Explain Ayat in the manner that the issue of Khatm-e-Nubuwwat becomes clear. Write the names of any five books written on this subject.

Question No.2: God say

Explain this Ayat in the manner that the issue of Khatm-e-Nubuwwat becomes clear. Write the names of any five books written on this subject.

Ans.

Explanation of the Khatam-un-Nabiyeen Ayah:The Ayat says “Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam is not the father of anyone of your men, but the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of Prophets; God has knowledge of everything”

(Sura Ehzab: 40)

CONTEXT OF THE REVELATION:

                    The context of the Ayat is that before the Prophethood of Hazrat Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam the Arabs were suffering in many false rites. One of the rites was that an adopted child was considered to be a real son in each and every matter. He was called son and in matters of inheritance and marriage, he was taken as a real son. As in case of death of real son or if the son divorces his wife, the son’s wife is unlawful for the father. He cannot marry her afterwards. In the same manner the Arabs used to take the ex-wife of the adopted son unlawful for the father of the adopted son.

This custom consisted of many evil things, for example, the mixing of lineage, to make an unlawful person the lawful heir, to declare a lawful thing unlawful for one self, etc.

Islam’s basic purpose is to make the world free from illogical rites and customs. So Islam naturally tried to root out such an evil. It adopted two ways to get the aim saying and action. On the one hand it was said:

“neither has He made your adopted sons your son infact. That is your own saying, the words of your mouths; but God speaks the truth, and guides on the way”(Sura Ehzab: 4,5)

The purpose was that an adopted son should not be a part of lineage and should not be considered eligible for inheritance. Moreover, in matters of lawfulness and unlawfulness they should not be treated like real sons. To declare such custom unlawful it was ordered that the custom of adopting children be abandoned. So, it was said in the Ayah that while calling the adopted child, the name of the father should be attached with his name. Before revelation of the Holy Quran Hazrat Zaid Bin Harithah was Hazrat Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam slave after setting him free Hazrat Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam adopted him. So, all the people, including the Sahaba (Razi Allah-o-Anhum Wa Razu An) began to call him “Zaid bin Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam”, according to the tradition of the Arabians. Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (Razi Allah-o-Anho) says that after the revelation of this Ayah, they started calling him ‘Zaid bin Haritha’ instead of ‘Zaid bin Muhammad’. The companions of the Holy Prophet SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam abandoned the custom after the revelation of this Ayah. But because it is not easy to root an evil custom out easily, so God made the Holy Prophet SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam root this custom out practically with his own hands. So, when Hazrat Zaid (Razi Allah-o-Anho) divorced his wife, Bibi Zaneb Razi Allah-o-Anha, due to family dispute, God made the Holy Prophet SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam marry her, so that the evil practice is abolished forever. It was said:

 “So when Zaid had accomplished what he would of her, then we gave her in marriage to thee (Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam, so that there should not be any fault in the believers, touching the wives of their adopted sons,

(Sura Ehzab: 37)

                    As soon as the Holy Prophet SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam married Hazrat Zaineb (Razi Allah-o-Anho), there was much uproar in Arabia that the Prophet SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam married the wife of his son. In response to the objections and taunts of people, the concerned Ayah was revealed, i.e.:

“Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam is not the father of anyone of your men, but the messenger of Allah, and the Seal of Prophets; God has knowledge of everything”.

It has been told in this Ayah that Hazrat Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam is not the father of any man, so he is not father of Hazrat Zaid (Razi Allah-o-Anho). In this way Holy Prophet’s SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam marriage with Hazrat Zaid’s (Razi Allah-o-Anho) ex-wife is lawful and commendable. So, to taunt Holy Prophet SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam in this connection is foolishness. To negate their claim it was sufficient to say that Holy Prophet SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam is not father of Hazrat Zaid (Razi Allah-o-Anho), but to negate it on the ground of exaggeration it was said that ‘Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam is not the father of any of your men’. So, to accuse such a personality of marrying the wife of his son is crookedness and malignancy. All of His SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam sons died in their childhood. They could not be called ‘men’. That is why it is said in the Ayah that ‘not father of any of your men’. The purpose of the revelation of this Ayah is to reply the objections of the infidels and the hypocrites and to show the acquittal and greatness of the Holy Prophet SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam. Then it is said in the Ayah”

