Surah Al-Ahzaab (33) — Ayah 40

(Ayah 40) ➊ { مَا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ اَبَاۤ اَحَدٍ مِّنْ رِّجَالِكُمْ :} That is, although the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) adopted Zaid, he is not your son, nor are you his real father, so call him Zaid bin Harithah instead of Zaid bin Muhammad. None of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) sons lived long enough to reach the age of puberty. From Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her), three sons were born to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Qasim, Tayyib, and Tahir, and they all died in childhood. From Maria Qibtiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her), Ibrahim was born, and he too died in infancy. Four daughters were born, all from Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her): Zainab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with them). Three of them died during the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) lifetime, and Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) witnessed the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) passing, then she died six months later. (Ibn Kathir)

➋ { مَا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ اَبَاۤ اَحَدٍ مِّنْ رِّجَالِكُمْ … :} In this one verse, the root of all objections that the opponents were raising or could have raised against the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has been cut off. The first objection was that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) married his son’s wife, while he himself declares marriage to a son’s wife forbidden. In response, it is said, “Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is not the father of any of your men,” meaning the person (Zaid) whose divorced wife you married was never your son; you yourselves know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has no son, so how could she become a daughter-in-law? The second objection could have been that even if an adopted son is not a real son, marrying his wife was at most permissible, but it was not necessary to do so. In response, it is said, “But he is the Messenger of Allah,” meaning, because he is a Messenger, it is his responsibility to convey the invalidity of those customs by his actions as well as his words, customs by which you have made lawful things unlawful. Then it is further emphasized that this is necessary because after you, no prophet will come to convey this message. Therefore, it is incumbent upon you to deliver every message of Allah in every circumstance. Finally, it is said that Allah has always been All-Knowing of everything, meaning He knows well how to abolish which custom of ignorance.

➌ { وَ لٰكِنْ رَّسُوْلَ اللّٰهِ وَ خَاتَمَ النَّبِيّٖنَ … :} This verse is a clear proof that after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), there will be no prophet. When there is no prophet after you, then, all the more so, there can be no messenger, because “prophet” is general and “messenger” is specific. Every messenger is a prophet, but not every prophet is a messenger. There are many mutawatir (mass-transmitted) hadiths from the noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) regarding the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) being the last prophet, and whoever claims prophethood after you, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) declared him a liar. Thawban (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ لَا تَقُوْمُ السَّاعَةُ حَتّٰی تَلْحَقَ قَبَائِلُ مِنْ أُمَّتِيْ بِالْمُشْرِكِيْنَ وَحَتّٰی يَعْبُدُوا الْأَوْثَانَ وَ إِنَّهُ سَيَكُوْنُ فِيْ أُمَّتِيْ ثَلَاثُوْنَ كَذَّابُوْنَ كُلُّهُمْ يَزْعُمُ أَنَّهُ نَبِيٌّ وَ أَنَا خَاتَمُ النَّبِيِّيْنَ لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدِيْ ] [ ترمذي، الفتن، باب ما جاء لا تقوم الساعۃ حتی یخرج کذّابون : ۲۲۱۹، و قال الألباني صحیح ] “The Hour will not be established until some tribes of my Ummah join the polytheists and there will be thirty liars among my Ummah, each of whom will claim that he is a prophet, whereas I am the Seal of the Prophets, there is no prophet after me.” Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Ali (may Allah be pleased with him): [ أَنْتَ مِنِّيْ بِمَنْزِلَةِ هَارُوْنَ مِنْ مُّوْسٰی إِلَّا أَنَّهُ لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدِيْ ] [ مسلم، فضائل الصحابۃ، باب من فضائل علي بن أبي طالب رضی اللہ عنہ : ۲۴۰۴ ] “You are to me as Harun was to Musa, except that there is no prophet after me.”

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ إِنَّ الرِّسَالَةَ وَ النُّبُوَّةَ قَدِ انْقَطَعَتْ فَلَا رَسُوْلَ بَعْدِيْ وَ لَا نَبِيَّ، قَالَ فَشَقَّ ذٰلِكَ عَلَی النَّاسِ، فَقَالَ لٰكِنِ الْمُبَشِّرَاتُ، فَقَالُوْا يَا رَسُوْلَ اللّٰهِ! وَ مَا الْمُبَشِّرَاتُ؟ قَالَ رُؤْيَا الْمُسْلِمِ وَ هِيَ جُزْءٌ مِنْ أَجْزَاءِ النُّبُوَّةِ ] [ ترمذي، الرؤیا، باب ذھبت النبوۃ و بقیت المبشرات : ۲۲۷۲، و قال الألباني صحیح الإسناد ] “Messengership and prophethood have ended, so there will be no messenger or prophet after me.” This was hard for the people, so he said: “But glad tidings remain.” The people asked: “O Messenger of Allah! What are the glad tidings?” He said: “The dream of a Muslim, and it is one part of the parts of prophethood.” Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ إِنَّ مَثَلِيْ وَ مَثَلَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ مِنْ قَبْلِيْ كَمَثَلِ رَجُلٍ بَنٰی بَيْتًا فَأَحْسَنَهُ وَ أَجْمَلَهُ، إِلاَّ مَوْضِعَ لَبِنَةٍ مِنْ زَاوِيَةٍ، فَجَعَلَ النَّاسُ يَطُوْفُوْنَ بِهِ وَ يَعْجَبُوْنَ لَهُ، وَ يَقُوْلُوْنَ هَلَّا وُضِعَتْ هٰذِهِ اللَّبِنَةُ؟ قَالَ فَأَنَا اللَّبِنَةُ، وَ أَنَا خَاتَمُ النَّبِيِّيْنَ ] [ بخاري، المناقب، باب خاتم النبیین صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم : ۳۵۳۵ ] “The example of me and the prophets before me is like a man who built a house, beautified it in every way, but left a place for one brick in a corner. People would walk around it and marvel at it and say, ‘Why was this brick not placed?’ So I am that brick, and I am the Seal of the Prophets.” All these hadiths and many other hadiths are proof that there is no prophet after you. As for the descent of Isa (peace be upon him), it does not contradict the finality of prophethood, because he was granted prophethood before you. Now he will come as a follower of your Ummah and will follow your Shariah. Until today, this is the unanimously agreed belief of the entire Ummah, so whoever denies the finality of prophethood is a definite disbeliever and outside the fold of Islam.

➍ There is another connection between the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) not being the father of any adult man and being the Messenger and the Seal of the Prophets, which was stated by the Companion Abdullah bin Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him), and that connection is a result of Allah being {’’ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيْمًا ‘‘}. Ismail says that I asked Ibn Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him), “Did you see the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) son Ibrahim?” He replied: [ مَاتَ صَغِيْرًا، وَ لَوْ قُضِيَ أَنْ يَّكُوْنَ بَعْدَ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ نَبِيٌّ عَاشَ ابْنُهُ، وَ لٰكِنْ لَّا نَبِيَّ بَعْدَهُ ] [ بخاري، الأدب، باب من سمی بأسماء الأنبیاء : ۶۱۹۴ ] “He died in childhood, and if it had been decreed that there would be a prophet after Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), then his son would have lived, but there is no prophet after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).” Although this statement is attributed to Ibn Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him), it is difficult to say this from one’s own opinion, because it is not necessary for a prophet’s son to be a prophet, as was the case with the son of Nuh (peace be upon him).