Last Prophet?

Last Prophet?

The hadith the non Ahmadi Muslims quote in reality supports Ahmadi Muslims. The Holy Prophet Muhammad^saw stated:

حَدَّثَنِي إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عِيسَى بْنُ الْمُنْذِرِ الْحِمْصِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ، حَرْبٍ حَدَّثَنَا الزُّبَيْدِيُّ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، وَأَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الأَغَرِّ، مَوْلَى الْجُهَنِيِّينَ – وَكَانَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ – أَنَّهُمَا سَمِعَا أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ يَقُولُ صَلاَةٌ فِي مَسْجِدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَفْضَلُ مِنْ أَلْفِ صَلاَةٍ فِيمَا سِوَاهُ مِنَ الْمَسَاجِدِ إِلاَّ الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ فَإِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم آخِرُ الأَنْبِيَاءِ وَإِنَّ مَسْجِدَهُ آخِرُ الْمَسَاجِدِ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو سَلَمَةَ وَأَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ لَمْ نَشُكَّ أَنَّ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ كَانَ يَقُولُ عَنْ حَدِيثِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَمَنَعَنَا ذَلِكَ أَنْ نَسْتَثْبِتَ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ عَنْ ذَلِكَ الْحَدِيثِ حَتَّى إِذَا تُوُفِّيَ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ تَذَاكَرْنَا ذَلِكَ وَتَلاَوَمْنَا أَنْ لاَ نَكُونَ كَلَّمْنَا أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ فِي ذَلِكَ حَتَّى يُسْنِدَهُ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم إِنْ كَانَ سَمِعَهُ مِنْهُ فَبَيْنَا نَحْنُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ جَالَسَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ قَارِظٍ فَذَكَرْنَا ذَلِكَ الْحَدِيثَ وَالَّذِي فَرَّطْنَا فِيهِ مِنْ نَصِّ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ عَنْهُ فَقَالَ لَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ أَشْهَدُ أَنِّي سَمِعْتُ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ يَقُولُ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ فَإِنِّي آخِرُ الأَنْبِيَاءِ وَإِنَّ مَسْجِدِي آخِرُ الْمَسَاجِدِ ‏”‏ ‏.‏

Prayer in the mosque of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) is more excellent than a thousand prayers in other mosques except the Masjid al-Haram, for Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) is the last of the Apostles, and his mosque is the last of the mosques. Abu Salama and Abu Abdullah (two of the narrators in this chain of narrations said: We had no doubt that what Abu Haraira (Allah be pleased with him) had said was from Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ), and so we did not like to get an attestation from Abu Huraira about this hadith until Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) died. We discussed it (the issue of getting attestation from Abu Huraira) amongst ourselves and blamed one another as to why we did not talk about it to Abu Huraira regarding it so that he could attribute its transmission to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) in case he had heard It from him. While we were discussing it as we sat with ‘Abdullah b. Ibrahlm b. Qariz; we made a mention of this hadith, and our omission (in getting its attestation) about its direct transmission by Abu Huraira from him (the Holy Proohet) ; thereupon Abdullah b. Ibrahim said to us: I bear witness to the fact that I heard Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) say that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said: I am the last of the Apostles and my mosque is the last of the mosques.(Sahih Muslim 1394 C)

The Prophet Muhamamd^saw has compared him being the last of the prophets in the same sense, his mosque is the last of the mosques. This simpy means that no prophet would come who contradicts the teachings of the Holy Prophet^saw as no mosque would be built that offend the status of the greatest mosque. The building of mosques does not offend the Holy Prophet^saw‘s last mosque statement, and nor does the coming of a sub ordinate prophet affect his finality.

Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad^ra states:

” It is also asserted that some Sayings of the Holy Prophet^saw are contrary to a belief in the continuity of prophethood. For instance, he said, ‘I am the last of the prophets,’ and again: ‘There is no prophet after me.’ From these Sayings, it follows that there can be no prophet of any kind after the Holy Prophet^saw! It is a pity that those who cite these Sayings of the Holy Prophet^saw forget that the words ‘I am the last of the prophets’ are followed by the important words ‘and my mosque is the last of the mosques.’ The whole Saying is: ‘I am the last of the prophets and my mosque is the last of the mosques.’ If, therefore, the Holy Prophet^saw is literally the last of the prophets, then the mosque which he built in Medina is literally the last of the mosques. It would be wrong to build any mosque after the Holy Prophet^saw‘s mosque at Medina. But nobody sees any contradiction between the meaning put today on the first part of the Saying and the meaning put on the second part of the same Saying. The first part is taken to mean the termination of every kind of prophethood with the advent of the Holy Prophet^saw. But the second part is not likewise taken to mean the end of mosque-building. Those very people who believe in the termination of prophethood see no harm in building more mosques. In fact, their zeal for building mosques is excessive. There are towns which contain more mosques than are really required; many, therefore, remain without worshippers. In many towns mosques are to be found at short distances from each other, so that their superfluity is evident. If the expression ‘the last of the prophets’ entails the abolition of prophethood, the expression ‘last of the mosques’ must entail the abolition of mosque-building after the Prophet’s mosque. To be sure, solutions of this difficulty are attempted. It is said that mosques built by Muslims after the Holy Prophet^saw‘s time are mosques devoted to the form of worship instituted by the Holy Prophet^saw. They are built for the same purpose as the Holy Prophet^saw built the first mosque.

Mosques built by Muslims, therefore, are the Prophet’s own mosques. They cannot be separated from the model which they imitate. Such mosques cannot and do not contradict the fact that the Prophet’s mosque is the last. The solution is a valid one. But it is equally valid to say that the expression ‘the last prophet’ does not prohibit the coming of prophets who imitate the life and example of the Holy Prophet^saw, teach nothing new, and only follow him and his teaching; who are charged with the duty of spreading the Holy Prophet^saw‘s teaching; who attribute their spiritual acquisitions including prophethood to the spiritual example and influence of their preceptor and master, the Holy Prophet^saw. The coming of such prophets does not offend against the Holy Prophet^saw‘s prerogative as the ‘Last Prophet’, in the same way and for the same reason that the building of mosques today does not offend against the status of the Prophet’s mosque as the ‘Last Mosque’. Now, let us turn to the Saying ‘There is no prophet after me.’ This Saying also cannot mean that there is to be literally no prophet after the Holy Prophet^saw. This Saying also means only this: that no prophet can now come who would abrogate the teaching of the Holy Prophet^saw. The Prophet’s Saying turns on the word ‘after’. One thing comes after another only when the first thing is over and the second thing takes its place. The prophet who appears in order to propagate, promulgate, and in every way to support and promote the prophethood of the Holy Prophet^saw and all it stood and stands for cannot be said to have appeared after the Holy Prophet^saw. The prophethood of the Holy Prophet^saw would be extant still. The prophet who comes to serve this prophethood is a part of the Holy Prophet^saw‘s dispensation. Such a prophet could be said to have appeared after the Holy Prophet^saw if he had proposed the abrogation of any part of the Holy Prophet^saw‘s teaching. A wise man tries to ponder over every important subject and to reach the depth of meaning which every single word and every single text contains. No wonder Ayesha (God be pleased with her), the holy consort of the Holy Prophet^saw, fearing that Muslims in time to come should miss the meaning of the Holy Prophet^saw‘s Sayings on the subject of prophethood, warned people, saying:

‘Certainly, do say, he [the Holy Prophet] is the Seal of all Prophets, but do not say, there is no prophet after him’.

If in Ayesha’s view, in her knowledge, the coming of prophets was literally over, why did she warn people against saying there was to be no prophet after the Holy Prophet^saw? If when she sounded this warning she was wrong, and what she said was against the teaching of the Holy Prophet^saw, why did not the Holy Prophet^saw‘s Companions contradict her? Her warning against the casual repetition of the Saying ‘There is no prophet after me’ shows clearly that, according to her, the coming of a prophet after the Holy Prophet^saw was possible. Only such a prophet could not be a law-giving prophet, or a prophet independent of the Holy Prophet^saw. The fact that the Companions of the Holy Prophet^saw received Ayesha’s warning without question or criticism shows that the Companions of the Holy Prophet^saw understood what she said and believed what she believed.” (Invitation to Ahmadiyyat Pages 45-46)