Al-Ahzaab (The Clans)

40. “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets, and Allah is Cognizant of all things.”

This holy verse is the only verse which consists of both the name of the holy Prophet (S) and has mentioned his messengership in the form of two titles: “Muhammad”, “The Messenger of Allah”, “The Seal of the Prophets”.

It is also the last word that Allah has stated here about the marriage of the Prophet (S) with ‘Zayd’s divorced wife’ for breaking a wrong pagan tradition. It is a short and compact answer as the last answer to them. By the way, this holy verse, with a special relationship, has stated here another important fact, i.e. the subject of being the seal of the prophets.

It says:

“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men…”

That is, Muhammad was not the father of Zayd, nor that of any other men; and if one day he was called by this name, it was only an old custom which was dismissed by the advent of Islam and the descent of the Qur’an, and it was not a natural relationship.

The Prophet (S), of course, had some real children by the names of: Qasim, Tayyib, Tahir, and ’Ibrahim, but, according to the historians, all of them died in childhood, and, therefore, their names were not counted among the names of ‘men’.¹

At the time of the revelation of the above verse, Imam Hassan and Imam Husayn (as), whom were called the Prophet’s children, were still young children, though later they reached old ages, so the sentence: “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men” surely had been true about everybody at that time. And if in some traditions we read that the Prophet (S) himself said: “I and Ali are the fathers of this Ummah”

certainly his purpose was not to be a relative father, but this originated from his rank of teaching, training, and leading them.

Yet the marriage with the divorced wife of Zayd, that the Qur’an explicitly mentions its philosophy as for breaking the wrong traditions, was not a thing that caused murmurs among people, or that they could take it as a document for their evil aims.

Then, the Qur’an implicitly adds that your connection with the Prophet (S) is only through messengership and being the seal of the prophets.

It says:

“…but the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets…”

Thus, the beginning of the verse causes the relative relation as a general rule and, at the end of the holy verse, it fixes the spiritual relation originated from messengership and being the seal of the prophets, by which the relation of the beginning of the verse with its end is made clear.

Moreover, the holy verse also hints to this facts that the Prophet’s passion is above the passion of a father to his child, because his passion is the messenger’s passion to the Ummah, specially the holy Messenger who knows there will come no messenger after him and he must foresee whatever is necessary for the Ummah until the Hereafter carefully and with utmost sympathy.

Of course, whatever has been needed in this field Allah (s.w.t.), the Knower, the Aware, has provided, including: the fundamentals of the Faith and the Articles of the Practice of the Faith, the universals and the details in all fields. So, at the end of the verse it says:

“…and Allah is Cognizant of all things.”

However, the Arabic word /xatam/, as philologists have said, means something by which the affairs are put to end. It also means something by which papers and the like are sealed.

The above verse is enough for proving that the Prophet of Islam (S) is the last divine prophet, but it is not the only evidence of the fact that the Prophet of Islam (S) is the seal of the prophets, because not only there are some other verses in the holy Qur’an which point to this meaning, but also there have been recorded numerous narrations in this regard.

In Surah Al-’An‘am, No. 6, verse 19 we recite:

“…and this Qur’an has been revealed to me that I may warn you thereby, and whomever it reaches. Do you indeed testify that there are other gods with Allah?’ Say: ‘I do not testify’. Say: ‘He is only One God. And verily I am quit of that which you associate (with Him)’.”

The vastness of the concept of ‘whomever this statement reaches’ makes clear the universal messengership of the Qur’an and the Prophet of Islam (S), from one side, and the subject of ‘being the seal’ of the prophets, on the other side.

There are some other verses in the Qur’an which prove the generality of the invitation of the Prophet of Islam (S) for all humankind, such as: Surah Al-Furqan, No. 25, verse 1 that says:

“Blessed is He Who sent down the Furqan (the Distinction of right and wrong) upon His servant that he may be a warner to the worlds;…”.

