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The
Question of Prophethood and Mirza Mahmud Ahmad ---
Meaning of Khatam an-Nabiyyin, i.e., 'Last of the
Prophets':
The Question of
Prophethood and Mirza Mahmud
Ahmad:
For a long time, I wished
Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad [Referred to later as
Mian Sahib. (Translator)] should himself take up his pen
on the basic question of prophethood. I kept on writing to
him to do so, but he never paid me heed. In this connection,
after writing the first volume of Haqiqat an-Nubuwwat
(March, 1915) he promised to write its second volume, but he
never fulfilled this promise. He has broken his silence now
by submitting a statement in a court at Gurdaspur. I am
extremely happy at this gesture, because the whole dispute,
in principle, can now easily be settled. If according to the
Holy Quran and the Hadith, the Holy Prophet Muhammad is the
Last Prophet, and no prophet can appear after him, except
that someone should use this term by way of metaphor or
simile; or, if there is no definite proof of the closure of
the door of prophethood, after the Holy Prophet being the
Last Prophet, then undoubtedly a person can become a
prophet.
The Point
of Dispute:
The issue which needs to be
solved, is brief and simple. Both of us, that is to say,
Mian Sahib and I believe that the words Khatam
an-Nabiyyin have been used in the Holy Quran about the
Holy Prophet. The whole discussion, now is only about the
true nature of their meanings. According to Mian Sahib, the
meaning of Khatam an-Nabiyyin is a person by
following whom, prophets will be made in future. According
to me, it means the ‘Last of the Prophets’. Mian
Sahib has asserted that the meanings he has offered have
been mentioned in the Arabic lexicons exactly in the same
manner as stated by him; that is, he has not given any
interpretation of his own at all, and that these words do
not mean ‘Last of the Prophets’ in the lexicons.
Thus the words of his statement (in the Court) published in
his paper Al-Fazl are as follows:
"The meaning of this term has
always been rendered thus. We do not give any
interpretation of it; on the other hand, these are the
meanings given to it in the lexicons. Some people also
render Khatam an-Nabiyyin as the ‘Last of the
Prophets’ but in the dictionary ‘last
prophet’ is not the meaning of this term."
(Al-Fazl , June 26-29,
1922)*
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*
The greatest error in which Mian Sahib has tried to
lead his community is, that as the meaning of
khatam in the lexicons is "seal", therefore
it would automatically render Khatam an-Nabiyyin
as such a prophet by following whom others will
be made prophets in future. We do not challenge the
meaning of the word khatam. What we demand
is that he should show from the lexicons that the
term Khatam an-Nabiyyin means such a
prophet by following whom other persons would
become prophets.
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The Meaning
According to Arab Usage:
For the sake of argument, I
accept that, according to Mian Sahib’s new
interpretation, the lexicons reflect Arab usage. He has,
however, agreed to show, without any additional
interpretation of his own, that his meanings are clearly
supported by Arab usage. As against this, I also claim that
I would positively show the clear meaning of these words in
the Arabic idiom. That the meaning of the term Khatam
an-Nabiyyin is the ‘Last of the Prophets’ will
be discussed by me in three sections.
Firstly, that this meaning is
mentioned in the Arabic lexicons or in Arab usage.
Secondly, Arabs have an expression of Khatam
al-Qaum (similar to Khatam an-Nabiyyin) which is
only used in the sense of akhir al-qaum, the last of
the people. The expression Khatam an-Nabiyyin should
also be understood in the same light. Thirdly, the
word khatam was used among the Arabs in the sense of
being "last".
Mian Sahib has also admitted
that:
"A lot of knowledge of the
Arabic usage has been received by us from the books of
lexicons."
The Sources
of Arabic Usage:
Apart form this, whatever
little knowledge is obtained, which he has put forth as
evidence in his support, is derived from the commentaries of
Kashshaf and Abu Hayyan, or the commentary entitled
Fath al-Bayan in which a saying of Abu Ubaidah is
mentioned, and his sayings are generally recorded by the
author of Lisan al-Arab. Thus, according to Mian
Sahib, this little bit of knowledge is also obtained by
either the authors of lexicons or from the commentators.
Besides that, Mian Sahib has not put forward any other
authority, such as from the poetry of the pre-Islamic days.
Therefore, in our present controversy, we have to finally
depend on books of lexicons and commentaries of the Holy
Quran and I will quote them verbatim without adding
my own explanation. Let me reiterate my position. I will not
say that the lexicons give a certain meaning which actually
means so and so. I will only quote the actual words of the
lexicons. And Mian Sahib has already made a tall claim that
the meanings given by him have always been found in the
Arabic dictionaries, without any explanation of his attached
to them. I hope he would not say that the lexicons give a
certain meaning, which actually means so and so.
