Truth about Khatm-e-Nabuwat — Page 81
lends colour to the theory of cessation of prophet. hood after the Holy Prophet. It is with consummate wisdom that Allah, in the opening chapter of the Quran, pointedly starts with the grand theme •that the bounties granted to preceding dispensations seve- rally shall henceforth, without exception, be granted in their fullest measure and perfected form to the followers of the Holy Prophet. Can a book that starts with such an all-embracing outlook lend support to narrow perspective of the prophet's mission end- ing up in the anti-climax of drying up the flow of Divine grace and bounty and arresting at once the current hitherto pursuing its normal course. So far as the apparent contradictions in the various traditions are concerned, its resolution does hardly present ·any insuperable difficulty, as the conflict is one of a super-ficial nature and in no way a real one. On the one hand, we cite a number of traditions which conclusively establish the fact that after the Holy Prophet • a follower of his, seek• ing the grace of his light and bearing his reflex, can 'attain to the pedestal of prophethood. On the other hand, the other party comes forth with a few traditions which countenance the view that there is no prophet after the Holy Prophet who is the last of the line. At the surface, a major contrad- iction confronts us. But cannot this conflict be resolved with the simple stroke of-reason that the expre- ssion c. S~~~ "There is no prophet after me" and (2) • y':)'1 ,;. . :. . T uil "I am the last prophet" used by the Holy Prophet ban the advent of a prJphet independent of him, nullifying his dispensation and otherwise detached, in respect of his status, vis~a-vis the prophethood of the Holy Prophet. Viewed in this sense a new significance thus becomes manifest in the afore-men- tioned traditions. In respect of the other group of traciitions of the Holy Prophet, relating to the appearance of a prophet after him and pertaining 81