Chapter 2

Chapter 2 The Finality of Prophethood from the perspective of the Ahlus Sunnah

It is from the main principles of Islam, after believing in the oneness of Allah and the Resurrection after death, that Allah Almighty sealed or ended the prophethood with Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. The Muslims believe that there is no prophet after him, or any revelation, or inspiration that can be used to derive religious rulings. This belief is famously known as ‘Aqidat Khatm al Nubuwwah^[1] and has been considered by all Muslims since the day of the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam as a part of faith, or a part of what makes one a Muslim. This is backed by several Qur’anic verses and tens of prophetic narrations making anyone whom denies this fact a non-Muslim by consensus of the Ummah.

It is also worthy to note that not only did the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam inform us that he was the last of the prophets, but he also warned us that there will be certain individuals who shall claim prophethood for themselves. The Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam prophesised:

لا تقوم الساعة حتى يبعث دجالون كذابون قريبا من ثلاثين كلهم يزعم أنه رسول الله

The Hour shall not dawn upon you, until the deceitful liars are sent, around thirty, each claiming to be a messenger of Allah.^[2]

The Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam affirmed:

وإنه سيكون في أمتي ثلاثون كذابون كلهم يزعم أنه نبي وأنا خاتم النبيين لا نبي بعدي

In my Ummah will be thirty liars, each claiming he is a prophet. I am the seal of prophets; there is no prophet after me.^[3]

Notice that the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam used the term dajjalun in the first narration to describe them, meaning those who are extremely deceitful. So the claimants of prophethood shall be very good at deceiving and fooling people, acting like Muslims to try and attack the correct Islamic beliefs from the inside, like Musaylamah al Kadhdhab tried to do by claiming that he was the partner of the Prophet Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam in his message.

Indeed, what the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said did take place. Many people throughout history claimed prophethood, some more successful than others, fooling the ignorant people around them. However, the Islamic Ummah was always ready and on the lookout as they were aware and had clear guidance in the Book of their Rabb and the Sunnah of His Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Thus, whenever such a person appeared, the Ummah would expel him outside the circle of Islam and treat him like a disbeliever, without even asking him to prove his claims, as the Companions radiya Llahu ‘anhum did with the liars of their time such as Musaylamah al Kadhdhab, al Aswad al ‘Ansi, Tulayhah al Asadi, Sajah al Nasraniyyah, al Harith ibn Sa’id, and others of their like.

However…

ﮋ ﮌ ﮍ ﮎ ﮏ ﮐ ﮒﮓ ﮔ ﮕ

And indeed do the devils inspire their allies [among men] to dispute with you. And if you were to obey them, indeed, you would be associators [of others with Him].^[4]

Sadly, to this day, the disbelievers and doubters still cast suspicion on the religion of Allah in order to misguide the Muslims. From the first doubts the enemies of Allah cast is the fact that previous nations received prophets to guide them while in our times we have none to guide us. According to them, this opposes the justice of Allah. Even if we do not need a new Shari’ah^[5] yet they claim we always need divinely appointed guides.

This doubt originates from two intellectual introductions:

The first is that the presence of a prophet is considered kindness on the part of Allah and an act of divine grace towards His slaves who are religiously accountable; so sending the messengers to guide us is from the benevolence of Allah.
The second is that prophets are of two kinds, tashri’i prophets and tablighi prophets. A prophet who is classed as being tashri’i is the one whom Allah sends with a new Shari’ah or new divine laws to abrogate the divine laws which came before him. As for the tablighi prophet, his mission is only to revive the past Shari’ah and preserve it from loss or tampering, then to promote and spread it and guide people towards it.

Ayat Allah al ‘Uzma Jafar al Subhani says:

إن النبي إذا بعث بشريعة جديدة وجاء بكتاب جديد فالنبوة تشريعية وأما إذا بعث لغاية الدعوى والإرشاد إلى أحكام وقوانين سنها الله سبحانه على لسان نبيه المتقدم فالنبوة تبليغية والقسم الأول من الرسل قد انحصر في خمسة ذكرت أسماؤهم في القران والنصوص المأثورة أما الأكثرية منهم فكانوا من القسم الثاني وقد بعثوا لترويج الدين النازل على أحد هؤلاء فكانت نبوتهم تبليغية

The prophet, if he was sent with a new Shari’ah or came with a new book, then his prophethood is tashri’iyyah. On the other hand, if the prophet was sent for da’wah^[6] and guidance to the rulings previously established by Allah through past prophets, then his prophethood is tablighiyyah. The first kind are messengers, and this title is restricted to five individuals mentioned in the Qur’an and Hadith. As for the majority, they are from the second kind; they were sent to promote the religion that was revealed upon the messengers so their prophethood is tablighiyyah.^[7]

Sayed Muhsin al Kharazi says:

ثم إن الفرق بين النبي والرسول كما في تفسير الميزان هو أن النبي هو الذي ببيّن للناس صلاح معاشهم ومعادهم من أصول الدين وفروعه على ما اقتضته عناية الله من هداية الناس إلى سعادتهم والرسول هو الحامل لرسالة خاصة مشتملة على إتمام الحجة يستتبع مخالفته هلاكة أو عذابا أو نحو ذلك

The difference between the prophet and the messenger, as is written in Tafsir al Mizan, is that a prophet is one who guides people to acquiring goodness in their worldly life and the Afterlife; he explains the fundamentals of religion and its branches as per Allah’s will to guide people and bring them happiness. The messenger is the one carrying a special message to perfect the divine argument; whoever opposes (his message) will be punished and shall perish.^[8]

The same is stated by al Sayed al Tabataba’i.^[9]

Below, I will illustrate how some of the Shia scholars begin by casting these doubts on Islam to misguide their followers:

1. Ayat Allah al ‘Uzma Naser Makarem Shirazi says:

إن إرسال الأنبياء فيض إلهي عظيم فلماذا حُرِمَ أناس في هذا الزمان من هذا الفيض لماذا لا يكون لأهل هذا الزمان هاد وقائد جديد يهديهم ويقودهم

Sending the prophets is great kindness from Allah; so why would the humans be deprived from such grace in our times? Why would the people of our time not have a guide, a new leader to lead them?^[10]

