Quran Declares: New Messenger After Prophet Muhammad

Most of us Muslims have an erroneous belief, that prophets are not necessarily given scripture, but are sent to convey some news or messages, while messengers are a class of prophets with the distinction of being given new scripture from God.

But the truth, based on the Quran, is the exact opposite.

All prophets (nabi) are a type of messenger (rasool) that are specifically assigned a scripture, while all messengers simply convey a message from God.

The angel messengers to Mary that are mentioned in the Quran, for example, didn’t receive scripture to convey to humanity, but gave one person (Mary) the message that she will bear a son as a virgin.

The angel messengers warning Abraham of the destruction of Lot’s people and to inform of the birth of Isaac did not receive scripture from God.

So, it is quite mind-boggling how we have twisted the definition of prophet and messenger to something opposite of what Islam actually teaches.  

• [22:75] God chooses messengers from the angels, as well as from the people. Indeed, God is Hearing, Seeing. 

• [29:31] And when Our (angel) messengers came to Abraham with the good news, they said, “Indeed, we are annihilators of the people of this town. Indeed, its people have been wrongdoers.” 

• [19:19] He (the Holy Spirit) said (to Mary), “I am only the messenger of your Lord, for I may grant to you a pure son.” 

The Quran tells us in verses 2:213 and others that He revealed the scriptures through all of the prophets, but God never makes such a claim about all messengers in the Quran.

In fact, throughout the Quran the scripture is associated more with the prophethood than the messengership. Thus, prophets are scripture-bearing messengers, which is the exact opposite of established Islamic doctrine.

The Quran states twice that both Moses and Aaron were given the same exact scripture, to address the objection that, “Aaron, the brother of Moses, wasn’t given a scripture despite being a prophet like Moses too.”

The scripture was revealed to Moses directly and not Aaron, but Moses and Aaron are considered the official recipients of the same book, just as the recipient of the Quran is Muhammad. 

• [2:213] The people were one community, then God raised up the prophets as bearers of good news, as well as warners, and brought the Book down with them with the truth, for He may judge between the people concerning what they differed in… 

• [3:79] It has not been for a human being that God may give the Book, the wisdom, and prophethood to then say to the people, “Be worshippers of me, aside from God.”… 

• [57:26] And certainly, We sent Noah and Abraham, and We placed among their offspring the prophethood and the Book. Then among them were acceptors of guidance, while many of them were deviant. 

• [37:117] And We gave the two of them (Moses and Aaron) the clear Book. 

• [21:48] And certainly, We definitely gave Moses and Aaron the Criterion, an illumination and a reminder for the servants. 

• [6:89] Those (all the prophets who were listed in verses 6:83-88, including Moses and Aaron) are the ones to whom We have given the Book, the wisdom, and the prophethood…” 

Messenger of the Covenant

In verses 3:81 and 33:7 of the Quran, it is stated that at some point, God gathered all of the prophets (including the prophet Muhammad) and made a covenant with every single one of them at once.

At some point in history, likely before creation when all of the Children of Adam took a covenant with God before being sent to Earth (verses 36:60, 7:172), God put aside all the individuals that were destined to be prophets and took a separate covenant with them.

God began the covenant with every single prophet together by explaining to the prophets that God will give each of them a scripture during their time on Earth to practice and teach others God’s religion, then afterwards a messenger destined to provide the ultimate confirmation of all scriptures will come to all of them. They must pledge their support to this messenger.

The role of this messenger in verse 3:81 is to provide the ultimate confirmation or proof of all the scriptures that were given to the prophets.

All prophets accepted this covenant in verse 3:81. The Quran, in Surah 33, also mentions that even the prophet Muhammad took this monumental covenant. That means the prophet Muhammad himself took a pledge before God to support a messenger that will come after him.

