Surah Al-Ahzaab (33) — Ayah 40

40. Muhammad ﷺ is not the father [64] of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah [65] and the Seal of the Prophets [66]. And Allah has full knowledge of all things [67].

[64]
Objections Regarding the Marriage of the Confessors:

In this sentence, the objection of the enemies of Islam is refuted, who taunt that Muhammad ﷺ married the divorced wife of his son, i.e., his daughter-in-law. In reality, he is not the father of Zaid at all, nor is he the father of any man. That is, he has no offspring who are grown and worthy of being called men. It should be clear that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had two sons, Qasim and Tayyib (who is also called Tahir), who had passed away, and Ibrahim had not yet been born. Apart from them, Hasan ؓ and Husain ؓ were his grandsons, whom he ﷺ also called his sons, but firstly, they were not real sons, and secondly, they were also young and could not be called men.

[65] The second objection of those who created an uproar was that even if it was permissible for you ﷺ to marry the divorced wife of Zaid, was it necessary for you ﷺ to do so? This could have been said anyway. The answer is that Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah. He must do whatever Allah commands, and Allah’s command is that the reformation of this evil custom should begin with the person of the Prophet.

[66] In terms of the context, its meaning is that after Muhammad ﷺ, not only will no Messenger come, but no Prophet will come either. Therefore, after you ﷺ, the reformation of this evil custom would not have been possible. Thus, it was necessary that you ﷺ yourself marry the wife of your adopted son so that the way would be paved for other Muslims and they would not face any difficulty in doing so. However, this sentence is based on a solid reality, as is evident from the following hadiths:

(1) ‘Amir al-Sha‘bi says that none of the sons of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ survived so that the content of this verse would be fulfilled, that you ﷺ are not the father of any man. [ترمذي۔ ابواب التفسير]

(2) You are the Seal of the Prophets: Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah ؓ says that you ﷺ said: “The example of me and the previous Prophets is like a person who built a house, adorned and beautified it, but left a space for one brick in a corner. People would come and go and wonder why the space for this brick was left. I am that brick, and I am the Seal of the Prophets.” [بخاري۔ كتاب المناقب۔ باب خاتم النبيّينﷺ]

(3) Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah ؓ says that you ﷺ said: “The Prophets used to rule over the Children of Israel. When one Prophet died, another would succeed him. But there will be no Prophet after me. However, after me, there will be many caliphs.” [بخاري۔ كتاب الانبياء۔ باب ما ذكر عن بني اسرائيل ، مسلم۔ كتاب الامارة۔ باب الامر بالوفاء ببيعة الخلفاء]

(4) Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah ؓ says that you ﷺ said: “The Hour will not be established until two groups fight each other, and there will be a great battle between them, and both will claim the same thing. And the Hour will not be established until about thirty imposters (Dajjals) appear, each of whom will claim that he is Allah’s Messenger.” [بخاري۔ كتاب المناقب۔ باب علامات النبوت فى الاسلام]

(5)
Aswad ‘Ansi and Musaylimah the Liar:

Sayyiduna Ibn ‘Abbas ؓ says that during the time of the Prophet ﷺ, Musaylimah the Liar came to Madinah and said: “If Muhammad ﷺ appoints me as his successor after him, I will obey him.” And Musaylimah the Liar had brought many people with him. You ﷺ went to him, and with you was Thabit bin Qays (bin Shamas, the orator of the Ansar). At that time, you had a stick in your hand. You ﷺ addressed Musaylimah and said: “If you ask Muhammad ﷺ for even this stick, I will not give it to you (let alone succession). And whatever Allah has decreed for you, you cannot escape it. And you will not accept Islam, and Allah will destroy you. And I think you are the same enemy whose condition Allah has shown me (in a dream). And Thabit bin Qays will answer you on my behalf.” After saying this, you ﷺ left. Sayyiduna Ibn ‘Abbas ؓ says that I asked Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah ؓ about the meaning of your statement, so Abu Hurairah ؓ told me that you ﷺ said: “Once I was sleeping, and I saw in a dream that I had two gold bracelets in my hand. I became very worried. In the dream, I was commanded to blow on them, so I blew, and both flew away. I interpreted this as meaning that after me, two liars would claim prophethood; one of them is Aswad ‘Ansi and the other is Musaylimah the Liar.” [بخاري۔ كتاب المغازي۔ باب وفد بني حنيفة۔۔۔]