“but the messenger of Allah, and the Seal of Prophets”

EXPLANATION OF SEAL OF PROPHETS:

Its translation and explanation should be according to the Holy Quran. The root of the word ‘Khatim’ has been used in the Holy Quran in seven places:

1.           “God has set a seal on their hearts ( 2 : 7 )
2. “and sets a seal upon your hearts” ( 6 : 46 )
3.          “and set a seal upon his hearing and his heart” ( 45 : 23 )
4.          “Today we set a seal on their mouths,” ( 36 : 65 )
5.          “But if God wills, He will set a seal on your heart” ( 42:24)
6.                (83:25)
7.              (83:26)

 If we look at those seven references in their context, we come to know that the common thing in all these places is that ‘Khatim’ stands for closing or sealing a thing in such a way that nothing could enter it or could be drawn out it. For example, in the first Ayah what is meant by it that God has set a seal on their hearts? It means that infidelity cannot come out of their hearts, nor true faith can be entered in their hearts.

                    Now if we translate the concerned Ayah, ‘Khatam-un-Nabiyeen’, according to the above explanation it means that after the Prophethood of Hazrat Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam God has closed and set a seal on the chain of Prophethood in such a way as no Prophet can be expelled from it, nor a new Prophet can become part of Prophethood. But the Qadianies do not accept this translation.

Explanation by the Prophet Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam

“Hazrat Soban (Razi Allah-o-Anho) relates that Hazrat Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam says that ‘thirty liars will appear in my Ummah. Everyone of these will say that he is a Prophet, while there is no doubt that I am the last Prophet, there will be no Prophet after me” (Abu Dawood p.127 v.2 Tirmizi p.45 v.2)

          In this Hadith the Holy Prophet SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam himself explained ‘Khatam-un-Nabiyeen” by saying ‘La Nabi Ya Badi’.

                    While explaining this Ayah, Hafiz Ibne Kaseer (Rahmatullah Alaih) quotes some sayings of the Holy Prophet SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam. After it he writes some lines that are very beneficial for our faith. These are:

“In His Book God and the Holy Prophet SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam in his sayings (Hadith Matwater) have informed as that there will be no Prophet after Hazrat Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam, so that people may know that whoever claims Prophethood afterwards will be very false, slanderer, mischievous, cunning, be into error and will lead others into error. No matter he poses having good habits and through magic shows marvels.”

Explanation by the Sahaba

(Razi Allah-o-Anhum Wa Razu An)

What was Sahaba (Razi Allah-o-Anhum Wa Razu An) and Tabaeen’s point of view concerning Khatm-e-Nubuwwat? And for what ‘Khatam-un-Nabiyeen’ stood for them? For this the third part of ‘kitab Khatm-e-Nubuwwat kamil’ by Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Shafi should be read. In the following is given the opinion of just two Tabaeen (Rahmat Ullah Alaihim). In his great Tafseer (explanation) Imam Abu Jaffar Ibn Jareer Tabri (Razi Allah-o-Anho) quotes a tradition from Hazrat Fatada (Razi Allah-o-Anho) while explaining ‘Khatam-un-Nabiyeen’:

“There is a tradition from Hazrat Fatada (Razi Allah-o-Anho) that while explaining this Ayah he said ‘and but He SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam is God’s messenger and Khatam-un-Nabiyeen, i.e. He SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam is the last Prophet.

In his Tafseer Dur Mansoor Sheikh Jalaluddin Sayuuti (Rahmatullah Alaih) copies the same saying of Hazrat Fatada (Razi Allah-o-Anho) with reference to Abdul Razaq and Abd bin Hameed and Ibn Aby Hatim.(Dur Mansoor p.204 v.5). Like Quran and Hadith this saying has also revealed that ‘Khatam-un-Nabiyeen’ means ‘the last Prophet’. Is there any detail of ‘Tashrei’, Gher Tashrai’, ‘Brozi’ or ‘Zilli’ Prophet?

