in the Noble Qur’an, Allah the Exalted has answered the opposing party without quoting their questions, and the answer itself spontaneously makes clear what question is being answered. The same is the case here. Here too, the answer itself states the subject of the question. The fact that the second sentence begins with the word “but” after the first sentence proves that, even after one statement of the questioner had been answered in the first sentence, another question remained. It was answered in the second sentence. They had received the answer to their question—“Muhammad (peace be upon him) has married his daughter-in-law”—in the first sentence. Their subsequent question was: What need was there to do this? The answer was: “But he is Allah’s Messenger and the last prophet.” In other words, it is like someone saying, “Zayd did not stand, but Bakr stood.” This means that even after an answer had been given through the words “Zayd did not stand,” another question remained for the questioner: If Zayd did not stand, then who did stand? The sentence “but Bakr stood” was given in answer to that question.]

Then, to emphasize it further, He says: “And the last of the prophets.” That is, if no law- and society-reforming ordinance had been instituted during his era, then after him not only would no messenger come, no prophet would come either to complete this task. Therefore, the need to abolish the customs and conventions of the Age of Ignorance has arisen now, and he himself will complete this task.

Then, with still greater emphasis, He says: “And Allah has knowledge of all things.” That is, only Allah knows why it is necessary at this moment to have this evil custom abolished through the help of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and what harm would result from not doing so. He knows that no other prophet will come from Him. Therefore, if this evil custom is not abolished with the help of the last prophet, no second person will come afterward who could eradicate it; if he wished to eradicate it, it would be removed forever from among the Muslims throughout the world. Even if later reformers were to eradicate it, none of their work would possess such eternal and universal authority that people in every country and every age would be obliged to follow them, nor would any of their personalities be regarded as so pure and holy that, merely because an action was his Sunnah, all hatred, hesitation, and doubt concerning it would instantly be cleansed from people’s hearts.

The Verdict of the Qur’an’s Context

In the present age, a group has created the tribulation of a new prophethood. They interpret the term ‘Khatam an-Nabiyyin’ as “the seal of the prophets.” They intend to suggest that, after being sealed by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), many more prophets will come into the world. Or, in other words, no one can become a prophet until his prophethood has been sealed by the Messenger of Allah.

But if the verse containing the term “Khatam an-Nabiyyin” is judged within the particular circumstances in which it was related, there is no opportunity whatsoever to derive this meaning from it. Moreover, once this meaning is accepted, the need to use the term in this context disappears, and it becomes contrary to the actual purpose of the statement. Is it not utterly irrelevant and out of place that, while answering the alleged objection to Zaynab’s marriage and the various doubts arising from it, it should suddenly be said in the middle: Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the seal of the prophets—that is, all the prophets who come in the future will be sealed by him? The sudden appearance of this statement amid the preceding and following events is not merely irrelevant; it also weakens the argument being presented in answer to the objectors. In such circumstances, the objectors would have received an excellent opportunity, and could easily have said: It would have been better if you had not completed this task during your lifetime; there would have been no possibility of any danger. If abolishing this evil custom was so necessary, then let the prophets who come after you, sealed by you, complete this task.

The aforementioned group has adopted another distorted meaning of the term: ‘Khatam an-Nabiyyin’ means ‘Afḍal an-Nabiyyin’—that is, the door of prophethood remains open, but prophethood attained perfection in the Messenger of Allah. Yet accepting this meaning also does not spare them from the recurrence of the previously mentioned confusion. It has no connection with the surrounding context either. Rather, it conveys a meaning completely contrary to the sequence of events before and after it. The unbelievers and hypocrites could have said: Sir, even if those who come after you are of lower rank than you, since another prophet is coming after you, why not leave this task to them? What logical justification is there for requiring you alone to eliminate this evil custom?

Lexical Meaning

Thus, in relation to the preceding and following events, it can be stated without doubt that here the term Khatam an-Nabiyyin means declaring the conclusion of the chain of prophethood. That is, no prophet will come after the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). But this is true not only in terms of the surrounding context; it is also the only correct meaning from the lexical standpoint. According to Arabic dictionaries and usage, the word ‘khatm’ means to affix a seal, to close, to reach the end, and to complete a task and be released from responsibility.

Khatama al-ʿamal (******) means: faragha min al-ʿamal (*****), that is, you have completed the work. Khatama al-ināʾ (*****) means: he closed the mouth of the vessel and sealed it, so that nothing could come out from inside it and nothing from outside could enter it.

Khatama al-kitāb (*****) means: he closed the letter and sealed it, so that the letter would be preserved.

Khatama ʿalā al-qalb (******) means: he placed a seal upon the heart. Thereafter, it could no longer understand anything from outside, nor could any settled thought within it come out.

Khitām kulli mashrūb (****) means: the taste experienced after drinking a beverage.

Khātimat kulli shayʾin ʿāqibatuhu wa ākhiratuhu (Arabic **********), that is, the khātimah of everything means its consequence and its end.

Khatama ash-shayʾa balagha ākhirahu (Arabic ***********), that is, to bring something to its khatm means that it has reached its end. This meaning is intended by khatm of the Qur’an, and on this basis the final verse of every surah is called a khawātim.

Khātim al-qawm ākhiruhum (Arabic *********), that is, khātim al-qawm means the last person of the nation (see: Lisān al-ʿArab, Qāmūs, and Aqrab al-Mawārid). [Here I have mentioned only three dictionaries. But why only these three? Open any reliable dictionary of the Arabic language and you will find there the interpretation of the word ‘khatm’ given above. But those who deny the finality of prophethood have completely avoided one lexical meaning in order to break into the protected house of God’s religion. They wish to say that when a person is called ‘Khātam ash-Shuʿarā’, ‘Khātam al-Fuqahā’, or ‘Khātam al-Mufassirīn’, it is not understood to mean that no poet, jurist, or Qur’anic exegete was born after the person given that title. Rather, it means that the perfection of the aforementioned knowledge or art reached its completion in that person. Or, because such titles are sometimes used to exalt something greatly, the lexical meaning of khatm never becomes ‘complete’ or ‘superior’, and using it to mean ‘last’ is not considered incorrect.]

Only someone ignorant of grammatical principles can say such a thing. It is not the rule of any language that, because a word is occasionally used in a remotely related sense instead of its original meaning, that secondary sense becomes its primary meaning and its original lexical use becomes prohibited. When you say before an Arab:

(Jāʾa khātam al-qawm)—he will never think that the most excellent or perfect person of the tribe has arrived. Rather, he will understand that everyone in the tribe has arrived, right up to the last person. ]

That is why all lexicographers and Qur’anic commentators unanimously understand the term ‘Khatam an-Nabiyyin’ to mean ākhir an-nabiyyin—that is, the last of the prophets. According to Arabic dictionaries and usage, ‘khātim’ does not mean the post-office seal placed on a letter before it is mailed; rather, it means the seal placed over the opening of an envelope so that nothing inside can come out and nothing outside can enter.

The Sayings of the Messenger of Allah

The meaning of the term established by the surrounding context and its lexical sense is also supported by various explanations of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). By way of example, I mention here several hadiths:

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(1) The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: The prophets of Allah governed the Children of Israel. Whenever a prophet died, another prophet succeeded him. But after me there will be no prophet; there will only be caliphs.

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(2) The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: My example in relation to the prophets who came before me is that of a man who built a house, beautified it, and adorned it beautifully, but left one brick-space empty in one corner. People walked around the building, admiring its beauty and saying, “Why has a brick not been placed here?” Thus, I am that brick, and I am the last prophet. (That is, after my coming, the building of prophethood has reached completion; there is now no empty space in it that would require another prophet to fill it.)

Four hadiths of this kind are cited in Sahih Muslim, in the chapter of Khatam an-Nabiyyin in the Book of Virtues. The following additional passage occurs in the final hadith: (Arabic *********) “Then I came and brought the chain of the prophets to an end.”

