The Return of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) is most relevant to the issue of the finality of Prophethood (Khatm-e-Nabboowat). Whenever a discussion takes place on this issue between Ahmadi Muslims and other Muslims, Ahmadis often bring up the question, "Won´t the Return of Jesus Christ also violate the finality of Prophethood?" The usual answer given to this question is that it won´t impact Khatm-e-Nabboowat because the Christ is an old Prophet. Through this article of mine I´ll aim to settle this issue through the verses of the Holy Qur´an.
Firstly, one thing that we must get out of our way is that it is unanimously agreed upon that Jesus Christ will return as a Prophet, as opposed to a non-Prophet Reformer. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) himself has declared Jesus a Prophet during his Second Coming......
"..... Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his Companions would supplicate Allah.... Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his Companions would then come down to the earth..... Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his Companions would then again beseech Allah..... " - Sahih Muslim, The Book of Tribulations and Portents of the Last Hour, Chapter Al-Dajjal.
"Narrated Abu Huraira: the Prophet said, 'There is no prophet between me and him, that is, Jesus. He will descend.... ' " - Sunan Abu Dawood, Kitaab al-Malahim, Chapter The appearance of the Dajjal.
Both these Ahadith make it clear that the Christ will have to be a Prophet according to the ruling given by the Holy Prophet. Again, it is an agreed upon belief anyway. I just added this point for the sake of clarity. Let´s now turn to the Book of Allah.......
"And will make him a Messenger to the children of Israel..... " - Qur´an 3:49.
"And remember when Jesus, son of Mary, said, 'O´ children of Israel, surely I am Allah’s Messenger unto you, fulfilling that which is before me of the Torah, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger who will come after me. His name will be Ahmad.' And when he came to them with clear proofs, they said, 'This is clear enchantment' " - Qur´an 61:6.
These verses restrict Jesus Christ´s Prophethood to the Israelites. The Holy Prophet was the first Prophet who was sent to the whole mankind, whereas others were meant only for particular places, communities, nations etc. However, against this, it is believed that the Christ will be a Prophet to whole mankind in his Second Coming, whereas you can clearly read in both the verses, and in particular verse 61:6 is of interest here, in which the Christ himself restricts his mission to the Isrealites only with the words "Surely I am Allah´s Messenger UNTO YOU." In contrast to this, you can find clear evidence of the Holy Prophet´s Call being for all mankind......
"Say, 'O´ mankind, I am but a plain Warner to you' " - Qur´an 22:49.
"And We have not sent you but as a bearer of glad tidings and a Warner, for all mankind, but most men know not" - Qur´an 34:28.
Therefore, being from a Messenger meant only for a particular nation, the Christ will be bestowed upon a Prophethood which will now be for the whole of mankind - and that is mandatory for him to be a follower of a Prophet who too was meant for all mankind, otherwise he can´t be his follower Prophet. He´ll be given a new kind of Prophethood. For example, a person who is a member of the Provincial Assembly cannot just walk into the National Assembly to earn its membership. He´ll have to to be elected for that. So he will be given a new kind of Prophethood, and the finality of Prophethood will be effected right away with such a step.
So, in a nutshell, the Christ will be the last Prophet to preach and practise Prophethood on earth, also the last to be given Prophethood and also the last Prophet to die. Against this, the Holy Prophet will only remain a person who was born before the Christ. The question is, is Prophethood needed after the Advent of the Holy Prophet? Also, is another Prophet needed after his appearance? Is some work still left to be done which a Prophet of God shall do? Are some issues left which shall by settled by a Prophet? The answer to all these questions, according to the beliefs held by non-Ahmadi Muslims, is a "yes". So what all this tells is that the issue between the two parties is not necessarily about the continuation of Prophethood but of the identity of the Prophet who shall come. I wonder wherein the blasphemy lies in the Ahmadiyya belief on this, given that other Muslims´ belief on this differs only to the extent that the Holy Prophet was born as a Prophet before Jesus Christ was born, as otherwise the view is identical with regards to the continuation of Prophethood? Let´s turn to another verse......
"It is these to whom We gave the Book and dominion and Prophethood. But if these people are ungrateful for them, it matters not, for We have now entrusted them to a people who are not ungrateful for them" - Qur´an 6:89.
*Note: the word translated as "dominion" above is "hikmah", which can be translated as "Faculty of judgement", or most commonly, as "wisdom".
