Last mosque? Last prophet?

Introduction

“Sunnis” claim that the Prophet (SAW) is the absolute last prophet and no prophet can come after him in any shape or form. We show them numerous verses and ahadith that go against this belief. One of them is the following hadith:

فَإِنِّي آخِرُ الأَنْبِيَاءِ وَإِنَّ مَسْجِدِي آخِرُ الْمَسَاجِدِ

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said:

I am the last of the Apostles and my mosque is the last of the mosques.

[Sahih Muslim 1394c]

Explanation

The above hadith completely refutes the understanding of the non-Ahmadis. According to the Prophet (SAW) himself, his mosque is the last mosque just like he is the last prophet. We all know that his mosque i.e. Masjid Nabwi is not the last mosque. Muslims build new mosques even today and will continue to do that.

Thus, the true meaning of the hadith is that the Prophet (SAW) is the last to reach the rank of prophethood that no one can ever reach. This is the meaning of the verse of Khataman Nabiyyin as well. He (SAW) is the best of the Prophets and his mosque is the best of the mosques i.e. no mosque will ever reach the status of Masjid Nabwi.

Refutation

Since non-Ahmadis have no answer for the above hadith, they dig out a weak narration in an attempt to refute us. They claim that the hadith means that Masjid-e-Nabwi is the last mosque of the prophets, not the absolute last mosque.

حدثنا أحمد بن منصور ، ثنا عبيد الله بن موسى ، ثنا موسى ٢٤٥ / وهو ابن عبيدة ، عن داود بن مدرك / ، عن عروة ، عن عائشة قالت : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : أنا خاتم الأنبياء ومسجدي خاتم مساجد الأنبياء

Holy Prophet (pbuh) said:

“I am the last of the Prophets and my mosque is the last of the mosques of the prophets.”

[Kashful Astar an Zawaid al-Bazzar, vol. 2, pg. 56]

Firstly, the hadith is weak and Al-Bazzar himself mentions it in the footnote of this narration:

قال الهيثمي : رواه البزار ، وفيه موسى بن عبيدة وهو ضعيف

Musa bin Ubaidah is weak.

Thus, they deceive others by hiding the fact that their source labels this hadith as weak.

Secondly, the narration also has a Majhul (unknown) narrator, Daud bin Mudrak is Majhul¹Hadith.islam-db.com موسوعة الحديث : داود بن مدرك.. This makes this hadith even more weak. It is absurd to quote such weak narrations while hiding its Isnad.

Thirdly, they are mistranslating the hadith. The word used in the hadith is not آخِر (last), rather, it is خاتم (seal). Thus, the hadith must say: “I am the seal of the Prophets and my mosque is the seal of the mosques of the prophets.“

Ahmadi Muslims already agree with this statement. Muhammad (SAW) is indeed the Seal of the Prophets as the Quran mentions, and so is his mosque the Seal of the Mosques of Prophets i.e. the best mosque of the prophets.

Thus, even if the hadith was not extremely weak, it would still be a non-issue for us.

Fourthly, even though the hadith is weak and does not contradict the beliefs of Ahmadis, even then Masjid-e-Nabwi not the last mosque of the Prophet SAW. He built multiple mosques after the conquest of Mecca. Ibn Kathir says:

قال ابن إسحاق : فسلك رسول الله – يعنى من حنين إلى الطائف – على نخلة اليمانية ، ثم على قَرْنٍ ، ثم على الملَيْحِ ، ثم على بَحْرِةِ الرُّغاءِ مِن لية ، فابتنى بها مسجدا فصلى فيه

Ibn Ishaq said: The Messenger of Allah – meaning from Hunayn to Ta’if – passed by Nakhlat al-Yamaniyyah, then Qarn, then al-Malīḥ, then Baḥrat al-Ruġā’ from Layla, where he built a mosque and prayed in it.

[Al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya, vol. 7, pg. 67]