The Meaning
of Khatam an-Nabiyyin in
Lexicons:
First I would deal with the
lexicons and later with commentaries. The meaning of the
words Khatam an-Nabiyyin in lexicons is given as
follows:
1. Taj al-Arus
[Imam
Muhib al-Din Abu-i-Fiaz
Murtaza]: Khatam
an-Nabiyyin means the last of them (prophets).
2. Lisan al-Arab
[Allama
Abu-i-Fazl Jamal-ud-Din Muhammad ibn
Mukarram]:Khatam
an-Nabiyyin means last of them (prophets) and
Khatam has also been recited in place of
Khatim.
3. Al-Mufradat fi-Gharib
al-Quran [Sheikh
Abu-i-Qasim al-Hussain al-Raghib
al-Isfahani.]:Khatam
an-Nabiyyin for the reason that he brought
prophethood to an end, i.e., completed it by his
appearance.
4. Majma Bihar al-Anwar
[Dictionary
of Hadith by Al-Sheikh Muhammad
Tahir.]: Khatam
an-Nabiyyin with fatha (i.e., Khatam)
is a noun and means the ‘Last of the
Prophets’.
But Mian Sahib would not care
about these testimonies. He writes:
"And the question is from
where have these meanings been derived by the authors who
have explained these words thus? The reply to this
question is that, at first they rendered Khatam
an-Nabiyyin as the ‘Last of the Prophets’
according to their belief, and then they put their belief
in writings in their books."
But Mian Sahib did not unravel the
knot by his strange logic, that when in the Arabic idiom the
word khatam did not mean last at all, how this belief
could come to be generally accepted; that is, who invented
the creed that Khatam an-Nabiyyin meant the
‘Last of the Prophets’, or was this creed
introduced by the Companions of the Holy Prophet after his
death? Were they ignorant of the Arabic idiom? As has been
asserted by Mian Sahib, there was only one meaning of this
term; that is, he, by following whom prophets will be made
in future. Then, who introduced the belief of the Holy
Prophet being the ‘Last of the Prophets’? I hope
Mian Sahib’s sharp wit would certainly solve this
problem, that the meaning of Khatam an-Nabiyyin as
the ‘Last of the Prophets’ was so common before
the lexicologists compiled their lexicons that they also
accepted this meaning without giving much thought to it.
Mian Sahib’s exaggerated imagination does not stop
here. He goes on to state: "This, too, is not inconceivable,
that after hearing the verse meant the Last Prophet, some
people started using these words in that sense."
If we let our imagination run loose
like that, we may also say that the Holy Prophet did not
exist in the world at all, but some people introduced this
belief first and gave it publicity through the Holy Quran
and later the historians also recorded in their books all
those events relating to the life of the Holy Prophet! I do
not really know where Mian Sahib’s fantasies will
ultimately lead him. But as conclusive proof against him, I
quote, in addition, a reference from a lexicon compiled by a
Christian, apart from four most authentic lexicons
aforementioned, to prove that Christian lexicologists have
also rendered Khatam an-Nabiyyin as the ‘Last of
the Prophets’.
If Muslims, according to their
particular creed had accepted a wrong meaning, on what basis
did a Christian accept this meaning?
Lane’s Arabic-English Lexicon
[Edward
William Lane.],
which comprises eight volumes, says: "Both Khatam
an-Nabiyyin and Khatim an-Nabiyyin in the Holy
Quran mean the ‘Last of the Prophets’
(33:40)."
What Mian Sahib says is that if the
lexicologists have given the meaning of Khatam
an-Nabiyyin as the ‘Last of the Prophets’,
then they have only expressed their own views about it, as
the term did not exist before at all. Thus how could there
exist a meaning of this term? He writes:
"Now you ponder over the
words Khatam an-Nabiyyin, whether they are a
technical expression (istilah) or an idiom,
(muhawarah). If you accept them as an idiom, it
has to be admitted that, before the Holy Prophet, all
unbelievers used the words Khatam an-Nabiyyin and
it was their idiom that when the word khatam was
joined with the word nabi, they (the unbelievers),
would necessarily render it as the Last Prophet and this
is obviously wrong. And if this idiom even became
accepted by Muslims after the revelation of the Holy
Quran, it could not have any effect on the meaning of the
Holy Quran because care should be taken in explaining the
meanings of someone’s speech that it should be
rendered according to the idiom prior to that particular
period."