                    Moreover, Sayuuti (Razi Allah-o-Anho) has copied in Dur Mansoor with reference to Abd bin Hameed the tradition of Hazrat Hasan (Razi Allah-o-Anho) that:

“Explaining the Ayah about ‘Khatam-un-Nabiyeen’ Hazrat Nasan (Razi Allah-o-Anho) says that the chain of Prophethood came to an end with Hazrat Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam and so He SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam became the last of all the ‘Prophets’(Dur Mansoor p.204 v.5)

After such weighty explanations is there need of any doubt? Is there room for ‘Broozi’ or ‘Zilli’ type of explanations.

KHATAM-UN-NABIYEEN AND LEXICOGRAPHERS

If we ignore the explanations of Quran, Hadith and the explanations and opinion of Sahaba SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam and Tabaeen (Rahmat Ullah Alaihim), and depend on the lexicon of Arabs, even then the result is the same. If Tay “ arabic “ of ‘Khatam-un-Nabiyeen’ is with vowel pint Zabar (_arabic_) or with Zer (_arabic_) it does not change the meaning. In both the cases, it will mean “Aakhrun Nabiyeen” (the last Prophet) and “the one who made an end to the chain of Prophethood”. If we see deeply then we know that the gist of both the meanings is the same, that is Hazrat Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam is the last of all the Prophets and no Prophet will appear after him SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam. In Roohul Maani, it is written clearly:

“And ‘Khatim Bilfateh’ is the name of instrument which is used for sealing. So, ‘Khatam-un-Nabiyeen’ will mean “the person with whom the chain of Prophethood comes to an end and the result of this meaning is that He SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam is the last Prophet”.

(Roohul Maani p.32. v.22).

While explaining the same word Allama Muhammad Mauroof Beh Mullah Jewan (Rahmatullah Alaih) writes in his Tafseer Ahmadi that “

                    It is evident from the passages of both the books – Roohul Maani and Tafseer Ahmadi – that there might be two meanings of ‘Khatim’, but the resultant meaning of the both is the same, that is ‘the last of all the Prophets’. That is why Baizaavi (Rahmatullah Alaih) made no difference between the two and explained the word ‘Akhrun Nabiyeen’ (the last of all the Prophets). The role of all these major lexicographers is not just that they collected all the meanings of the word, ‘khatim’, but they also told us explicitly about the concerned Ayah that the only possible meaning of this Ayah could be that Hazrat Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam is He Who made an end to the chain of Prophethood and that He SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam is the last Prophet.

Only God, the knower, knows well that how much books on Arabic dialect and lexicon have been written by this time. We do not need to assemble all these nor it is possible. In the following we are referring to some of the most authentic and the most trusted books. We want to show that how the lexicographers take the words, Khatim Bilfateh and Bilkesr (

(1)               Mufredat-al-Quran

This is a very important dictionary of Quran. Sheikh Jalaluddin Sayuuti (Rahmatullah Alaih) writes in ‘Etqan’ that in lexicography no other book is better than this one. About the concerned Ayah it is written in the book :

(Mafredate Raghib p.142)

“The Holy Prophet SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam is called ‘Khatam-un-Nabiyeen’ because He SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam ended the Prophethood, i.e. because of His SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam coming the Prophethood came to an end.”

(2)              Al-Mehhum La Binel Saeeda

About this book Allama Sayuuti (Rahmatullah Alaih) says that this is one of the books on which one can trust concerning the Quran. It is written in the book:

“Khatim and ‘Khatima’ mean the result and the end of a thing.