(6) Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah ؓ says that you ﷺ said: “Among the previous nations before you, there were people who received inspiration from Allah. If there is anyone like that in my Ummah, it would be ‘Umar bin Khattab.” (Reference as above) And near the Hour, Sayyiduna ‘Isa will descend, and he will live here as a follower of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and will follow your ﷺ Shari‘ah. Moreover, as a Prophet, he will be counted among the Prophets before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He will not make any new claim. The issue of the finality of Prophethood and the cessation of revelation after you ﷺ is such an issue on which the entire Ummah has consensus. Despite this verse, these clear authentic hadiths, and consensus, a person named Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, District Gurdaspur, claimed prophethood. Here, we want to briefly review his claim:

(1) Mirza Sahib himself was initially a believer in the finality of Prophethood and considered anyone who claimed prophethood to be a disbeliever. Thus, in “Hamamatul Bushra,” he writes: “How can a Prophet come after the Noble Prophet ﷺ when after his ﷺ demise, revelation has ceased, and Allah has ended the Prophets with the Messenger ﷺ?” [حمامة البشرٰي 20] Then, on page 79 of the same book, he writes: “It does not befit me to claim prophethood and thus be excluded from Islam and join the disbelievers.” At that time, his claim was only to be a reformer (mujaddid).

(2)
The Gradual Stages of Mirza Qadiani’s Prophethood:

After that, he became the “like of the Messiah,” then claimed to be the Promised Messiah. On this basis, he denied the ascension of ‘Isa and, through kashf and inspiration, even identified his grave in Kashmir and announced: “Leave the mention of the son of Mary; Ghulam Ahmad is better than him.” Then, after that, he openly claimed prophethood and also that revelation comes to him and he converses with Allah. Then, when scholars, according to his own writings, criticized him, he replied that he is not an independent Prophet nor a law-bearing Messenger, but became a Prophet only due to his obedience to you ﷺ and is your shadow and reflection (i.e., shade or image). On this terminology of shadow and reflection, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, editor of the daily “Zamindar,” once commented: “The prophethood of Qadian is a shadow, the caliphate of Qadian is excrement.” In other words, he became a Prophet gradually: first he claimed to be a reformer, then the like of the Messiah, then the Promised Messiah, and when he saw some success, he claimed prophethood and declared the land of Qadian as sacred, saying: “The land of Qadian is the sacred land; now it is honored by the crowd of people.” If considered, his gradual prophethood is itself sufficient to refute his claim of prophethood, because in the entire series of Prophets, no Prophet was made a Prophet in such a gradual manner. However, we also want to review the explanations he presented.

(3)
The Terminology of Shadow and Reflection Prophet:

His first explanation is that he attained the rank of shadow prophethood by following the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. According to his view, prophethood is not a gift but an acquired thing. The Qur’an has strongly refuted this view by saying: ﴿وَاللّٰهُ اَعْلَمُ حَيْثُ يَجْعَلُ رِسَالَتَه﴾. Moreover, if prophethood were an acquired thing and could be attained by perfect following, then the most deserving would have been the Companions, especially Sayyiduna ‘Umar ؓ, about whom it is explicitly mentioned in the blessed hadiths that if there were to be a Prophet after me, it would be ‘Umar ؓ. And the theory of shadow and reflection refutes his prophethood in many ways.

(4) The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was not a poet. Allah Almighty says regarding you ﷺ that poetry is not befitting for you. (For details, see Surah Yasin, verse 69 and its footnote.) Whereas Mirza Sahib was a poet. He wrote many poems and odes in Urdu, Arabic, and Persian, even compiling and publishing a large book called “Durr-e-Thamin” as a collection of his poetry. If you are the shadow and reflection of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then you ﷺ were not a poet. How did poetry come into the reflection? The meaning is clear: Mirza Sahib is not the reflection of the Messenger of Allah.

(5) The state of his contradictions is such that at one time he considered the claim of prophethood to be disbelief, then became the like of the Messiah, then the Promised Messiah, then claimed prophethood, and then even claimed that all the virtues of the Prophets are gathered and present in him. Thus, in “Durr-e-Thamin,” he said in Urdu: “Sometimes I am ‘Isa, sometimes Musa, sometimes Ya‘qub... and also Ibrahim, my progeny is countless.” In Persian, he said: “Anbiya karche budeh and baseh, man ba ‘irfan na kamtaram z kaseh. Anche dad ast har nabi ra jam, dad an jam ra mara ba tamam.” Translation: “Although many Prophets have passed, I am not less than anyone in knowledge. Whatever cup of knowledge was given to any Prophet, all those cups have been given to me.” Can such self-contradiction about oneself be called the reflection of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? Or was any of the previous Prophets ever made a Prophet gradually?

(6) The sixth point is his abusive language towards his opponents, whom he used to call “illegitimate” and “children of prostitutes,” and in “Aina-e-Kamalat-e-Islam” he said: «ذُرِّيَّةُ الْبَغَايَا» (i.e., children of prostitutes), except for every Muslim who accepted me and confirmed my invitation. In other words, all those Muslims who did not confirm my prophethood are children of prostitutes. And once, when he wanted to curse his opponent, he did not suffice with saying or writing “a thousand curses” once, but actually wrote the word “curse” a thousand times, blackening three or four pages of the book. Is this also an example of following the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his reflection? Can such filthy abuses be proven from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ regarding his opponents?

(7)
Arguments for the Refutation of His Prophethood:

And when it came to self-deprecation, he also used foul language and mocked the facts. In “Durr-e-Thamin,” he says: “I am a dust worm, my dear, not a son of Adam... I am the object of hatred for mankind and the disgrace of humans.” That is, O my dear, I am neither a worm of the earth nor from the progeny of Adam. Rather, I am the “object of hatred” of mankind, from which all people are ashamed. Now you yourself decide what the “object of hatred” of mankind could be. That is exactly what Mirza Sahib was. Despite all this, his claim is that he is the reflection of you ﷺ. Also, he was neither created from dust nor from the progeny of Adam. Then what was he? All previous Prophets were from the progeny of Adam.

(8) In the Qur’an and hadiths, the emphasis on jihad in the way of Allah, especially fighting in the way of Allah, and the virtues mentioned in the Book and Sunnah are well known. Even the Messenger of Allah ﷺ himself participated in seventeen battles and also said that this jihad will continue until the Day of Judgment. But Mirza Sahib issued a fatwa prohibiting this jihad, saying: “Now abandon the thought of jihad, O friends... Fighting and war for religion are now forbidden. He is the enemy of Allah who now does jihad. Whoever holds this belief is a denier of the Prophet.” [درثمين ص : 53] In the last verse, by “Prophet” is probably meant Mirza Sahib himself. Consider: can such a person be the reflection of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? Whereas the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said about himself: “I wish to be martyred in the way of Allah, then be brought back to life, then be martyred again, then be brought back to life, then be martyred again.” [بخاري۔ كتاب التمني۔ باب من تمني الشهادة]

Then also consider: is Mirza Sahib the reflection of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ or is he bent on destroying his wish and teaching and is his opposite?

