Doctrine of Khatm Al-Nubuwwah: An Introduction

In light of the lexical meaning of Khatm Al-Nubuwwah, it becomes clear that the arrival of the Holy Prophet brought the great chain of Prophethood to its completion. This chain began with Adam , and continued through different ages by means of the noble Prophets , for the guidance of humanity. Through the Prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad , the Prophethood of all earlier Prophets was confirmed, authenticated, and completed, and a final seal was placed upon the entire series in such a manner that no room remained for any addition, alteration, renewal, or later claim within it.

In this respect, the Holy Prophet is the last Prophet and the last Messenger of Allah Almighty. After him, the door of Prophethood has been closed forever. Therefore, no previous Prophet can be excluded from this divinely appointed series, nor can any new claimant to Prophethood be admitted into it. Prophethood is a special Divine office granted by Allah Almighty to His chosen and selected servants; this office reached its eternal and final completion with the arrival of Prophet Muhammad .

Dr. Ahmad ibn Saad Al-Ghamidi explains the meaning of Khatm Al-Nubuwwah as follows:

  انتهاء إنباء اللّٰه للناس وانقطاع وحي السماء. ¹

  Khatm Al-Nubuwwah means the end of Allah’s communication to people through Prophethood and the permanent cessation of Divine revelation.

Allamah Al-Saffarini explains the meaning of the Finality of Prophethood in the following words:

  …ومعنى ‌ختم ‌النبوة بنبوته عليه الصلاة والسلام أنه لا تبتدأ نبوة ولا تشرع شريعة بعد نبوته وشريعته…²

  The meaning of the sealing of Prophethood through his Prophethood, peace and blessings be upon him, is that after his (Prophet Muhammad’s ) Prophethood and Shariah, no Prophethood can begin and no new Shariah can be legislated.

In summary, Allah Almighty sent Prophet Muhammad as the final Prophet and Messenger, and with him the chain of Prophethood came to an end forever. After him, there can be no person on the face of the earth to whom Jibril (Gabriel ), may come with a new Divine message, upon whom any heavenly book may be revealed, or to whom revelation may come either in the state of wakefulness or through a dream by the arrival of an angel. Therefore, anyone who makes such a claim is false, a liar, an impostor, and a deceiver. His claim is not to be given the slightest credibility, let alone treated as a claim requiring evidentiary examination.

The Doctrine of Khatm Al-Nubuwwah

The doctrine of Khatm Al-Nubuwwah is among the foundational and definitive beliefs of Islam. For fourteen centuries, the Muslim Ummah has not only maintained consensus upon it, but from the Prophetic era until today every Muslim has believed that the Noble Prophet is Khatam Al-Nabiyyin (the Seal of Prophethood) without any interpretation that restricts, qualifies, or diminishes its meaning. It is not merely an isolated theological issue; rather, it is a central pillar of Islamic belief, Shariah, revelation, Messengership, and the intellectual unity of the Ummah. The entire religious structure of Islam rests upon the reality that Allah Almighty sent Prophet Muhammad as the last Prophet and Messenger, and that He perfected the religion and completed Prophethood through him.

Beliefs are those realities whose affirmation by the heart is necessary. ³ Accordingly, the “Doctrine of Khatm Al-Nubuwwah” means to hold, with complete assurance and firm conviction, and to affirm with the heart, that Prophet Muhammad is the final Prophet and Messenger of Allah Almighty. After him no Prophet can be sent, no revelation can descend upon any person, and no new Shariah or independent religious office can be established. With his advent, the chain of Prophethood was completed and brought to an end forever.

This doctrine is established by numerous verses of the Noble Quran and by hundreds of hadiths of the Messenger of Allah . One of those verses are given below:

  مَا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَا أَحَدٍ مِنْ رِجَالِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمًا 40 ⁴

  Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last of all the Prophets; and Allah has full knowledge of everything.

It is narrated from Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Holy Prophet said:

  إن ‌الرسالة ‌والنبوة قد انقطعت فلا رسول بعدي ولا نبي. ⁵

  Indeed, the chain of Messengership and Prophethood has come to an end; therefore, after me there will be neither any Messenger nor any Prophet.

Imam Al-Aalusi states that doctrine of Khatm Al-Nabuwwat of the Holy Prophet is clearly indicated by the Noble Quran, explicitly explained by the Prophetic hadiths, and established by the consensus of the entire Ummah. Therefore, whoever holds a belief contrary to it falls outside the fold of Islam; and if such a person persists in that claim, his matter is to be dealt with under the legal authority and procedure of an Islamic state according to the Shariah. ⁶

Imam Al-Tahawi, while recording the agreed and consensus-based beliefs of the Muslim Ummah, writes:

  إن محمدا عبده المصطفى ونبيه المجتبى ورسوله المرتضى، وأنه خاتم الأنبياء وإمام الأتقياء وسيد المرسلين وحبيب رب العالمين، وكل دعوى النبوة بعده فغي وهوى. ⁷

  We believe that Muhammad is Allah’s chosen servant, His selected Prophet, and His approved Messenger. He is the Seal of the Prophets, the leader of the God-fearing, the master of the Messengers, and the beloved of the Lord of all the worlds; and every claim to Prophethood after him is misguidance, falsehood, and caprice.

Thus, only those people are rightly counted among the people of faith whose belief is that Allah Almighty completed the golden chain of Prophethood on the Seal of the Prophets, Prophet Muhammad . Therefore, until the Day of Resurrection no one else will be made a Prophet. Just as partnership in the Oneness of Allah Almighty is impossible, partnership in the Finality of the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad , is also impossible. After his departure from this world, no new Prophet will come into the world until the Day of Resurrection.

