Nowhere in the Quran does it state that Muhammad was the final messenger (Rasool). The Quran goes against this concept and even cites the mistake of the people of Joseph, who falsely claimed that Joseph was the final messenger.
40:34 Joseph had come to you before that with clear revelations, but you continued to doubt his message. Then, when he died you said, “ GOD will not send any other messenger after him. (He was the last messenger)!” GOD thus sends astray those who are transgressors, doubtful.
The Quran indicates that as long as there are Children of Adam here on Earth, God will continue to send messengers.
7:35 O children of Adam, when messengers come to you from among you, and recite My revelations to you, those who take heed and lead a righteous life, will have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve.
Also, claiming that Muhammad was the final messenger creates other contradictions. For example, the Quran informs us that God selected messengers from among the angels as well.
22:75 GOD chooses from among the angels messengers, as well as from among the people. GOD is Hearer, Seer.
35:1 Praise be to GOD, Initiator of the heavens and the earth, and appointer of the angels to be messengers with wings—two, three, and four (wings). He increases the creation as He wills. GOD is Omnipotent.
11:81 (The angels) said, “O Lot, we are your Lord’s messengers, and these people cannot touch you. You shall leave with your family during the night, and let not anyone of you look back, except your wife; she is condemned along with those who are condemned. Their appointed time is the morning. Is not the morning soon enough?”
Therefore, if Muhammad had been the final messenger, then the messengers among the angels would have ceased after him. Yet the Quran indicates that sending angel messengers is an ongoing process that has not stopped after Muhammad.
16:2 He sends down the angels with the revelations, carrying His commands, to whomever He chooses from among His servants: “You shall preach that there is no other god beside Me; You shall reverence Me.”
77:1 (Angels) dispatched in succession.
77:2 To drive the wind.
77:3 Stir up clouds.
77:4 Distribute the provisions.
77:5 Deliver messages.
77:6 Good news, as well as warnings.
On the other hand, nowhere in the Quran do you see the angels ever referenced as prophets (nabi). So, Muhammad, being the final prophet, would not contradict the status of the angels.
Every Community Receives a Messenger
The Quran informs us that every community ( ummah) will receive a messenger.
16:36 We have sent a messenger to every community, saying, “You shall worship GOD, and avoid idolatry.” Subsequently, some were guided by GOD, while others were committed to straying. Roam the earth and note the consequences for the rejectors.
Also, the Quran informs us that a messenger must communicate in the language of the people they are sent to.
14:4 We did not send any messenger except (to preach) in the tongue of his people, in order to clarify things for them. GOD then sends astray whomever He wills, and guides whomever He wills. He is the Almighty, the Most Wise.
As Muhammad was sent to the Arab gentiles who spoke Arabic, he could not be the messenger for all the other non-Arab speaking communities.
62:2 He is the One who sent to the gentiles a messenger from among them, to recite to them His revelations, purify them, and teach them the scripture and wisdom. Before this, they had gone far astray.
In a previous article, we examined the differences between a messenger ( rasool) and a prophet ( nabi). We showed that a prophet is given scripture while a messenger disseminates God’s message. Therefore, all prophets are messengers, but not all messengers are prophets. This makes prophethood more exclusive than messengership. Since Muhammad was the final prophet and a prophet receives scripture, dictated words from God, this would make the Quran the final scripture for mankind.
On the other hand, Traditional Muslims falsely claim the opposite. Traditionalists say that all messengers are prophets, but not all prophets are messengers, which makes messengers more exclusive than prophets. The Hadith even claims that there were 124,000 prophets and only 315 messengers.
“I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, how many prophets were there?’ He replied, ‘One hundred and twenty-four thousand. Of these, three hundred and fifteen were messengers, a great multitude.'”
The motivation for this line of reasoning is that since the Quran only claims that Muhammad was the final prophet, in order to claim that God will not send any more messengers, they need to claim that messengers are more exclusive than prophets, such that if there are no more prophets, then there can’t be any more messengers.
Interestingly, no Hadith in Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, or Nasa’i states that Muhammad was the final messenger. Even in these compilations, when the prophet was supposedly asked who would come after him, he is never asserted as saying that he was the final messenger, but only the final prophet.
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3455 See also: https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:2871; https://sunnah.com/muslim:2404d; https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:3724; https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:1553; https://sunnah.com/muslim:523a
Mubash-shirat
The only Hadith in the entire Kitab al-Sitta, the six revered compilations of Hadith, that states that Muhammad was the final messenger is a single Hadith found in Tirmidhi.
Anas bin Malik narrated: “The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) said: ‘ Indeed Messengership and Prophethood have been terminated, so there shall be no messenger after me, nor a Prophet. ‘” He (Anas) said: “The people were concerned about that, so he (s.a.w) said: ‘ But there will be Mubash-shirat.’ So they said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! What is Mubash-shirat?’ He said: ‘The Muslim’s dreams, for it is a portion of the portions of Prophethood.’”
* Note: Mubash-shirat literally means the things that bring news. Typically translated as glad-tidings, but based on the context, the news may cause either pleasure or pain.