The verse refers to the Children of Israel, the Jews. Verses before this exclusively mention the Prophets (including Prophet Jesus - see verse 6:85) that appeared amongst the Children of Israel, or those whose teachings are included as a part of their faith. The meaning of the verse obviously is, "These are the Prophets whom we gave Prophethood and other blessings, but since the Jews haven´t stayed grateful to God for these blessings, they´ve now been entrusted to another people, that is, the Muslims."
The meaning of the verse is clear that Prophethood has now been entrusted to Muslims, and clearly been taken away from Jews. The Christ was a Jewish Prophet, if he returns then Prophethood will go back to a Jew, and hence will clearly violate the above verse. Another thing which deserves our attention is that if indeed the Christ returns as a Prophet, Prophethood will be bestowed upon him anew because Prophethood has been taken away from Jews, or any other people, and has now been given to Muslims, and this too will clearly violate Khatm-e-Nabboowat.
It is believed that in his Second Coming, the Christ will be an Islamic Prophet, as opposed to a Jewish Prophet. Now, doesn´t it sound odd that he´ll firstly convert to the new faith, will learn the new teachings and will begin to preach the new teachings by abandoning his earlier faith and teachings, and yet amidst all this, going through all the exhausting work, his Prophethood will remain the same as it was in his first coming? Obviously not! It is an erroneous belief all the way, even from the mere sound of it. Imagine Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) first being a Prophet for Jews, in that that he judges by the Torah, abides to the law and the teachings of it. One day his mission switches and changes as he´s now a Prophet for Hindus, preaches the teachings of Bhagavad Gita and Vedas, as a result of which he´ll have to abandon his earlier faith and teachings. Now, after the switch from one faith to a new one, from one book to a new one, from one teachings to another, can anyone in his right mind believe that his Prophethood hasn´t changed? Can anyone believe that he hasn´t been granted a new kind of Prophethood, which is now for another community, another nation? Bear in mind also the point made based on verse 3:49 and 61:6 of the Holy Qur´an, which being that the status of the Christ´s Prophethood will from being for one community to now being for the whole of mankind. Therefore, the return of Jesus Christ is in every way bound to violate the concept of the finality of Prophethood - certainly according to the Qur´an anyway - irrespective of whether our opponents accept this fact or not.
As an example, I´d like to point out for our opponents the case of two kinds of Prophethoods which they too accept: law-bearing and non-law-bearing (that is, one with a Shariah and one without it). These are, as a fact, not the same kinds of Prophethoods. So if a Prophet is a non-law-bearing Prophet in one advent, and in his second advent (after centuries) he´s a law-bearing one, can anyone in his right mind deny that he has now been bestowed upon a different and a new kind of Prophethood? Obviously not, as there has quite clearly occurred a change in his Prophethood. Therefore, how can our opponents still hold on to the belief that the return of Jesus Christ as a Prophet won´t violate Khatm-e-Nabboowat?
Another strange argument that I once saw a non-Ahmadi scholar make was that, although the Christ will return as a Prophet because he was a Prophet in his first advent, he´ll not receive Wahi al-Nabboowah (revelation revealed to a Prophet) because that has been terminated after the Holy Prophet Muhammad. This too contradicts a Hadith from Sahih Muslim, which I´ve also included above in the very beginning of my article. However, before I turn to the relevant Hadith, the question anyway is that who´ll guide the Christ during his Second Coming? Some incredibly hard and testing tasks have been assigned to him, but how much sense does it make anyway that God will not reveal anything to him? Who´ll tell the Christ what to do and what not to do? Well, the Hadith below answer these questions.....
".... Allah would reveal to Jesus these words..... " - Sahih Muslim, The Book of Tribulations and Portents of the Last Hour, Chapter Al-Dajjal.
The word translated as "reveal" in English above is from the Arabic root word "wahi (وحي)" in the Hadith. So what we can clearly infer from this is that Prophetic revelation will be granted to the Christ. Therefore, he´ll be the last Prophet on earth upon whom Wahi al-Nabboowah will be revealed. Considering this, and many other factors pointed out in the 14th paragraph of my write-up, the Holy Prophet Muhammad will only remain the last Prophet to have been born, as all other such "honours" will go to Jesus Christ if he indeed happens to return. In the face of such beliefs, it is highly hypocritical to point out Ahmadis as a heretic group for believing in the continuation of Prophethood, when all those Muslims who await the Return of the Christ believe exactly and exactly the same.
