No Israeli prophets but Caliphs

The Prophet (ﷺ) said,

“The Israelis used to be ruled and guided by prophets: Whenever a prophet died, another would take over his place. There will be no prophet after me, but there will be Caliphs who will increase in number.” The people asked, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! What do you order us (to do)?” He said, “Obey the one who will be given the pledge of allegiance first. Fulfil their (i.e. the Caliphs) rights, for Allah will ask them about (any shortcoming) in ruling those Allah has put under their guardianship.“

[Sahih al-Bukhari 3455]

Non-Ahmadi Muslims quote this hadith with a specific focus on the phrase “There will be no prophet after me” and ignore the rest of the hadith, including its context. They say it clearly says no prophet can come after Muhammad (S.A.W) but rather the context of the hadith refutes them.

Firstly, all non-Ahmadi Muslims believe that Isa (A.S) will come after Muhammad (S.A.W). He is a prophet and will remain one even on his second coming. Thus, claiming that no prophet can come after Muhammad (S.A.W) actually refutes those who are waiting for Isa (A.S) to come in the latter days, which is almost all non-Ahmadi Muslims. Some will say that Isa (A.S) will not be a prophet on his second coming which is a wrong and a heretic view as per their own scholars. Click here to read that article.

Secondly, the context of the hadith clearly says no prophets will come immediately after Muhammad (S.A.W) as the prophets of Bani Israel used to succeed each other. Rather, Muhammad (S.A.W) will be followed by Caliphs. Thus, the only explanation for the statement “There will be no prophet after me” is that “There will be no prophet RIGHT after me”.

This is consistent with the other verses and ahadith which prove that prophets can still come within Islam i.e ummati or non-law-bearing prophets. This article proves prophethood is still open within Islam from the lens of the Quran while this article proves it through ahadith. We will briefly mention some of those ahadith here also:

Hadith #1

In the below hadith, the latter-day Messiah is called a prophet 4 times in Arabic (3 in English). This clearly proves that the latter-day Messiah is indeed a prophet, no matter what anyone claims otherwise.

وَيُحْصَرُ نَبِيُّ اللَّهُ عِيسَى وَأَصْحَابُهُ حَتَّى يَكُونَ رَأْسُ الثَّوْرِ لأَحَدِهِمْ خَيْرًا مِنْ مِائَةِ دِينَارٍ لأَحَدِكُمُ الْيَوْمَ فَيَرْغَبُ نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ عِيسَى وَأَصْحَابُهُ فَيُرْسِلُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهُمُ النَّغَفَ فِي رِقَابِهِمْ فَيُصْبِحُونَ فَرْسَى كَمَوْتِ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ ثُمَّ يَهْبِطُ نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ عِيسَى وَأَصْحَابُهُ إِلَى الأَرْضِ فَلاَ يَجِدُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ مَوْضِعَ شِبْرٍ إِلاَّ مَلأَهُ زَهَمُهُمْ وَنَتْنُهُمْ فَيَرْغَبُ نَبِيُّ اللَّهِ عِيسَى

“… and Allah’s Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would supplicate Allah, Who would send to them insects (which would attack their necks) and in the morning they would perish like one single person. Allah’s Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would then come down to the earth and they would not find in the earth as much space as a single span which is not filled with their putrefaction and stench. Allah’s Apostle, Jesus, and …”

[Sahih Muslim 2937a]

Hadith #2

Another hadith from Musnad Ahmad gives a prophecy that Khilafat will be established in the latter days after the coming of the Messiah. The Messiah is clearly referred to as a prophet as indicated by the words Khilafah ala Minhaji-Nabuwwah (Prophethood on the precepts of Prophethood). This nabuwwah is the nabuwwah of the latter-day Messiah. This is the view of all Sunnis and the scan of the hadith proves that.

“Prophethood would remain among you so long as Allah wills. Then Allah the Exalted would raise it up. Then Caliphate on the precepts of Prophethood would be established and remain among you for as long as Allah wills. Then Allah the Exalted would raise it up. Then despotic rule would remain among you for as long as Allah wills. Then Allah the Exalted would raise it up. Then a tyrannous rule would remain among you for as long as Allah wills. Then Allah the Exalted would raise it up. Then the Caliphate on the precepts of Prophethood would be established again (Khilafah ala Minhaji-Nabuwwah). Then, the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) remained silent.”

[Musnad Ahmad, 4/273, #18596]

Hadith #3

This hadith makes it clear that there will be no prophet between Muhammad (S.A.W) and the latter-day Messiah, who will be a prophet himself and will not bring new Shariah (law) but follow Islam.

قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم : ” ألا إن عيسى ابن مريم ليس بيني وبينه نبي ولا رسول ، ألا إنه خليفتي في أمتي بعدي ، ألا إنه يقتل الدجال ، ويكسر الصليب ، وتضع الحرب أوزارها ، ألا فمن أدركه منكم فليقرأ عليه السلام ” قال أبو هريرة : ” إني لأرجو أن أكون أول من أقرئه السلام من أبي القاسم صلى الله عليه وسلم ، وآكل من جفنته “

The Holy Prophet Mohammed SAW said: “Listen! There is no prophet and messenger between me and the coming Jesus. He will be the deputy (caliph) in my Ummah after me. Verily, He will kill the Dajjal and break the cross and abolish war. Anyone among you who sees him should tell him my salaam”

(Tabarani, Hadith #4895)

Conclusion

In summary, Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) is explaining that when prophets among the Bani Israel died, another prophet used to take his place. For example,

• Solomon (A.S) succeeded David (A.S).
• John (A.S) succeeded Zechariah (A.S).
• Joseph (A.S) succeeded Jacob (A.S) who succeeded Isaac (A.S).

He then says that after he dies, he won’t be succeeded by a prophet but by a Caliph. This does not negate the possibility of a prophet coming in the future as other ahadith prove to us that the Messiah has to come in the latter days and he will be a prophet.