The third part of this dynamic series on the continuation of divine inspiration

within the Umma of Prophet Muhammad will focus on the discussion

surrounding the Muhaddath. In the previous entry it was made apparent that a
Muhaddath is technically not a Prophet, yet receives divine inspiration from
Allh and is conversant with Him (Subhnahu wa Tal). The Prophet said
that if there was to be a Muhaddath in his Umma, as there were in the previous
Ummam, then his mighty companion Umar b. al-KhattabRA would be one of
them. Some skeptics, such as Ghmidi and Eng. Muhammad Ali Mirz, claim
that this Hadth is couched in hypothetical phrasing and so it is not a proof that
UmarRA actually was a Muhaddath. They in fact deny that he was a Muhaddath
on the basis that the Prophet said that if there was to be a prophet after him
it would be UmarRA. So when it is conceded that UmarRA was not a Prophet,
then likewise, it has to be conceded that he wasnt a Muhaddath either. The
problem with this argument is twofold; 1. The Qurn and Sunna already make
it clear that there is no prophet after sayyidin Muhammad , whereas there
is no explicit text in the Qurn and Sunna that the office of Muhaddath has
likewise been terminated, 2. There is a slight difference in the wording of these
two narrations which yields a blow to the validity of any analogy between them.
The Deobandi elder, Mawln Ashraf Ali Thanawi has clarified this point:

between the word and the word . Taking a Khall and Becoming a
Translation: All of these doubts are because you dont make a distinction

Prophet are with the word Law which is used for negating the possibility,
and Muhaddathn is with the word In which is mostly used for the
possibility of occurrence and sometimes for the affirmation of occurrence. Like
in our own idiom it is said If I ever had a friend in this world it is you.
Reference: Imdd-ul-Fatw; v. 5, p. 121
Now the objective of both these Hadth is to illustrate the virtue and excellence
of sayyidin UmarRA. However, if it is conceded that Umar is not a Prophet
since Prophethood has been sealed, yet Umar RA possessed something of a
potential for Prophethood, then it would have to be admitted that Umar RA is at
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least a Muhaddath. If UmarRA being a Muhaddath is negated it would be
redundant to negate Prophethood for him too.
The Muhaddath, though technically not a Prophet, shares some characteristics
with the latter such as having been raised up and sent by Allh. The Holy
Qurn says:

And We did not send before you any messenger or prophet except that when
he had a desire, Satan interfered with that desire. But Allah eradicates that
which Satan throws in and strengthens His Signs. And Allah is Knowing and
Wise.
(Sra 22: 52)
It is narrated from Amr b. Dnr that sayyidin Ibn Abbs RA used to read it
as:



And We did not send before you any Messenger or Prophet or Muhaddath
Reference: Tafsr al-Qurtubi v. 12 pp. 79 80
Ibn Hajr al-Asqalni likewise mentioned it in his Fath-al-Bri, and
authenticated it in Taghq al-Talq v. 4 p. 65:
This does not mean that Ibn Abbs had an alternate recitation of this Verse of
the Holy Qurn, but rather he recited the Ayat in this way to illustrate his
understanding that the Muhaddath is included in the category of Messengers
and Prophets who are sent by Allh. Furthermore, this reading is attributed to
Imm Abu Jafar Muhammad al-BqirRA by the Twelver Sha in Asl al-Kfi
p. 125:
Shh Isml Shahd of Delhi (1779 1831) wrote that the Muhaddath is
included in the rank of Prophets:

Translation: Some of the Ulam of Hadth have said that in the narration
concerning the number of Prophets from Rasl Allh the word Anbiy does
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not only mean Prophet, but the Muhaddathn too are included within
itMuhaddathn can also be termed as Rasl (Messenger).
Reference: Abqt, p. 402

Rising of the Sun from the West

Allh Azza wa Jall says:

The Day that some of the Signs of your Lord will come no soul will benefit from its
faith as long as it had not believed before or had earned through its faith some good.
Say, Wait, indeed, we also are waiting.
(Sra 6: 158)

The Prophet said:

The Hour will not be established till the sun rises from the West; and when it rises
(from the West) and the people see it, they all will believe. And that is (the time) when
no good will it do to a soul to believe then.
(Bukhri Sharf)

He who seeks repentance (from the Lord) before the rising of the sun from the west
(before the Day of Resurrection), Allah turns to him with Mercy.
(Muslim Sharf)

The rising of the sun from the west is a grand prophecy of the Prophet Muhammad
that when it actually occurs all of mankind will suddenly be forced to believe in the
truthfulness of Islm, but of course, adapting faith at that time will not avail anyone who
wasnt faithful before. Its worth mentioning that this is a unique Islamic prediction as
no other religion or religious figure has predicted that one day the sun will actually rise
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from the west. Many adversaries mock this prophecy, saying it is impossible and
unscientific. It is particularly the atheist and secular minded people who will therefore
be the most dumbfounded and speechless when this event actually occurs, but as
mentioned before, it will be too late for them to repent at that time. Some Muslim
apologists have attempted to interpret this prophecy figuratively. According to them, the
rising of the sun from the West symbolises the ascendancy of Western power of Europe
and America. However, this interpretation is inconsistent with the implication of the
Prophecy that when the sun rises from the West repentance will no longer be accepted,
just as the repentance and faith of Pharaoh was rejected at the moment of his destruction
(Sra 10: 90 91). Although Pharaoh was forced to acknowledge his error and wanted
to announce his faith in the Lord of the Israelites, he was prevented from verbalising the
testimony of faith by the Angel Gabriel:

Verily Gabriel was shoving clay in the mouth of Pharaoh out of fear that he would say
there is none worthy of worship except Allh
(Musnad Ahmad)

However, this was only to illustrate the power and weight of the Kalima L Ilha illa
Allh as it is the testimony that guarantees salvation from Hell. Otherwise, Pharaohs
mere verbalisation of accepting faith at the moment of his destruction did not save him
from damnation. Faith requires sincerity of heart in believing in the Ghib (unseen), and
is not accepted when its too late, i.e., at the time when the Truth becomes visually
obvious.

Coming back to the prediction of the suns rising from the West, another group of
Muslim apologists claim this will literally happen when the planet rotates or spins on its
axis in the opposite direction (retrograde motion) like the planet Venus, thus resulting in
a sunrise from the West and sunset in the East. However, this theory of theirs has no
scientific basis and they cannot point to any rational explanation or natural cause that
would explain a sudden change in the direction of the Earths rotation upon its axis. On
the other hand, a natural cause that will indeed occur in the future which will result in
the sun rising from the West in our perspective is magnetic pole reversal:

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-poleReversal.html

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Scientists understand that Earths magnetic field has flipped its polarity many times
over the millennia. In other words, if you were alive about 800,000 years ago, and facing
what we call north with a magnetic compass in your hand, the needle would point to
south. This is because a magnetic compass is calibrated based on Earths poles. The N-
S markings of a compass would be 180 degrees wrong if the polarity of today's magnetic
field were reversedReversals are the rule, not the exception. Earth has settled in the
last 20 million years into a pattern of a pole reversal about every 200,000 to 300,000
years, although it has been more than twice that long since the last reversal. A reversal
happens over hundreds or thousands of years, and it is not exactly a clean back flip.
Magnetic fields morph and push and pull at one another, with multiple poles emerging at
odd latitudes throughout the process. Scientists estimate reversals have happened at least
hundreds of times over the past three billion years. And while reversals have happened
more frequently in recent years, when dinosaurs walked Earth a reversal was more
likely to happen only about every one million years The last time that Earths poles
flipped in a major reversal was about 780,000 years ago, in what scientists call the
Brunhes-Matuyama reversalThe science shows that magnetic pole reversal is in
terms of geologic time scales a common occurrence that happens gradually over
millennia. While the conditions that cause polarity reversals are not entirely predictable
the north poles movement could subtly change direction, for instance.

In short, in the event of a magnetic pole reversal, north will literally become south, and
therefore east will become west. The sun will continue to rise from the same direction,
but the name of that direction will necessarily be changed and redefined.