With the last Qibla change, the Israelites had been definitely deposed from their spiritual leadership over mankind. , a leadership that what was for them to honourably carry 2:63-64,3:187,28:5,32:24. This prophecied supplanting, as stated by Jesus in Matt21, meant they werent worthy of carrying the flame anymore, that the geographical center of monotheism has switched to another location, under a new established nation under God
33:45-46"We have sent you as a witness, and as a bearer of good news and as a warner, And as one inviting to Allah by His permission, and as a light-giving torch".
This meant that their hopes of seeing the Jerusalem Temple rebuilt for the 3rd time through Divine sanction by their messianic salvific figure was over. The era of prophethood itself has now ceased
33:40"Muhammad..is the Messenger of Allah and the khaatim of the prophets; and Allah is cognizant of all things".
The term khaatim from kh-t-m means to seal something shut so that nothing can get in or out of it. It is used often to mean that something is finished since one seals something when it is over. It is also used for a well demarcated feature of an entity or person.
Nowhere in the NT, or in the HB in those passages which Christians retrospectively apply to Jesus, is Jesus presented conceptually as, or even named the seal of the prophets. Not even in post NT traditions and writings. Christianity also posits that one should believe in Jesus' death on the cross to earn salvation. Not merely believing in 47:2"what is revealed to the Oft-Praised One (muhammadin)" in addition to righteousness. Neither did Jesus' followers show any firmness against the disbelievers, much less in a military sense as in the direct context of 48:29. Jesus' closest disciples fled the scene at his arrest and even denied knowing him. And Jesus was certainly not, according to Christianity, a messenger like all those that passed away 3:144. The context of 3:144 is that of war. Nothing to do with the circumstances of Jesus' mission.
It was revealed in the context of the battle of Uhud during which the Muslims were overwhelmed by the enemy and rumor spread that the prophet was killed. So many of the believers fled the battlefield and some considered apostasy. They are admonished not for stopping to fight but for depending their faith on the prophet; meaning their belief would continue as long as he lived, and disappear the moment he died, turning back to their former state after finding the guidance. The verse tells them that the religion of truth and its succesful establishment is in the hands of Allah, Muhammad has no authority in this affair, he is but a messenger charged with conveying the message and many passed away before him. This is particularly made clear when Allah mentions the war of Badr and his assitance to the believers and suddenly cuts short the speech, turning towards His Prophet to tell him,
3:127-128"You have no concern in the affair".
In its wider implication the verse re-states the fundamental Islamic doctrine that adoration is due to God alone, and that no human being - not even a prophet - may have any share in it. 3:144 also hints to another reality, by mentionning both the possibilities of assassination and of Muhammad dying a natural death it projects on the future behavior of the Muslims and warns them that Muhammad is naught but a messenger, that they should not idolise him and turn upon their heels after him. When prophets were sent to humanity with the guidance, wisdom and Book from Allah, it was not for their followers to be their servants and neither to be worshiped, but to worship Allah alone 3:78-79. Muslims must uphold at all costs, this religion of Ibrahim and this Quran. The striking similarity between
3:144"Muhammad is not except a messenger, indeed, the messengers before him have passed away"
and
5:75"The Messiah son of Marium is not except a messenger, indeed, the messengers before him have passed away"
comes as a sign from Allah who makes clear His communications. Only these 2 messengers are described with the exact same wording because no other prophets were inappropriately over exalted among the nations to whom they were sent and the subsequent generations, as much as these 2
"See how We make the communications clear to them, then behold, how they are turned away".
On a final note, finality of Prophethood seems to be a tenuous claim. After all, potentially anyone can stand up and say that he is a Prophet of God - but so far all the instances in which this has happened has failed to even come close to the scale and scope of the Prophet Muhammad's mission. Also, if we examine the entire career of these claimants - they have singularly and absolutely failed to match the life-chart of Prophet Muhammad and moreover their death poses even more questions than their life. What is even more interesting that none of them claimed to be the final Prophet, much less Jesus who predicted the coming of a powerful figure after him, the Paraclete, that shall bring justice to the world.
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