Of course, just as we Children of Adam don’t remember the covenant we made with God in verses 36:60 and 7:172 to recognize God as our Lord and avoid the devil before being sent down to Earth, the prophets wouldn’t remember the special covenant they made with God before being sent down to life on Earth either.

[3:81] And when God took the covenant of the prophets, “Definitely, this is what I will give you of Book and wisdom. Then, a messenger will come to you as one who will confirm what is with you. Definitely, you will indeed believe in him and support him.” He said, “Have you agreed and accepted that, My heavy responsibility?” They said, “We have agreed.” He said, “So bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses.” 

[33:7] And when We took from the prophets their covenant—including from you (Muhammad), Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, the son of Mary—and We took from them a stern covenant. 

Another proof is that the Quran says in verse 7:35, while talking to the “the Children of Adam” (all human beings, present and future) that if His messengers come to them telling them about God’s signs, then they should listen to those messengers.

[7:35] O Children of Adam, if messengers among you come to you, narrating upon you My signs, whoever then reveres and reforms, there will thus be no fear upon them, nor will they grieve. 

This verse doesn’t say “Children of Adam before Muhammad”, so it’s addressing all present and future humans today. Also, the plural “messengers” is used, and the present tense “come to you” is used in the original Arabic text.

So in this Quranic verse, God mentions the possibility that more than one messenger will come to the Children of Adam (humans) in the future.

To use an example, let’s say King Salman were to be the last king of Saudi Arabia, and he tells the Saudi Arabian people: “O people of Saudi Arabia, if or when the kings comes to you to rule Saudi Arabia, you must accept them as kings and obey them.”

Why would King Salman say something like that if he were truly the last king of Saudi Arabia, and that there would be no more kings after him?

Likewise, it doesn’t make sense for the last messenger to convey the message that there may be future messengers. Thus, Muhammad is the last prophet but not the last messenger.

The Quran also tells us not to be like the people of Joseph, who kept mocking and ridiculing him as a liar and a crazy person even after the clear signs were shown to them, until when he died and they said there will never be another messenger to come after him. Thus, we are indirectly warned not follow in their footsteps and do the same to Muhammad.  

• [40:34] And certainly, Joseph definitely came to you before with the clear proofs, but you had not ceased—in dissent from what he came to you with—until when he died. You said, “God will never raise another messenger after him.” Like that, God sends astray whoever is an excessive doubter. 

Also, if the prophet Muhammad was truly the last messenger, God could have easily stated that Muhammad was the “khatam al-mursaleen wan-nabiyyeen” (seal of the messengers and the prophets) or “God’s final messenger” but that is not the case here. Verse 33:40 just stated that Muhammad is “God’s messenger” and the final prophet. 

• [33:40] Muhammad was not the father of anyone of your men. But instead, he is God’s messenger and the seal of the prophets (khatam an-nabiyyeen); God is Knowledgeable of everything. 

Identity of the Messenger of the Covenant

So who is the Messenger of the Covenant that will come after the prophet Muhammad, according to verse 3:81?

There are two arguments that confirm the identity of this messenger. One is the easy one, and another is the more complex one, and both involve the Quran’s 19-based mathematical composition, which you can read about here.

The Easy Argument

The easy argument is that verse 3:81 said this messenger will confirm all past scriptures; given that the prophet Muhammad also took this covenant, the Messenger of the Covenant will also be sent to confirm the Quran as the truth, beyond all doubt.

If you recall verses 74:30-31, it says that there are 19 angels who will be guardians of the Hellfire. It also says that “their number” (the number 19 itself) will serve as a sign and a tool to remove doubt, bring certainty to, and increase the faith of believers and People of the Book (Jews and Christians).

If the number 19 did all that, then the number 19 effectively confirmed the Quran and all previous scriptures as the truth, beyond all doubt.

So it becomes clear that the confirmation of the scriptures in verse 3:81 is due to number 19.

That means the person who finds out and unveils how number 19 will confirm the Quran and all the scriptures beyond any doubt is the Messenger of the Covenant.