(3)              Lisan-al-Arab

                    It is a famous dictionary in Arabian and non-Arabian countries. It says:

(Translation)                                                       (Lisan-al-Arab p.25 v.4)

                    It has been explained here that whether it is ‘Bilkesr’ or ‘Bilfateh’ in both the cases the meaning of ‘Khatam-un-Nabiyeen and ‘Khatam-un-Nabiyeen’ would be the same – Aakherul Nabiyeen and Akherul Ambia (the last of the Prophets)

(4)              Tajul Aroos

                    It says

                    “Khatim Bilkesr and Khatim Bilfateh are among the names of the Holy Prophet SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam and Khatim is the person with whom Prophethood comes to an end.”

(5)              Qamoos

“Khatim Bilkasr and Bilfeteh means the last in a nation, and in the same meaning God says ‘Khatam-un-Nabiyeen’ – the last of the Prophets”.

Here the word ‘nation’ has been added.

These are some of the examples from a multitude. Its only purpose to depict that according to the Arabian lexicographers the only possible meaning of ‘Khatam-un-Nabiyeen’ is ‘Aakherul Nabiyeen (the last of the Prophets). Moreover, the meaning of the word ‘Khatim’ cannot be otherwise than the ‘last’ and ‘the one who ends’.

Summary:             In this Ayah, the word ‘Khatam-un-Nabiyeen’ has been used for Hazrat Muhammad SallAllah-o-Alaihi Wa Aalihi Wasallam. According to Quran and Hadith and the ‘Tafseer’ of Sahaba (Razi Allah-o-Anhum Wa Razu An) and Tabaeen (Rahmat Ullah Alaihim) the only meaning of the word is ‘the last Prophet’. Moreover, the learned lexicographers have also proved that there cannot be other meaning of the word except ‘that last one’. Even Mirza Qadiyani himself uses the word in the meaning of ‘last’ “no other girl or boy was born to my parents after me, and I was ‘khatimul Aulad’(the last of the issues) for them”

 (Taryaq al Qulub p.158. Khazain p.479 v.15)

THE NAME OF BOOKS ON KHATM-E-NUBUWWAT SUBJECT:

On this holy subject, dozens of books have been written by the great scholars of the Ummah: The names of ten of these books are as follows: –

(1)              “Khatm-e-Nubuwwat Kamil”

                   (Compiled by Mufti Muhammad Shafi (Rahmatullah Alaih)

(2)            “Maskel Khatim Fe Khatme Nubuwwat Sayedul Anam”,       including Ehtasab Qadianiat Volume-2

(Compiled by Maulana Muhammad Idrees Kandhelvi (Rahmatullah Alaih)

(3)              “Aqeedatul Ummat Fe Maani Khatm-e-Nubuwwat”

(Compiled by Allama Khalid Mehmood (Rahmatullah Alaih)

(4)              “Khatm-e-Nubuwwat Quran Ki Roshni Main”

(Compiled by Maulana Sarfraz Khan Safdar (Rahmatullah Alaih)

(5)              “Felsafa Khatm-e-Nubuwwat”

(Compiled by Maulana Hifzur Rehman Seuharvi (Rahmatullah Alaih)

(6)              “Masala Khatm-e-Nubuwwat Ilm Wa Aql Ki Roshni Main”

(Compiled by Maulana Muhammad Ishaq Kandelvi (Rahmatullah Alaih)

(7)              “Khatm-e-Nubuwwat”

(Compiled by Professor Yousaf Saleem Chishti (Rahmatullah Alaih)

(8)              “Khatam-un-Nabiyeen”

(Compiled by Maulana Muhammad Anwar Shah Kashmiri (Rahmatullah Alaih). Translated by Maulana Muhammad Yousaf Ludhyanvi (Rahmatullah Alaih).

(9)              “Alamgeer Nubuwwat”

(Compiled by Maulana Shamsul Haq Afghani (Rahmatullah Alaih)

(10)             “Aqeeda Khatm-e-Nubuwwat”

(Compiled by Maulana Muhammad Yousaf Ludhyanvi (Rahmatullah Alaih) (also including in Tohfa-i- Qadianiat V-1)