End of Prophet hood
The news given by Jesus (sws) of the Kingdom of Heaven and of
its signs has been explained in detail in the beginning of
this book. One of the characteristics stated by Jesus
regarding the prophet who would come after him was that “God
would bestow upon you your helper who would remain with you
until the Hereafter,” (Jonah 14:16). The Qur’an has even
explained that Jesus (sws) had given his name to be Ahmad,
although the Gospels that exist today do not mention this
name.
A requirement of the above trait is that this prophet would be
the last one, after whom no other prophet or messenger would
come and he would establish the teaching of his religion on
such foundations that no one would be able to destroy them.
The second requirement is that the book of guidance given to
this prophet would not be vulnerable to any changes, additions
or modifications over time. Both these requirements came to be
true in the case of the Prophet (sws). At the end of his
prophethood, the announcement of end of future prophets was
made and God took upon Himself the responsibility to protect
the Qur’an.
End of Prophethood
When the Prophet (sws) married Zaynab bint Jahash (rta), the
hypocrites raised a storm of propaganda. This has been
explained earlier. The Prophet (sws) was advised to remain
steadfast. In this respect, the Qur’an also said:
Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but [he is] the
Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets: and Allah
has full knowledge of all things. (33:40)
Being a messenger of God, the Prophet (sws) was required to
preach to his audience so well that they received his message
comprehensively and to the last degree of arguments. The seal
of prophets means being the last prophet. One who is the last
of his nation is called the seal. The seal of prophets means
he was the last of the group of prophets. After his coming,
the edifice of prophethood is so complete that there is no
crevice to fill for which another prophet is required. Being
the seal of prophets is one characteristic that no other
prophet shares with Muhammad (sws). Possession of this status
necessitated that he perform all those actions that were
essential for completion of the religion and shari‘ah. To
fulfill this obligation, he clarified the instructions given
in the Qur’an, and by acting upon them himself, he lit up the
way, which, if adopted by other humans, can provide religious
guidance. These religious explanations, deeds and actions of
the Prophet (sws) are called his Sunnah, which have come to us
in continuity from his companions and have been absorbed
within the actions of the ummah.
In the past, with the passage of time, some part of religious
guidance was lost. At times, an unfortunate nation was guilty
of distorting or modifying the teaching of its prophet. Then
it became necessary for God to send another messenger or
prophet, in accordance with His promise to Adam (awa), to
clarify His guidance once again. The guidance revealed to the
Prophet (sws) was completed and the announcement was made:
This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My
favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your
religion. (5:3)
To protect it from becoming extinct, God took upon Himself the
responsibility to preserve it so that it may be retained by
humans until the end of the world. Such an arrangement was
necessary and history is witness to the fact that this promise
was fulfilled. Each and every word of the Qur’an is preserved
in the same way in which it was delivered to the Muslim nation
by the Prophet (sws). Since a person receives prophethood for
the purpose of communicating guidance, and the guidance
brought by the Prophet (sws) has been preserved for the
benefit of the nations of the world, prophethood ended with
him and he is the seal of prophets, after whom no prophet
would ever come. If religion was something which was never
ending, no doubt it would have been necessary to continue with
prophethood. But, once God had completed religion, it can be
deduced that the process of prophethood or messengership has
also ended.
The Prophet (sws) himself did not hide any of the aspects of
his status, but highlighted these clearly though his actions
and words. For instance, he explained his status of being the
seal of prophethood through a simile. He said that other
prophets and he can be compared with a very beautiful and
grand building built by a man who kept one corner free of a
brick. People would walk around the building and praise it,
but when they came to the empty slot, they would say that had
the man put in the final brick, the building would have been
complete. The Prophet (sws) said that “I am that brick and I
am the last prophet”.
This means that when the edifice of prophethood was being
created, every prophet played a part in its building, beauty
and grandeur. Before the prophethood of the Prophet (sws),
although this building had been constructed, one brick was
still left to be placed in it. The Prophet (sws) put in this
brick and filled up the gap. Now, there is no space for any
further gaps. Therefore, the process of prophet hood has been
stopped.
Another Hadith says:
It is narrated from Anas ibn Malik (rta) that the Prophet (sws)
said: “After me, the process of prophethood and messengership
has ended. Now, there will be no prophet and no messenger.”
Anas (rta) said that people were saddened by this. Then the
Prophet (sws) said that mubashsharat shall remain. People
asked him what these were. He said that these were the dreams
of a pious Muslim and this was one of the elements of
prophethood.
This Hadith clarifies a few points:
Revelation has ended after the Prophet (sws). Only dreams of
pious people, as one of the elements of prophethood remain.
Obviously these are not equivalent to revelation. Similarly,
if anyone claims to possess the ability to make predictions or
reveal secrets, it will not be accepted.
· Anyone who sees good dreams will not occupy the status of
a prophet.