The
Expression Khatam
al-Qaum:
It seems Mian Sahib’s
opinion on every subject is an authority! His opinion should
also be considered an authority on the principles of
lexicology. But he never paid any attention whatsoever to
the fact that I had already quoted an Arabic idiom on the
basis of which the meaning of Khatam an-Nabiyyin has
been rendered as the ‘Last of the Prophets’. I
draw his attention again to the point.
The evidence of these two authentic
lexicons show that the idiom khatam al-qaum already
existed among the Arabs and they rendered it as the last
(person) of the people which was also the meaning of
khatim al-qaum. Most probably Mian Sahib would not
dare to say that lexicologists invented this idiom on their
own in support of their previously held belief.
If some thought is given, what else
could khatam al-qaum denote except the last of the
people? By any stretch of the imagination it could not mean
that the people had made a seal and had kept it somewhere.
If khatam al-qaum means the last of the people and
not the seal of the people, then this expression is clear
evidence about the meaning of Khatam an-Nabiyyin as
the ‘Last of the Prophets’. Now there is
only one point left. Does the word khatam on its own
mean the last in the lexicons or not? Mian Sahib
writes:
"If you look at the meaning
of khatam in an unbiased manner and that of
nabiyyin separately in the lexicons then you will
realise that there is no lexicon at all which does not
mention seal as the meaning of khatam."
Khatam
Means Last:
Mian Sahib perhaps does not
remember now that his claim was not that khatam also
means a seal. What he claimed was that Khatam an-Nabiyyin
did not mean the ‘Last of the Prophets’. So
when he advised to look at the meaning of khatam and
nabiyyin separately, he should have said "there is no
dictionary at all which gives ‘last’ as the
meaning of khatam." Further, his claim was
that Khatam an-Nabiyyin did not mean the ‘Last
of the Prophets’, and therefore, according to him, no
book of lexicon could render Khatam as Last. On the
CONTRARY, I ASSERT THAT there is no great lexicon which has
not stated the meaning of khatam as the last.
Firstly, I mention the names of dictionaries compiled by
Muslims, although Mian Sahib gives preference to the ones
written by Christians.
1. Taj al-Arus: wal
khatamnu min kulli shayin aqibatuhu wa akhiratuhu
ka-khatima-tihi wal khatamu akhiril qawm; and
khatam is the end of everything and its last
portion as its end, and khatam is the last person
of the people as khatim.
In the same book khatam, khatim,
khataam, khaitam, khitam, khatm, khatiyam have been
considered synonymous.
2. Lisan al-Arab: Two
statements have been mentioned above. Besides those, the
meaning of khitam has been given as the last and
thereafter it has been mentioned: al-khatimu wal
khitamu mutaqaribani fil ma’-na il-laa innal
khatamul ismi wal-khitami al-masdiru, that is the
meanings of khatam, khatim and khitam are
similar and there is no difference except that
khatam is a noun and khitam is an
infinitive noun.
3. Qamus of
al-Firozabadi: After listing that khatam, khatim,
khataam, etc., are similar in meaning, it has
been explained at the end, wa min kulli shayin
aqibatihi was akhratihi ka khatimattihi wa akhirul qawmi
kal-khatim, that is, the end or the last portion of
everything is its khatimah (end) and also the last
of the people as khatim.
4. Mukhtar al-Sihah: wal
khatamu bil-fat-hit ta-i wa kasriha wal-khitam
wal-khatamu kulluhu that is al-khatam with
fatha and kasrah on ta and
khaitam and khatam all mean the
same.
5. Muntaha al-Arab:
While explaining khatim, it is said: Khatmu
bil fat-hi mithlihi, that is, khatim means
the end of everything and its termination; and the last
of the people and khatam (ta with
fatha) also means the same.
6. Sihah al-Jauhari: al-khatamu
wal-khatimu bi-kasrit ta wal khaitam wal khatam kullihi,
that is, khatm, khatim, khitam and khaitam
all mean the same thing.
Muslim lexicologists may have been
influenced by their creed, but what about the Christian
lexicologists. They also express the same view, as
follows:
7. Aqrab al-Muwarid:
al-khatimu, wal-khatamu, wal khatam akhirul qawm wa ma
yuda-u a-lat tinatihi wa aqibatihi kulli shayin, that
is al-khatim and al-khatam mean a
finger-ring, the last person of the people, and also the
seal and the end of everything.
8. Arabic – English
Dictionary by Salmon: khatam and khatim
mean the same.