The same hadith, with the same wording, is narrated in Jamiʿ at-Tirmidhi, in the chapter on the excellence of the Prophet in the Book of Virtues and in the chapter on parables in the Book of Etiquette.

The hadith is cited in Musnad Abi Dawud al-Tayalisi through the chain of narration of the hadith narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah, and its final portion is: (Arabic *********) “Through me, the chain of the prophets was brought to an end.”

A hadith of this kind, with slight variations in wording, has been narrated in Musnad Ahmad from Hazrat Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, Hazrat Abu Saʿid al-Khudri, and Hazrat Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with them).

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(3) The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “I have been granted superiority over the other prophets in six matters: (1) I have been given the ability to speak concise words of comprehensive meaning. (2) I have been aided with might and authority. (3) The spoils of war have been made lawful for me. (4) The earth has been made for me a mosque—that is, in my Shariah, prayer may be performed not only in designated places of worship but anywhere in the world—and its soil a means of purification—that is, purification may be attained not only with water but also through dry ablution with earth, thereby performing the functions of ablution and bathing. (5) I have been sent as a Messenger to the whole world. And (6) the chain of the prophets has been brought to an end through me.”

(4) The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “The chain of messengership and prophethood has been brought to an end. No messenger or prophet will come after me.”

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(5) The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “I am Muhammad. I am Ahmad. I am the Effacer; through me disbelief will be effaced. I am the Gatherer; after me, people will be gathered on the Field of Resurrection. (That is, after me only the Day of Judgment remains.) I am the one who comes last—and the one who comes last is the one after whom no prophet will come.”

(Arabic *********)

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Allah certainly sent no prophet who did not warn his community about the Antichrist. (But he did not emerge during their era.) Now I am the last prophet, and you are the last community. The Antichrist will certainly emerge among you now.”

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(7) Abd al-Rahman ibn Jubayr said: I heard Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As say that one day the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came out of his home and joined us. He came as though he were bidding us farewell. He said three times, “I am the unlettered prophet Muhammad.” Then he said, “There is no prophet after me.”

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(8) The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: There is no prophethood after me. There remain only glad tidings. He was asked, “O Messenger of God, what are the glad tidings?” He replied: “A good dream.” Or he said, “A blessed dream.” (That is, there is now no possibility of divine revelation descending. At most, it may be said that if Allah the Exalted gives someone an indication, it will be given only through a good dream.)

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(9) The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: If there were to be a prophet after me, Umar ibn Khattam would have attained that distinction.

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(10) The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said to Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him): Your relationship to me is like the relationship of Aaron to Moses. But there is no prophet after me.

Bukhari and Muslim also narrated this hadith in connection with their account of the Battle of Tabuk. Two hadiths with this content have been narrated in Musnad Ahmad from Hazrat Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas. The concluding portion of one narration is: (Arabic *********) “But there is no prophethood after me.” From the detailed accounts cited by Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi, Imam Ahmad, and Muhammad Ishaq, it is known that before setting out for the Battle of Tabuk, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) decided to leave Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) behind to guard and maintain Medina Tayyibah. The hypocrites began making various remarks about this. Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), “O Messenger of God, are you leaving me behind among the children and women?” The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) consoled him, saying, “Your relationship to me is like the relationship of Aaron to Moses.” That is, just as Hazrat Moses (peace be upon him), when going to Mount Sinai, left Hazrat Aaron behind to care for the Children of Israel, so I am leaving you behind to guard Medina. But at once the Messenger of Allah became concerned that this comparison with Hazrat Aaron might later give rise to a tribulation. Therefore, immediately afterward he clarified the matter, saying, “No person will be a prophet after me.”

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(11) Hazrat Thawban narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: There will be thirty liars among my community. Each of them will claim to be a prophet, whereas there is no prophet after me.

Another hadith with this content was narrated by Abu Dawud in the Book of Battles and Tribulations from Hazrat Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). Tirmidhi also narrated these two hadiths from Hazrat Thawban and Hazrat Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). The wording of the second narration is as follows:

(Arabic *********)

That is, as many as thirty impostors will appear. Each of them will claim that he is Allah’s Messenger.

(12) The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Among the Children of Israel who lived before us were many people with whom divine discourse took place, although they were not prophets. If there is such a person among my community, it will be Umar.

In the hadith with this content cited in Muslim, the word (****) is used instead of (****). But the two words, mukallim and muhaddath, are synonymous. That is, they refer to a person with whom Allah the Exalted has spoken, or to one who is spoken to from behind a veil. This shows that if anyone in this community, without being a prophet, is blessed with speaking with Allah, that person will be none other than Hazrat Umar.

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(13) The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: There is no prophet after me, and there is no community after my community—that is, no community of a future prophet.

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(14) The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: I am the last Prophet, and my mosque (that is, the Prophet’s Mosque) is the last mosque. [Those who deny the finality of prophethood argue from this hadith that just as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) called his mosque the last mosque, although it is not the last mosque—for countless mosques have been built throughout the world since then—in the same way, when he said that he was the last Prophet, this means that prophets will come after him. Of course, in terms of superiority, he is the last Prophet and his mosque is the last mosque. In reality, however, such distorted interpretations merely prove that these people have lost the ability to understand the meaning of the words of Allah and His Messenger. If all the hadiths on this subject found in the place where this hadith is narrated in Sahih Muslim are considered together, it will become clear in what sense the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) called his mosque the last mosque. The reports narrated here by Imam Muslim from Hadhrat Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), Hadhrat Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and Hadhrat Maymunah (may Allah be pleased with her) state that there are only three mosques in the world that possess superiority over ordinary mosques. Prayer performed there earns a thousand times more reward than prayer in other mosques, and for this reason travel is permissible solely for the purpose of praying in these three mosques. Among the remaining mosques of the world, it is not permissible to travel specifically to one mosque, leaving aside all the others, for the purpose of praying there. The first of these is the Sacred Mosque. Hadhrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him) built it. The second is the Aqsa Mosque. Hadhrat Sulayman (peace be upon him) built it, and the third is the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah Tayyibah, which was built by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). The meaning of the Messenger of Allah’s (peace be upon him) statement is that, since no prophet will come after me, after my mosque no fourth mosque will be built in the world where the reward of prayer will be greater than in other mosques and to which travel for the purpose of praying will be permissible.

Many Companions narrated these hadiths from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and many hadith scholars cited them with extremely strong and reliable chains of transmission. After studying them, it becomes clear that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), using different words in different ways and in different circumstances, made it clear that he was the last Prophet. No prophet would come after him. The chain of prophethood had ended with him, and anyone who claimed after him to be a messenger or prophet would be a Dajjal and a liar. What stronger, more reliable, and more authoritative explanation of the Qur’an’s words ‘Khatam al-Nabiyyin’ could there be than this? The words of the Messenger of Allah themselves are the decisive authority and proof here. Moreover, when they explain a verse of the Qur’an, they become an even stronger proof. The question now is: who understood the Qur’an better than Muhammad (peace be upon him), and who has a greater right than him to explain it? Who is there whose interpretation of the finality of prophethood we would be prepared even to consider, let alone accept?

The Consensus of the Companions

After the Qur’an and Sunnah, the consensus, or agreement, of the noble Companions is the third important matter. All reliable historical accounts prove that immediately after the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), the noble Companions collectively fought against all those who claimed prophethood and all those who accepted their prophethood. The case of Musaylimah the Liar is particularly noteworthy in this regard. He did not deny the prophethood of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him); rather, he claimed that he too had been made a partner in the prophethood of the Messenger of Allah. The exact words of the letter he sent to him before the death of the Messenger of Allah were as follows:

“That is: From Musaylimah, the Messenger of Allah, to Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. Peace be upon you. You should know that I have been made a partner with you in the matter of prophethood.”

Even after he had thus clearly acknowledged the Muhammadan messengership, he was declared outside Islam and war was waged against him. History also proves that the Banu Hanifah sincerely believed in him. They had, of course, fallen into the misconception that Muhammad (peace be upon him) himself had made him a partner in his prophethood. There is another point as well: a man from Madinah Tayyibah had learned the Qur’an and, going to the Banu Hanifah, presented Qur’anic verses to them as verses revealed to Musaylimah.

