¤ Introduction ¤ Evidence In The Quran ¤ Evidence in The Ahadith ¤ The use of “KHATAM” in Arabic ¤ Opinions of Islamic Scholars

While it would be tautologous to reiterate verbosely, the various circumstances that necessitated the writing of this series of articles, I would like to mention that it was given rise to by the proposal that a newsgroup be created with the name soc.religion.islam.ahmadiyya.

This development created a great deal of discomfort among a vast majority of Muslims who believe that Ahmadi Muslims are not Muslims and as such, should not be allowed to use the word "Islam" in the name of their newsgroup. By the same token, Ahmadi Muslims claim that it is THEY who are true Muslims, and as such, have the right to choose their name. The basis for which the non-Ahmadi majority has declared the Ahmadi minority non-Muslim is a verse of the Holy Quran, the Muslim divine book, which states that the Prophet of Islam, Hadhrat Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was "Khatam-an-Nabiyyeen", a controversial expression which Ahmadis interpret as "the greatest of the prophets" and non-Ahmadis interpret as "the last of the prophets".

I present here for interested readers my brief series of articles on modern day (non-Ahmadi) Muslims' erroneous concept of the finality of prophethood -- that Hadhrat Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, the Prophet of Islam is chronologically the last Prophet and that one who does not accept this idea is automatically kicked out of the pale of Islam. Importantly, all the quotations that I have presented are of non-Ahmadi scholars and divines who made these statements largely before the advent of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, peace be upon him, who founded the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, claimed by him to be in compliance with God's command in revelations received by him. It is also noteworthy that these views represent a wide time span, since the demise of Hadhrat Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to the time of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, peace be upon him. All the views indicate that Prophethood was not abolished with the advent of Hadhrat Muhammad, peace nad blessings of Allah be upon him, and that the notion that Hadhrat Muhammad, peace and blessings of allah be upon him, is the last prophet in order of time was concocted later on. The purpose of these articles is to clarify doubts created in the minds of many readers by some less informed Muslims on the network, the nobility of whose intentions I do not doubt at all, however.

The arrangement of the subject in the articles is as follows:

1. Evidence in the Holy Quran.
2. Forty examples of the use of the word "Khatam" where it does not mean "last", rather it means "greatest" or "best".
3. Evidence in the Ahadith.
4. Opinions of Islamic scholars.

Best Regards,

Rasheed A. Khalid,
Boston,
Massachusetts,
U.S.A.

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