The point he is getting across is that based on this understanding of “Khātam al-Nabiyyīn”, there is no conceivable way that the narration of Ibn ‘Abbās (Allāh be pleased with him), which he and others regard to be authentic, can call into question the Prophet’s ﷺ absolute superiority. This was an incident some forty years before the 1974 Supreme Court case. If the scholars of Deoband were able to put up a defence several decades before, why would they suddenly fail to do so here?! During the court proceedings the Deobandī representatives were unable to answer this presentation on part of the Qādiyānites. The Sunnī scholars present, however, refuted these statements and made it abundantly clear that when al-Nānawtawī wrote them they were also declared heretical by the likes of Muftī Ḥāfiẓ Bakhsh al-Badāyūnī and Shaykh ‘Abd al-Ḥayy al-Laknawī. [81] In a recent book, Navigating the End of Time, Asrar Rashid attempts to show a link, albeit a “subtle” and “unexpressed” one, between Deobandīs and Qādiyānīs. [1] Apart from decontextualized citations from Taḥdhīr al-Nās of Mawlānā Qāsim Nānotwī, his evidences for this are extremely thin, indeed in some cases apparently fictitious. This is not altogether surprising given an earlier critique of some of his unfounded and untruthful claims. [2] My belief is that the aforementioned ḥadīth is authentic and reliable. And the strata of the earth are separate. In each stratum there are creatures of the divine. It is inferred from the aforementioned ḥadīth that there are prophets in each stratum. However, while it is established there are seals on each stratum, it is not established they are equal to our Seal of the Prophets. Nor is it my belief that those ‘seals’ are equal to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. The children of Ādam that have been mentioned in, ‘We have ennobled the children of Ādam’, [22] and are better than the rest of creation, are the children of the Ādam of this stratum by consensus. Our Prophet ﷺ is better than all the children of Ādam. Thus, undoubtedly, he is better than all creatures. Thus, the ‘seals’ of the other strata, who are included amongst ‘creatures’, cannot be equal in any way to him.”

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Taḥdhīr al-Nās, the full title of which is “ Taḥdhīr al-Nās min Inkār Athar Ibn ‘Abbās” (“Warning Men Against Rejecting the Narration of Ibn ‘Abbās”), was first printed in 1873. Mawlānā Qāsīm Nānotwī never intended it to be printed as a book. Nor did he give it its famous title. It was Mawlānā Muḥammad Aḥsan Nānotwī (1825 – 1895), a gifted scholar who operated a printing press in Bareilly, that gave it a title and published it. Mawlānā Aḥsan Nānotwī had become involved in a dispute on which he solicited the view of Mawlānā Qāsim Nānotwī and ‘Allāmah ‘Abd al-Ḥayy Laknawī.

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If Asrar Rashid disagrees with Mawlānā Nānotwī’s thesis, he should have accurately presented his views, followed by a careful critique of them. What purpose does it serve to quote three isolated sentences selectively in this manner from a complex discourse? [66] To a neutral observer, it may even come across as willful deception. These isolated “quotes” give the impression that Mawlānā Nānotwī believed the title “Seal of the Prophets” gives no indication to chronological finality at all, and indeed that chronological finality is not even a necessary belief. Yet, the context of the passages from Taḥdhīr al-Nās makes it clear he does regard chronological finality as being included within the meanings of “the Seal of the Prophets” and that it is an essential belief of Islām. Save Digital Gurus Presents: Navigating Mental Health in a Commercial World to your collection. Share Digital Gurus Presents: Navigating Mental Health in a Commercial World with your friends. He was mentored by Mawlānā Muẓaffar Ḥusayn (1805 – 1866), a respected and pious personality from Kandhla, and was instructed in spirituality by Ḥājī Imdādullāh Muhājir Makkī from whom he attained successorship in Taṣawwuf. He would exert himself in worship to the point that a close colleague once saw him recite 27 juz’ of the Qur’ān in a single rak‘ah! [8] Ḥājī Imdādullāh Muhājir Makkī held his spiritual student, Mawlānā Qāsim Nānotwī, in great esteem. [9] Shaykh Asrar Rashid is a writer, public lecturer, debater and teacher of Arabic and Islamic disciplines. He has undertaken studies under traditional Islamic teachers in Arabic and Islam, Ash?ari Kalam, traditional rational theology, and its ancillary subjects in his city of birth, Birmingham (UK) and in Damascus (Syria).

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Look now, in this situation, the conjunction between the two sentences and the aforementioned corrective and exception come into focus at the height of coherence. The sealship [of the Prophet ﷺ] is established in the best way. Chronological finality ( khātamiyyat zamānī) too does not escape one’s hand.

