Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 712
FUTURE OF REVELATION cling no less eagerly to the figure of Prophet Jesusas. They claim that he will certainly come after the Holy Prophetsa yet the manner they assign to his coming makes his coming impossible. Thus, for all practical purposes their position remains unaltered. . The Rationale of Finality. T₁. The finality of any prophet can be observed with reference to his message as well as with reference to his status. It is possible for a prophet to be final in his message and his status, yet it is also possible for another lesser prophet to come after him without violating his finality. It is this aspect of prophethood that we are going to thoroughly examine now. . The belief in the finality of the Quranic law and in the finality of the Prophets to whom this law was revealed, is unanimously held by all Muslims. The Quran a complete code of life ― claims for itself a promise of eternal Divine protection from interpolation by human hands. If this claim is right, as the Muslims believe and demonstrate it to be, the bearer of such a book must be accepted as the last lawbearing prophet. This is clearly understandable and is so endorsed by the entire world of Islam without exception. . But from the non-Muslim vantage point, it is difficult to comprehend how any Book could fulfil the needs of all ages and defy the requirements for change during the times to come. Add to this the Quranic claim of universality and the problem will increase manifold. How can it be logically explained that any Divine Book could satisfactorily address the ethnic and parochial problems of all mankind alike?. There are Europeans, Americans, Africans, Arabs,. Russians, Israelis, and numerous people of Asian origin with different ethnic backgrounds and inherited cultures. . Their political and social traditions also differ so widely 670