With Love to the Muslims of the World — Page 32
32 the belief in the Holy Prophet as being the Kh a tamun Nabi- yy i n. According to non-Ahmadiyya interpretation, it only means the last and final in time, which leaves no room whatso- ever even for a subordinate prophet in Islam. To believe in such a possibility is sheer, outright heresy, they assert. T HE M EANINGS OF ‘ KH A TAM ’ Ahmad i s, on the other hand, point out that the most outstanding and essential meaning of the word Kh a tam is not ‘last in time’ but ‘the ultimate in status’. Hence, according to numerous Arabic usages, the word ‘ Kh a tam ’ has always been applied to such scholars of unique dis- tinction as reach the very summit of excellence in their branch of knowledge, so that they stand supreme and excel all others. For instance, Avicenna, the Father of Medicine, is referred to as Kh a tamul A t ibb a ’ , which means ‘ Kh a tam of Physi- cians’. Obviously, it does not mean the ‘last’ of the physicians! Similarly, Mutanabb i , one of the greatest Arab poets, is entitled ‘ Kh a tamush-shu‘ar a ’, which most certainly does not mean ‘last of the poets’. Again, according to a reported tradition of the Holy Prophet of Islam sa , Hadrat ‘Al i (may Allah be pleased with him) was referred to as ‘ Kh a tamul Auliy a ’ or Kh a tamul A s fiy a ’. Ahmad i s point out that it could not have meant by any means that after Hadrat ‘Al i (God be pleased with him), no holy person or Sufi would ever be born in Islam.