As for the descent of Prophet Isa , before the day of Judgement, it is in no way contrary to the doctrine of Khatm Al-Nubuwwah. When Isa , returns to the world, he will not act according to his previous Shariah; rather, he will act according to the Shariah of Prophet Muhammad . His earlier Shariah will have been abrogated, and therefore, in both principles and subsidiary rulings, he will follow the Muhammadan Shariah. On this basis, his role will not be that of a new Prophet or of one who brings an independent Shariah. Rather, he will serve as a successor of the Holy Prophet and as a just ruler within his Ummah, deciding matters according to the religion of the Holy Prophet . ⁸

What Muslims Mean by the Doctrine of Khatm Al-Nubuwwah

The leading scholars of Islam have explained the hadith, “There will be no Prophet after me,” ⁹ to mean that the door of Prophethood has now been closed. This means that even if a former Prophet returns, as Isa , will return, the necessary implication of the Finality of Prophethood is that he too will remain subject to the Shariah of the Prophet Muhammad . This era is the era of Prophet Muhammad . In other words, the finality of the Noble Prophet has two aspects:

1. No new Prophet of any kind will be brought into existence.
2. If one of the earlier Prophets (Isa ) returns, he will live in obedience to the commands of the Prophet Muhammad .

In summary, when Allah Almighty laid the foundation of the world, He also laid the first brick of the palace of Prophethood. The one whom He appointed as His vicegerent in the world was also made the first brick in the structure of Prophethood. As the world gradually expanded, the palace of Prophethood also continued to be built. Eventually, the world reached the height destined for it, and the palace of Prophethood was completed with all its beauty, excellence, and perfection.

It therefore became necessary that, just as Allah Almighty had informed humanity at the beginning of the world about the sending of Messengers, He should also announce, at the end of this process, the conclusion of Messengership, so that according to the ancient Divine practice no future Messenger would be awaited. As long as the world had not reached its destined completion, the noble Prophets , continued to come according to the Divine practice. Each Prophet gave glad tidings of another Prophet after him; however, no Prophet ever claimed that he was Khatam Al-Nabiyyin.¹⁰

Finally, the time arrived when the final Messenger in the Israelite line, Isa , gave glad tidings of a Messenger whose blessed name would be Ahmad . Allah Almighty mentions the glad tidings of this Messenger as:

  وَإِذْ قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ يَابَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَمُبَشِّرًا بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِي مِنْ بَعْدِي اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ ...6 ¹¹

  And when ‘Isa (), the son of Maryam (Jesus, the son of Mary), said: ‘O Children of Israel! I am Allah’s Messenger to you, confirming the Torah that came before me, and bearing the glad tidings of a Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) who will come after me, whose name (in the heavens) is Ahmad...

When this awaited Messenger of the world, the one foretold by Isa , came into the world, he made a new and final declaration: “I am now the last Messenger. After me, neither any Prophet will come nor any Messenger.” Not accepting any new Prophethood, new Messengership, new Shariah, or new Ummah after him is, in reality, what is called the doctrine of Khatm Al-Nubuwwah. Complete faith in this doctrine is obligatory upon every Muslim man and woman.

 

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• ¹  Ahmad ibn Saad Al-Ghamidi (1398 A.H.), Aqidat Khatm Al-Nubuwwah bi Al-Nubuwwah Al-Muhammadiyyah, Jamiat Al-Malik Abd Al-Aziz, Makkah Al-Mukarramah, Saudi Arabia, Pg. 11.
• ²  Abu Al-Awn Muhammad ibn Ahmad Al-Saffarini (1982), Lawami Al-Anwar Al-Bahiyyah wa Sawati Al-Asrar Al-Athariyyah li Sharh Al-Durrah Al-Mudiyyah fi Aqdi Al-Firqah Al-Mardiyyah, Muassasat Al-Khafiqain wa Maktabatuha, Damascus, Syria, Vol. 2, Pg. 277.
• ³  Al-Shahid Hassan Al-Banna (n.d.), Al-Aqaid, Dar Al-Dawah, Alexandria, Egypt, Pg. 7.
• ⁴  Al-Quran, Surah Al-Ahzab, 33:40.
• ⁵  Abu Isa Muhammad ibn Isa Al-Tirmidhi (2009), Jami Al-Tirmidhi, Dar Al-Salam, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Hadith 2272, Pg. 687.
• ⁶  Abu Al-Thana Mahmood ibn Abdullah Al-Alusi (1415 AH), Ruh Al-Maani fi Tafsir Al-Quran Al-Azim wa Al-Sab Al-Mathani, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 11, Pg. 219-220.
• ⁷  Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Ahmad Al-Tahawi (1414 AH), Al-Aqidah Al-Tahawiyyah, Al-Maktab Al-Islami, Beirut, Lebanon, Pg. 36-39.
• ⁸  Dr. Salih ibn Fawzan Al-Fawzan (1999), Al-Irshad ila Sahih Al-Itiqad wa Al-Radd ala Ahl Al-Shirk wa Al-Ilhad, Dar Ibn Al-Jawzi, Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Pg. 210.
• ⁹  Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ismail Al-Bukhari (1999), Sahih Al-Bukhari, Dar Al-Salam, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Hadith 3455, Pg. 582.
• ¹⁰  Dr. Allamah Khalid Mahmood (n.d.), Aqidat Al-Ummah fi Mana Khatm Al-Nubuwwah, Dar Al-Maarif, Lahore, Pakistan, Pg. 22.
• ¹¹  Al-Quran, Surah Al-Saff, 61:6.

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