2. Ayat Allah al ‘Uzma Jafar al Subhani continues on the same page as his previous book by saying:

حينئذ فقد يسأل سائل ويقول هب أن نبي الإسلام جاء بأكمل الشرائع و أتمها وأجمعها للصلاح وجاء بكل ما يحتاج إليه الإنسان في معاشه ومعاده إلى يوم القيامة ولم يبق لمصلح رأي ولمتفكر نظر في أصول الإصلاح و أسسه لأن نبينا (ص) قد أتى بصحيح الرأي و أتقنه و أصلحه في كافة شؤون الحياة ومجالاتها ولأجل ذلك الاكتمال أوصد باب النبوة التبليغية التي منحها الله للأمم السالفة فان الشريعة مهما بلغت من الكمال والتمام لا تستغني عمن يقوم بنشرها وجلائها وتجديدها لكي لا تندرس ويتم إبلاغها من السلف إلى الخلف بأسلوب صحيح فلماذا أوصد الله هذا الباب بعدما كان مفتوحاً في وجه الأمم الماضية ولماذا منح الله سبحانه هذه النعمة على السالف من الأمم وبعث فيهم أنبياء مبلغين ومنذرين وحرم الخلف الصالح من الأمم منها

A questioner might ask: Let us accept that the Prophet of Islam came with the perfect and most beautiful Shari’ah and everything else which humanity needs in its life and Afterlife until the Day of Judgment, and there is nothing left for anyone to add to it because our Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam came with the best laws and most correct opinions in all matters of life. Due to this perfection, the door of the tablighi prophethood that Allah bestowed upon previous nations is closed. However, no matter how perfect the Shari’ah is, yet it still needs one who guides towards it, who explains it, and who revives it, so that it may not be lost and it may be transmitted from generation to generation in the correct way. So, why then did Allah close the door after it was open for previous nations? And why did Allah bestow this blessing upon the previous nations when he sent prophets among them to deliver the message and warn yet he deprived the righteous followers of this Ummah from it?^[11]

3. Shia philosopher Murtada al Mutahhari says:

علينا الآن أن نرى لماذا كانت النبوات تتجدد في الماضي وكان الأنبياء يأتون على التوالي وإن لم يكن كلهم أصحاب شرائع وقانون وكان الغالب يبعث لتنفيذ شريعة موجودة ولماذا انتهى الأمر بعد خاتم النبيين ولم يكن النبي التشريعي (صاحب الشريعة) لم يأتِ ولن يأتي فحسب بل إن النبي المبلغ لم يأتِ ولن يأتي أيضاً.. لماذا كان أغلب الأنبياء بل أكثريتهم التي تقارب الإجماع تبليغيين لا تشريعيين وربما لا يتجاوز الأنبياء التشريعيون عدد أصابع الكف الواحدة وكان عمل الأنبياء التبليغيين هو تبليغ الشريعة وترويجها وتنفيذها وشرحها

Now we must see why was prophethood renewed in the past and why the prophets came consecutively one by one, even though not all of them were bringers of Shari’ah and laws yet most were sent to execute a pre-existing Shari’ah? Why did the matter (abruptly) end after the seal of prophets and the tashri’i prophet will no longer come, even the tablighi prophet will no longer come? Why? By consensus, most prophets were tablighi not tashri’i. Maybe the tashri’i prophets’ numbers wouldn’t rise above the number of the fingers of one hand. And the job of the tablighi prophets was to deliver the Shari’ah, spread it, execute it, and explain it.^[12]

4. ‘Allamah Ibrahim al Amini says:

على فرض أن الحاجة إلى إرسال أنبياء من أولي العزم أي أصحاب شرائع انتفت نظراً لكمال الأحكام والقوانين والمعارف الدينية الإسلامية وكفايتهم فلماذا ترى تنتفي الحاجة إلى أنبياء مبلغين يقومون بمهمة الترويج لتلك الشرائع فكما أن الله سبحانه كان يرسل بعد كل نبي صاحب شريعة من أولي العزم أنبياء عديدين ليقوموا بترويج الشريعة المتقدمة وتبليغها للأجيال اللاحقة فلماذا لا يبعث الله بعد مبعث رسول الإسلام وتشريع الأحكام والقوانين الجديدة أنبياء لتبليغ الرسالة المحمدية والترويج لها مع العلم بأن وجود أمثال هؤلاء الأنبياء أمر ضروري ومفيد في المجتمعات

If we say that the need to send prophets from the Ulu al ‘Azm^[13] is no longer present because the rulings and laws are completed and religious knowledge is perfected, then why would there not be a need for tablighi prophets who promote these laws? Just as Allah would send after each prophet of Shari’ah many other prophets so they can promote the former’s Shari’ah and deliver it to later generations, so why would Allah not send after the prophet of Islam other prophets to deliver the Muhammadi message and promote it, while acknowledging that the presence of such prophets is something necessary and beneficial for societies?^[14]

It is truly as Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala said in his book:

ﭩ ﭪ ﭫ ﭬ ﭭ ﭮ ﭯ ﭰ ﭱ ﭲ ﭳ ﭴ ﭵ ﭶ ﭷ ﭹ ﭺ ﭻ ﭼ ﭽ ﭿ ﮀ ﮁ

Thus We have made for every prophet an enemy, devils from mankind and jinn, inspiring to one another decorative speech in delusion. But if your Lord had willed, they would not have done it, so leave them and that which they invent.^[15]

Let us now see the answer of the Ahlus Sunnah to the above doubts raised by the Shia. We can sum up their answer with two parts.

The first part: The main principle is that divine revelation decides primarily; it gets the final say in all matters, not the intellect.

What the majority of Muslims agreed on is that formulating concepts and understanding life is all based on the divine revelations bestowed upon mankind, not on inferior human intellect. Every matter that is proven to be a part of the divine laws must be followed, whether our intellect agreed or apparently disagreed^[16]. Thus, if it was proven through divine texts that prophethood was finalised with the Prophet Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, then we must submit to this without wasting our time with the doubts of the diseased minds that are targets for the whispering of the devils.

We must believe with certainty that whatever Allah decrees is truth whether our simplistic minds grasp its wisdom or not. In the prophetic Sunnah we see examples of the intellect not being able to comprehend some religious orders at the beginning, such as what happened at the Treaty of al Hudaybiyyah. The disbelievers placed unfair conditions in the peace treaty to disgrace the Muslims; the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam agreed to their conditions but the Muslims could not accept them. Later they were forced to leave what their intellects determined and follow the ruling of the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam because the intellect cannot override the Shari’ah.

