Islamic Belief of Finality of Prophethood

The foundation of Islam apart from Tawheed (unity of Allah) and the belief on Hereafter is also the basic principle that the auspicious office of “Prophethood” and “Messengership” was concluded upon the last of the Prophets Hazrat Muhammad ﷺ. Furthermore, no man can become a Prophet after him, revelation cannot be sent upon any individual nor can inspiration (which can be considered as a source of Law) be directed towards any individual. This belief is known as “Finality of Prophethood (Khatme Nabuwat)”, and from the time of Rasul-ullah ﷺ till now, the entire Muslim ummah has regarded this belief as part of faith (Eeman) without even any minor disagreements.

Literally dozens of verses of the Qur’an and hundreds of Ahadeeth of Rasul-ullah ﷺ bear testimony to this belief. This issue (Mas’ala) is absolutely unanimous and unambiguous and many detailed books have been written on this subject. It would be lengthy and perhaps unnecessary to produce all of the verses of the Qur’an and ahadith on this subject, however, attention should be drawn towards the fact that Rasul-ullah ﷺ not only confirmed the belief of the finality of Prophethood but also foretold us that,

Verily the Day of Judgement will NOT be established until thirty impostors and liars have arisen. And all of them will claim to be a Messenger of Allah.

Sahih Muslim, Book 54, Hadith 108

He also stated that,

Verily thirty liars will be born in my ummah; every one of them will claim to be a Prophet, though I am the last Prophet, and there will be no Prophet after me.

Jami` at-Tirmidhi Book 33, Hadith 62

In this hadith, Rasul-ullah ﷺ has used the word “Dajjal” for the false prophets to come after him which means “a deceiver” of the highest degree. Rasul-ullah ﷺ has warned the ummah by using this word that the claimants of prophets after him will use deception and treachery in justifying their claims instead of pronouncing their claims openly, and they will claim themselves to be Muslims. In their quest, they will distort the accepted and established beliefs of the Muslim ummah in order to deceive the ignorant ones. To avoid this pitfall the ummah must remember that I ﷺ am the “Final Prophet” and it means that there are NO more prophets to come after me ﷺ.

Impostors of the Past

Consequently, all of the false claimants of prophethood to come after the Prophet ﷺ utilised deception and treachery just as foretold by Rasul-ullah ﷺ, and many of them claimed to be Muslims in order to strengthen their claim of prophethood. However, since the ummah was sufficiently enlightened in this regard through the verses of the Qur’an and the Ahadeeth of Rasul-ullah ﷺ, throughout history anyone who attempted to sabotage this belief of the Finality of Prophethood was always unanimously declared a “kafir” and out of the fold of Islam.

From the beginning, the Islamic governments or the Islamic courts never needed to research or ascertain the claim of a “prophet”; for how can he provide evidence of his claim of prophethood? Instead, they declared him “kafir” simply based on his declaration of prophethood. Whether he was Musalima Kazzab or Aswad Ensea or Sujah or Taliha or Harith, or other claimants of prophethood; the Companions never pondered upon on the sort of reasoning and explanation being conjured by the claimant upon the belief of the “Finality of Prophethood”. On the contrary, they were declared as “kafir” and were treated as such when their claim was established.

This is due to the fact that the belief of the “Finality of Prophethood” is precise, unambiguous, unanimously accepted, and established. Any deviations from this belief or interpretations thereof are included in the deception and treachery as foretold by Rasul-ullah ﷺ. If such deviations and interpretations are accepted or accorded even in the smallest way, then the beliefs in Tawheed (unity of Allah), Hereafter, and the “Finality of Prophethood” can not remain intact. If someone begins to interpret the belief of “Finality of Prophethood” to mean that “Legislative Prophethood (Tashreehi Nabuwat)” has ended but “Non-Legislative Prophethood (Ghair Tashreehi Nabuwat)” still continues then his condition would be the same as the one who claims that according to the belief of Tawheed only ONE major God can exist but there could be minor gods and deities and they can be worthy of worship. If such absurd interpretations are permitted within the fold of Islam then it would mean that Islam has no finite set of beliefs, decrees, injunctions, or moral values; rather (May Allah forbid) Islam is like a robe which even the most despicable person can adjust and imply upon himself.

Therefore the Muslim ummah according to the established and perpetual verses of the Qur’an and the ahadith of Rasul-ullah ﷺ has acted on this principle in their governmental decrees, their legislative injunctions and their combined Fatawa that whosoever after Rasul-ullah ﷺ claimed to be a prophet; whether he proclaimed the Kalima like Musalima Kazzab but believed that smaller prophets can still be deputed, or Sujah who claimed that the prophethood of men is finalised but women can still be prophets, or like Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani who theorised that “Non- Legislative Prophethood (Ghair Tashreehi Nabuwat)” can still be established were unanimously declared “kafir” and out of the fold of Islam.

In fact, in Mirza Qadiani’s case, he does not just claim to be a Non-Legislative Prophet, but in successive stronger claims, declared himself to be a bearer of legislation, then more exalted than the earlier prophets, before declaring himself to be a reincarnation of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ himself (نعوذ بالله). There should therefore be no doubt in declaring him a “kafir“, and outside the fold of Islam.