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Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

Did not claim to be a prophet

Affirms belief in finality of prophethood

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Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad affirms belief in finality of prophethood

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad declared again and again that his belief is that the Holy Prophet Muhammad is the Khatam-un-nabiyyin (or Khatam-ul-anbiya), and that this means that no prophet whatsoever can come after him. Some such statements are given below. Here we have quoted only those statements in which he has specifically used the terms Khatam-un-nabiyyin or Khatam-ul-anbiya. He has also made other statements, without reference to this term, again affirming that the Prophet Muhammad was the Last Prophet after whom no prophet whatsoever can come.

(Note: English translations of all his statements are given first, followed by the original Urdu texts of all the statements. After each English translation, the reference to the book name is a link leading to the place where the original Urdu text is given. Similarly, before each Urdu text the reference to the book name is a link back to its translation .)

1.	In his book Izala Auham, he quotes the Khatam-un-nabiyyin verse of the Quran (ch. 33, v. 40), and then translates it into Urdu as follows: “That is to say, Muhammad is not the father of any man from among you, but he is the Messenger of Allah, and the one to end the prophets.” Here he has translated the term Khatam-un-nabiyyin as meaning one to end the prophets (Urdu: “khatam karnai wala hai nabiyon ka”). He then comments: “This verse also clearly argues that, after our Holy Prophet, no messenger shall come into the world. Therefore, it is proved perfectly manifestly that the Messiah, son of Mary, cannot return to this world.” — Izala Auham, p. 614. Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 3, p. 431
2.	“The Holy Quran does not permit the coming of any messenger (rasul) after the Khatam-un-nabiyyin, whether a new one or an old one.” — Izala Auham, p. 761. Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 3, p. 511
3.	“The fact that our Holy Prophet is the Khatam-ul-anbiya also requires the death of Jesus because if another prophet comes after him, he cannot remain the Khatam-ul-anbiya, nor can the type of revelation given to prophets be considered as terminated.… … The return of Jesus is not mentioned anywhere in the Holy Quran, but the ending of prophethood is mentioned perfectly clearly. To make a distinction between the coming of an old prophet [i.e Jesus] and a new prophet is mischievous. Neither the Hadith nor the Quran make such a distinction, and the negation contained in the hadith report ‘There is no prophet after me’ is general. What audacity, boldness and insolence it is to depart from the clear meaning of the Quran, in pursuit of one’s feeble conjectures, and believe in the coming of a prophet after the Khatam-ul-anbiya!.” — Ayyam-us-Sulh, p. 146. Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 14, p. 392-393 Here Hazrat Mirza has clearly taken the term Khatam-ul-anbiya about the Holy Prophet Muhammad to mean that the Prophet Muhammad was the Last Prophet after whom no prophet at all can come.
4.	“ ‘Muhammad is not the father of any man from among you, but he is the Messenger of Allah, and the Khatam-un-nabiyyin.’ Do you not know that the Merciful Lord has declared our Holy Prophet to be the Khatam-ul-anbiya unconditionally, and our Holy Prophet has explained this in his words: ‘There is no prophet after me’, which is a clear explanation for the seekers of truth? If we consider as allowed the appearance of a prophet after our Prophet, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, then we have to allow the opening of the door of wahy nubuwwat [revelation to prophets] after its closure, and this is clearly wrong, as is not hidden from Muslims. How can a prophet come after our Prophet when revelation has been terminated after his death and Allah has ended the prophets with him?” — Hamamat-ul-Bushra, p. 81-82. Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 7, p. 200
