The Finality of Prophethood

The Finality of Prophethood According to Islamic belief, the chain of prophethood came to an end with Prophet Muhammad, he being the final Prophet. No prophet is now going to be sent to the world by God. This is repeatedly mentioned in the Quran and Hadith. There is a specific verse to this effect in the Quran: Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but is God’s Messenger and the seal of the Prophets. God has knowledge of all things. (The Quran, 33:40) The word ‘seal’ (in Arabic khatam) as used in the above verse signifies a means of complete closure. (It should not be confused with ‘stamp’ which is something affixed to a document to guarantee its authenticity). Prophet Muhammad being the ‘seal of the Prophets’ means that his advent put a stop to there being any continuation of the chain of prophets. Abdullah Yousuf Ali, a well-known commentator on the Quran writes: ‘When a document is sealed it is complete and there can be no further addition. Thus, Prophet Muhammad put an end to the long line of Messengers. There has been and will be no Prophet after Muhammad. Thus, when something is sealed, it is finally closed: nothing will come out and nothing will go in. There are many traditions to this effect, a few of which we reproduce here: Messengership and Prophethood have been severed. Now there will he no Messenger and no Prophet after me. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 13824). “I came and I brought to an end the chain of prophethood.” (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2287) I am the last comer, there is no prophet after me (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 523) I am Muhammad, the unlettered prophet and there is no prophet after me. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 6606) All these traditions have been collected by Ibn Khatir, a commentator on the Quran. (Tafsir ibn Kathir, vol. 6, pp. 381-83) Besides the verse mentioned above in Chapter 33, there are several verses, which indirectly prove that there would be no other prophet and that there was no need for the advent of any other prophet according to the divine scheme. Here is another verse on this topic: Those who deny the truth have this day despaired of ever harming your religion. So do not fear them. Fear Me. Today I have completed your religion for you and completed My blessing upon you. I have chosen for you Islam as your religion. (The Quran, 5:3) ‘Today I have perfected your religion’ means that God has sent all the commands required by human beings. Here the perfection of religion is not referred to in the absolute sense. Rather it