True Insights into the Concept of Khatm-e-Nubuwwat — Page 84
[ 84 ] Then it is said: This is the grace of God. He will bestow it upon whomsoever He wills, and in whatever country He wills. The same point has also been made in the following words: Is it they who would distribute the mercy of thy Lord? ( S u rah az-Zukhruf , 43:33) This verse also deals with prophethood and the re-advent of the Holy Prophet sa. Who are the Companions of the Latter Days? The ulema of today evade the issue of who these people of the Latter Days are by saying these are the people who joined the Holy Prophet sa and his followers in the last years of his own life. The Holy Prophet sa has himself categorically refuted this interpretation. In S a hih al-Bukh ari , there is a h ad i th —which, we believe, ranks at the ultimate point of authenticity. It states that when the Holy Prophet sa recited the verses under comment, one of his companions asked the Holy Prophet sa , “Who are these people?” The first point that emerges from the response of the Holy Prophet sa is