5.	“The Holy Prophet had repeatedly said that no prophet would come after him, and the hadith ‘There is no prophet after me’ was so well-known that no one had any doubt about its authenticity. And the Holy Quran, every word of which is binding, in its verse ‘he is the Messenger of Allah and the Khatam-un-nabiyyin’, confirmed that prophethood has in fact ended with our Holy Prophet. Then how could it be possible that any prophet should come after the Holy Prophet Muhammad, according to the real meaning of prophethood? This would have destroyed the entire fabric of Islam.” — Kitab-ul-Bariyya, p. 184, footnote. Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 13, pp. 217-218
6.	“In brief, God by naming the Holy Prophet as Khatam-un-nabiyyin in the Quran, and the Holy Prophet himself by saying ‘There is no prophet after me’ in Hadith, had settled the matter that no prophet can come after the Holy Prophet, in terms of the real meaning of prophethood.” — Kitab-ul-Bariyya, p. 185, footnote. Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 13, p. 218
7.	“By saying ‘There is no prophet after me’, the Holy Prophet Muhammad closed the door absolutely to any new prophet or the return of any old prophet.” — Ayyam-us-Sulh, p. 152. Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 14, p. 400
8.	“Someone may raise this objection: ‘Jesus arose as a prophet of God for the verification of the Torah, so compared to him what is the worth of your testimony [to verify the truth of the Quran]. This time too a prophet was required for a fresh verification.’ The answer to this is that in Islam the door to that prophethood is closed which establishes its own authority. Allah the Most High says: ‘He is the Messenger of Allah and the Khatam-un-nabiyyin.’ And it is in the Hadith: ‘There is to be no prophet after me.’ Besides, the death of Jesus is proved from conclusive texts; hence there is no hope of his return to the world. If another prophet were to come, whether new or old, how could our Holy Prophet remain the Khatam-ul-anbiya?” — Ayyam-us-Sulh, p. 74. Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 14, pp. 308-309
9.	“It does not befit God that He should send a prophet after the Khatam-un-nabiyyin, or that He should re-start the system of prophethood after having terminated it.” — Ainah Kamalat Islam, p. 377. Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 5, p. 377
10.	“I firmly believe that our Holy Prophet Muhammad is the Khatam-ul-anbiya, and after him no prophet shall come for this Muslim people, neither new nor old.” — Nishan Asmani, p. 28. Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 4, p. 30
11.	“The actual fact, to which I testify with the highest testimony, is that our Holy Prophet is the Khatam-ul-anbiya, and after him no prophet will come, neither any old one nor any new one.” — Anjam Atham, p. 27, footnote. Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 11, p. 27
12.	“Similarly, in the verse, ‘This day I have perfected for you your religion’, and in the verse ‘He is the Messenger of Allah and the Khatam-un-nabiyyin’, it [the Holy Quran] has clearly ended prophethood with the Holy Prophet Muhammad. And it has said in plain words that the Holy Prophet is Khatam-ul-anbiya, as it says: ‘He is the Messenger of Allah and the Khatam-un-nabiyyin’. ” — Tuhfa Golarwiya, p. 51. Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 17, p. 174
13.	“As our Leader and Messenger, may peace and the blessings of God be upon him, is the Khatam-ul-anbiya, and no prophet can come after him, for this reason saints have been substituted for prophets in this Shari‘ah.” — Shahadat-ul-Quran, pages 23-24. Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 6, pp. 323-324
14.	“It should be believed from the bottom of the heart that prophethood has terminated with the Holy Prophet Muhammad, as God Almighty says: He is the Messenger of Allah and the Khatam-un-nabiyyin. To deny this verse, or to belittle it, is in fact to separate oneself from Islam. … It should be known that God has ended all His prophethoods and messengerships with the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet.” — Al-Hakam, 17 August 1899, p. 6.
15.	“God revealed to me that the true religion is Islam, and the true Messenger is (Muhammad) the Mustafa, the Leader and Imam, who is the Ummi (‘unlettered’) and Amin (‘faithful’). So, just as our Lord is the only One worthy of being worshipped and is One, similarly our Messenger is the only one who is to be followed. There is no prophet after him, and there is no partner with him in being the Khatam an-nabiyyin.” — Minan-ur-Rahman, see Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 9, page 164.
