Hadith – Is Muhammad (SAW) the last brick?

Introduction

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ “‏ إِنَّ مَثَلِي وَمَثَلَ الأَنْبِيَاءِ مِنْ قَبْلِي كَمَثَلِ رَجُلٍ بَنَى بَيْتًا فَأَحْسَنَهُ وَأَجْمَلَهُ، إِلاَّ مَوْضِعَ لَبِنَةٍ مِنْ زَاوِيَةٍ، فَجَعَلَ النَّاسُ يَطُوفُونَ بِهِ وَيَعْجَبُونَ لَهُ، وَيَقُولُونَ هَلاَّ وُضِعَتْ هَذِهِ اللَّبِنَةُ قَالَ فَأَنَا اللَّبِنَةُ، وَأَنَا خَاتَمَ النَّبِیّٖنَ

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “My similitude in comparison with the other prophets before me, is that of a man who has built a house nicely and beautifully, except for a place of one brick in a corner. The people go about it and wonder at its beauty, but say: ‘Would that this brick be put in its place!’ So I am that brick, and I am the Seal of the Prophets.“

[Sahih al-Bukhari 3535]

Non-Ahmadi Muslims use this hadith to prove that Muhammad (S.A.W) is the last prophet because he was the last brick in the house. Moreover, they say that since Muhammad (SAW) clearly says he is the Khataman Nabiyyin, no prophet can come after him. This interpretation is not only contrary to the Holy Quran and the Ahadith but also goes against the view of their own scholars.

Refutation

Firstly, this hadith actually complements our explanation of the Khataman Nabiyyin verse. The people are in awe at the beauty of the house except there is a missing brick that would make the house perfect. Muhammad (SAW) claims that he is that brick and has made the house perfect. The house represents the Sharia (law) that all the prophets brought previously but Muhammad (SAW) perfects and finalizes it by bringing to us Islam. This is detailed in our Khataman Nabiyyin article.

Secondly, this explanation is further explained in the longer version of this hadith in Musnad Ahmad. The hadith is mentioning multiple superiorities of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) compared to other prophets. It then connects the superiority mentioned in the Khataman Nabyyin verse with the brick hadith.

 ١- [عن أبي هريرة:] فُضِّلتُعلىالأنبياءِبسِتٍّ. قيلَ: ماهُنَّ، أيرسولَاللهِ؟ قال: أُعطيتُ جَوامِعَ الكَلِمِ، ونُصِرتُ بالرُّعبِ، وأُحِلَّتْ لي الغَنائمُ، وجُعِلتْ لي الأرضُ طَهورًا ومسجِدًا، وأُرسِلتُ إلى الخَلْقِ كافَّةً، وخُتِمَ بي النَّبيُّونَ. مَثَلي ومَثَلُ الأنبياءِ كمَثَلِ رَجُلٍ بَنى قَصرًا، فأكمَلَ بِناءَه وأحسَنَ بناءَه، إلّا مَوضِعَ لَبِنةٍ، فنظَرَ النّاسُ إلى القَصْرِ. فقالوا: ما أحسَنَ بُنيانَ هذا القَصرِ، لو تَمَّتْ هذه اللَّبِنةُ، ألا وكنتُ أنا اللَّبِنةُ، ألا وكنتُ أنا اللَّبِنةُ

I have been given superiority over the other prophets. I have been given words which are concise but comprehensive in meaning; I have been helped by terror (in the hearts of enemies): spoils have been made lawful to me: the earth has been made for me clean and a place of worship; I have been sent to all mankind and I have been made seal of the prophets.

My similitude in comparison with the other prophets before me, is that of a man who has built a house nicely and beautifully, except for a place of one brick in a corner. The people go about it and wonder at its beauty, but say: ‘Would that this brick be put in its place!

[Musnad Ahmad 9337]

Thirdly, this is the same interpretation given by the scholars of Islam

Muslim Scholars Interpretations

Al-Raghib al-Isfahani (d. 450H)

Before Islam, there was excessiveness or negligence in some matters relative to their laws [i.e. past prophets], based on what Divine wisdom required for that time and place. Then, Allah, the Exalted completed and perfected the religion through the Prophet ﷺ making it balanced and moderate, as He said: “And thus, We have made you a balanced nation” (2:144). And He perfected and completed it through him just as he said: “I have been sent to perfect good moral character” as well as: “The example of the prophets [before me] is like a house left with space for one brick, so I am that brick.” This is the meaning of His saying: “This day, I have perfected for you your religion.

[Tafsir Al-Raghib al-Isfahani, Vol 1, P 266]

Ibn al-Arabi al-Maliki (d. 543H)

Ibn al-Arabi al-Maliki (d. 543H) puts forward another interpretation:

When the meticulous contemplates this hadith, he sees that the station of the Prophet in creation is far loftier and nobler than [merely] a brick in a wall… I repeated this to people for days but did not find anyone with a path to understanding it, so I returned to my inadequate self and it became clear to me, and Allah knows best, that the brick was the foundation. Had this brick not been in this foundation, the structure would have collapsed. This is because it is the basis and objective [of the structure].

[‘Aridat al-Ahwadhi’ bisharh Sahih al-Tirmidhi, Vol 9, P 226]

Ibn Jawzi (d. 597H)

He also writes under the tafsir of the same hadith:

Know that the beginning of religious laws was characterized by ease, so no burden is known in the laws of Noah, Hud, Salih and Abraham. Then Moses came with strictness and burden, and Jesus came with something similar. The law of our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, abrogated the strictness of the People of the Book, but did not go to the extreme of easing that characterized those before them. Thus it is perfectly balanced, along with its excellent morals, enlightening of minds, teaching of insight, leading to inferring hidden meanings, and other things that did not exist in previous laws.