(9)
Strong Opposition to Jihad by the Sword:

No Prophet has ever supported the government of the time; rather, the Prophet’s job is to reform a corrupt society, and the officials, courtiers, and the affluent class have always been opponents of the Prophets. But here we see that Mirza Sahib and his prophethood flourished under the patronage of the British. And he was always praising the high government, and he himself admitted to being the “self-planted sapling” of the government. Now, only two things are possible: either the British government is accepted as a true Islamic government, in which case the need for Mirza Sahib’s prophethood is eliminated, because a Prophet always comes to reform corruption; or the only remaining possibility is that the Prophet is a liar in his claim of prophethood. And this is exactly the situation that applies to Mirza Sahib’s prophethood. His admission of being the “self-planted sapling” of the British: What happened was that when the British government was established in India, an underground jihad movement also started, which always posed a threat to the British. They thought of a solution: to create division among Muslims and, secondly, to remove the spirit of jihad from the minds of Muslims as much as possible. For these tasks, their choice fell on Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani. Mirza Sahib accomplished both tasks for the British: he strongly opposed jihad by the sword and declared all Muslims except his followers as disbelievers. The clear proof of this is that Qadianis do not even perform the funeral prayer for Muslims. At the funeral prayer of Quaid-e-Azam, Sir Zafarullah Khan stood aside and did not participate in the prayer. And the British rewarded Mirza Sahib for these “favors” by giving full protection to his prophethood and his community and by giving them as many jobs as possible, bringing them forward in the government. That is why, despite being a minority, Qadianis occupy high positions in the government. In addition, these people are given all kinds of privileges.

(10)
The Fate of the Prophecy of Marriage to Muhammadi Begum:

The tenth proof for the refutation of his prophethood is his false prophecies. He wanted to marry Muhammadi Begum, so he spread the news that he had come to know by revelation that his marriage to Muhammadi Begum had taken place in the heavens. When Mirza Sahib requested Muhammadi Begum’s guardians, who were from his own community, they refused to give her in marriage. Upon this, based on his revelation, he issued various threats and warnings to Muhammadi Begum’s guardians. But his threats had no effect on those people, nor did they suffer any harm as per those threats. They married Muhammadi Begum elsewhere, where she had children and lived a peaceful life, and Mirza Sahib departed this world with the longing for that marriage in his heart. And the marriage in the heavens remained in the heavens; it could not take place on earth. Later, his followers interpreted Mirza Sahib’s revelations and inspirations to mean that at some time in the future, a boy from Mirza Sahib’s descendants would marry a girl from Muhammadi Begum’s descendants. Such blind devotion is also worth noting.

(11)
Mubahala with Maulana Sanaullah Amritsari and the Death of Mirza Sahib:

Maulana Sanaullah Amritsari was a staunch enemy of Mirza Sahib, as he was also relentlessly pursuing Mirza Sahib. Eventually, Mirza Sahib wrote a long letter to Maulvi Sanaullah on April 15, 1907, the gist of which was: “O Allah! If I am a liar and a fabricator, then let me die in the lifetime of Sanaullah, because I know that a liar and a fabricator does not live long. And if Sanaullah is a liar, then destroy him in my lifetime, but not by human hands, rather by deadly diseases such as plague and cholera.” Along with this, Mirza Sahib also requested that his letter be published verbatim in Sanaullah’s newspaper. Accordingly, Maulana Sanaullah Amritsari, respecting Mirza Sahib’s wish, published this long letter in his weekly “Ahl-e-Hadith” on May 25, 1907. Although the tone of the letter was supplicatory, Mirza Sahib confirmed by revelation that his prayer had been accepted, and this revelation was published in “Al-Badr Qadian” on April 25, 1907. The result was that Mirza Sahib died thirteen months later, on May 26, 1908, of cholera in Lahore, and Maulana Sanaullah Amritsari, by Allah’s grace, lived until March 1948, i.e., forty years after Mirza Sahib’s death. After Mirza Sahib’s death, when the uproar arose that Mirza Sahib had been proven false in his claim of prophethood, his followers tried to change the condition, saying that the real condition was that the one who was false would remain alive, and wanted to debate, and themselves proposed that a non-Muslim arbitrator would decide, and if we lose, we will give Maulana Sanaullah Amritsari three hundred rupees (i.e., at least thirty thousand rupees by today’s standard), otherwise Maulana Sanaullah will give us the same amount. According to this announcement, in April 1912, a debate was held in Ludhiana, in which Sardar Bachan Singh Ji, pleader of Ludhiana, was appointed as the arbitrator. In this debate, the arbitrator decided in favor of Maulana Sanaullah, and the proposed prize or bet amount was given to him. This was the personage of Mirza Sahib, who claimed to be the shadow and reflection of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. And when the government of Pakistan, in 1974, declared Qadianis as non-Muslims in the National Assembly by majority vote, the reason was the denial of those clear hadiths which we have mentioned at the beginning. How is it possible that a person believes in the Messenger of Allah’s ﷺ prophethood, yet does not accept his words, but instead, contrary to your ﷺ statements, not only denies those hadiths but also claims his own prophethood and messengership?