Or like Surah Saba, No. 34, verse 28 that says:

“And We have not sent you to all mankind but as a bearer of glad tidings and as a warner, but most people do not know.”

And the verse that announces:

“Say: ‘O mankind! I am the messenger of Allah to you all…”2

The vast meanings of the Qur’anic words /‘alamin/ (the worlds), /nas/ (mankind), and /kaffatun/ (all) also verify this concept.

Besides that, the consensus of the scholars of Islam from one side, and the necessity of this matter among Muslims, on the other side, and the numerous narrations cited by the Prophet (S) and other leaders of Islam, on the third side, make the matter more clear. Here, we suffice to a few examples of the narrations:

1- A tradition from the Prophet (S) indicates he said:

“My lawful things are lawful until the Day of Hereafter, and my unlawful things are unlawful until the Day of Hereafter.”3

This meaning shows that the continuation of this religion is until the end of the world.

The abovementioned tradition has also been narrated in this form:

“The lawful (things) of Muhammad is always lawful until the Day of Hereafter, and his unlawful (things) is always unlawful until the Day of Hereafter. There will not be (anything) other than that and there will not come (anything) other than them.”4

2- The famous tradition of Manzilat which has been recorded in different books of two great sects of Islam: Sunnites and Shi‘ites, about the event of remaining Ali (as) in Medina in place of the Prophet when he (S) went out toward the Battle of Tabuk, makes the subject of the seal of prophets completely clear, too.

This tradition denotes that the Prophet (S) told Ali (as):

“You are to me like Aaron to Moses save that there is no prophet after me.”

(Therefore, you have all the positions of Aaron with respect to Moses but prophethood.)²

In another tradition from the Prophet (S) we read he said:

“I came and put an end to the prophets.”6

The above tradition is also mentioned in Sahih-i-Bukhari³ , in Musnad-i-Ahmad Hanbal, in Sahih-i-Tarmathi, Nisa’i and many other books. It is one of very famous traditions which has been referred to by the commentators of Shi‘ites and Sunnites, such as Tabarsi in Majma‘-ul-Bayan, and Qurtubi in his commentary under the verse.

3- The holy Prophet of Islam (S), as the seal of the prophets, has also been explicitly mentioned in many sermons of Nahj-ul-Balaqah, including sermon No. 173 which, qualifying the Prophet of Islam (S), says:

“The Prophet is the trustee of Allah’s revelation, the last of His prophets, the giver of tidings of His mercy and the warner for His chastisement.”

In sermon No. 133 we recite about the holy Prophet (S):

“Allah deputed the Prophet after a gap from the previous prophets when there was much talk (among the people). With him Allah exhausted the series of prophets and ended the revelation…”

After numerating the programs of the former prophets, the first sermon of Nahj-ul-Balaqah continues saying:

“…Allah deputed Muhammad (S) as His Prophet, in fulfilment of His promise and in completion of His prophethood…”

4- At the end of the sermon of Farewell Pilgrimage, which the Prophet (S) expressed in his last pilgrimage and in his last year of his life as an inclusive testament for people, the subject of being last Prophet has also been stated, where it says:

“Behold, and the present ones of you convey the absent ones of you (that) there is no prophet after me, and there will be no (other) Ummah after you.”

Then he raised his hands to the heaven so high that the whiteness of his armpit appeared and said:

“O Allah! Bear witness that verily I conveyed (what I should say).”8

5- There is a tradition recorded in Kafi narrated from Imam Sadiq (as) who said:

“Allah ended the prophets with your Prophet, therefore there will be no prophet after him at all; and with your Book He put an end to the heavenly Books, therefore there will be no Book after it at all.”9

In this regard there are a great deal of traditions recorded in Islamic sources, in a manner that there are cited 135 traditions upon this subject in the books of Islamic scholars narrated from the Prophet (S) and the great leaders of Islam.⁴