Transliteration:( Maa kaana Muhammmadun abaaa ahadim mir rijaalikum wa laakir Rasoolal laahi wa Khaataman Nabiyyeen; wa kaanal laahu bikulli shai'in 'Aleema (section 5) )
"Muhammad [110] is not the father [111] of any of your men. But He is the Messenger [112] of Allah, and the last of the Prophets. And Allah knows [113] of all things."
The Holy Prophet ﷺ possesses over a thousand noble names, among which Muhammad and Ahmad are personal. The name Muhammad is especially distinctive—not only in its dotless script, but also in its deep symbolism. The numerical value of "Muhammad" in the Semitic language is 313, matching the number of Rasools and also the Companions at Badr—a subtle but meaningful sign of his rank among the Prophets and the faithful.
This verse was revealed to refute the objection raised by the disbelievers regarding the Prophet ﷺ marrying Hazrat Zainab (RA), the divorced wife of Zaid bin Harithah, his adopted son. In Arab tradition, an adopted son was regarded as a biological son, and his wife therefore unlawful for the adoptive father. This Divine clarification emphasizes that adoption does not change lineage, and the Prophet ﷺ was not the father of any grown man. His own sons had passed away in infancy.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is not anyone's biological father among the men of Madinah—but he is, without doubt, the Messenger of Allah and the final Prophet (Khaatam-un-Nabiyyin). He is the spiritual father of the entire Ummah. This verse confirms that with his Prophethood, the door to all Prophets is now closed forever.
The custom of the Arabs was contrary to Divine Law, but this verse makes clear that Allah’s command overrides all tradition. Moreover, the finality of Prophethood is not based on history or consensus, but is a direct decree from Allah. Whoever claims Prophethood after the Prophet ﷺ or assigns such status to another person has committed clear disbelief and left the fold of Islam.
Just as “Lā ilāha illallāh” declares that no one is worthy of worship except Allah,
So too does “La nabiyya ba‘di” affirm that no prophet will ever come after Muhammad ﷺ.
Both are foundational truths of the faith.
The tafsir of Surah Ahzab verse 40 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Ahzab ayat 39 which provides the complete commentary from verse 39 through 40.
(33:40) Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the seal of the Prophets. Allah has full knowledge of everything.[77]
77. This one sentence was at the root of all those objections which the opponents were raising in connection with this marriage of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
Their first objection was that he had married his own daughter-in-law, whereas according to his own law the son’s wife is forbidden for the father. This was answered by saying: “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men.” That is, Zaid was not his real son, and so it was not unlawful to marry his divorced wife.
Their second objection was that even if his adopted son was not his real son, it was not necessary that he should have married his divorced wife. This was answered by saying: “But he is the Messenger of Allah.” That is, it was his duty as the Messenger of Allah to put an end to all kinds of prejudices about a lawful thing which custom and tradition had made unlawful without good reason and declare it to be lawful once again.
The point was stressed by saying: “and (he is) the seal of the Prophets.” That is, not to speak of a Messenger, no other Prophet would be raised after him, who could make up for a possible deficiency in the enforcement of a reform in the law and society that might have been left un-enforced in his time. Therefore, it had become all the more necessary that he should himself root out the custom of ignorance.
Again, to further emphasize this point, it was said: “Allah has knowledge of everything.” that is, Allah knows best why it was imperative to get the custom of ignorance rooted out at that juncture through the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) rather than let it remain as it was. He knows that no other prophet would be coming after him in the future; therefore, if He did not abolish this custom through His last Prophet, no other person after him would be able to abolish it for all the Muslims of the world for ever. Even if the later reformers would abolish it, no action of any one of them will have the permanent and universal authority behind it so that the people of every country and every age might start following it, and none of them would have a personality endowed with that holiness and sanctity that an action’s being merely his way (Sunnah) might root out every feeling of aversion and abhorrence from the mind of the people.
It is a pity that a section of the people in our age have given wrong interpretations of this verse and opened the way to a great mischief. We have therefore added a comprehensive appendix at the end of the commentary of this Surah for the explanation of the question of the finality of Prophethood and the eradication of the misunderstanding spread by these people.
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