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Despite this, the noble Companions did not acknowledge him as a Muslim and fought against him. [Those who deny the finality of prophethood quote the following alleged report from Hadhrat A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) in opposition to the hadith of the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him): “Say: Indeed, he is the Seal of the Prophets; do not say that there is no prophet after him.” First, citing a statement attributed to Hadhrat A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) in order to reject the clear command of the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) is audacious. Moreover, the above statement attributed to Hadhrat A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) is not reliable at all. It is not mentioned in any authoritative work of hadith. No famous compiler of hadith has recorded or cited this hadith.

The above hadith was taken from a tafsir called Dar-i Manthur and from an unfamiliar hadith collection called Takmilah Majma‘ al-Bihar; nothing is known about its origin or reliability. To cite the words of Hadhrat A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) in order to reject a clear hadith narrated by the Messenger (peace be upon him) or by famous hadith narrators through highly reliable chains is sheer audacity.] Nor is there any opportunity to say that the Companions did not declare war against him because he had left Islam, but fought him merely because he had rebelled. Under Islamic law, even when rebellious Muslims are fought, their prisoners of war cannot be enslaved. Indeed, if even a protected non-Muslim (dhimmi) declares a rebellion, it is not permissible to enslave him after arrest. But during the war against Musaylimah and his followers, Hadhrat Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) declared that their girls and underage boys would be enslaved, and after their capture it was found that they had indeed been enslaved. Hadhrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) took possession of one of their female prisoners of war. The son born to this captive woman was Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, who later became a universally known figure in Islamic history.

(Arabic *********) This makes it clear that the crime for which the noble Companions fought him was not rebellion; rather, it was that one man claimed prophethood after Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), while other people believed in his prophethood. This action was taken immediately after the death of the Messenger of Allah. Hadhrat Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) led it, and the entire body of the Companions advanced together under his leadership. What clearer example of the consensus of the Companions could there be?

The Consensus of the Ulama

In the Shariah, after the consensus of the Companions, the strongest proof at the fourth level is the consensus of the scholars of the generations after the Companions. Judged from this perspective, it can be seen that from the first century of the Hijrah until today, the scholars of every age and of every region of the entire Muslim world have always agreed that:

“No person can be a prophet after Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Whoever claims prophethood after him, and whoever accepts this false claim, is an unbeliever and has no place within the millah of Islam.”

I present some proofs regarding this:

(1) During the era of Imam Abu Hanifah (80–150 AH), a man claimed prophethood and said: “Give me an opportunity; I will present a sign of prophethood.”

Hearing this, the Imam said: Whoever asks him for a sign of prophethood will also become an unbeliever. For the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: (******) There is no prophet after me.

(Arabic *********)

(2) Allamah Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (224–310 AH), while discussing the verse (Arabic *******) in his famous Qur’anic tafsir, wrote:

(Arabic *******)

That is: “He has ended prophethood and placed a seal upon it; its door will not be opened for anyone until the Day of Resurrection.” (Tafsir Ibn Jarir, vol. 22, p. 12)

(3) Allamah Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi (384–456 AH) wrote: Certainly, the chain of revelation came to an end after the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). The evidence for this is that revelation comes only to a prophet, and the Almighty Allah said: “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last of the prophets.” (Al-Muhalla, vol. 1, p. 26).

(4) Imam Ghazali (450–505 AH) said: “The entire Muslim community has unanimously understood from this statement that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) clearly stated that no messenger or prophet would come after him, and there is no opportunity here to assign it a special meaning or to twist and strain the wording to derive a second meaning from it. Whoever strains it to derive a second meaning will be making an absurd statement based purely on imagination, and there is no obstacle to issuing a verdict of unbelief against him on the basis of his statement. For he has declared false the verse of the Qur’an concerning which the entire Muslim community unanimously holds that no second meaning may be assigned to it and no other meaning can be extracted from it by twisting and straining it.” (Al-Iqtisad fi al-I‘tiqad, p. 113)

(5) Muhyi al-Sunnah al-Baghawi (died 510 AH) wrote in his tafsir Ma‘alim al-Tanzil: Through the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), Allah Most High brought the chain of prophethood to an end. Thus, he is the last Prophet, and Ibn Abbas says that Allah Most High has decided in this verse that there is no prophet after Muhammad (peace be upon him). (vol. 3, p. 158)

(6) Allamah al-Zamakhshari (467–538 AH) wrote in Tafsir al-Kashshaf: If you say, “How can the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) be the last Prophet when Hadhrat Jesus (peace be upon him) will descend in the latter age?” I will say that the meaning of the Messenger of Allah being the last Prophet is that no one will be appointed to the office of prophethood after him. Hadhrat Jesus (peace be upon him) was made a prophet before the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). After his descent, he will follow the Messenger of Allah and pray facing his qiblah. That is, he will be included among the ummah of the Messenger of Allah. (vol. 2, p. 115)

(7) Qadi Iyad (died 544 AH) wrote: Whoever himself claims prophethood, or considers it permissible for anyone to attain prophethood through personal effort and rise to the rank of a prophet through spiritual purification (as some philosophers and misguided Sufis believe), and likewise whoever does not claim prophethood but claims that revelation descends upon him—all such people are unbelievers and are declaring the prophethood of the Messenger of Allah false. For he announced that he was the last Prophet and that no prophet would come after him, and he conveyed from Allah Most High that He had brought prophethood to an end and sent him for all humanity. The entire Muslim community agrees that the outward meaning of the statement must be accepted here, and agrees that there is no opportunity to adopt a second meaning. Therefore, in light of the Qur’an, hadith, and consensus, there is no doubt that the groups mentioned above are unbelievers. (Al-Shifa, vol. 2, pp. 270–271)

(8) Allamah al-Shahrastani (died 548 AH) wrote in his famous book Al-Milal wa al-Nihal: Whoever says that a prophet will come after Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)—apart from Hadhrat Jesus (peace be upon him)—there can be no disagreement between any two people regarding his being an unbeliever. (vol. 3, p. 249)

(9) Imam Razi (543–606 AH), while explaining the words ‘Khatam al-Nabiyyin’ in his Tafsir al-Kabir, said: The expression ‘Khatam al-Nabiyyin’ is used here because, if a prophet leaves some deficiency in explaining admonitions and injunctions, a prophet who comes after him can complete it. But the one after whom no prophet will come is exceedingly compassionate toward his ummah and gives them clear guidance. His example is like that of a father who knows that after his death his son will have no other guardian or patron. (vol. 6, p. 581)

(10) Allamah al-Baydawi (died 685 AH) wrote in his tafsir Anwar al-Tanzil: That is, he is the last Prophet. He has brought the chain of prophets to an end, or the chain of prophets has been sealed because of him. The descent of Hadhrat Jesus (peace be upon him) after him does not undermine the finality of prophethood, because he will descend within the religion of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). (vol. 4, p. 164)

(11) Allamah Hafiz al-Din al-Nasafi (died 810 AH) wrote in his tafsir Madarik al-Tanzil: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is Khatam al-Nabiyyin. That is, he is the last Prophet. No person will be made a prophet after him. As for Hadhrat Jesus (peace be upon him), he was appointed to the office of prophethood before the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). When he later descends, he will follow the Shariah of the Messenger of Allah. That is, he will be among the ummah of the Messenger of Allah. (p. 471)

(12) Allamah Ala al-Din al-Baghdadi (died 726 AH) wrote in his tafsir Khazin: (Arabic *****) That is, Allah’s Messenger has brought prophethood to an end. Therefore, there is no prophethood after him, and no one shares with him in this matter.

(Arabic ********) That is: “Allah knows that there is no prophet after him.” (pp. 371–472)

(13) Allamah Ibn Kathir (died 774 AH) wrote in his renowned tafsir: It is then clearly proved from the verse under discussion that when there is no prophet after the Messenger of Allah, the question of another messenger cannot arise. For messengership is a particular rank, while prophethood is more general than it. Every messenger is a prophet, but every prophet is not a messenger. Whoever claims this rank after the Messenger of Allah will be a liar, impostor, Dajjal, and misguided. No matter how much he may possess the power to cause upheavals contrary to the natural order or the power of magic, his claim cannot be accepted. Every person who claims this rank until the Day of Resurrection will be in the same condition. (vol. 3, pp. 493–494)

(14) Allamah Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (died 911 AH) wrote in his tafsir al-Jalalayn: “That is, Allah Most High knows that there is no prophet after the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). After the descent of Hadhrat Jesus (peace be upon him), he will act according to the Shariah of the Messenger of Allah.” (p. 768)

(15) Allamah Ibn Nujaym (died 970 AH) wrote in the famous book of usul al-fiqh, Al-Ashbah wa al-Nazair, in the chapter ‘Kitab al-Siyar’ of ‘Bab al-Riddah’: If anyone does not believe that Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is the last Prophet, he is not a Muslim. For knowing and accepting these statements is among the matters of the utmost necessity in religion. (p. 179)

(16) Mulla Ali al-Qari (died 1016 AH) wrote in Sharh Fiqh Akbar: “By unanimous agreement, claiming prophethood for any other person after our Messenger (peace be upon him) is unbelief.” (p. 202)

(17) Shaykh Ismail Haqqi (died 1137 AH), while discussing the explanation cited in Tafsir Ruh al-Bayan, wrote: The scholars have read the word ‘khatam’ with a fatḥah on the ta; its meaning is an instrument for ending, by means of which a seal is affixed.

That is, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came at the end of all the prophets, and through him a seal was placed upon the chain of prophets. In Persian we would call him ‘the seal of the prophets’; that is, through him the door of prophethood was sealed and closed, and the chain of prophets was brought to an end. Other readers have read it with a kasrah beneath it, ‘Khatim al-Nabiyyin.’ That is, the Messenger of Allah was the one who bestowed the seal; in other words, the one who sealed the prophets. In this way, this meaning becomes synonymous with ‘khatam.’ Thus, after the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), the scholars of his ummah would inherit from him only his representation. With his death, the inheritance of prophethood also came to an end, and the descent of Hadhrat Jesus (peace be upon him) after him does not undermine his prophethood. For being Khatim al-Nabiyyin means that no one will be made a prophet after him, while Hadhrat Jesus (peace be upon him) was made a prophet before him. Therefore, he will be included among the followers of the Messenger of Allah, pray facing the qiblah of the Messenger of Allah, and belong to his ummah. No revelation will descend upon Hadhrat Jesus (peace be upon him) at that time, nor will he institute any new rulings; rather, he will be a representative of the Messenger of Allah. Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama‘ah agree that there is no prophet after our Prophet. For Allah Most High has said: Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is the last Prophet. And the Messenger of Allah said: There is no prophet after me. Therefore, whoever now says that there is a prophet after Muhammad (peace be upon him) will be called an unbeliever, because he has denied the Qur’an; similarly, the person who doubts this will be called an unbeliever. For after clear proofs and arguments, truth has become distinct from falsehood. Whoever claims prophethood after Muhammad (peace be upon him), his claim will be invalid. (vol. 22, p. 188)

(18) Under the direction of Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir, the eminent scholars of the Indian subcontinent jointly compiled a book called Fatawa Alamgiri in the year 1200 AH. It states: If anyone believes that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is not the last Prophet, he is not a Muslim; and if he says that he is a messenger or prophet of Allah, a verdict of unbelief will be issued against him. (vol. 2, p. 263)

(19) Allamah al-Shawkani (died 1255 AH) wrote in his tafsir Fath al-Qadir: The entire Muslim community has read the ta of the word ‘khatim’ with a kasrah beneath it, while only one has read it with a fatḥah. The first means that the Messenger of Allah brought all the prophets to an end, that is, he came last; the second means that he is a seal for all the prophets, and through him the chain of prophets was sealed and closed. Thus, their evidence was made complete and perfect. (vol. 4, p. 275)

(20) Allamah al-Alusi (died 1280 AH) wrote in Tafsir Ruh al-Ma‘ani: The word prophet has a more general meaning than messenger. Therefore, the meaning of the Messenger being Khatam al-Nabiyyin is that he is also Khatam al-Mursalin. He is the last Prophet and the last Messenger; this means that after the people and jinn had been endowed with the quality of prophethood through him in this world, this quality disappeared forever. (vol. 22, p. 32)

Anyone who claims revelation of prophethood after the Messenger of Allah will be regarded as an unbeliever. There is no room for disagreement among Muslims on this matter. (vol. 22, p. 38)

“The Qur’an has proclaimed in unambiguous language that the Messenger of Allah is the last Prophet; the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah has explained this clearly; and the entire Muslim community has acted upon it. Therefore, anyone who makes a claim contrary to this will be regarded as an unbeliever.” (vol. 22, p. 39)

I have cited here the explanations and opinions of the foremost scholars, jurists, hadith scholars, and Qur’anic commentators of the Muslim world, from the Bengal and Indo-Pak subcontinent to Morocco and Andalusia, and from Turkey to Yemen. Along with their names, I have also given their dates of birth and death. From this it can be understood that the foremost scholars in Islamic history, from the first to the thirteenth century of the Hijrah, are included among them. I could also have cited the opinions of the scholars of the fourteenth century of the Hijrah, but I deliberately omitted them, because they were contemporaries of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani. Some may perhaps say that they explained this meaning of the finality of prophethood out of an attitude of opposition to Mirza Sahib. For this reason, I have cited here only the opinions of scholars from before Mirza Sahib’s age, since the question of their opposing Mirza Sahib cannot arise. These opinions conclusively prove that from the first century of the Hijrah until today, the entire Muslim world has unanimously understood the words ‘Khatam al-Nabiyyin’ to mean the last Prophet. Muslims of every age have held the same belief: after the Messenger of Allah, the door of prophethood has been closed forever. They have unanimously acknowledged that whoever claims to be a prophet or messenger after Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and whoever accepts his claim, becomes an unbeliever; at no time has even the slightest disagreement arisen among Muslims on this matter. In view of this discussion, therefore, every rational person can decide whether there is any room or opportunity to accept a second meaning contrary to the meaning of ‘Khatam al-Nabiyyin’ established by Arabic dictionaries, indicated by the context of the Qur’anic verse, explained by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) himself, agreed upon by the noble Companions, and acknowledged unambiguously and unanimously by the entire Muslim community from the era of the Companions until today—that is, to open the door of prophethood for a new claimant. And how can people be accepted as Muslims who have not merely expressed the notion of opening the door of prophethood, but have allowed one person to enter through that door into the edifice of prophethood and have even believed in his ‘prophethood’?

Three points must be considered in this regard.

Does God Have Any Hostility Toward Our Faith?

The first point is that the matter of prophethood is extremely important. In the view of the Qur’an, this matter is part of the fundamental creed of Islam; a person’s faith or disbelief depends on whether he accepts or rejects it. If someone is truly a prophet and people do not accept him, they become unbelievers. Conversely, even if a person is not a prophet, those who acknowledge him as a prophet also become unbelievers. In such a complicated situation, no kind of heedlessness can be expected from Allah Almighty. If another prophet were meant to come after Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, Allah Himself would have stated it in the Qur’an in clear and unambiguous language, publicly announced it through the Messenger of Allah, and the Messenger of Allah would never have departed from this world until he had fully informed the entire Ummah that more prophets would come after him and that we would all be obliged to accept them. The door of prophethood would remain open after the Messenger of Allah, and a prophet would enter through that door, without believing in whom we could not remain Muslims. Yet we have not merely been kept uninformed about this; on the contrary, Allah and His Messenger have jointly said things that led the entire Ummah, for thirteen hundred years, to believe—and still believe today—that no prophet would come after Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Why have Allah and His Messenger treated us in this way? Allah and His Messenger certainly have no enmity toward our religion and faith!

For the sake of argument, if it is accepted that the door of prophethood remains open and that, after a prophet comes, we may reject him fearlessly and without concern, then the only fear could be of being questioned before Allah. But if, on the Day of Resurrection, He demands an explanation from us concerning this, we will straightforwardly present the aforementioned records before His court. At the very least, this would prove that—God forbid—it was the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger that cast us into this unbelief! We can confidently say that, after seeing these records, Allah will not punish us for failing to believe in a new prophet. But if the door of prophethood has truly been closed, no new prophet can come, and despite all this someone believes in claimants to prophethood, he should consider whether, to escape the sin of this unbelief, he will be able to present any record before Allah by which he may hope to gain deliverance. The evidence and proofs collected for his own accountability should be examined here, before appearing in court. In view of the proofs we have presented, he should judge whether any intelligent person could rely on the defense for which he is undertaking this act and willingly expose himself to the danger of suffering the punishment for unbelief.

Why Is a Prophet Needed Now?

The second point is that no person can develop the quality of prophethood within himself through progress in worship and righteous deeds. The qualification for prophethood is not something that can be acquired. Prophethood is not granted to a person as a reward for some great service. Rather, Allah Almighty grants this status to a particular person when there is a special need. When that need arises, Allah establishes a person in this status; and when there is no need, or when the need no longer exists, Allah does not needlessly continue sending prophet after prophet. When we try to learn from the Noble Qur’an in what circumstances the sending of a prophet becomes necessary, we find four such situations:

** The need to send a prophet to a particular nation arises because no prophet has previously come to them and the message of a prophet sent to another nation has not reached them.

** The need to send a prophet arises because the concerned nation forgets the teachings of previously sent prophets, or those teachings become distorted, making it impossible to follow the path they showed.

** The education of the people has not reached completion through the previously sent prophets, and an additional prophet is needed to complete the religion.

** Another prophet is needed to assist and support a particular prophet.

The foregoing discussion makes it clear that no prophet is needed after the Messenger of Allah.

The Qur’an itself says that the Messenger of Allah was sent as a guide for the entire world. The cultural history of the world shows that, since he received prophethood, conditions have prevailed throughout the world that enable his message to reach all nations at all times. There is therefore no need to send separate messengers to each nation.

The Qur’an also says this, and all the reports in the Hadith and Sirah likewise bear witness that the teachings of the Messenger of Allah have been preserved in a completely accurate and pure form. They have undergone no distortion or alteration. Not a single word has been added to or omitted from the Qur’an he brought, nor can this happen until the Day of Resurrection. The guidance he gave through his words and deeds is available to us today as though we were living in his own age. Thus, the second need has also come to an end.

The Noble Qur’an also clearly states that, through the Messenger of Allah, God’s religion was brought to completion. Therefore, no prophet is now needed for the completion of the religion either.

The fourth need now remains. My position regarding it is this: if a prophet had been needed for this purpose, he would have been sent alongside the Messenger of Allah during his lifetime. But everyone knows that no such prophet was sent during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah. Therefore, this reason is invalidated.

Now we wish to know what the fifth reason might be for a new prophet to come after the Messenger of Allah. If someone says that the entire Ummah has gone astray and therefore a new prophet is needed to reform it, we will ask him: Has any prophet ever come into the world merely for reform, so that another new prophet might appear solely for this purpose? Prophets are sent precisely to bring revelation, for revelation is sent to prophets alone. Revelation is needed either to deliver a new message or to protect a previous message from distortion. Once Allah’s Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah have been preserved, Allah’s religion has been perfected, and all possible need for revelation has ended, only the need for reform remains—not the need for a prophet.

A New Prophethood Today Is Not a Mercy for Muslims but a Curse

The third point is that whenever a prophet comes among a nation, the question of unbelief and faith immediately arises there. Those who accept that prophet become part of one Ummah, while those who reject him necessarily become part of a separate Ummah. The disagreement between these two communities will not remain at the level of a partial difference, with the result that the two groups can never unite so long as one of them does not abandon its creed and beliefs. In practice, the sources of guidance and law for each will also be different. One group will formulate its laws from the revelation and Sunnah of its own prophet, while the second group will first reject accepting these two as sources of its law. Therefore, it will never be possible to create a single society through their union.

After observing these radiant truths, anyone can clearly understand that the Finality of Prophethood is a great mercy from Allah Almighty for the Muslim nation. By virtue of it, the entire Muslim nation has been able to join an everlasting, worldwide brotherhood. This has protected Muslims from all fundamental disagreements that would have sown the seeds of perpetual separation among them. Thus, a person who acknowledges Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, as a guide and leader, and does not wish to turn toward any source of guidance other than the teaching he gave, can today belong to this brotherhood. Had the door of prophethood not been closed, the Muslim nation would never have found this unity, for the arrival of every prophet would have shattered it.

Human reason and conscience also support the view that, after a universal and complete religion has been given and preserved from every kind of distortion and alteration, the door of prophethood should close. As a result, with the coming of this final prophet, Muslims throughout the world can collectively remain members of one Ummah forever, and the arrival of new prophets without need cannot repeatedly create divisions within the Ummah. Whether the prophet is a ‘zilli’ prophet, or a ‘burūzī’ one, whether he has an Ummah, a Shariah, and a Book—in whatever capacity a person may be a prophet and be sent by God, the inevitable result of his coming will be that those who accept him will form one Ummah, while those who do not accept him will be regarded as unbelievers. This division becomes inevitable only when there is a genuine need for a prophet to be sent. But when there is no need for his coming, it cannot in any way be expected from God’s wisdom and mercy that He would needlessly involve His servants in a conflict between unbelief and faith and deny them the opportunity to belong collectively to one Ummah. Therefore, whatever is established by the Qur’an, Sunnah, and consensus is also acknowledged as sound by human reason and conscience, and it thereby becomes clear that the door of prophethood should remain closed at present.

The Significance of the ‘Promised Messiah’

Those who call people toward a new prophethood generally tell ignorant Muslims that the Hadith announces the coming of the ‘Promised Messiah.’ The Messiah was a prophet. Therefore, his coming does not in any way affect the Finality of Prophethood. Rather, both the Finality of Prophethood and the coming of the ‘Promised Messiah’ are equally true.

In this connection, they further say that Jesus, son of Mary, was not the ‘Promised Messiah.’ He has died. The person whose coming is foretold in the Hadith is a ‘likeness of the Messiah’—that is, a Messiah resembling Jesus. And he is the particular person who appeared recently. Accepting him does not contradict belief in the Finality of Prophethood.

To tear away the veil of this deception, I am reproducing here, with their sources, the authoritative Hadiths cited on this subject from reliable books of Hadith. By examining these Hadiths, everyone will be able to understand for himself what the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said and how he is being portrayed today.

Hadiths Concerning the Descent of Jesus (peace be upon him)

(Arabic **********)

(1) Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: By the One in whose hand is my life, surely Ibn Maryam will descend among you as a just ruler. Then he will break the cross and kill the swine. [Breaking the cross and killing the swine means that the existence of Christianity as a separate religion will disappear. The entire structure of the Christian religion rests on the belief that Allah crucified His only son—that is, Jesus (peace be upon him)—and granted him a death fulfilling the curse, thereby making atonement for the sins of all people. The difference between the Christians and the communities of the other prophets is that they accepted only this creed and then rejected all of God’s law. They even declared swine lawful, although it is forbidden in the law of all the prophets.]

Thus, when Jesus (peace be upon him) himself comes and says, “I am not the son of God; I was not crucified and killed, and I did not atone for anyone’s sins,” the foundation of Christian belief will be uprooted completely. Similarly, when he says, “I did not make swine lawful for my followers, nor did I free them from the restrictions of the Shariah,” the second distinguishing feature of Christianity will also be eradicated.

In other words, religious differences will then disappear and people will enter the one religion of Islam. As a result, there will be no need for war, and no one will pay jizyah. Hadiths 5 and 15 below prove this very point.] And he will put an end to war (in another narration, the word ‘jizyah’ is mentioned instead of war, meaning that he will abolish jizyah). Wealth will then increase so greatly that no one will remain to accept it, and the situation will reach the point where a person’s single prostration before God will seem more valuable to him than the world and everything in it.

(2) In another Hadith, Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that (Arabic **********)

The Hour will not be established until Jesus, son of Mary, descends….” It is then stated that this is fully consistent with the Hadith quoted above. —(Bukhari, Kitab al-Mazalim, Bab Kasr al-Salib; Ibn Majah, Kitab al-Fitan, Bab Fitnat al-Dajjal)

(Arabic **********)

(3) Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: What will your condition be when Ibn Maryam descends among you while your imam is appointed from among yourselves? [That is, Jesus (peace be upon him) will not lead the prayer. He will follow the previously appointed imam of the Muslims.]

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(4) Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Jesus, son of Mary, will descend. Then he will kill the swine and destroy the cross. Several prayers will be performed for him at one prayer time. He will distribute so much wealth that eventually no recipient will be found. He will abolish the land tax. Staying at a place called Rawha [Rawha is the name of a place twenty-five miles from Madinah], he will perform Hajj or Umrah from there, or both. (The narrator remained uncertain which of the two the Messenger of Allah said.)

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(5) Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that, after describing the emergence of the Dajjal, the Messenger of Allah said: Meanwhile, as the Muslims are preparing to fight him and forming their ranks, and the call to commence the prayer has been completed, Jesus, son of Mary, will descend and lead the Muslims in prayer. The enemy of God, the Dajjal, will begin to melt upon seeing him, just as salt dissolves in water. Even if Jesus (peace be upon him) leaves him in that state, he will melt and die. But Allah Almighty will kill him at the hands of Jesus (peace be upon him). He will show the Muslims the blade of his spear stained with the Dajjal’s blood.

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(6) Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: There is no prophet between me and him—that is, Jesus. He will descend. When you see him, recognize him at once. He will be of medium height, with a complexion blending red and white. He will wear two yellow garments. His hair will appear as though water is about to drip from it, although it will not be wet at all. He will fight people for the sake of Islam. He will break the cross into pieces and kill the swine. He will abolish the jizyah tax. In his time, Allah will eradicate all religions. He will kill the Antichrist, the Dajjal, and remain in the world for forty years. Then he will die, and the Muslims will perform his funeral prayer.

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(7) Jabir ibn Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: …Then Jesus, son of Mary, will descend. The commander of the Muslims will say to him, “Come, lead the prayer.” But he will say, “No, you are each the commander of the others.” [That is, your commander should be from among yourselves.] He will say this in view of the honor Allah Almighty has granted this Ummah.

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(8) Jabir ibn Abdullah narrated, concerning Ibn Sayyad, that Umar ibn al-Khattab then submitted, “O Messenger of Allah, permit me to kill him.” The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, “If he is that person—that is, the Dajjal—you will not be his killer; rather, Jesus, son of Mary, will kill him. And if he is not that person, you have no right to kill anyone from among the protected non-Muslims.”

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(9) Jabir ibn Abdullah narrated that, concerning the Dajjal, the Messenger of Allah said: At that time, Jesus, son of Mary, will suddenly appear among the Muslims. The people will then stand for prayer. He will be told, “O Spirit of Allah, come forward.” But he will say, “No, your imam should come forward; he will lead the prayer.” After the dawn prayer, the Muslims will go out to confront the Dajjal. The Messenger of Allah said: When that liar sees Jesus, he will begin to melt as salt dissolves in water. Then he will advance toward the Dajjal and kill him. At that time, the trees and stones will call out, “O Spirit of Allah, the Jew is hiding behind me!” None of the Dajjal’s followers will survive; all will be killed.

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(10) Nawwas ibn Sam‘an al-Kilabi narrated, concerning the Dajjal, that the Messenger of Allah said: While the Dajjal is doing these things, Allah Almighty will send the Messiah, son of Mary. He will descend near the white minaret in the eastern part of Damascus, wearing two yellow garments and resting his hands on the shoulders of two angels. When he lowers his head, it will seem that water is dripping from it; when he raises it, drops of water will appear to sparkle like pearls. The breath of any unbeliever it reaches—and its reach will extend as far as his sight—will cause him to die. Then Ibn Maryam will pursue the Dajjal and capture and kill him at the gate of Lydda. [It may be mentioned here that Lydda is located in Palestine, only a few miles from Tel Aviv, the capital of the present state of Israel. The Jews have built a large airport there.]

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(11) Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: The Dajjal will emerge among my Ummah and remain for forty—I do not know whether forty days, forty months, or forty years. [These are the words of Abdullah ibn Amr.] Then Allah will send Jesus, son of Mary. His appearance will resemble that of Urwah ibn Masud, a Companion. He will pursue the Dajjal and kill him. Then for seven years people will remain in such a condition that there will be no enmity between two people.

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(12) Hudhayfah ibn Asid al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that once the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to our gathering while we were engaged in discussion among ourselves. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) asked, “What are you discussing?” They replied, “We are discussing the Hour.” He said, “It will never be established before ten signs appear.” He then mentioned ten signs: first, the smoke; second, the Dajjal; third, the Beast of the Earth; fourth, the rising of the sun from the west; fifth, the descent of Jesus, son of Mary; sixth, Gog and Magog; seventh, three immense landslides—one in the east; eighth, one in the west; ninth, one in the Arabian Peninsula; and tenth, finally, a tremendous fire that will rise from Yemen and drive people toward the plain of resurrection.

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(13) Thawban (may Allah be pleased with him), the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: Allah Almighty has saved two armies of my Ummah from the Fire of Hell. One of them is the army that will attack India, and the second is the army that will remain with Jesus, son of Mary.

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(14) Mujammi ibn Jariyah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: Ibn Maryam will kill the Dajjal at the gate of Lydda.

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(15) Abu Umamah al-Bahili narrated, in a lengthy Hadith concerning the Dajjal, that when the imam of the Muslims comes forward to lead the dawn prayer, Jesus, son of Mary, will descend upon them at that very moment. The imam will step back to let Jesus (peace be upon him) come forward, but Jesus (peace be upon him) will place his hand on his shoulder and say, “No, you lead the prayer, for they have stood for you.” Thus, the imam will lead the prayer. After the salutation, Jesus (peace be upon him) will say, “Open the door.” The door will be opened. Outside, the Dajjal will be waiting with seventy thousand armed Jewish soldiers. As soon as his gaze falls upon Jesus (peace be upon him), he will begin to melt as salt dissolves in water, and he will turn his back and flee. Jesus (peace be upon him) will say, “I have a blow for you from which you can never escape.” Then he will go to the eastern gate of Lydda, seize him, and Allah Almighty will grant the Jews defeat….. The earth will be filled with Muslims as a vessel is filled with water. Everyone will profess belief in the same declaration of faith, and no one in the world will be worshipped except Allah.

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(16) Uthman ibn Abi al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: … and Jesus, son of Mary, peace be upon him, will descend at the time of the dawn prayer. The commander of the Muslims will say to him, “O Spirit of Allah, lead the prayer.” He will reply, “The people of this ummah are themselves leaders of one another.” Then the commander of the Muslims will step forward and lead the prayer. After the prayer, Jesus (peace be upon him) will advance toward the Dajjal with his army. He will kill the Dajjal with his weapon, and his followers will be defeated and flee. Yet nowhere will they find a place to hide. Even the trees will call out, “O believer, a disbeliever is hiding here.” And the stones will also call out, “O believer, a disbeliever is hiding here.”

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(17) Samurah ibn Jundub narrated in a lengthy hadith that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Then, in the morning, Jesus, son of Mary, will come among the Muslims, and Allah Most High will grant victory over the Dajjal and his army. Even the walls and the trunks of trees will call out, “O believer, a disbeliever is hiding behind me. Come and kill him!”