A major problem with the above Hadith is that if we look at the other narrations regarding Mubash-shirat, none of these narrations include the claim that Muhammad said he was the last messenger ( rasool). The other narrations don’t even make any mention with messengership at all. The other narrations are consistently in the context of prophethood ( nubuah). This means that the statement found in Tirmidhi 2272 was something that was inserted in the narration at a later time.
Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) saying, “ Nothing is left of the prophetism except Al-Mubashshirat.” They asked, “What are Al-Mubashshirat?” He replied, “The true good dreams (that conveys glad tidings).
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْيَمَانِ، أَخْبَرَنَا شُعَيْبٌ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، حَدَّثَنِي سَعِيدُ بْنُ الْمُسَيَّبِ، أَنَّ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ ” لَمْ يَبْقَ مِنَ النُّبُوَّةِ إِلاَّ الْمُبَشِّرَاتُ ”. قَالُوا وَمَا الْمُبَشِّرَاتُ قَالَ ” الرُّؤْيَا الصَّالِحَةُ ”.
Sahih al-Bukhari 6990
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6990
Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibn Yasar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “ All that will be left of prophecy after me are the mubashshirat.” They said, “What are the mubashshirat, Messenger of Allah?” He said, “The true dream which a man who is salih sees – or which is shown to him – is a forty-sixth part of prophecy.”
It was narrated that Umm Kurz Al-Ka’biyyah said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘ Prophecy is gone, but good dreams ( mubash-shirat) remain.’”
حَدَّثَنَا هَارُونُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْحَمَّالُ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ بْنُ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي يَزِيدَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ سِبَاعِ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ، عَنْ أُمِّ كُرْزٍ الْكَعْبِيَّةِ، قَالَتْ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ “ ذَهَبَتِ النُّبُوَّةُ وَبَقِيَتِ الْمُبَشِّرَاتُ ” .
Sunan Ibn Majah 3896
https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:3896
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) drew aside the curtain when he was sick, and the rows (of worshippers) were behind Abu Bakr. He said: ‘O people, nothing of the glad tidings of prophecy is left except a good dream ( mubash-shirat) that a Muslim sees or is seen about him.’”
Sunan Ibn Majah 3899
https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:3899
Narrated AbuHurayrah: When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) finished the dawn prayer, he would ask: Did any of you have a dream last night? And he said: All that is left of Prophecy after me is a good vision.
Sunan Abi Dawud 5017
https://sunnah.com/abudawud:5017
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said: “The Prophet (ﷺ) drew back the curtain when the people were in rows behind Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, and said: ‘ O people, there is nothing left of the features of Prophethood except a good dream ( mubashshirat) that a Muslim sees or is seen by others for him.’ Then he said: ‘Verily, I have been forbidden from reciting the Qur’an when bowing or prostrating. As for bowing, glorify the Lord therein, and as for prostration, strive hard in supplication for it is more deserving of a response.’”
Ibn ‘Abbas said: The Prophet(ﷺ) lifted the curtain (and saw that) the people were standing in rows(of prayers) behind Abu Bakr. He said: O people, there remained nothing that gives good tidings ( mubashshirat) from prophethood except a true dream which a Muslim has himself or which another Muslim has for him. I have been prohibited to recite the Qur’an while bowing or prostration. As regards owing, exalt the Lord in it, and as to prostration, make supplication with exertion in it, that is worthy of being accepted.
Sunan Abi Dawud 876
https://sunnah.com/abudawud:876
Prophecy of Messenger to Come
Not only does the Quran not state that Muhammad was the final messenger ( Rasool), but it explicitly states that a messenger will come after him.
3:81 GOD took a covenant from the prophets, saying, “I will give you the scripture and wisdom. Afterwards, a messenger will come to confirm all existing scriptures. You shall believe in him and support him.” He said, “Do you agree with this, and pledge to fulfill this covenant?” They said, “We agree.” He said, “You have thus borne witness, and I bear witness along with you.”
Since this is a covenant taken by all the prophets based on the usage of the term “ an-nabeen” ( النَّبِيِّينَ), and Muhammad was a prophet (33:40), then he too would have been part of this covenant. The following verse further confirms this, specifying that Muhammad was among the prophets included in this covenant.
33:7 Recall that we took from the prophets their covenant, including you (O Muhammad), Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus the son of Mary. We took from them a solemn pledge.
Traditionalists distorted the meanings of prophet (nabi) and messenger (rasool) to make messengership more exclusive than prophethood. This was done so they could claim that there would be no messengers after Muhammad, thus making him more exclusive.
According to the Quran, a prophet (nabi) is one who is given scripture, while a messenger (rasool) is one who disseminates God’s revelations. Therefore, all prophets were messengers, but not all messengers are prophets.
The Quran confirms that Muhammad was the final prophet.
This makes the Quran the final scripture to mankind.
Muhammad was not the final messenger. The Quran indicates that every community will receive a messenger. A messenger must preach in the tongue of his people.
The Quran indicates that messengers will come after Muhammad