[Kashf Al-Mushkil, vol.3, pg. 46]

It is clear that the house was a representation of the laws of the past prophets and Muhammad (SAW) came to perfect it. This is what the meaning of the title of Khataman Nabiyyin is.

Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728H)

His statement, Exalted is He, in describing the Prophet ﷺ: “He enjoins on them good and forbids them evil, and makes lawful for them the good things and forbids them the bad” (7:158). This demonstrates the perfection of his message; for indeed, he is the one whom Allah commanded regarding all that is good, and forbade from all evil. And made all that is wholesome lawful, and prohibited all that is impure. And for this reason it is narrated from him that he said: “I was only sent to perfect good moral character” and… “The parable of me and the prophets is that of a man who built a house, completing it and perfecting it except for the space of one brick. So the people would circumambulate it, amazed at its beauty, saying: ‘If only there was a brick here…’ I am that brick.” So the religion of Allah was completed through him, encompassing commanding all that is good, forbidding all that is evil, making lawful all that is wholesome, and prohibiting all that is impure… And enjoining all that is good while forbidding all that is evil was only completed for the Messenger – the one through whom Allah perfected noble traits of character that come under ‘good.‘ And Allah, the Exalted said: “This day, I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favour upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion” (5:4). So Allah has perfected the religion for us, completed His bounty upon us, and approved Islam as our way of life.

[Majmu’ al-Fatawa, Vol 16, P 57]

Ibn Khaldun (d. 808H)

People interpret the meaning of Khatamun Nabiyyin with reference to the brick that completed the palace. However, it really means the Prophet with whose advent Prophethood was perfected.

[Muqaddimah Ibn-e-Khaldun pg. 300]

Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani (d. 852H)

In his Tafseer of Sahih Bukhari, he writes:

In this hadith, the purpose is to allude to the perfection of the law of Muhammad (S.A.W) in comparison to the laws of the past

[Fathul Bari, vol. 6, pg. 646]

Ibn Imad al-Aqfahsi (d. 867H)

Al-Tamm [completion] has the meaning of fulfilling and perfecting. And both of these meanings [are found in the verse]: “This day, I have perfected for you your religion and completed my favour upon you” (5:4) and [similar examples]… And from that [which indicates] perfecting is his statement: “The parable of me and the prophets before me is that of a person who built a house quite imposing and beautiful, but for one brick in one of its corners. People would go round it, appreciating the building, but saying: Why has the brick not been fixed here? So I am that brick, and I am the Seal of the Prophets.

[Al-Irshad al-Fiqh, Vol 2, P 467]

Mullah Ali al-Qari (d. 1014H)

{I have been sent to perfect good moral character}… i.e. the spiritual qualities, sanctified states, and excellent manners that encompass fulfilling the rights of truth and creation – which cannot be enumerated fully or perceived to be covered completely. It alludes to the prophets being marked with agreeable manners and resplendent qualities, but these were not to the perfect level beyond which there is no perfection. As for him ﷺ, he combines the most lofty dispositions and is the source of the finest spiritual states – to the extent that no perfection can be imagined beyond it. Whoever transgresses that boundary falls into deficiency ultimately. And what we have established is indicated to by the hadith: “The example of me and the prophets before me is that of a wonderful palace, perfect in construction but left with space for one brick… And I was the one who filled the space for that brick, thus sealing the prophets.” This edifice is also alluded to in His saying: “This day, I have perfected for you your religion.” (5:4)

[Sharh al-Shifa, Vol 1, P 230]

Isma’il Haqqi al-Bursawi (d. 1127H)

The religion from the time of Adam, peace be upon him, was progressing towards perfection through the prophets traversing the path of truth, up to the era of the Prophet ﷺ. Every prophet traversed a path in religion which was revealed to him according to his spiritual station of nearness… But on the Day of Arafat during the Farewell Pilgrimage, when he stopped at Arafat, it was displayed to the nation – when his predominance over all religions became apparent and the perfection of the religion became evident by the descent of all obligatory duties and rulings completely – so He said: “This day, I have perfected for your religion and completed My favour upon you and have approved Islam for you as your religion.” This interpretation is supported by what Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The example of me and the prophets before me is that of a man who built a house, making it excellent and beautiful and completing it except for the space of one brick in a corner…” The Prophet ﷺ said: “I am that brick.” So this clarifies what has been established regarding the spiritual stations of the prophets and the completion of the religion through them, and its perfection through the Prophet ﷺ.

[Tafsir Ruh al-Bayan, Vol 2, P 301]

Refuting Sunnis

It is actually blasphemy to claim that each brick represents a single prophet because that reduces the station of the prophet who has been given the titles of Rehmat-al-il-Alamin and Khatam-an-Nabiyyin. It means he is being compared to those prophets who weren’t even given any Shariah, let alone the perfect and universal Shariah-like Islam.

Furthermore, the claim that each prophet represents each brick is even more problematic because how is it possible that the most perfect law (i.e. Islam) is only given one brick while the previous laws have been given multiple? For example, the law of Musa (A.S) has been given so many bricks as it had so many prophets under it like Harun (A.S), Daud (A.S), Sulaiman (A.S), Yunus (A.S), Yahya (A.S), Isa (A.S) e.t.c.

Moreover, non-Ahmadi Muslims also believe that Isa (A.S) will come as a prophet after Muhammad (S.A.W). This means that the brick of Isa (A.S) will be removed and added after Muhammad (S.A.W) which will make Isa (A.S) the last brick.

Summary

In short, Khataman Nabiyyin is a title of the superiority of Muhammad (SAW). The brick hadith is a tafsir of that verse and proves that he (SAW) did indeed perfect Shariah.