عن أبي حصين عن أبي وائل قال سمعت سهل بن حنيف بصفين يقول اتهموا رأيكم على دينكم فلقد رأيتني يوم أبي جندل ولو أستطيع أن أرد أمر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم

I heard Sahl ibn Hunayf say at Siffin, “Blame (the hollowness) of your views about your religion. I thought to myself on the day of Abu Jandal that if I could reverse the order of the Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, I would [due to the terms of the truce being unpalatable].^[17]

Ibn al Qayyim says:

كما قال بعض أهل الإيمان يكفيك من العقل أن يُعَرِّفك صدق الرسول ومعاني كلامه ثم يخلي بينك وبينه وقال آخر العقل سلطان ولّى الرسول ثم عزل نفسه

Some of the believers said, “It is sufficient for your intellect to lead you to the truth of the message of Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala and the meaning of His words, then it should never come between you two again.” Another said, “The intellect is like a Sultan who gave up his position to the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam then removed himself from authority.”^[18]

He continues:

لأن العقل قد شهد للشرع والوحي بأنه أعلم منه وأنه لا نسبة له إليه وأن نسبة علومه ومعارفه إلى الوحي أقل من خردلة بالإضافة إلى جبل… وقال إن الشرع مأخوذ عن الله بواسطة الرسولين الملك والبشر بينه وبين عباده مؤيداً بشهادة الآيات وظهور البراهين على ما يوجبه العقل ويقتضيه تارة ويستحسنه تارة ويجوزه تارة ويضعف عن دركه تارة فلا سبيل له إلى الإحاطة به ولابد من التسليم والانقياد لحكمهِ والإذعان والقبول

Because the intellect has affirmed the superiority of divine law and revelation, there can be no comparison between the two in knowledge. It is as if you are comparing a grain of mustard to a mountain. The Shari’ah is offered to us by Allah through the angels and the human messengers, and is backed by the verses and signs that the intellect agrees to, or likes, or permits, and at other times the intellect may not even completely grasp them. As it has no means of fully understanding everything, it needs to submit to the rulings and follow the orders and obey.^[19]

The second part: The Ummah having reached a state of ripening and maturity no longer require new prophets.

After we explained that there is no need for the theories of our intellect when we are presented with the realities of the Shari’ah, we will provide another reason, although the first is sufficient. The Ahlus Sunnah believe that it is not a matter of having a prophet or not having one, but a matter related to the survival of his Shari’ah and teachings without any alteration. Whenever a nation has preserved the heritage of their prophet and guarded it from corruption then it no longer requires the presence of a new prophet, because the good examples and morals are contained within his teachings, not his person. As long as his teachings are uncorrupted and known by the people, then it is as if he is among them with his guidance. This is what we can see on the ground of reality as the Muslims worship Allah through the guidance of His last prophet, having both the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Allah tells us about the first books of divine laws, many of them were lost or corrupted, parts of them were hidden or misinterpreted, this required Allah to send new prophets to show the truth and correct what was wrong:

ﭠ ﭡ ﭢ ﭣ ﭤ ﭥ ﭦ ﭧ ﭨ ﭩ ﭪ ﭬ ﭭ ﭮ ﭯ ﭰ

Say, “Who revealed the Scripture that Musa brought as light and guidance to the people? You [Jews] make it into pages, disclosing [some of] it and concealing much.”^[20]

ﭬ ﭭ ﭮ ﭯ ﭰ ﭱ ﭲ ﭳ ﭴ ﭵ ﭶ ﭷ ﭸ ﭹ ﭺ ﭻ ﭽ ﭾ ﭿ ﮀ ﮁ ﮂ ﮃ

O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Scripture and overlooking much. There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book.^[21]

Therefore, the religion is preserved and complete, we do not need one to complete it or preserve it, as Allah Almighty Himself declared that there shall be no corruption in it, and He declared that it shall reign supreme over all religions by His grace and shall be victorious.

ٱلۡيَوۡمَ أَكۡمَلۡتُ لَكُمۡ دِينَكُمۡ وَأَتۡمَمۡتُ عَلَيۡكُمۡ نِعۡمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلۡإِسۡلَٰمَ دِينٗاۚ

This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favour upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.^[22]

ﮗ ﮘ ﮙ ﮚ ﮛ ﮜ ﮝ

Indeed, it is We who sent down the message [the Qur’an] and indeed, We will be its guardian.^[23]

ﯰ ﯱ ﯲ ﯳ ﯴ ﯵ ﯶ ﯷ ﯸ ﯹ ﯺ ﯼ ﯽ ﯾ

It is He who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion. And sufficient is Allah as Witness.^[24]

Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala praised this Ummah and stated that it is qualified and worthy to inherit the burdens and responsibilities of the religion and protect it:

ﭣ ﭤ ﭥ ﭦ ﭧ ﭨ ﭩ ﭫ ﭬ ﭭ ﭮ ﭯ ﭰ ﭱ ﭲ ﭳ ﭴ ﭶ ﭷ ﭸ ﭹ

Then we caused to inherit the Book those We have chosen of Our servants; and among them is he who wrongs himself, and among them is he who is moderate, and among them is he who is foremost in good deeds by the permission of Allah. That [inheritance] is what is the great bounty.^[25]

1. Al Hafiz Ibn Kathir says while explaining this verse:

يقول تعالى ثم جعلنا القائمين بالكتاب العظيم المصدق لما بين يديه من الكتب الذين اصطفينا من عبادنا وهم هذه الأمة ثم قسمهم إلى ثلاثة أنواع فقال فمنهم ظالم لنفسه وهو المفرط في فعل بعض الواجبات المرتكب لبعض المحرمات ومنهم مقتصد وهو المؤدي للواجبات التارك للمحرمات وقد يترك بعض المستحبات ويفعل بعض المكروهات ومنهم سابق بالخيرات بإذن الله وهو الفاعل للواجبات والمستحبات التارك للمحرمات والمكروهات وبعض المباحات قال علي بن أبي طلحة عن ابن عباس في قوله ثم أورثنا الكتاب الذين اصطفينا من عبادنا قال هم أمة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم ورثهم الله كل كتاب أنزله فظالمهم يغفر له ومقتصدهم يحاسب حسابا يسيرا وسابقهم يدخل الجنة بغير حساب

Allah says: Then We made those who uphold the Book confirming what came before, the one whom We have chosen from among Our servants. They are this Ummah, who are divided into three types. Allah says:

Among them is he who wrongs himself. These are the ones who are careless about doing some obligatory actions and who commit some forbidden actions.

Among them is he who is moderate. These are the ones who follow a middle course, who fulfil their obligations and avoid things that are forbidden, but they may neglect some good deeds and do some things which are disliked.

And among them is he who is foremost in good deeds. These are the ones who do obligatory actions and things which are encouraged, and who avoid doing unlawful and disliked actions, and avoid some actions which are permissible.