· Whoever claims to be either a prophet or a messenger will
be considered to be false.
A question arises here. Who shall fulfill the responsibilities
of a prophet then? Firstly, heavenly guidance shall remain
until the Day of Judgement because of the Qur’an’s
preservation. Secondly, the ills created in beliefs and
actions shall be corrected collectively by the Muslim ummah.
The Prophet (sws) made it clear that such scholars and
reformers who would set right the problems created by evil
doers would continue to be born in Muslim society, although
their numbers could be low.
Objections on the concept of end of Prophethood
Some people criticize this idea by saying that 1400 years have
passed since the Prophet’s prophethood. Humans have made
dramatic progress during this time. Unprecedented changes have
occurred in civilizations and cultures. In such a situation,
the concept of end of prophethood is akin to depriving
humankind of the guidance of prophets. The reality is that the
institution of prophethood has been set up by God for guidance
to humans and its principles and regulations are determined by
Him. According to these principles and regulations, the
messenger from God is sent when His Word has been destroyed
and it is no longer available for guidance. The Messenger
presents it again and clarifies it. After the Prophet (sws),
the Book of God has been preserved and so have the Prophet’s
clarifications. A well intentioned person can obtain guidance
from these even today. As far as provision of guidance is
concerned, this is a matter of God’s will. Even when a
messenger is present, it is God who bestows guidance to his
servants and, in his absence it is again God who gives them
guidance. Therefore, due to the preservation of the Qur’an and
Sunnah, it is no longer necessary for another prophet to come.
As far as the development of new issues is concerned, the
Prophet (sws) has trained his nation to develop solutions in
the light of instructions from the Qur’an and Sunnah and
careful deliberation and use of rationality by conducting
ijtihad. In this manner, Islam can confront problems of any
period of time.
Considering the progress of humans, this has not been made
within the moral and spiritual contexts with which prophets
have been concerned. Progress has been made in the physical
fields, with which faith comes in contact only when they
contradict moral principles. The system of morality and ethics
presented by the Qur’an is still present today and it is so
complete and lofty that humans, despite their dazzling
inventions cannot reach its basics. Had man adopted the system
of morality presented by the Prophet (sws) and its concepts of
good and evil and, his desire for even higher standards not
being satisfied, would have sought a better system and the
Qur’an had not met his needs, it would have been legitimate
for him to criticize the concept of the end of prophet hood.
The situation, however, is that man is falling deeper and
deeper into immorality. The Qur’an exists for his guidance but
he keeps his eyes shut and away from it.
In matters of collective significance, the format of teaching
adopted by the Qur’an covers the basic demands of faith that
are essential to be kept in mind. What is left is their
detailed structure, the building of which has been left to
humans so that they may give it whatever shape they wish
according to the requirements of their age, keeping the basic
principles in consideration. If humans adopt this method, they
will neither be deprived of sacred guidance, nor will the
progress made during their times present any barrier.
Another objection raised at the idea of the end of prophethood
is that many people have claimed to be prophets after the
Prophet (sws) and have also managed to influence others by
their message. Therefore, this concept is not a proven one by
historical facts. The chains of prophethood are linked
together. The faith of all prophets was the same in its
essence. Their call was based on acceptance of a single God,
understanding of His characteristics, recognition of good and
evil, spreading goodness and removing ills of society and
developing belief in the Day of Judgement. They received
guidance toward these through revelations. The prophets were,
in their very personalities, such examples of high moral
character that they stood out among all their contemporaries.
While calling people to faith, they faced many trials and
tribulations, as per the laws of God. Only then their mission
was completed. The people who claimed prophethood after the
Prophet (sws) did not possess any teaching coming to them from
revelation that people might have recognized and said that
their teaching had sprung from the same source through which
guidance from the Torah, Bible and Qur’an had come. The
ingredients that were evident in the preaching of prophets are
not visible in the communication of such people. Instead,
those who claimed to be prophets attempted to destroy the
system of purity and piety that had been set up by the
prophets. They opened the doors to beliefs against taboos set
by religion and were hailed mainly by people who were free
from any moral considerations. They had no status of morality,
character, sincerity or closeness to God which was so evident
in real prophets. Except for a few, most of their
contemporaries did not accept their claims. Hence, their calls
did not survive. They created a momentary commotion and, after
gathering a small group around themselves, vanished from the
scene. The religion of most of these false claimants died
along with their own demise. As long as they were alive, they
did not go through the stages which prophets had to face
according to God’s laws. These claimants of prophet hood,
therefore, appear different from real prophets. Their
situation is as if someone painted himself white in an attempt
to join a flock of swans. The Prophet (sws) was totally unique
by way of his behaviour, character, his heavenly message, good
deeds of his followers, the results of his struggles and the
spread of his faith. No prophet comparable to him came before
him or will come after him.
(Translated by Nikhat Sattar)
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