The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 145
Prophethood in Islam 145 Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him); but if it is viewed carefully, it is the very Prophethood of Muhammad manifested in a new aspect. This is the meaning of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) having described the Promised Messiah as: نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ وَإِمَامُكُمْ مِنْكُمْ which means that he will be a Prophet but he will also be from the Ummah. No outsider can be admitted to such a rank. Blessed is he who appreciates this point and saves himself from ruin. [Al-Waşiyyat, Rūķānī Khazā'in, vol. 20, pp. 311-312] What God requires of you, in the matter of belief, is that God is One and that Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is His Prophet and the Seal of Proph- ets and is the greatest of them all. After him there is no Prophet except only one who is reflectively clothed in the mantle of Muhammadiyyat. Inasmuch as a servant cannot be separated from his master, nor is a branch separable from its root, he who is designated Prophet by God on account of his perfect devotion to his master does not contravene the Seal of Prophethood. Just as when you look into a mirror, there are not two of you but only one, although there appear to be two: the real one and the re- flection. That is what God designated in the case of the Promised Messiah. This is also the meaning of the saying of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that the Promised Messiah would be buried with him in the same grave; which means that they would be completely identical. [Kashti-e-Nūḥ, Rūķānī Khazā'in, vol. 19, pp. 15-16] Remember, I am not a Messenger or Prophet by virtue of