‘Ali ibn Abi Talhah reported that Ibn ‘Abbas commented on the verse, Then we caused to inherit the Book those We have chosen of Our servants, “This refers to the Ummah of Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Allah caused it to inherit every Book that He had revealed; those who wrong themselves will be forgiven, those who follow a middle course will have an easy accounting, and those who are foremost in good deeds will enter Paradise without being brought to account.”^[26]

The Shia scholar Sadr al Din al Shirazi affirms this praise from Allah to our Ummah:

فقال الله تشريفاً لكليمه موسى عليه السلام وَكَتَبْنَا لَهُ فِي الْأَلْوَاحِ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْعِظَةً (لأعراف من الآية 145( وقال تشريفاً لأمته صلى الله عليه وسلم أُولَئِكَ كَتَبَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الْأِيمَانَ وَأَيَّدَهُمْ بِرُوحٍ مِنْه (المجادلة: من الآية22) فشتّان بين نبي تشرف بكتابة الموعظة له في الألواح وبين نبي تشرف أمته بكتابة الإيمان لهم في قلوبهم والإيمان عبارة عن العلم بالله وملائكته وكتبه ورسله واليوم والآخر فما أعظم وأشرف قدرهم فضلاً عن قدر نبيهم

Allah says while honouring Musa `alayh al-Salam who spoke to Him: And We wrote for him on the tablets [something] of all things.^[27] Allah then said to honour the Ummah of Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam: Those — He has written faith upon their hearts, and He has confirmed them with a Spirit from Himself.^[28] A big difference between a prophet whom he honoured by writing to him on the tablets and between a prophet whose nation is honoured by having iman written upon their hearts. Iman is but knowledge of Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day, so how great they must be and how great is their prophet?^[29]

2. Musa Jar Allah ibn Fatimah al Rusi speaks of this:

كل ما أنعم الله به على نبيه من فضل ونعمة وكل ما نزل من عرش الله العظيم إلى نبيه الكريم فكله بعده لأمته والأمة شريكة لنبيها في كل كمال كان له في حياته ثم ورثته بعد مماته وكل فضل وكل نعمة ذكرها القرآن لنبيه فقد ذكرها لأمته ومثاله فقد قال سبحانه لنبيه (وما أرسلناك إلا رحمة للعالمين) وقال عن أمته (كنتم خير أمة أخرجت للناس)وقال لنبيه (ويتم نعمته عليك) وقال لأمته (وأتممت عليكم نعمتي) وقال لنبيه (وينصرك الله نصراً عزيزاً) وقال لأمته (وكان حقاً علينا نصر المؤمنين) فأوجب النصر على نفسه بقسم مؤكد وقال لنبيه (إنا فتحنا لك فتحاً مبيناً) وقال (وأثابهم فتحاً قريباً) وقال لنبيه (هو الذي أيدك بنصره) وقال لأمته (وأيدهم بروح منه) ولم يكتفِ سبحانه بإشراك الأمة لنبيها بتلك الفضائل بل زاد على ذلك في مواطن كلها فضل وتشريف لهذه الأمة منها الاصطفاء والاجتباء والذكر والتشريف فقد قال سبحانه عن اصطفاء الملائكة والأنبياء (الله يصطفي من الملائكة رسلاً ومن الناس) ثم ذكر تشريفه لأمته بهذا الفضل والاصطفاء حيث قال سبحانه (ثُمَّ أَوْرَثْنَا الْكِتَابَ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا فَمِنْهُمْ ظَالِمٌ لِنَفْسِهِ وَمِنْهُمْ مُقْتَصِدٌ وَمِنْهُمْ سَابِقٌ بِالْخَيْرَاتِ بِإِذْنِ اللهِ ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَضْلُ الْكَبِيرُ) ذكر الإيراث والميراث تأخذه الأحياء بعد الأموات والكتاب محفوظ إلى الأبد فالأمة أحياء إلى الأبد واصطفى سبحانه الأمة بنون العظمة بنفسه لنفسه ولم يكل الإصطفاء إلى غيره وسائر الأمم لم تكن مصطفاة فانحرفت عن كتابها والأمة ببركة الاصطفاء لا تنحرف وأضاف العباد إلى نون العظمة لقطع إمكان الانحراف والضلال بالإغواء أو بغيره (إن عبادي ليس لك عليهم سلطان …) فلا يمكن الضلال في الأمة لأنها في حمى الله بنص آية سورة الحجر وقد ذكر الاصطفاء بعد قوله تعالى (بعباده لخبير بصير) ومعلوم إن الاصطفاء بعد العلم بالأهلية لا زوال له وقال سبحانه عن الأنبياء السابقين قوله (واجتبيناهم وهديناهم إلى صراط مستقيم) وذكر في هذه الأمة (وجاهدوا في الله حق جهاده هو اجتباكم … نعم المولى ونعم النصير) فقد جعل سبحانه هذه الأمة بالاجتباء والاصطفاء في درجة الأنبياء ولم يذكر في الأمم السابقة إلا التفضيل والإصطفاء كلي يجمع كل الفضائل وأخبر أن هذا الكتاب فيه عز وتشريف النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال (لك ولقومك) وقال في تشريف الأمة بقوله ( فيه ذكركم) الشراكة بالشهادة إن الله تعالى أشرك الأمة مع نبيها في الشهادة على الأمم فقال سبحانه (جعلناكم أمة وسطاً لتكونوا شهداء على الناس…) الشراكة بالصلاة من الله والتسليم وأشرك هذه الأمة مع نبيها في الصلاة فقال (يصلون على النبي..) وقال (هو الذي يصلي عليكم وملائكته) وصلاة الله وصلاة الملائكة على النبي وعلى أمته أرفع بكثير من سجود الملائكة لآدم عليه السلام في شأن التشريففكل الأمة في أحوالها يصلي ويسلم على النبي وعلى أمته كل الأمة في كل صلواتها تسلم على النبي ثم تسلم على كل أمته فالأمة في الشرف والكرامة مثل نبيها وأشركها مع نبيها في السلام منه سبحانه فقال (على عباده الذين اصطفى) وقال (فقل سلام عليكم) الشراكة في الظهور والتمكين فقد قال سبحانه لنبيه (هو الذي أرسل رسوله … ليظهره على الدين) وقال عن أمته (وعد الله الذين آمنوا منكم وعملوا الصالحات ليستخلفنهم في الارض…بي شيئاً) فقد أضاف الدين إلى الأمة وأكَّد التمكين بالقسم وقال (دينهم الذي ارتضى لهم) فدل على أن دين الأمة وسياسة الخلافة الراشدة بعد النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم هو الذي ارتضاه لهم

Every blessing and virtue bestowed by Allah upon His Prophet and everything that was bestowed by Allah’s great throne upon the Prophet is given to his nation after him. The Ummah is in a partnership with their Prophet in all blessings during his life, then they inherited him after his death. Whatever blessing the Qur’an mentions for our Prophet then it also mentions for his Ummah, for example:

Allah tells His Prophet, “We have not sent you, save as a mercy unto all beings,” and He said about his Ummah, “You are the best Ummah ever brought forth to men.”

And He said to His Prophet, “and He may perfect His favour unto you,” and He said to the Ummah, “and completed My favour unto you.”

