How do we understand the concept of a last messenger of God?
From: Deepak K
In Quran, it is said that Prophet Mohammed is the last Messenger of God and no more Messengers will come after that. Then what about Lord Chaitanya and other Acharyas. They are considered to be Messengers of God. Does this point not challenge the authenticity of Quran?
Transcript
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There are some arguments like… Question from Deepak Guru.
In Quran it is said that Prophet Muhammad is the last messenger of God and no messengers will come after that. What about Lord Chaitanya and other Acharyas? They are considered to be messengers of God. Does this point not challenge the authenticity of Quran? Answer? Every religious tradition has certain statements which seem to be exclusivist.
Exclusivist means this is the only way, this is the ultimate way, this is the final way. Beyond that there is no other way. So, these statements are given to create a sense of one-pointed focus among the followers.
And they are like a doctor telling a medicine, you just take these medicines and don’t bother about any other doctors, don’t overthrow any other diagnosis, just take this and you will get cured. Now, when these statements are carried too far away, then they may be interpreted to mean that this doctor is claiming that he is the only doctor and all other doctors are bogus. But that is not the actual import.
The actual import is that focus on the treatment and get cured. So, similarly the Quran is given for elevating people in God consciousness from whatever level they were at during the time when Prophet Muhammad appeared. And he has given a particular message of God which elevates them accordingly.
So, the exclusivist sounding statements that are there, they have to be seen in the broader perspective of the mission of God which is there. And certainly everything that is there in the Quran is not absolute. Shri Prabhupada explains that in the Chaitanya Charita Amrit Parpot during the conversation of Chand Kazi and Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that the Quran is not an eternal scripture.
And it has a contextual message which surely has its value for elevating people. But there are not just this narrow-minded, exclusivist, dogmatic idea that the Prophet is the last of all Prophets. Not only is it narrow-minded and fanatical, but it is also illogical because much of what is taught in the Quran, especially its sociological and legal teachings, are now irrelevant.
And even educated broad-minded Muslims flinch at some of the statements which are given in the Quran because they are seen to be immoral, if not atrocious, from our sensibilities. Therefore, we have to be saar-grahi. We accept the principle that Krishna sends various messengers at different times.
And those messengers, while teaching their message, may make certain statements which are necessary for creating a focus in the minds of those people, their followers. But the tendency to absolutize and eternalize those statements stems from one’s own narrow-mindedness and one’s own insecurity about the existence of other revolutions of God. So that’s why we shouldn’t get disturbed by the idea.
We accept that there is some level of God-consciousness revealed in the Quran and people who are following it can surely get elevated if they are sincere. But the absolutist claims that are there, they are indefensible in terms of logic. They are not compatible with the vision of a compassionate and merciful God who will give instructions according to time, place and circumstance and will send many messengers to guide people according to those time, place and circumstances.
So therefore, we accept whatever is harmonious with universal spiritual principles in the Quran and recognize it can elevate people accordingly. But certainly the exclusive statements are not to be taken at face value. They are to be understood contextually.