"Muhammad was not the father of any man among you. He was a messenger
of God and the final prophet. God is fully aware of all things"
33:40
This glorious verse tells us about Muhammad (PBUH). We are told that he was a messenger of God and the Final prophet. The meaning of this verse was corrupted by many scholars so as to call Muhammad the last messenger and last prophet. It is clear that the verse speaks of Muhammad as 'a messenger' and not the 'last messenger' yet they still insist on this corrupted interpretation. This corruption in meaning is largely due to the ignorance of those scholars with the fact that God makes a clear distinction in the Quran between the term 'messenger' and between the term 'prophet'.
We learn from the Quran that every prophet is also a messenger, but not every messenger is a prophet. Only prophets are sent with scripture to deliver. Thus, Jesus (Injeel), David (Psalms) and Muhammad (Quran) were among God's prophets because they delivered scripture. However, there are many more messengers sent by God to confirm existing scripture and to guide with God's leave to the straight path. As a result, the number of messengers far exeeds the number of prophets. Hence, it is not practical that God should list in the Quran the names of all the messengers:
"Messengers we have told you about, and messengers We never told you about........" 4:164
We are also told in the Quran that God sends a messenger/s to every community/nation, and since the communities will exist till the end of the world thus future messengers will be sent by God to the world:
"To each community, a messenger" 10:47
These words are then followed by:
"They challenge: "When will this prophecy come to pass, if you are telling the truth?" 10:48
"Say, "I possess no power to harm myself, or benefit myself; only what GOD wills takes place." Each community has a predetermined life span. Once their interim comes to an end, they cannot delay it by one hour, nor advance it" 10:49
Verse 48 confirms that the subject of future messengers does not speak of Muhammad since he will be challenged "when will this prophecy come to pass".
Verse 49 confirms that Muhammad is commanded to reply that he does not have the power to know what God wills.
As a result, and in accordance with 33:40, Muhammad was NOT the last messenger. He was the last prophet, which means that there will be no scripture delivered after the Quran.
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