He said to His Prophet, “and that Allah may help you with mighty help,” and He said to the Ummah, “and it was ever a duty incumbent upon Us to help the believers.”

He said to His Prophet, “We have given you a manifest victory,” and to his Ummah, “and rewarded them with an imminent conquest.”

He said to His Prophet, “He it is Who supports you with His help,” and to the Ummah, “and has strengthened them with a Spirit from Him.”

Allah not only included the Ummah with their Prophet, but in several locations added to their virtue and honour such as:

1. Allah says about choosing the angels and prophets, “Allah chooses from the angels messengers, and (also) from mankind,” then He honoured the Ummah by choosing them, “Then we caused to inherit the Book those We have chosen of Our servants.” The word “inherit” means that it is something that the living receive from the dead, and the book is preserved eternally, so the Ummah is forever alive. He was the one who chose them and He never chose any other nations so they deviated from their books. Allah cut-off the possibility of His slaves deviating by saying, “Over My servants you shall have no authority, except those that follow you,” which makes the Ummah that follows Allah under His protection according to the verse from Surah al Hijr. And He mentioned choosing them after His saying, “Indeed, Allah, of His servants, is Acquainted and Seeing,” thus His choosing of them comes after His knowledge of their worthiness and it is eternal.

Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala also said about the past prophets, “And We chose them and guided them unto a straight path,” and He said about this Ummah, “And strive for Allah with the endeavour which is His right. He has chosen you… He is your Protecting friend. A blessed Patron and a blessed Helper!” So, praise be to Allah who chose this Ummah while simply favouring other nations, making this Ummah on the level of prophets.

Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala also stated that there will be glory and honour to the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam when he said, “And indeed, it is a remembrance for you and your people,” and he said about the Ummah, “a Book in which is your mention.”

2. Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala included the Ummah with their Prophet in being witnesses over other nations, “And thus we have made you a just community that you will be witnesses over the people.”

3. He included this Ummah in blessing their messenger, “Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace.” Allah and his angels also send blessings and peace upon the believers, “It is He who blesses you and His angels.” Allah’s blessing and His angel’s blessing upon the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and his Ummah is greater than the prostration of the angels to Adam `alayh al-Salam in terms of honour; the entire Ummah in all its conditions sends blessings and salutations upon the Prophet and his Ummah, the entire Ummah in all of their prayers ask Allah to confer peace upon the Prophet and all of his Ummah. The Ummah in terms of dignity and honour is like the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, Allah included them in peace as He said, “Say: ‘Praise belongs to Allah, and peace be on His servants whom He has chosen,’” and, “When those who believe in Our signs come to you, say, Peace be upon you. Your Lord has prescribed for Himself mercy.”

4. He included them in victory with their Prophet. He said, “It is He who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that He may uplift it above every religion. Allah suffices as a witness.” and He said to the Ummah, “Allah has promised those of you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely make you successors in the land, even as He made those who were before them successors, and that He will surely establish their religion for them that He has approved.” So, Allah described the believers and their religion, that He is pleased with it, and He shall make them the successors as He did with the Rightly-guided rulers after His Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.^[30]

Then Musa Jar Allah said:

الأمة معصومة عصمة نبيها معصومة في تحملها وحفظها وفي تبليغها وأدائها

The Ummah is protected (ma’sum) as their Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was. They (as a whole) are infallible when it comes to carrying the message and preserving it, when it comes to delivering it and practicing it.

3. Al Sayed Abu al Hasan al Nadwi reports the statement of Ibn Taymiyyah:

وقد أحسن شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية رحمه الله تصوير البعثة المحمدية وفضلها وانتاجها في كتابه الجواب الصحيح يقول رحمه الله وسيرة الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم من آياته وأخلاقه وأقواله وأفعاله وشريعته من آياته وأمته من آياته وعِلْمُ أمته ودينهم من آياته وكرامات صالحي أمته من آياته… ولم يزل قائماً بأمر الله على أكمل طريقة وأتمها من الصدق والعدل والوفاء لا يحفظ له كذبة واحدة ولا ظلم أحد ولا غدر بأحد بل كان أصدق الناس وأعدلهم وأوفاهم بالعهد مع اختلاف الأحوال عليه من حرب وسلم وأمن وخوف وغنى وفقر وقلة وكثرة وظهوره على العدو تارة وظهور العدو عليه تارة وهو على ذلك كله ملازم لأكمل الطرق وأتمها حتى ظهرت الدعوة في جميع أرض العرب التي كانت مملوءة من عبادة الأوثان ومن أخبار الكهان وطاعة المخلوق في الكفر بالخالق وسفك الدماء المحرمة وقطيعة الأرحام لا يعرفون آخرة ولا معاداً فصاروا أعلم أهل الارض وأدينهم وأعدلهم وأفضلهم حتى إن النصارى لما رأوهم من حين قدموا الشام قالوا ما كان الذين صحبوا المسيح بأفضل من هؤلاء وهذه آثار علمهم وعملهم في الأرض وآثار غيرهم يعرف العقلاء الفرق بين الأمرين وأمته أكمل الأمم في كل فضيلة فإذا قيس علمهم بعلم سائر الأمم ظهر فضل علمهم وإن قيس دينهم وعبادتهم وطاعتهم لله بغيرهم ظهر أنهم أدين من غيرهم وإذا قيس شجاعتهم وجهادهم في سبيل الله وصبرهم على المكاره في ذات الله ظهر أنهم أعظم جهاداً وأشجع قلوباً وإذا قيس سخاؤهم وبذلهم وسماحة أنفسهم لغيرهم تبين أنهم أسخى وأكرم من غيرهم وهذه الفضائل به نالوها ومنه تعلموها وهو الذي أمرهم بها لم يكونوا قبله متبعين لكتاب جاء هو بتكميله كما جاء المسيح بتكميل شريعة التوراة وكانت فضائل أتباع المسيح وعلومهم بعضها من التوراة وبعضها من الزبور وبعضها من النبوءات وبعضها من المسيح وبعضها ممن بعده كالحواريين ومن بعد الحواريين وقد استعانوا بكلام الفلاسفة وغيرهم حتى أدخلوا لما غيروا دين المسيح في دين المسيح أموراً من أمور الكفار المناقضة لدين المسيح وأما أمة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم فلم يكونوا قبله يقرؤون كتاباً بل عامتهم ما آمنوا بموسى وعيسى وداود والتوراة والإنجيل والزبور إلا من جهته فهو الذي أمرهم أن يؤمنوا بجميع الأنبياء ويقروا بجميع الكتب المنزلة من عند الله ونهاهم أن يفرقوا بين أحد من رسله فقال تعالى في الكتاب الذي جاء به قُولُوا آمَنَّا بِاللهِ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إلى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَالْأَسْبَاطِ وَمَا أُوتِيَ مُوسَى وَعِيسَى وَمَا أُوتِيَ النَّبِيُّونَ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ لا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ

Sheikh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, has excelled in portraying the message of our Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and its virtues and results in his book al Jawab al Sahih. He says: The life of the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is from His signs, his morals, sayings, deeds, and laws are from His signs, and the knowledge of his Ummah and their religion and the karamat (miracles) of their pious men are from His signs (…) He was always acting upon the orders of Allah in the most perfect and complete manner, with honesty, justice, and loyalty. Not even one lie was attributed to him, nor did he oppress anyone, nor did he betray anyone. Rather, he was the most honest and just of people, the most fulfilling of his promises regardless of the conditions, in peace and in war, in safety and fear, in richness and poorness, in little and in plenty, in his victory over his opponents or their rising against him, regardless of it all he was always sticking to the best and most complete of paths, until the divine call reached all the lands of the Arabs which were previously filled with the worship of idols, the sayings of priests, the obedience of the creation in disobedience of the creator, the spilling of innocent blood, the severing of ties of kinship, and ignorance of the Last Day or Resurrection.

Then with him, they became the most knowledgeable of the people of the earth and the most religious and just. Even when the Christians saw them coming to the land of Greater Syria, they said, “Those who accompanied Christ were no better than these men.” Those of intellect can see the difference between their knowledge and deeds on the face of this earth and those other than them.

His Ummah is the most complete of nations in all virtues; if their knowledge was measured against that of other nations, you can clearly see the virtue of their knowledge; if their religion and worship and obedience of Allah was measured against that of other nations, you can see that they are more religious; if you measure their courage and struggle in the cause of Allah and their patience in the face of hardships, it appears that their struggle is greater and their hearts are more courageous; if their kindness, charity, and forgiveness were measured against others, it shall appear that they are kinder and more generous than the others.

They received these virtues through him and learned them from him. He was the one who ordered them. They did not follow a book before him that he came to complete as ‘Isa `alayh al-Salam came to complete the Torah. Some of the virtues, good morals, and knowledge of the followers of ‘Isa `alayh al-Salam were from the Torah, some from the Zabur, some from prophecies, some from ‘Isa `alayh al-Salam himself, and some were from those who followed him like the disciples, and they sought aid from the words of the philosophers until they inserted things in the religion of the Messiah that conflict with it.

As for the Ummah of Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, they did not read a book before him, most of them did not believe in Musa `alayh al-Salam, ‘Isa `alayh al-Salam, or Dawood `alayh al-Salam, and they believed in the Torah, the Injil, and the Zabur only through him. He was the one to order them to believe in all the prophets and to affirm all the sent books. He forbade them from differentiating between any of his messengers, so the Almighty said in the book he sent, “Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Ibrahim, and Ismail, and Ishaq, and Yaqub, and the tribes, and that which Musa and ‘Isa received, and that which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered.”^[31]

This is the answer of the mainstream Muslims. This is the answer of the Ahlus Sunnah and of Islam. There is no more need for a divine infallible guide whether he is a prophet as the Qadianis state or an imam as the Shia state.

NEXT⇒ Chapter 3 – The Finality of Prophethood in the view of the Twelver Shia

^[1] ‘Aqidat Khatm al Nubuwwah: The belief in the finality of prophethood.

^[2] Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith: 3609; Sahih Muslim, Hadith: 157.

^[3] Jami’ al Tirmidhi, Hadith: 2219.

^[4] Surah al An’am: 112.

^[5] Shari’ah: Islamic divine laws.

^[6] Da’wah: Calling people to the religion of Allah.

^[7] Mafahim al Qur’an, 3/217-218.

^[8] Bidayat al Ma’arif al Ilahiyyah, 1/213.

^[9] Tafsir al Mizan, 2/140.

^[10] Durus fi al ‘Aqidah al Islamiyyah, pg. 176.

^[11] Mafahim al Qur’an, 3/217-218.

^[12] Al Wahy wa al Nubuwwah, pg. 28-30.

^[13] Ulu al ‘Azm: The messengers who are sent with new laws or books.

^[14] Al Nubuwwah wa al Nabi, pg. 137-138.

^[15] Surah al An’am: 112.

^[16] We say ‘apparently disagreed’ because every ruling of divine law does not completely disagree with the judgement of human intellect. This is what the renowned Muslim scholar Ibn Taymiyyah proves in his book Dari’ Ta’arud al ‘Aql wa al Naql.

^[17] Sahih Muslim, Hadith: 1785.

^[18] Mukhtasar al Sawa’iq al Mursalah, pg. 87.

^[19] Mukhtasar al Sawa’iq al Mursalah, pg. 88.

^[20] Surah al An’am: 91.

^[21] Surah al Ma’idah: 15.

^[22] Surah al Ma’idah: 3.

^[23] Surah al Hijr: 9.

^[24] Surah al Fath: 28.

^[25] Surah Fatir: 32.

^[26] Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 3/562.

^[27] Surah al A’raf: 142.

^[28] Surah al Mujadilah: 22.

^[29] Al Hujjah, pg. 111.

^[30] Al Washia fi Naqd ‘Aqa’id al Shia.

^[31] Al Nubuwwah wa al Anbiya’ fi Daw’ al Qur’an.

BACK⇒ Return to Table of contents

Chapter 2 The Finality of Prophethood from the perspective of the Ahlus Sunnah

It is from the main principles of Islam, after believing in the oneness of Allah and the Resurrection after death, that Allah Almighty sealed or ended the prophethood with Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. The Muslims believe that there is no prophet after him, or any revelation, or inspiration that can be used to derive religious rulings. This belief is famously known as ‘Aqidat Khatm al Nubuwwah^[1] and has been considered by all Muslims since the day of the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam as a part of faith, or a part of what makes one a Muslim. This is backed by several Qur’anic verses and tens of prophetic narrations making anyone whom denies this fact a non-Muslim by consensus of the Ummah.

It is also worthy to note that not only did the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam inform us that he was the last of the prophets, but he also warned us that there will be certain individuals who shall claim prophethood for themselves. The Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam prophesised:

لا تقوم الساعة حتى يبعث دجالون كذابون قريبا من ثلاثين كلهم يزعم أنه رسول الله

The Hour shall not dawn upon you, until the deceitful liars are sent, around thirty, each claiming to be a messenger of Allah.^[2]

The Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam affirmed:

وإنه سيكون في أمتي ثلاثون كذابون كلهم يزعم أنه نبي وأنا خاتم النبيين لا نبي بعدي

In my Ummah will be thirty liars, each claiming he is a prophet. I am the seal of prophets; there is no prophet after me.^[3]

Notice that the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam used the term dajjalun in the first narration to describe them, meaning those who are extremely deceitful. So the claimants of prophethood shall be very good at deceiving and fooling people, acting like Muslims to try and attack the correct Islamic beliefs from the inside, like Musaylamah al Kadhdhab tried to do by claiming that he was the partner of the Prophet Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam in his message.