16.	“Allah is the Being Who … made Adam and sent messengers and scriptures, and last of all sent Muhammad, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, who is the Khatam-ul-anbiya and the best of messengers.” — Haqiqat-ul-Wahy, p. 141. Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 22, p. 145 For further references from Haqiqat-ul-Wahy, see this link.
After the year 1901 In reply to the quotations presented above, we are told it was only until the year 1901 that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad held the belief that Khatam-un-nabiyyin (or Khatam-ul-anbiya) means the Last Prophet after whom no prophet can come, and that in November 1901 he amended this belief by taking Khatam-un-nabiyyin to mean ‘best’ but not last Prophet. We have already quoted above his statement from Haqiqat-ul-Wahy, and pointed to other references from the same book, showing that he expressed the same view in this book which was published in May 1907. Below we give some further statements after the year 1901 which make clear even to a common reader without much religious knowledge that Hazrat Mirza considered Khatam-un-nabiyyin to mean Last of the Prophets.
17.	In his book Tazkirat-ush-Shahadatain (‘The story of two martyrs’), published in 1903, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad goes through the answers that he gave to various questions while talking to one of those martyrs, the famous Sahibzada Abdul Latif. At one point he writes: “I gave him the reply that as the Holy Prophet Muhammad was the Khatam-ul-anbiya and no prophet was to come after him…” — Tazkirat-ush-Shahadatain, p. 43. Ruhani Khaza’in, v. 20, p. 45
18.	In his Lecture delivered at Ludhiana on 4th November 1905 he stated: “The Holy Prophet is Khatam-un-nabiyyin and the Holy Quran is Khatam-ul-kutub.” — Lecture Ludhiana, p. 37. Ruhani Khaza’in, v. 20, p. 285 Now the term Khatam-ul-kutub for the Holy Quran does not mean it is “the best but not last” of the revealed books. All Muslims believe that it brought revealed books to an end. So Khatam-un-nabiyyin in the same sentence also means the one who brought prophets to an end.
19.	In his book Barahin Ahmadiyya Part 5, which he began writing in 1905, he criticises his opponents for holding the mistaken belief that the prophet Jesus will return to this world again in the last days and he writes that according to this belief it is Jesus who would be the Khatam-ul-anbiya. — Barahin Ahmadiyya Part 5, p. 45. Ruhani Khaza’in, v. 21, p. 58. It is clear here that Khatam-ul-anbiya means only the last of the prophets, and certainly not the best of prophets. No Muslim believes that Jesus, by returning, can become the “best” of the prophets, but he would certainly become the last if he returned.
20.	Again, in the same book he writes that in the books of the Jews it was written that the the Messiah who would arise among them: “would be their Khatam-ul-anbiya” — Barahin Ahmadiyya Part 5, p. 120. Ruhani Khaza’in, v. 21, p. 286. Here too Khatam-ul-anbiya can only mean the last of their prophets. The “best” of their prophets would be their great lawgiver Moses, and not their Messiah (who was Jesus).
21.	In a footnote on the same page as above (Ruhani Khaza’in, v. 21, p. 286), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad likens himself to Hazrat Abu Bakr, and writes that they both arose at a time of terrible anxiety for Islam when Muslims were deserting Islam, and they brought Muslims back to its fold. By likening himself to Hazrat Abu Bakr, he shows that he is not a prophet but a khalifa of the Holy Prophet.
22.	Again, in the same book he writes: “… Isa (Jesus) is the name of the Khatam-ul-anbiya of the Israelites who came at the end, and Ahmad and Muhammad are the names of the Khatam-ul-anbiya of Islam…” — Barahin Ahmadiyya Part 5, Appendix, page b. Ruhani Khaza’in, v. 21, p. 412 Jesus being the Khatam-ul-anbiya of the Israelite prophets means only that he was the last prophet to arise among them. Therefore the same term used here about the Holy Prophet means the last of the prophets that was to arise according to Islam. It must also be noted that as the Holy Prophet Muhammad was to be the last prophet ever to arise, it means that his authority as prophet, and the blessings received through following him, will continue forever.