In Tanwīr al-Nibrās, Mawlānā Qāsim Nānotwī makes it explicitly clear that he regards the counterparts of the Prophet ﷺ on the other earths to be “relative khātams”, i.e. relative to their earth, while the Prophet Muḥammad’s ﷺ finality is inclusive of all earths. He writes: “The seals of the lower earths are relative seals ( khātam iḍāfī) while the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ is the real seal ( khātam ḥaqīqī).” [52] Morever, Ḥakīm Nūr al-Dīn studied with other famous scholars like Mawlānā Irshād Ḥusayn (1832 – 1893) of Rampur [71] (Ḥakīm Nūr al-Dīn spent three years in Rampur for studies [72]), Mawlānā Raḥmatullāh Kīrānawī (1818 – 1891) [73] and Shāh ‘Abd al-Ghanī Dihlawī. [74] He attended more than a single lecture of theirs. Why are they not implicated in Asrar Rashid’s conspiracy-laden discourse?

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Shāh Ismā‘īl Shahīd explains that the one who holds such a belief is a “true mushrik and a complete ignoramus, and has not understood the meaning of divinity in the slightest, and has not realised the greatness of this Owner of the Kingdom.” [13] Then, explaining Allāh’s greatness and power, he said: “It is the nature of this King of Kings that in a single moment, had He so wished, with one command of ‘ Kun’, He would create thousands of prophets, saints, jinn and angels equal to Jibrīl, upon him peace, and Muḥammad ﷺ; and would turn the whole universe from the throne to the earth upside down and put another creation in its place.” [14] He further states that if all creatures were like Jibrīl and the Prophet ﷺ, this would not increase in the lustre of Allāh’s kingdom, and similarly if all creatures were devils and dajjāls this would not decrease from the lustre of His kingdom. [15] Thus, in context, Shāh Ismā‘īl Shahīd was merely showing the utter transcendence of Allāh and His being completely without need for creation, so why would He fear anyone’s status when exercising His will?! At this juncture, it would be appropriate to point to this [meaning of “Khātam al-Nabiyyīn”] from the explanation ( tafsīr) of the noble Awliyā’ too, although there isn’t scope here to cite the passages. Haḍrat Muhyī al-Dīn Ibn ‘Arabī, Mawlānā Rūm, Mawlānā Baḥr al-‘Ulūm, Haḍrat Mujaddid Alf Thānī, Allāh sanctify their souls, Haḍrat Shaykh ‘Aḍuḍ al-Dīn Amrohī, Allāh sanctify his soul, and others – all of them gave the same explanation of “Khātam al-Nabiyyīn” which the author of Taḥdhīr al-Nās did. While Qāḍī Bayḍāwī and others explained the ẓahr of the speech of Allāh, these [Awliyā’] explained its baṭn. The author of Taḥdhīr al-Nās combined both [the ẓahr and the baṭn] in [his explanation of] this verse. [33] The key to following any map is that one must be ready for a journey. Ready or not, mankind’s journey is simply one of time; a journey imposed on its wayfarers without options. This chronological journey began at the creation of man and will end with the Day of Judgement, a journey full of trials [fitna (pl. fitan)], from which few of us can escape. In his earlier work ‘ Islam Answers Atheism’, Asrar Rashid enters the territories of the New Atheists and those pursuing kufr humanistic sciences—particularly those bent on debunking a Divine Reality. Intent on showing the false trails laid out for the unwary, he aims to rescue those who have been misled by showing the weakness and fallacies in their arguments and that in most cases, behind their disparagement and denigration, the Hand of God is merely replaced by straw-man arguments, emotional content, and fantasy.Hence, what he took issue with is it being the “sole meaning”. This is clear from Taḥdhīr al-Nās itself as he has himself said the verse indicates chronological finality. As was quoted from him earlier, Mawlānā Qāsim Nānotwī said: “The author of Taḥdhīr al-Nās does not mean that the sentence on Khātam al-Nabiyyīn doesn’t in any way indicate chronological finality or that chronological finality cannot be meant by the term ‘Khātam al-Nabiyyīn’. He himself has given two explanations of how chronological finality is meant and indicated [by the verse/term].” [60] If it were legally possible for a prophet to be appointed after the Prophet ﷺ according to the deceased Mawlānā [Qāsim Nānotwī], he would not have used the word “hypothetically” ( bi ‘l-farz). The term “hypothetically” itself indicates it is impossible, the clear meaning of which is that this is impossible and in no way is it possible [for it to occur]. However, if in hypothetically assuming the impossible, for a short while this impossibility [of a future prophet being born] were to be entertained, even then there would be no difference to the positional sealship of the Prophet ﷺ, his excellence and supremacy. [62] This is not to say that Qādiyānīs never used Mawlānā Qāsim Nānotwī’s statements. Qādiyānīs have misused the statements of many scholars, including Mullā ‘Alī al-Qārī, Shāh Waliyyullāh Dihlawī, Jalāl al-Dīn al-Rūmī etc. The mere fact that they misuse Mawlānā Qāsim Nānotwī’s writings says nothing about the validity or otherwise of Mawlānā Qāsim Nānotwī’s views. [84] Ibṭāl Aghlāṭ Qāsimiyyah [1300 H]: Upon the suggestion of Mawlawī ‘Ubaydullāh, the imām of Jāmi‘ Masjid at Mombay (a Murīd of Mawlānā Faḍl-i-Rasūl Badāyūnī), an individual ‘Abd al-Ghaffār put this treatise together as a refutation of Taḥdhīr al-Nās. According to ‘Abd al-Ghaffār, the individual who put it together, a debate occurred in Delhi between Mawlānā Muḥammad Qāsim Nānotwī and Mawlawī Muḥammad Shāh Punjābī on the contents of Taḥdhīr al-Nās. Putting together a question with the views of them both, ‘Abd al-Ghaffār acquired signatures against Mawlānā Muḥammad Qāsim from the ‘Ulamā’. Along with others, this treatise has the signatures of Mawlānā ‘Abd al-Qādir Badāyūnī, Mawlawī Muḥibb Aḥmad Badāyūnī (student of Mawlānā ‘Abd al-Qādir Badāyūnī), Mawlawī Faṣīḥuddīn (author of Qawl al-Faṣīḥ), Mawlawī ‘Ubaydullāh, the imām of Jāmi‘ Masjid at Mombay, and others. [89] Let us now turn to how Asrar Rashid irresponsbily presents three “quotes” from Taḥdhīr al-Nās to forge a link between Deobandīs and Qādiyānīs. In a section of his book titled “Wahhābī/Deobandī Support” (i.e. of Qādiyānīs), he writes:

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What do scholars of religion say of this matter? With respect to the statement of Ibn ‘Abbās which is found in al-Durr al-Manthūr and other sources: “Verily, Allāh created seven earths. In each earth is an Ādam like your Ādam, a Nūḥ like your Nūḥ, an Ibrāhīm like your Ibrāhīm, an ‘Īsā like your ‘Īsā and a Prophet like your Prophet.” Mawlānā Nānotwī (Allāh have mercy on him) affirmed a third type: sealship of location: “Meaning, the earth in which the Noble Prophet appeared is above and at the end of all earths, and there are no earths above it.” He demonstrated this with evidences. [87] Navigating the End of Time’ sets a course for a navigation of the dangerous ways that Armageddon-watchers have invented or twisted prophecies to their own advantage. Rashid draws on examples of how both Muslim and non-Muslim millenarians have cajoled and brainwashed followers, in many cases, to their doom. The trials and tribulations of our time are indisputable, but Rashid lays bare the fitan which are essentially a result of our own miseducation or dependence on the products of the industrial revolution—the apotheosis of which is the smart phone in our hand—which completes what has been called the mass-formation (or crowd psychosis) of our ‘technic society’.Mirzā Ghulām Aḥmad Qādiyānī did not make any explicit claims of prophethood until 1901 [77], several decades after Mawlānā Qāsim Nānotwī had already passed away. What Asrar Rashid appears to want to get across is some sort of causal link between Mawlānā Qāsim Nānotwī’s views and Mirzā’s claims of prophethood. In other words, it was something compiled by Mawlānā Nānotwī’s detractors, those in the circle of ‘Abd al-Qādir Badāyūnī. A signature that is clearly out of place and unexpected is that of ‘Allāmah ‘Abd al-Ḥayy Laknawī, which Asrar Rashid capitalises on. But this signature does not seem to be genuine. Nor does it seem anything of note is known about the compiler ‘Abd al-Ghaffār. In his (fictitious?) account about the 1974 court proceedings, Asrar Rashid makes out that Deobandī “representatives” were unable to put up a credible defence against Qādiyānī citations from Taḥdhīr al-Nās. (The onus is on Asrar Rashid to identify where this account is found in the document he references.) Yet, where Qādiyānīs had used passages from Taḥdhīr al-Nās to support their beliefs, the scholars of Deoband had adequately refuted them. Mawlānā Qāsim Nānotwī believed that the esoteric meaning he offers for “Khātam al-Nabiyyīn” automatically entails finality in time. [35] He explained this in several different ways. In Ajwibah Arba‘īn, at the conclusion of the above-cited passage, he says it is divine wisdom that effectively “the best is left till last”. [36] Hence, the direct prophethood of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ also entails chronological finality. Hence, in response to detractors who claimed he did not believe the term “Khātam al-Nabiyyīn” indicated finality in time, he said: