Dr. Allama Khalid Mahmood (17 October 1925 – 14 May 2020) was a Pakistani Sunni Islamic scholar. He served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He founded the Islamic Academy and the City Jamia Masjid in Manchester, England, and was particularly well known for his research and writings on the Finality of the Prophethood (Khatm-e-Nubuwwat). Collected from Wikipedia
He narrated a very striking incident from his own life:
This is from my student days. I was traveling by train. In one compartment, I was lying on one side—resting but awake. Nearby, there were some brothers from college and university students.
Suddenly, I heard someone say to those students, “May I speak with you for a moment?”
When the boys responded positively, the man introduced himself as a priest of the Christian faith.
My ears immediately perked up! What could this priest be up to?
The priest said, “You look like Muslims.” The boys replied in the affirmative.
The priest then said, “In your religion, there is a practice called Durood Sharif. Do you know about it?” The Muslim boys replied, “Yes.”
The priest then asked, “Can any of you recite Durood Sharif?”
One of the students recited: Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad.
The priest asked, “Do you know its meaning?” The students replied, “No, we cannot say that; we do not know the meaning of Durood.”
The priest said, “All right, I will tell you. Its meaning is: ‘O Allah, send mercy upon Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam)’. Now, based on this, I have a question that I would like to ask you.”
I (Maulana Khalid Mahmood) had been listening while lying down. Now I sat up! What was the priest ask them?!
The priest continued, “How long has it been since your Prophet left this world? Yet you still have to send blessings upon him, and this will continue until the Day of Judgment! Why is that? That means the mercy has not yet been completed. Hundreds and hundreds of years have passed since the Prophet left this world, yet mercy upon him has not been completed?!” (May Allah save us from such heinous evil-thoughts!)
[While mentioning such filthy statements of the priest at this point of the narration, Maulana Khalid Mahmood Sahib wept.]
The priest was delighted after spreading this confusion among the boys! He knew that he would not get an answer from these Muslim youths.
I had already sat up. Then I stood up and went and sat in one corner of the gathering.
When the priest saw me and asked about my identity, I said, “I am a small, ordinary Muslim cleric.” I then asked the priest, “What question did you ask?”
The priest repeated the same question to me.
I replied, “Look out carefully to Whom this supplication is being made! Tell me—when we recite Durood, Whom are we appealing to send mercy upon the Prophet?” The priest replied, “Allah.”
Then I said to the priest, “Yes—we believe only Allah to be perfect and complete. We do not consider anyone to be His partner, nor do we associate anyone with Him. No matter how much the mercy and status of the Prophet may increase, we do not believe that he can ever become perfect like the Creator, Allah. Therefore, when Durood (Salaam and Salawat) is recited, the supplication for mercy upon our Prophet continues. Our belief is that the Prophet—though undoubtedly the best among mankind—still remains in need of Allah Almighty’s mercy. (Unlike Christians, we do not compare the Prophet with Allah. We never call the Prophet the God or the son of God!”
Upon hearing this, the priest was left speechless.
This incident was personally narrated by Dr. Allama Khalid Mahmood (may Allah have mercy on him) in a gathering toward the end of his life. We have presented it here in English after watching his Urdu video.