9. Arabic English Lexicon by
Edward Lane: Khatam: the end or last part of a
thing.
Evidence by
Mian Sahib:
In spite of all this weighty
evidence from the lexicons, Mian Sahib submits a statement
in the court that the meaning of Khatam an-Nabiyyin
is not the ‘Last of the Prophets’ and later
instead of apologising for his mistake, he writes an article
(in Al-Fazl) that in Arab usage khatam does
not mean "last". And what proof does have in his favour.
Three statements appearing in some commentaries, the
commentaries which were considered untrustworthy by him to
the extent that by accepting their authority even the
lexicologists themselves had become unreliable. Is this the
path of righteousness? On the one hand, the evidence of the
lexicologists is rejected because they quote references from
the commentaries, and on the other, the evidence of those
very commentaries is put forth against the lexicologists in
support of his views!
As a matter of fact, the evidence from
the commentaries does not even support Mian Sahib. The
author of Kashshaf has, no doubt, stated that
khatam means a seal, but he has not denied the other
meaning. However, if he has not mentioned it, how could this
be construed as his denial of the other meanings? The most
that can be said is that it is one person’s knowledge
of it and that he did not know the other meaning of that
particular word. And if this is to be the standard of
research that if a particular meaning of a word is not given
in a dictionary the meanings found in other dictionaries of
the same word are not acceptable, then the Arabic
lexicologists should feel proud of the profound scholarship
of Mian Sahib! His reasoning is different from the rest of
the world! According to him, if khatam was used in
the sense of last in the Arabic language, Zamakhshari
[Abu-i-Qasim
Mahmud ibn Umar al-Zamakhshari] and
Abu Ubaidah must have known about it; and because
Zamakhshari did not know of it, therefore this word did not
mean last. How did Zamakhshari attain this status, when Mian
Sahib has not given a single reference from Asas, the
dictionary compiled by Zamakhshari? Why have Taj al-Arus
and Lisan al-Arab been rejected? Only because
khatam there means "last"!
Commentaries
on Khatam
an-Nabiyyin:
See also Madarak al-Tanzil
where after stating the meaning of khatam as a
seal it has been mentioned clearly – akhiru-hum la
yanba’u aha-dum ba’duhu, that is, the last
prophet after whom there would be no prophet. Thus in
Kashshaf by Zamakhshari, although khatam means
a seal, nevertheless, Khatam an-Nabiyyin according to
him decidedly means the ‘Last of the Prophets’ as
has been mentioned at the same place: fa-in qultakaifa
kana akhirul anbiya-o; that is, if he had said so, then
how is he the ‘Last of the Prophets’?
The saying of Muhammad ibn Hayyan on
the subject has been given even less consideration by Mian
Sahib. Like the author of the commentary Kashshaf, he
also accepts the reading of khatam (with fatha
on ta) and states distinctly: inna-hum bihi
khutimu nabiyyin-fa –huwa kal khatimi wat-tabi-i
‘la-hum, that is, prophets have come to an end with
him (the Holy Prophet), thus he is like a seal and signet
for them. Because when a seal is set on something it means
that nothing can enter therein. Whatever meaning is given to
the Hadith about the Holy Prophet being the last
brick of the palace of prophethood is applicable to the word
seal.
Then he writes wa man zahaba ila
anna al-nubuwwata mukhtasabatun la yanqatiu’…. fa
huwa zindiqun yajibu qatalahu, that is, and he who holds
the belief that prophethood could be acquired and has not
been terminated is a heretic and deserves death.
Thus Muhammad ibn Hayyan also renders
Khatam an-Nabiyyin as the ‘Last of the
Prophets’ and nothing else. It is however, Mian
Sahib’s fanciful thinking that, after accepting the
meaning of khatam as a seal, the meaning of Khatam
an-Nabiyyin becomes somewhat different. It is true that
Abu Ubaidah, from among the three persons, is singular in
his approach on the point, because he does not accept the
reading of khatam (ta with kasrah), but
he does not say that the reading khatam makes any
difference in the meaning of the word. Even his views do not
help Mian Sahib in any way, and at the same place in Fath
al-Bayan, a saying of Hassan is recorded:
"Khatam is that by
which something is terminated. Thus the meaning is, that
God has terminated prophethood with him and so there is
no prophet after him."
Again, Ibn Jarir, one of the great
lexicologists, writes:
"The meaning of Khatam
an-Nabiyyin (ta with fatha) is that he
(the Holy Prophet) is the ‘Last of the
Prophets’."