Indeed, what the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said did take place. Many people throughout history claimed prophethood, some more successful than others, fooling the ignorant people around them. However, the Islamic Ummah was always ready and on the lookout as they were aware and had clear guidance in the Book of their Rabb and the Sunnah of His Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Thus, whenever such a person appeared, the Ummah would expel him outside the circle of Islam and treat him like a disbeliever, without even asking him to prove his claims, as the Companions radiya Llahu ‘anhum did with the liars of their time such as Musaylamah al Kadhdhab, al Aswad al ‘Ansi, Tulayhah al Asadi, Sajah al Nasraniyyah, al Harith ibn Sa’id, and others of their like.

However…

ﮋ ﮌ ﮍ ﮎ ﮏ ﮐ ﮒﮓ ﮔ ﮕ

And indeed do the devils inspire their allies [among men] to dispute with you. And if you were to obey them, indeed, you would be associators [of others with Him].^[4]

Sadly, to this day, the disbelievers and doubters still cast suspicion on the religion of Allah in order to misguide the Muslims. From the first doubts the enemies of Allah cast is the fact that previous nations received prophets to guide them while in our times we have none to guide us. According to them, this opposes the justice of Allah. Even if we do not need a new Shari’ah^[5] yet they claim we always need divinely appointed guides.

This doubt originates from two intellectual introductions:

The first is that the presence of a prophet is considered kindness on the part of Allah and an act of divine grace towards His slaves who are religiously accountable; so sending the messengers to guide us is from the benevolence of Allah.
The second is that prophets are of two kinds, tashri’i prophets and tablighi prophets. A prophet who is classed as being tashri’i is the one whom Allah sends with a new Shari’ah or new divine laws to abrogate the divine laws which came before him. As for the tablighi prophet, his mission is only to revive the past Shari’ah and preserve it from loss or tampering, then to promote and spread it and guide people towards it.

Ayat Allah al ‘Uzma Jafar al Subhani says:

إن النبي إذا بعث بشريعة جديدة وجاء بكتاب جديد فالنبوة تشريعية وأما إذا بعث لغاية الدعوى والإرشاد إلى أحكام وقوانين سنها الله سبحانه على لسان نبيه المتقدم فالنبوة تبليغية والقسم الأول من الرسل قد انحصر في خمسة ذكرت أسماؤهم في القران والنصوص المأثورة أما الأكثرية منهم فكانوا من القسم الثاني وقد بعثوا لترويج الدين النازل على أحد هؤلاء فكانت نبوتهم تبليغية

The prophet, if he was sent with a new Shari’ah or came with a new book, then his prophethood is tashri’iyyah. On the other hand, if the prophet was sent for da’wah^[6] and guidance to the rulings previously established by Allah through past prophets, then his prophethood is tablighiyyah. The first kind are messengers, and this title is restricted to five individuals mentioned in the Qur’an and Hadith. As for the majority, they are from the second kind; they were sent to promote the religion that was revealed upon the messengers so their prophethood is tablighiyyah.^[7]

Sayed Muhsin al Kharazi says:

ثم إن الفرق بين النبي والرسول كما في تفسير الميزان هو أن النبي هو الذي ببيّن للناس صلاح معاشهم ومعادهم من أصول الدين وفروعه على ما اقتضته عناية الله من هداية الناس إلى سعادتهم والرسول هو الحامل لرسالة خاصة مشتملة على إتمام الحجة يستتبع مخالفته هلاكة أو عذابا أو نحو ذلك

The difference between the prophet and the messenger, as is written in Tafsir al Mizan, is that a prophet is one who guides people to acquiring goodness in their worldly life and the Afterlife; he explains the fundamentals of religion and its branches as per Allah’s will to guide people and bring them happiness. The messenger is the one carrying a special message to perfect the divine argument; whoever opposes (his message) will be punished and shall perish.^[8]

The same is stated by al Sayed al Tabataba’i.^[9]

Below, I will illustrate how some of the Shia scholars begin by casting these doubts on Islam to misguide their followers:

1. Ayat Allah al ‘Uzma Naser Makarem Shirazi says:

إن إرسال الأنبياء فيض إلهي عظيم فلماذا حُرِمَ أناس في هذا الزمان من هذا الفيض لماذا لا يكون لأهل هذا الزمان هاد وقائد جديد يهديهم ويقودهم

Sending the prophets is great kindness from Allah; so why would the humans be deprived from such grace in our times? Why would the people of our time not have a guide, a new leader to lead them?^[10]

2. Ayat Allah al ‘Uzma Jafar al Subhani continues on the same page as his previous book by saying:

حينئذ فقد يسأل سائل ويقول هب أن نبي الإسلام جاء بأكمل الشرائع و أتمها وأجمعها للصلاح وجاء بكل ما يحتاج إليه الإنسان في معاشه ومعاده إلى يوم القيامة ولم يبق لمصلح رأي ولمتفكر نظر في أصول الإصلاح و أسسه لأن نبينا (ص) قد أتى بصحيح الرأي و أتقنه و أصلحه في كافة شؤون الحياة ومجالاتها ولأجل ذلك الاكتمال أوصد باب النبوة التبليغية التي منحها الله للأمم السالفة فان الشريعة مهما بلغت من الكمال والتمام لا تستغني عمن يقوم بنشرها وجلائها وتجديدها لكي لا تندرس ويتم إبلاغها من السلف إلى الخلف بأسلوب صحيح فلماذا أوصد الله هذا الباب بعدما كان مفتوحاً في وجه الأمم الماضية ولماذا منح الله سبحانه هذه النعمة على السالف من الأمم وبعث فيهم أنبياء مبلغين ومنذرين وحرم الخلف الصالح من الأمم منها

A questioner might ask: Let us accept that the Prophet of Islam came with the perfect and most beautiful Shari’ah and everything else which humanity needs in its life and Afterlife until the Day of Judgment, and there is nothing left for anyone to add to it because our Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam came with the best laws and most correct opinions in all matters of life. Due to this perfection, the door of the tablighi prophethood that Allah bestowed upon previous nations is closed. However, no matter how perfect the Shari’ah is, yet it still needs one who guides towards it, who explains it, and who revives it, so that it may not be lost and it may be transmitted from generation to generation in the correct way. So, why then did Allah close the door after it was open for previous nations? And why did Allah bestow this blessing upon the previous nations when he sent prophets among them to deliver the message and warn yet he deprived the righteous followers of this Ummah from it?^[11]