Warm regards,
Firstly, one thing that we must get out of our way is that it is unanimously agreed upon that Jesus Christ will return as a Prophet, as opposed to a non-Prophet Reformer. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) himself has declared Jesus a Prophet during his Second Coming......
"..... Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his Companions would supplicate Allah.... Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his Companions would then come down to the earth..... Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his Companions would then again beseech Allah..... " - Sahih Muslim, The Book of Tribulations and Portents of the Last Hour, Chapter Al-Dajjal.
"Narrated Abu Huraira: the Prophet said, 'There is no prophet between me and him, that is, Jesus. He will descend.... ' " - Sunan Abu Dawood, Kitaab al-Malahim, Chapter The appearance of the Dajjal.
Both these Ahadith make it clear that the Christ will have to be a Prophet according to the ruling given by the Holy Prophet. Again, it is an agreed upon belief anyway. I just added this point for the sake of clarity. Let´s now turn to the Book of Allah.......
"And will make him a Messenger to the children of Israel..... " - Qur´an 3:49.
"And remember when Jesus, son of Mary, said, 'O´ children of Israel, surely I am Allah’s Messenger unto you, fulfilling that which is before me of the Torah, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger who will come after me. His name will be Ahmad.' And when he came to them with clear proofs, they said, 'This is clear enchantment' " - Qur´an 61:6.
These verses restrict Jesus Christ´s Prophethood to the Israelites. The Holy Prophet was the first Prophet who was sent to the whole mankind, whereas others were meant only for particular places, communities, nations etc. However, against this, it is believed that the Christ will be a Prophet to whole mankind in his Second Coming, whereas you can clearly read in both the verses, and in particular verse 61:6 is of interest here, in which the Christ himself restricts his mission to the Isrealites only with the words "Surely I am Allah´s Messenger UNTO YOU." In contrast to this, you can find clear evidence of the Holy Prophet´s Call being for all mankind......
"Say, 'O´ mankind, I am but a plain Warner to you' " - Qur´an 22:49.
"And We have not sent you but as a bearer of glad tidings and a Warner, for all mankind, but most men know not" - Qur´an 34:28.
Therefore, being from a Messenger meant only for a particular nation, the Christ will be bestowed upon a Prophethood which will now be for the whole of mankind - and that is mandatory for him to be a follower of a Prophet who too was meant for all mankind, otherwise he can´t be his follower Prophet. He´ll be given a new kind of Prophethood. For example, a person who is a member of the Provincial Assembly cannot just walk into the National Assembly to earn its membership. He´ll have to to be elected for that. So he will be given a new kind of Prophethood, and the finality of Prophethood will be effected right away with such a step.
So, in a nutshell, the Christ will be the last Prophet to preach and practise Prophethood on earth, also the last to be given Prophethood and also the last Prophet to die. Against this, the Holy Prophet will only remain a person who was born before the Christ. The question is, is Prophethood needed after the Advent of the Holy Prophet? Also, is another Prophet needed after his appearance? Is some work still left to be done which a Prophet of God shall do? Are some issues left which shall by settled by a Prophet? The answer to all these questions, according to the beliefs held by non-Ahmadi Muslims, is a "yes". So what all this tells is that the issue between the two parties is not necessarily about the continuation of Prophethood but of the identity of the Prophet who shall come. I wonder wherein the blasphemy lies in the Ahmadiyya belief on this, given that other Muslims´ belief on this differs only to the extent that the Holy Prophet was born as a Prophet before Jesus Christ was born, as otherwise the view is identical with regards to the continuation of Prophethood? Let´s turn to another verse......
"It is these to whom We gave the Book and dominion and Prophethood. But if these people are ungrateful for them, it matters not, for We have now entrusted them to a people who are not ungrateful for them" - Qur´an 6:89.
*Note: the word translated as "dominion" above is "hikmah", which can be translated as "Faculty of judgement", or most commonly, as "wisdom".
The verse refers to the Children of Israel, the Jews. Verses before this exclusively mention the Prophets (including Prophet Jesus - see verse 6:85) that appeared amongst the Children of Israel, or those whose teachings are included as a part of their faith. The meaning of the verse obviously is, "These are the Prophets whom we gave Prophethood and other blessings, but since the Jews haven´t stayed grateful to God for these blessings, they´ve now been entrusted to another people, that is, the Muslims."