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(18) Ibn Husayn narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: There will always be a group among our ummah established upon the truth, and they will prevail over the opposing group. Eventually Allah Most High’s decree will come, and Jesus, son of Mary, peace be upon him, will descend.

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(19) Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated concerning the Dajjal that the Messenger of Allah said: Then Jesus, peace be upon him, will descend. He will kill the Dajjal. Thereafter, Jesus (peace be upon him) will remain in the world for forty years as a just imam and righteous ruler.

(Arabic **********)

(20) Safinah (may Allah be pleased with him), the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah, narrated concerning the Dajjal that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Then Jesus, peace be upon him, will descend, and Allah Most High will kill him near the mountain pass of Ufaik. [Ufaik is now called Faiq. It is the last town in present-day Syria on the Syrian-Israeli border. A few miles to the west lies a lake called Tiberias, the source of the Jordan River. To its southwest, in the middle of the mountains and in low-lying terrain, there is a road. This road descends nearly 1,500 feet and reaches the place from which the Jordan River flows out of Tiberias. This mountain route is called Aqabat Ufaik (the lower mountain pass of Ufaik).]

(Arabic **********)

(21) Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman narrated concerning the Dajjal that the Messenger of Allah said: Then, when the Muslims prepare for prayer, Jesus, son of Mary, will descend before their very eyes. He will lead the Muslims in prayer; then, after turning to conclude the prayer, he will say to the people, “Move away from between me and this enemy of Allah and mine…” And Allah Most High will grant the Muslims victory over the Dajjal and his forces.

The Muslims will continue killing them mercilessly. Eventually even the trees and stones will call out, “O servant of Allah, O servant of the Most Merciful, O Muslim! Look, there is a Jew here; kill him.” Thus Allah will destroy them, and the Muslims will achieve victory. They will break the crosses, kill the swine, and abolish the jizya. [The hadith has also been narrated in abbreviated form in Muslim, and Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani regarded it as sahih in volume six, page 550, of Fath al-Bari.

These 21 hadiths have been recorded in the reliable books of hadith, with sound chains of transmission, through 14 Companions. In addition, countless other hadiths on this subject have been recorded in other hadith collections. But, fearing that the discussion would become lengthy, I have not mentioned them here. I have quoted only those hadiths that are stronger and more reliable in terms of narration and chain of transmission.

What Do These Hadiths Prove?

Anyone who reads these hadiths can understand for himself that they contain no mention whatsoever of any “Promised Messiah,” “Messiah-like figure,” or “Buruzi Messiah.” Indeed, no person born in the present age from a father and a mother has any basis for claiming that he is the Messiah concerning whom the Prophet of the world, Muhammad Mustafa, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, foretold. These hadiths, in their unequivocal wording, announce the descent of Jesus, peace be upon him—the Jesus who was born two thousand years ago in the womb of Mary, peace be upon her, without a father. Whether he died or is living somewhere is entirely irrelevant to this discussion. Even if, for the sake of argument, it is accepted that he died, it may still be said that Allah has the power to bring him back to life. [Those who deny Allah’s power of resurrection should reflect on verse 259 of Surah al-Baqarah. In this verse Allah says that He kept one of His servants dead for 100 years and then brought him back to life.] Moreover, Allah can keep one of His servants alive for a thousand years in some place within this vast created universe and then return him to this world at any time He wishes. In view of Allah’s infinite power, this is not at all extraordinary. Needless to say, anyone who accepts the hadith as true must also accept that the person who will come in the future is the aforementioned Jesus, son of Mary. But one who rejects the hadith cannot, in reality, acknowledge the existence of any future arriver, because the belief in his coming has no basis anywhere other than the hadith. Yet the strange thing observed here is that the belief in the coming of the arriver is accepted from the hadith, while those very hadiths are rejected when they clearly state that the said arriver is not a “Messiah-like figure” but Jesus, son of Mary, peace be upon him.

The second clear and unequivocal point that emerges from these hadiths is that Jesus, son of Mary, peace be upon him, will not descend a second time as a prophet. No revelation will descend upon him. He will bring no new message or law from God. Nor will he make any addition to or subtraction from the Muhammadan Shariah. He will not be sent into the world for the revival of the religion of Islam. He will not call people to believe in him, nor will he form a separate ummah from those who believe in him. [Earlier scholars have presented this matter with great clarity. Allamah Aftabani (722–792 AH) wrote in Sharh al-Aqaid al-Nasafiyyah: “It is an established fact that Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is the last prophet… If it is said that the hadiths mention the coming of Jesus (peace be upon him) after him, I will say: Yes, it is true that the coming of Jesus (peace be upon him) has been mentioned; however, he will be a follower of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, because his Shariah has been abrogated. Therefore, no revelation will descend upon him, and he will not establish a new law. Rather, he will act as the representative of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).” (Printed in Egypt, p. 135.)

Allamah Alusi presented almost the same argument in his Qur’anic commentary Ruh al-Ma‘ani. He said: “Then Jesus, peace be upon him, will descend. He will, of course, retain the rank of prophethood previously granted to him, for he will not be removed from his former rank. However, he will not follow his former Shariah, because it has been abrogated for him and for all other people. Therefore, at present he will not establish the rulings of Islamic Shariah in any matter, from fundamental principles to details. Rather, he will be a representative of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and one of the rulers of the Muhammadan community among his ummah.” (Vol. 22, p. 32.)

Imam Razi expressed this point even more clearly in the following words: “The era of the prophets ended with Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. After the advent of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, the coming of prophets came to an end. Therefore, it is not at all unreasonable that, after Jesus (peace be upon him) descends in the present age, he will be a follower of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.” (Tafsir al-Kabir, vol. 3, p. 343.)] He will be sent into the world solely with a separate responsibility: namely, to destroy the Dajjal’s tribulation entirely. For this reason, he will descend in such a manner that there will be no room for any doubt among Muslims concerning his descent. The Muslims among whom he descends will understand without hesitation that he is the very Jesus, son of Mary, about whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prophesied, and that he has descended at the appointed time in accordance with the Messenger of Allah’s words. He will join the ranks of the Muslims and pray behind the imam of the Muslims of that time. [Although two hadiths (nos. 5 and 21) state that Jesus, peace be upon him, will lead the first prayer after descending, most hadiths—and particularly several strong ones (not nos. 3, 7, 9, 15, and 16)—indicate that he will decline to lead the prayer and will have the contemporary imam and leader of the Muslims step forward. The hadith scholars and Qur’an commentators have unanimously accepted this view.] The person leading the Muslims at that time will have him step forward precisely so that there can be no possibility of the misconception that he has returned to resume the prophetic mission with his own prophetic rank. It may be stated with certainty that, in any group, no other person can be imam or leader in the presence of God’s prophet. Thus, his inclusion in the Muslim community merely as an individual will spontaneously declare that he has not come as a prophet. Consequently, his coming raises no question whatsoever of the door of prophethood being opened.

Without doubt, his coming may be compared to the arrival of a former head of state during the tenure of the current head of state. In such circumstances, the former head of state may participate in state affairs under the current head of state. Anyone of ordinary understanding can easily see that the mere arrival of one former head of state during the tenure of another does not break the law. However, violation of the law becomes unavoidable in two situations. First, if the former head of state returns and tries to assume the office of head of state anew. Second, if someone denies his status and responsibilities as the head of state. For that would amount to challenging the validity of the acts carried out during his statehood. Unless one of these two situations arises, the mere arrival of the former head of state cannot alter the legal position in any way. The matter of the second coming of Jesus (peace be upon him) is similar. His mere arrival does not shatter the finality of prophethood. But if he comes and assumes the office of a prophet and continues to perform the prophetic duty, or if someone denies even the status of his former prophethood, then Allah’s law concerning prophethood would be broken. On the one hand, the hadith clearly declares that there is no prophet after Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him); on the other, it informs us that Jesus, peace be upon him, will descend again. It is therefore clear that this second coming will not be for the purpose of performing the prophetic mission.

