Prophet's Name al-Aqib صلى الله عليه وسلم

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والعاقبة للمتقين

One of the distinctive names of our holy Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is al-Aqib. He said:

لِي خَمْسَةُ أَسْمَاءٍ أَنَا مُحَمَّدٌ، وَأَحْمَدُ، وَأَنَا الْمَاحِي الَّذِي يَمْحُو اللَّهُ بِي الْكُفْرَ، وَأَنَا الْحَاشِرُ الَّذِي يُحْشَرُ النَّاسُ عَلَى قَدَمِي، وَأَنَا الْعَاقِبُ

For me are five names: I am Muhammad, and Ahmad. I am al-Mahi through whom Allah effaces unbelief. I am al-Hashir after whom the people are gathered, and I am al-Aqib

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

In another version of this Hadith, there is the additional wording:

وَأَنَا الْعَاقِبُ الَّذِي لَيْسَ بَعْدَهُ أَحَدٌ

I am al-Aqib after whom there is none

(Sahih Muslim)

And in yet another version, there occurs the additional wording:

وَالْعَاقِبُ الَّذِي لَيْسَ بَعْدَهُ نَبِيُّ

and al-Aqib is he after whom there is no prophet

(Sahih Muslim)

This additional wording in which the name al-Aqib is explained to mean ‘he after whom there is no prophet’ is not found in any report collected by Imam al-Bukhari in his Sahih, but rather occurs in a version collected by Imam Muslim in his Sahih. The great Hanafi scholar Ali al-Qari has explained that this additional wording is not in fact from the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم but is commentary on the name al-Aqib by either a Sahabi or someone after:

الظَّاهِرُ أَنَّ هَذَا تَفْسِيرٌ لِلصَّحَابِيِّ أَوْ مَنْ بَعْدَهُ وَفِي شَرْحِ مُسْلِمٍ قَالَ ابْنُ الْأَعْرَابِيِّ ‌الْعَاقِبُ الَّذِي يَخْلُفُ فِي الْخَيْرِ مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَهُ

It is obvious that the words ‘and al-Aqib is he after whom there is no prophet’ have been added as a commentary by a companion or someone afterwards. Ibn al-A’rabi states that al-Aqib refers to someone who succeeds another person in goodness (Mirqat al-Mafatih; v.10, p.49):

Imam Muhammad Tahir al-Fattani: Meaning of No Prophet After Me is No Prophet Who Abrogates Shariah

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

The great Imam and scholar, Muhammad Tahir al-Fattani al-Gujarati (d. 986 H), accepted the statement attributed to Mother of the Believers A’ishah سلام الله عليها which I previously quoted “do not say there is no prophet after him” and explained that the Hadith “there is no prophet after me” means:

وعن عائشة قولوا إنه خاتم الأنبياء ولا تقولوا لا نبي بعده وهذا ناظر إلى نزول عيسى وهذا أيضًا لا ينافي ح لا نبي بعدي ‌لأنه ‌أراد ‌لا ‌نبي ‌ينسخ ‌شرعه

And it is narrated from ‘Ā’ishah: ‘Say that he is the Seal of the Prophets and do not say: There will be no prophet after him’. This aims at the decent ‘Īsā, and this also does not contradict the Hadīth ‘There will be no prophet after me’, because he meant that no prophet will abrogate his sharī‘ah.” (Takmilah Majmaʻ bihar al-anwār fī gharāʼib at-tanzīl wa-latāʼif al-akhbār; v.5, p.464):

Imam al-Razi: Ascension of Jesus in Rank not Place or Direction

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Those Muslims who insist Jesus of Nazareth was raised to Heaven alive in his body quote from the Quran, Surah 3:55:

اِذۡ قَالَ اللّٰہُ یٰعِیۡسٰۤی اِنِّیۡ مُتَوَفِّیۡکَ وَ رَافِعُکَ اِلَیَّ

When Allah said, ‘O Jesus, I will cause you to die and raise you to Myself’

Firstly, it should be noted that the rafa (ascension) of Jesus is to occur after his wafah (death), and that clearly indicates a spiritual ascension, when the soul is taken from the body by the Angel of Death and he ascends with it into Heaven.

Secondly, Imam Fakhruddin al-Razi has explained that the rafa of Jesus as spoken of in 3:55 is not the rafa of the body, or an ascension in terms of place and direction:

وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ هَذِهِ الْآيَةَ تَدُلُّ عَلَى أَنَّ رَفْعَهُ فِي قَوْلِهِ وَرافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ هُوَ الرِّفْعَةُ بِالدَّرَجَةِ وَالْمَنْقَبَةِ، لَا ‌بِالْمَكَانِ ‌وَالْجِهَةِ، كَمَا أَنَّ الْفَوْقِيَّةَ فِي هَذِهِ لَيْسَتْ بِالْمَكَانِ بَلْ بِالدَّرَجَةِ وَالرِّفْعَةِ

Know that this Ayah [3:55] proves that his raising, in the saying “And raise you to Myself” is the raf’ah of rank and status, not place and direction (Tafsir al-Kabir; v.8, p.77, published by Darul Fikr):