The meaning of the verse is clear that Prophethood has now been entrusted to Muslims, and clearly been taken away from Jews. The Christ was a Jewish Prophet, if he returns then Prophethood will go back to a Jew, and hence will clearly violate the above verse. Another thing which deserves our attention is that if indeed the Christ returns as a Prophet, Prophethood will be bestowed upon him anew because Prophethood has been taken away from Jews, or any other people, and has now been given to Muslims, and this too will clearly violate Khatm-e-Nabboowat.
It is believed that in his Second Coming, the Christ will be an Islamic Prophet, as opposed to a Jewish Prophet. Now, doesn´t it sound odd that he´ll firstly convert to the new faith, will learn the new teachings and will begin to preach the new teachings by abandoning his earlier faith and teachings, and yet amidst all this, going through all the exhausting work, his Prophethood will remain the same as it was in his first coming? Obviously not! It is an erroneous belief all the way, even from the mere sound of it. Imagine Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) first being a Prophet for Jews, in that that he judges by the Torah, abides to the law and the teachings of it. One day his mission switches and changes as he´s now a Prophet for Hindus, preaches the teachings of Bhagavad Gita and Vedas, as a result of which he´ll have to abandon his earlier faith and teachings. Now, after the switch from one faith to a new one, from one book to a new one, from one teachings to another, can anyone in his right mind believe that his Prophethood hasn´t changed? Can anyone believe that he hasn´t been granted a new kind of Prophethood, which is now for another community, another nation? Bear in mind also the point made based on verse 3:49 and 61:6 of the Holy Qur´an, which being that the status of the Christ´s Prophethood will from being for one community to now being for the whole of mankind. Therefore, the return of Jesus Christ is in every way bound to violate the concept of the finality of Prophethood - certainly according to the Qur´an anyway - irrespective of whether our opponents accept this fact or not.
As an example, I´d like to point out for our opponents the case of two kinds of Prophethoods which they too accept: law-bearing and non-law-bearing (that is, one with a Shariah and one without it). These are, as a fact, not the same kinds of Prophethoods. So if a Prophet is a non-law-bearing Prophet in one advent, and in his second advent (after centuries) he´s a law-bearing one, can anyone in his right mind deny that he has now been bestowed upon a different and a new kind of Prophethood? Obviously not, as there has quite clearly occurred a change in his Prophethood. Therefore, how can our opponents still hold on to the belief that the return of Jesus Christ as a Prophet won´t violate Khatm-e-Nabboowat?
Another strange argument that I once saw a non-Ahmadi scholar make was that, although the Christ will return as a Prophet because he was a Prophet in his first advent, he´ll not receive Wahi al-Nabboowah (revelation revealed to a Prophet) because that has been terminated after the Holy Prophet Muhammad. This too contradicts a Hadith from Sahih Muslim, which I´ve also included above in the very beginning of my article. However, before I turn to the relevant Hadith, the question anyway is that who´ll guide the Christ during his Second Coming? Some incredibly hard and testing tasks have been assigned to him, but how much sense does it make anyway that God will not reveal anything to him? Who´ll tell the Christ what to do and what not to do? Well, the Hadith below answer these questions.....
".... Allah would reveal to Jesus these words..... " - Sahih Muslim, The Book of Tribulations and Portents of the Last Hour, Chapter Al-Dajjal.
The word translated as "reveal" in English above is from the Arabic root word "wahi (وحي)" in the Hadith. So what we can clearly infer from this is that Prophetic revelation will be granted to the Christ. Therefore, he´ll be the last Prophet on earth upon whom Wahi al-Nabboowah will be revealed. Considering this, and many other factors pointed out in the 14th paragraph of my write-up, the Holy Prophet Muhammad will only remain the last Prophet to have been born, as all other such "honours" will go to Jesus Christ if he indeed happens to return. In the face of such beliefs, it is highly hypocritical to point out Ahmadis as a heretic group for believing in the continuation of Prophethood, when all those Muslims who await the Return of the Christ believe exactly and exactly the same.
Warm regards,
Rawal Afzal (Twitter: @R_A_Azaad / @The_Traveller27).
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