Prophet (SWS) Raised Up Among the Aakhareen (Part 2)

In the previous entry, I examined the Ayah of the Qur’an al-Karim:

وَآخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ لَمَّا يَلْحَقُوا بِهِمْ ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

And also among the others who have not met them [Ummiyyin]. And He [Allah] is the Mighty, the Wise.

(Sura 62: 3)

and stated that the inclusion of the Waw al-‘Aatifa, a prefixed conjunction (a particle which connects two words, phrases, or clauses together) yields the meaning that Allah Most High has sent His Messenger Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) with two sendings, one to the Ummiyyin and the second to the Aakharin. The ignorant ones argue that the implication of this Verse is only that the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) has been sent for everyone, both the Ummiyyin and the Aakharin. They therefore deny our reading and understanding that two actual sendings are spoken of in this Qur’anic passage. In support of my thesis that the grammatical structure of the Ayah proves two sendings of the same Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) I shall present references from the classical books of Tafsir:

{ وَءاخَرِينَ } عطف على الأميين. يعني بعث في آخرين منهم

Source: Tafsir al-Kabir (Fakhr al-Din al-Razi); v. 30, p. 4

يقول تعالى ذكره: وهو الذي بعث في الأميين رسولا منهم، وفي آخرين منهم لما يلحقوا بهم فآخرون في موضع خفض عطفاً على الأميين

Source: Tafsir Ibn Jarir al-Tabari

*Note: The word minhum occurring in both Verses 2 and 3 indicate that the same Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) is sent or raised up among the Ummiyyin and among the Aakharin. In other words, just as the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) was raised up, in his essence, among the illiterate Arabs, likewise, he is to be raised up among the Aakharin, whom most of the exegetes identify as the Ajam (non-Arabs) of the latter days, a view reinforced by the Hadith of the Pleiades cited in the previous entry.

Regarding minhum, Imam al-Shawkani writes in his commentary of this passage:

{ مِنْهُمْ }: من أنفسهم، ومن جنسهم، ومن جملتهم

“From among them” from among themselves [anfusuhum], and from among their genus [jinsuhum], and from among their allocation [jumlatuhum].

{ وَءاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ } معطوف على الأميين أي: بعث في الأميين، وبعث في آخرين منهم

Source: Fath al-Qadir (Shawkani), p. 1490

قوله تعالى: { وَآخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ } هو عطف على «الأمِّيين» أي بعث في الأميّين وبعث في آخرين منهم

Source: Tafsir al-Qurtubi

وبعث محمداً في آخرين منهم

“And Muhammad was sent in the Aakharin, among them”

Source: Zad al-Masir (Ibn al-Jawzi), p. 1433

{ وَءاخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ } مجرور معطوف على { ٱلأَمّيّينَ } يعني أنه بعثه في الأميين الذين على عهده وفي آخرين من الأميين

Source: Tafsir al-Nasafi; v.3 p.470

*Note: Although Imam al-Nasafi states here that the second Ba’th (‘sending’) of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was among the latter ones from among the Ummiyyin, the majority of exegetes conclude that the Aakharin are separated from the Ummiyyin by time and refer to the Ajam (non-Arabs). Nevertheless, Imam al-Nasafi has based his reasoning on the grammatical structure of the Verse hence it cannot be denied that two distinct sendings of the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) are proven from this Qur’anic passage.

In conclusion, this passage of the Qur’an al-Karim puts forward a critical idea; the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be sent and raised up among the Aakharin also, like he was raised up and sent among the Ummiyyin some fifteen centuries ago. But since the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has passed away and is no more in this world, how can he be sent and raised up among the Aakharin of the latter-days. As was suggested in the previous entry where I cited the Hadith of the Pleaides, the second advent of the Prophet (peace be upon him) shall be fulfilled in the emergence of a pious, saintly Believer from among the people of Salman the Persian. But this person has been identified with the Person of sayyidina Muhammad Rasul Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam), and this is to be understood through the Sufi concepts of Buruz and Fana fil Rasul which have been expounded appropriately upon in this blog.

And Allah knows best!