Mian Sahib Explained Khatam an-Nabiyyin as the Last of the Prophets in 1910:

Finally as conclusive proof against him and his disciples I would like to quote from a writing of Mian Sahib to show that he himself, not long ago, believed that the Holy Prophet was the Last Prophet and he also understood the term Khatam an-Nabiyyin in the same sense. In the newspaper Al-Hakam, Mian Sahib wrote under the heading of KHATAM AN-NABIYYIN:

"As a result God, the Most High, appointed him Khatam an-Nabiyyin and brought all kinds of prophethood to an end. " [AI-Hakam, 14^th March, 1911.]

Probably these meanings were also written in lexicons at that time! Mian Sahib could say about the Founder that he remained in error till the end of his life, or that after his claim of being the Promised Messiah for twelve years he did not know the meaning both of nabi and muhaddath, ["In short, because the Promised Messiah, in the beginning, thought that the definition of a prophet was that he should bring a new Shariah, or should abrogate some commands, or should be raised directly, therefore, in spite of the fact, that all the conditions which were really essential for being a prophet were found in him, he declined to accept the title of prophet for himself, and although he professed a claim in those very things wherewith a man could become a prophet, nevertheless since he took these conditions to be the conditions of a muhaddath, and not of a prophet, he always called himself a muhaddath, not knowing that the nature of his claim as propounded by him was such as could not be found in anyone but a prophet" (Haqiqat an-Nubuwwat, Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, p. 124, 1915 edition, Qadian). -- Tr.] but about himself he would not dare use such words. There was a time when he wrote that Khatam an-Nabiyyin meant one who brought all kinds of prophethood to an end and now this very term acquired a different meaning, as, one by following whom, prophets will be made in future.

As compared to the above statement in Al-Hakam Mian Sahib has expressed his views with further clarity in an article entitled Najat (Salvation) in 1910. There he writes:

"Then the fourth verse which mentions the period of the Holy Prophet's office that is, how long his religion will last, is: "Muhammad is not the father of any of your men but he is the Messenger of Allah and Khatam an-Nabiyyin and Allah is ever Knower of all things (33:40).

"In this verse, God has said that the Holy Prophet is Khatam an-Nabiyyin, and none shall come after him who may be raised to the dignity of prophethood and may abrogate his teachings and establish a new Law; nay, whatever auliya Allah (saints) [This shows clearly that he was then conscious that auliya Allah, and not prophet, was the proper term for the great men who appeared after the Holy Prophet. – Translator.] there are and whatever God-fearing and righteous people there are, will get, whatever they get, through obeisance to him. Thus God has made it clear that his prophethood was meant not only for the age in which he appeared, but that no prophet will come after him and his teaching will remain in existence forever and it will be the only source of guidance for mankind and whoever shall go out of it will not be able to reach the threshold of God.

"At this place, another point should be borne in mind that God says in this verse: Allah is ever Knower of all things. Obviously this part does not seem to fit in here, because all the things which God has told are evident and to say about them that God is the Knower of everything was not really necessary. So the real point here is of a prophecy about the Holy Prophet being the Khatam an-Nabiyyin and that prophecy is, that before the Holy Prophet, hundreds of prophets have passed, about whom we know, and they have been extremely successful. There does not seem to be a century in which a claimant to prophethood is not found somewhere. Accordingly, the followers of Krishna, Ramachandra, Confucius, Zoroaster, Moses and Jesus who are still found in the world are enthusiastically engaged in this work and everyone of them puts forth the truth about his own claim, but during the thirteen hundred years that have passed since the Holy Prophet's claim, no one who laid claim to prophethood has been successful. Undoubtedly there arose people before him who claimed prophethood and many of them were successful, (and we regard them to be true in their claims), but why has this law ceased to work after the appearance of the Holy Prophet? It is clear that it is due to the prophecy that he is the Khatam an-Nabiyyin. Now we ask the opponents of Islam what greater sign can there be than this, that after the Holy Prophet's claim none who laid claim to prophethood has been successful? It is in reference to this that the verse ends with the words: ‘God is ever Knower of all things’; that is to say, ‘We have made him Khatam an-Nabiyyin and We know that no prophet would appear after him, and that even a liar would not lay claim to this office whom We would not destroy. This is a historical prophecy which no one can deny, and if there is anyone who denies it, produce him before us but not in the way that a person laid a claim and a hundred thousand persons became his followers, but like such a person who achieved success like the Holy Prophet or like the previous prophets. There is no one who can produce such an example." [Tash-hiz al-Azhan, (April 1910 C.E.), Qadian.]

Now, in this article, two points are clear. Firstly, where it has been mentioned, ‘and none shall come after him who may be raised to the dignity of prophethood,’ and later it has been added, ‘nay, whatever auliya Allah (saints) there are,’ which show that at that time Mian Sahib truly believed in the appearance of only saints (auliya Allah) after the Holy Prophet and he accepted the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement from among the category of saints only, and not of the prophets. And if the Founder had ever used the word nabi or rasul for himself, it was only in the sense in which he had accepted other (Muslim) dignitaries obtaining the rank of prophethood by way of metaphor and simile about which he has argued from the hadith: "the learned of my nation will be like the Israelite prophets." This means that there are only auliya after the Holy Prophet and not anbiya. And this is absolutely correct and on all fours with the views of the Founder who wrote in Tiryaq al-Qulub:

"It has been my belief right from the beginning that no one can become a kafir or dajjal on account of denying my claim." [Tiryaq al-Qulub (28^th October, 1902), p. 120.]

Under this a footnote is added:

"It is to be remembered, that to call a denier of one's claim a kafir is the privilege of those prophets alone who bring from God, Law (Shariah) and new commandments, but as for all the inspired ones (mulham), and the ones spoken to by God (muhaddathin), other than the possessors of the Shariah, however great their dignity may be in the sight of God, and how even much they may have been honoured by being spoken to by God, no one becomes a kafir by their denial."

The words ‘the inspired ones’ and ‘the ones spoken to by God other than the possessors of the Law’, should be particularly noted.

The other point is that at the time of writing his article about Najat, Mian Sahib did not regard the Promised Messiah as a true claimant to prophethood, because he clearly says: "During the thirteen hundred years that have passed since the Holy Prophet's claim, no one who laid claim to prophethood has been successful" and, about the future the same is true that "God has made the Holy Prophet Khatam an-Nabiyyin and God knows that no prophet would appear after him and that even a liar would not lay claim to this office whom We (God) would not destroy."

It has been clearly admitted here by Mian Sahib that neither can there be a true prophet after the Holy Prophet nor can a false prophet become successful after laying claim to this office and he has issued a big challenge that ‘this is a historical prophecy which no one can deny, and if there is any one who denies it, produce him before us!’

I hope Mian Sahib will find his own argument sufficiently strong enough to nullify his own convictions on the subject.