3. Shia philosopher Murtada al Mutahhari says:

علينا الآن أن نرى لماذا كانت النبوات تتجدد في الماضي وكان الأنبياء يأتون على التوالي وإن لم يكن كلهم أصحاب شرائع وقانون وكان الغالب يبعث لتنفيذ شريعة موجودة ولماذا انتهى الأمر بعد خاتم النبيين ولم يكن النبي التشريعي (صاحب الشريعة) لم يأتِ ولن يأتي فحسب بل إن النبي المبلغ لم يأتِ ولن يأتي أيضاً.. لماذا كان أغلب الأنبياء بل أكثريتهم التي تقارب الإجماع تبليغيين لا تشريعيين وربما لا يتجاوز الأنبياء التشريعيون عدد أصابع الكف الواحدة وكان عمل الأنبياء التبليغيين هو تبليغ الشريعة وترويجها وتنفيذها وشرحها

Now we must see why was prophethood renewed in the past and why the prophets came consecutively one by one, even though not all of them were bringers of Shari’ah and laws yet most were sent to execute a pre-existing Shari’ah? Why did the matter (abruptly) end after the seal of prophets and the tashri’i prophet will no longer come, even the tablighi prophet will no longer come? Why? By consensus, most prophets were tablighi not tashri’i. Maybe the tashri’i prophets’ numbers wouldn’t rise above the number of the fingers of one hand. And the job of the tablighi prophets was to deliver the Shari’ah, spread it, execute it, and explain it.^[12]

4. ‘Allamah Ibrahim al Amini says:

على فرض أن الحاجة إلى إرسال أنبياء من أولي العزم أي أصحاب شرائع انتفت نظراً لكمال الأحكام والقوانين والمعارف الدينية الإسلامية وكفايتهم فلماذا ترى تنتفي الحاجة إلى أنبياء مبلغين يقومون بمهمة الترويج لتلك الشرائع فكما أن الله سبحانه كان يرسل بعد كل نبي صاحب شريعة من أولي العزم أنبياء عديدين ليقوموا بترويج الشريعة المتقدمة وتبليغها للأجيال اللاحقة فلماذا لا يبعث الله بعد مبعث رسول الإسلام وتشريع الأحكام والقوانين الجديدة أنبياء لتبليغ الرسالة المحمدية والترويج لها مع العلم بأن وجود أمثال هؤلاء الأنبياء أمر ضروري ومفيد في المجتمعات

If we say that the need to send prophets from the Ulu al ‘Azm^[13] is no longer present because the rulings and laws are completed and religious knowledge is perfected, then why would there not be a need for tablighi prophets who promote these laws? Just as Allah would send after each prophet of Shari’ah many other prophets so they can promote the former’s Shari’ah and deliver it to later generations, so why would Allah not send after the prophet of Islam other prophets to deliver the Muhammadi message and promote it, while acknowledging that the presence of such prophets is something necessary and beneficial for societies?^[14]

It is truly as Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala said in his book:

ﭩ ﭪ ﭫ ﭬ ﭭ ﭮ ﭯ ﭰ ﭱ ﭲ ﭳ ﭴ ﭵ ﭶ ﭷ ﭹ ﭺ ﭻ ﭼ ﭽ ﭿ ﮀ ﮁ

Thus We have made for every prophet an enemy, devils from mankind and jinn, inspiring to one another decorative speech in delusion. But if your Lord had willed, they would not have done it, so leave them and that which they invent.^[15]

Let us now see the answer of the Ahlus Sunnah to the above doubts raised by the Shia. We can sum up their answer with two parts.

The first part: The main principle is that divine revelation decides primarily; it gets the final say in all matters, not the intellect.

What the majority of Muslims agreed on is that formulating concepts and understanding life is all based on the divine revelations bestowed upon mankind, not on inferior human intellect. Every matter that is proven to be a part of the divine laws must be followed, whether our intellect agreed or apparently disagreed^[16]. Thus, if it was proven through divine texts that prophethood was finalised with the Prophet Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, then we must submit to this without wasting our time with the doubts of the diseased minds that are targets for the whispering of the devils.

We must believe with certainty that whatever Allah decrees is truth whether our simplistic minds grasp its wisdom or not. In the prophetic Sunnah we see examples of the intellect not being able to comprehend some religious orders at the beginning, such as what happened at the Treaty of al Hudaybiyyah. The disbelievers placed unfair conditions in the peace treaty to disgrace the Muslims; the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam agreed to their conditions but the Muslims could not accept them. Later they were forced to leave what their intellects determined and follow the ruling of the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam because the intellect cannot override the Shari’ah.

عن أبي حصين عن أبي وائل قال سمعت سهل بن حنيف بصفين يقول اتهموا رأيكم على دينكم فلقد رأيتني يوم أبي جندل ولو أستطيع أن أرد أمر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم

I heard Sahl ibn Hunayf say at Siffin, “Blame (the hollowness) of your views about your religion. I thought to myself on the day of Abu Jandal that if I could reverse the order of the Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, I would [due to the terms of the truce being unpalatable].^[17]

Ibn al Qayyim says:

كما قال بعض أهل الإيمان يكفيك من العقل أن يُعَرِّفك صدق الرسول ومعاني كلامه ثم يخلي بينك وبينه وقال آخر العقل سلطان ولّى الرسول ثم عزل نفسه

Some of the believers said, “It is sufficient for your intellect to lead you to the truth of the message of Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala and the meaning of His words, then it should never come between you two again.” Another said, “The intellect is like a Sultan who gave up his position to the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam then removed himself from authority.”^[18]

He continues:

لأن العقل قد شهد للشرع والوحي بأنه أعلم منه وأنه لا نسبة له إليه وأن نسبة علومه ومعارفه إلى الوحي أقل من خردلة بالإضافة إلى جبل… وقال إن الشرع مأخوذ عن الله بواسطة الرسولين الملك والبشر بينه وبين عباده مؤيداً بشهادة الآيات وظهور البراهين على ما يوجبه العقل ويقتضيه تارة ويستحسنه تارة ويجوزه تارة ويضعف عن دركه تارة فلا سبيل له إلى الإحاطة به ولابد من التسليم والانقياد لحكمهِ والإذعان والقبول

Because the intellect has affirmed the superiority of divine law and revelation, there can be no comparison between the two in knowledge. It is as if you are comparing a grain of mustard to a mountain. The Shari’ah is offered to us by Allah through the angels and the human messengers, and is backed by the verses and signs that the intellect agrees to, or likes, or permits, and at other times the intellect may not even completely grasp them. As it has no means of fully understanding everything, it needs to submit to the rulings and follow the orders and obey.^[19]

The second part: The Ummah having reached a state of ripening and maturity no longer require new prophets.