Similarly, his coming will not create any new question of disbelief and faith among the Muslims. Even today, anyone who does not believe in his earlier prophethood becomes a disbeliever. Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), himself believed in that prophethood. The entire ummah of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), has believed in him from the beginning. The same situation will remain unchanged at the time of Jesus’s (peace be upon him) second coming. The Muslims will not believe in a new prophethood; rather, just as today, on that day too they will believe in the earlier prophethood of Jesus, son of Mary (peace be upon him). Just as this situation does not oppose the finality of prophethood today, it will not oppose it then either.

The final point that can be derived from these and many other hadiths is that the Dajjal who will be sent to eliminate the worldwide tribulation of the Dajjal by Jesus (peace be upon him) will be of Jewish origin. He will present himself as the “Messiah.” Anyone unfamiliar with Jewish history and their religious thought and beliefs will be unable to grasp the significance of this matter. After the death of Solomon, peace be upon him, when the Children of Israel fell victim to social and religious decline and political downfall, and this decline continued for a long time—until at last the rulers of Babylon and Assyria subjugated them, expelled them from their country, and scattered them across various regions of the world—the prophets of the Children of Israel continued giving them the good news that a “Messiah” from God would come and free them from this extreme humiliation. In light of these prophecies, the Jews were awaiting the coming of a Messiah. He would be a king. He would conquer lands through warfare. He would bring the Children of Israel from various countries and gather them in Palestine, establishing a powerful state for them. But when Jesus, son of Mary (peace be upon him), came as the “Messiah” from God, without any army, thereby proving these hopes and aspirations false, the Jews refused to accept him as the “Messiah.” They attempted to kill him. From that time until today, the Jewish world has awaited the Promised Messiah whose coming had been announced to them. Their literature is filled with fantasies and stories of the happy age they desire. For hundreds of years, the Jewish nation has sustained itself by savoring the imagined picture developed in the Talmud and rabbinical literature. They sit with hearts full of hope that this Promised Messiah will be a powerful military and political leader. He will bring under Jewish control once again the entire area from the Nile to the Euphrates—which the Jews regard as their “inherited territory”—and gather Jews here from all over the world.

If we look at the present situation in the Middle East and analyze events in the light of the prophecies of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), it will be seen that, as the Great Prophet said, the stage has been completely prepared for the coming of the principal Dajjal, who will play the role of the Jews’ “Promised Messiah.” Muslims have been dispossessed of the greater part of Palestine. A Jewish state called Israel has been established there. Jews from various countries around the world are settling there in large groups. America, Britain, and France have transformed it into a great military power. With the assistance of Jewish capitalists, Jewish scientists and industrialists are rapidly advancing it along the path of progress. Their power has become a great danger to the surrounding Muslim countries. The rulers of this state have by no means hidden their desire to seize this “inherited land”.

(Map *****************)

They have not concealed it. A reproduction of the blueprint for the future Jewish state that they have been publishing for a long time is provided on the following page. This map shows that they wish to extend their empire over the entire areas of Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan; almost all of Iraq; Iskenderun in Turkey; the Sinai and delta regions of Egypt; and even the highlands of the Hejaz and Najd in Arabia, including Medina al-Munawwarah. In view of this situation, it is clear that, amid the uproar of some future world war, they will attempt to seize those territories, and at that very time the alleged principal Dajjal will appear as their Promised Messiah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not merely announce his coming; he also said that at that time mountains of calamity would fall upon the Muslims, and each day would seem to them like a year. For this reason, he himself sought refuge with God from the tribulation of the Antichrist Messiah and instructed the Muslims also to seek refuge.

To confront this Antichrist Messiah, Allah will not send a “Messiah-like figure”; rather, He will send the true Messiah. Two thousand years ago, the Jews refused to accept this true Messiah and, according to what they knew, attempted to remove him from the face of the earth by crucifying him. This true Messiah will not descend in India, Africa, or America; rather, he will descend in Damascus, because war will then be raging there. Please look at the map on the following page as well. It shows that Damascus lies only 50 to 60 miles from Israel’s border. If one remembers the content of the hadith I mentioned earlier, it will be easy to understand that the Antichrist Messiah will enter Syria with an army of 70,000 Jews and appear before Damascus. At that very moment, Jesus, peace be upon him, will descend near a white minaret in the eastern part of Damascus after the true dawn, and after the Fajr prayer he will set out with the Muslims to confront the Dajjal. Under his fierce attack, the Dajjal will retreat toward Israel through the mountain pass of Ufaik (see hadith no. 211). But he will continue pursuing him. Eventually, the Dajjal will be killed by his hand at Lydda Airport (hadiths nos. 10, 14, and 15). Then Jews will be seized and killed everywhere, and the Jewish nation will cease to exist (hadiths nos. 9, 15, and 21). After the truth is manifested by Jesus (peace be upon him), the Christian religion will also disappear (hadiths nos. 1, 2, 4, and 6), and all religious communities will merge into the Muslim millah (hadiths nos. 6 and 15).

This unequivocal truth has emerged from the hadith without any obscurity or ambiguity. After this lengthy discussion, there can be no doubt that the enterprise being conducted in our country in the name of the “Promised Messiah” is nothing more than a colossal fraud.

I now wish to present the most comical aspect of this fraud. The person who declared himself identical with the Messiah mentioned in this prophecy offered the following amusing statement to establish that he himself was Jesus, son of Mary:

“He—that is, Allah—named me Mary in the third part of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya. Then, as was revealed in Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, I was nurtured for two years with the qualities of Mary…. Then … the spirit of Jesus, peace be upon him, was breathed into me in the manner of Mary, and I was made pregnant metaphorically. Finally, after a few months—no more than ten months—through that inspiration mentioned in the fourth part of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, I was transformed from Mary into Jesus. Thus, I became Jesus, son of Mary.” (Kashti-e-Nuh, pp. 87, 88, 89.)

In other words, first he became Mary, then he made himself pregnant. After that, he was born from his own womb as Jesus, son of Mary. Yet another problem arose: according to the hadith, Jesus, son of Mary, would descend in Damascus. Damascus has been a famous and universally known city of Syria for several thousand years. Even today, this city is marked by that name on the map of the world. Thus, this problem was resolved through another amusing statement:

“It should be noted that the meaning of the word Damascus was revealed to me by Allah as follows: the name Damascus was given to a city where people live who possess the nature of Yazid and follow the habits and thinking of the impure Yazid. … This city of Qadian corresponds and bears a relationship to Damascus because most of the people living here possess a Yazidi nature.” (Izala-e-Auham, footnote, pp. 63–73.)

One more difficulty still remains. According to the hadith, Ibn Maryam will descend near a white minaret. This problem was easily solved: the Promised Messiah himself came and built his own minaret. Now tell me, who will explain to him that, according to the hadith’s description, the minaret would already be there before Ibn Maryam descended? Yet here we see that the minaret was built after the arrival of the Promised Messiah.

The final and most complicated problem still remains. That is, according to the hadith, Jesus, son of Mary (peace be upon him), will kill the Dajjal at the entrance to Lydda. In trying to solve this problem, many nonsensical things were said at first. At one point it was acknowledged that Lydda was the name of a village in Bayt al-Muqaddas (Izala-e-Auham, published by Anjuman Ahmadiyya, Lahore, abridged edition, p. 220). At another point it was said: “Lydda applies to people who quarrel needlessly. … When the Dajjal’s needless quarrelling reaches its height, the Promised Messiah will appear and bring all his quarrelling to an end” (Izala-e-Auham, p. 730). But even after all this failed to solve the problem, it was plainly declared that Lydda (Lud in Arabic) means the city of Ludhiana in Punjab. And killing the Dajjal at the entrance to Ludhiana means that, despite the opposition of the wicked, the first pledge of allegiance to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib took place here. (Al-Huda, p. 91.)

Any person of sound conscience who impartially reviews these statements and accounts will be compelled to conclude that a liar and a shape-shifter have been performing in broad daylight.

-:The End:-