Similarly it is reported in the
Commentary of al-Baidawi:
Akhiru-hum al-lazikhutima-bihim au
khatamnu-bihi ‘ala qir-tibil-fathi, that is, the
last of them who brought them (prophets) to an end or in the
reading of Asim with fatha means with whom
prophets were brought to an end."
Thus whether we accept khatam
as meaning the last or a seal, in both cases the
lexicologists agree that it means the ‘Last of the
Prophets’ and in his court statement Mian Sahib deals
with the term Khatam an-Nabiyyin and not with the
word khatam.
Meaning of
Khatam an-Nabiyyin by Mian
Sahib:
As compared with this vast
number of testimonies from lexicons and commentaries, it is
a great audacity for a person to say that Khatam
an-Nabiyyin does not mean the ‘Last of the
Prophets’ in the Arabic language and that all people,
at first, accepted something as a matter of their belief and
later introduced the same meaning to these words. If this is
the case, then it should also be explained when these
meanings were invented and when and how this creed spread in
the East and the West, and on what basis the first person
who explained Khatam an-Nabiyyin as the ‘Last
of the Prophets’ rendered these words in this manner?
For, since Mian Sahib says that this was not the Arabic
idiom, then, someone, as intelligent as he is must have been
born and he invented "last" as the meaning of khatam
and the other popular view, known throughout the world, that
it meant one who makes prophets in the future, went into
complete oblivion so that no sign and trace of it is found
in the Arabic usage and the lexicons at
all.
Mian Sahib has made the religion a
child’s play, a precedent which is difficult to find.
It bewilders me at times, how could it come to one’s
mind that Khatam an-Nabiyyin never meant the
‘Last of the Prophets’, and that such meaning
could never be adopted in accordance with Arabic usage.
Perhaps Mian Sahib’s predecessor had such a powerful
influence over the people in bygone ages that the true
meaning of Khatam an-Nabiyyin, very clear according
to the Arabic idiom, without the need of any interpretation,
that is, the maker of other prophets – was blotted out
from the hearts of people in such a way that if it was not
brought to life again by Mian Sahib, nobody would have ever
known about it!
Listen, O servants of God! If you
really fear God, and I know you do, then why do you not
ponder for a moment, after divorcing yourself from this
peer-parasti [Worshipping
one’s spiritual leader.
(Translator)], as to which
Arabic dictionaries have given these alleged meanings of
Mian Sahib’s without any interpretation on his part? Or
have they been mentioned in Kashshaf by Zamakhshari,
who is now considered to be a great lexicologist by Mian
Sahib, or has Abu Ubaidah given these meanings, or are they
found anywhere in the commentary of Abu Hayyan? These were
the testimonies which Mian Sahib produced from the lexicons.
But none of them has supported his views. If any one of them
has, let a reference be quoted from his works.
The
Significance of the ‘Seal of the
Prophets’:
No doubt the expression has
been rendered as the "Seal of the Prophets", but Muslim
theologians and the great scholars of lexicology have taken
the ‘Seal of the Prophets’ to mean only the
‘Last of the Prophets’. Which dictionary gives the
meaning of the ‘Seal of the Prophets’ as that by
following whom future prophets will be made? Mian Sahib in
his statement said that he would not give any other
explanation to these words but, as a matter of fact, he has
outwitted all the interpreters of the world. If this is not
an interpretation, but a clear statement, how strange it is
that such a clear statement remained hidden from the eyes of
Muslim lexicologists during the last thirteen centuries. And
if someone had noticed it, his name should be pinpointed,
from among the lexicologists, who had understood these words
in this sense – and if this cannot be done, what is the
use of telling such a blatant falsehood that the meanings
rendered by him are found in lexicons without any additional
interpretation? If these alleged meanings of Khatam
an-Nabiyyin cannot be shown (from any lexicon), let him
then show the same from Arabic usage, that is the meaning of
khatam al-qaum is: a nation by following whom another
nation is made. Remember, Mian Sahib’s assertion is
that these meanings are found in the lexicons. If he can
show them even from one lexicon or somewhere in the Arabic
idiom, I will withdraw all the references produced from nine
lexicons and so many other commentaries in support of the
view that Khatam an-Nabiyyin means the ‘Last of
the Prophets’.
Top
Books
Section
> The
Last Prophet (Akhri Nabi) by Maulana Muhammad
Ali
> The Question of Prophethood and Mirza Mahmud Ahmad /
Meaning of Khatam an-Nabiyyin, i.e., 'Last of the Prophets'
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