The Government of Pakistan Declaring Qadianis as Disbelievers:

Qadiani gentlemen usually present verses 44 to 46 of Surah Al-Haqqah as proof of the truth of Mirza Sahib’s prophethood, saying: “If this Messenger (i.e., Muhammad ﷺ) were to invent any saying in Our name, We would seize him by the right hand and cut off his aorta.” And the reason for their argument is that the Prophet’s ﷺ period of prophethood was 23 years, and Mirza Sahib lived longer than that; if he had lied against Allah, he should have received such a punishment from Allah, and since he did not, it proves he was truthful in his claim of prophethood. We will give a detailed answer to this in Surah Al-Haqqah. Briefly, if such a fabrication is made by a Prophet, he will certainly receive such a punishment. But if an ordinary person lies against Allah, he does not receive this punishment, just as if a governor issues a decree in his own name and attributes it to the president, he will certainly be held accountable. But if a sweeper or an ordinary person says whatever he wants against the president, no one even asks him. The fact that Mirza Sahib did not receive such a punishment actually refutes his prophethood.

The Arguments Presented by Qadianis for His Prophethood and Their Answers:

Qadiani gentlemen also present a rational argument for the continuation of prophethood, saying that prophethood is a mercy from Allah, which people always need, especially in today’s age of decline, such mercy is extremely necessary. Therefore, “Khatam” should mean “seal of approval,” i.e., the prophethood of that Prophet will be valid who confirms the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and follows his Shari‘ah. The answers to this argument are as follows:

1. Allah Almighty said: ﴿لٰكِنْ رَّسُوْلَ اللّٰهِ وَخَاتَمَ النَّـبِيّٖنَ﴾ and also said: ﴿وَكَان اللّٰهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِــيْمًا﴾ That is, Allah Almighty knows very well that there is no longer any need to send a Prophet until the Day of Judgment.

2. Whatever this argument is, in any case, it is a rational argument. And it is forbidden to use analogy or reason in opposition to the text.

3. Their claim of necessity is also wrong in that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has clearly stated: “A group from my Ummah will remain on the truth until the Day of Judgment.” The Companions asked: “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! Who will that group be?” You ﷺ said: “Those who are upon what I and my Companions are upon.” [ ترمذي۔ كتاب الايمان۔ باب الافتراق هذه الامة]

So today, the only thing to see is which group or sect is there that takes guidance only from the Book and Sunnah, does not add or subtract anything, does not accept anyone’s statement or fatwa in opposition to the Book and Sunnah, and does not introduce any new thing into the religion, whether it relates to belief or action. And the presence of such a group eliminates the need for a new Prophet. And since such a group will remain until the Day of Judgment, there will never be a need for a Prophet until the Day of Judgment. When is a new Prophet needed: Moreover, one important reason for the sending of Prophets is that previous nations or communities alter the Book of Allah or mix the statements of the scholars of the community and additional material into the Book of Allah, confusing it. The Prophet’s job is to identify the true revealed teachings and make a clear decision about them. But in the Muslim Ummah, this is not the case; they have the Book of Allah in the same form and preserved as it was revealed to you ﷺ. Then, in addition to the Book of Allah, its explanation and commentary, called hadith or Sunnah, is also present and preserved with the Ummah. So then, what was the need for a new Prophet? Was it only to create division among those who believe in the Book of Allah and to declare the rest of the Muslims as disbelievers?

[67] That is, He is well aware of the deeds of those who are causing chaos. And He is also well aware of the wisdom behind His commands.