And who was the person to find out the answer and unveil it to the world? That person is Rashad Khalifa.

Therefore, Rashad Khalifa is God’s Messenger of the Covenant, the one prophesized in verse 3:81.

The Complex Argument

There is an even more complex argument in the Quran identifying Rashad Khalifa as the Messenger of the Covenant.

The easy argument used transitive reasoning, which is: If A = B, and B = C, then A = C. Meaning: If the messenger of the covenant (person A) does action B (confirming the scriptures), and the Quran defines action B (confirming the scriptures) as action C (confirmation of all scriptures via number 19), then person A (messenger of the covenant) is whoever did action C (whoever used number 19 to confirm the scriptures). That person was Rashad Khalifa.

The more complex argument involves presupposition in addition to transitive reasoning.

Presupposition essentially means that when someone makes a statement, certain facts have to be presupposed for this statement to be true.

For example, if someone says, “Mary’s brother is a doctor,” the presupposition, or the claim that is assumed as true in this statement, is that Mary has a brother. Mary’s brother can’t be a doctor if she doesn’t have a brother in the first place.

Likewise, verse 74:31 states that the number 19 will have four destined roles: a trial for disbelievers, a tool to increase certainty in the People of the Book (Jews and Christians), a tool to increase the faith of the believers, and a tool to remove doubts from the hearts of both believers and People of the Book.

This essentially means the number 19 will confirm all past scriptures and the Quran as the truth, beyond all doubts.

However, the presupposition behind this statement is that there must be someone to make that discovery. The number 19 cannot fulfill its Quranic function and confirm anything if nobody makes the discovery and explains their findings to the world. If no one made the discovery, the number 19 would have remained unknown.

So whoever made that crucial discovery will be the one to confirm the past scriptures via the number 19. We will call this person “Person X”.

So now for the transitive logic part: If verse 3:81 states that a messenger of the covenant will one day confirm all scriptures, and verse 74:31 states via presupposition that “Person X” will (with the number 19) confirm the past scriptures, then it logically follows that the Messenger of the Covenant in verse 3:81 is the Person X in verse 74:31.

And of course, looking back in history, this “Person X” was Rashad Khalifa. Thus, the conclusion is that Rashad Khalifa is the Messenger of the Covenant.

Who is Rashad Khalifa?

By all accounts, both public and private, he was a very nice guy. In fact, he is seemingly comfortable entrusting even his own car to strangers. Once, in the middle of a speech when certain audience members had to go to the airport, he offered his car keys and asked someone in the crowd to take his car and drive them to the airport.

Now, the interesting thing about the Messenger of the Covenant is that he is not a Sunni, although he used to be a Sunni until shortly before 1980.

But since 1978-1979, Rashad dedicated his life to preaching the Quran alone, and Rashad said God informed him of his messengership during 1980.

He is one of the few people in history that I am aware of who has attempted to correct Islamic scholars in many shortcomings to their doctrine, thus Rashad’s messengership is a great vindication of those who strive to follow the Quran alone.

The selection of Rashad as messenger is a more convincing argument against the authority of Hadith in Islam than anything I ever said in this gigantic article that I made explaining why to follow the Quran alone.

I almost question why I spent so much time giving a thorough, scripture-based argument on why the Quran should be followed alone when I could easily have said that a Quran-alone Muslim like Rashad being identified in the Quran as the Messenger of the Covenant is proof-positive that the Quran must be followed alone.  

Here is some of Rashad’s contributions to restoring the correct teachings of Islam: 

• He restored the correct frequency of Zakat, that it must be paid on the day of income rather than yearly. I discuss the Zakat at length in the chapter “The Five Pillars”. 

• He restored the four correct Hurum months as indicated by the Quran, which I also reference in the chapter “The Five Pillars”, and condemned the Muslim world for restricting the Hajj to only a single month out of the four.  

• The central Quranic argument against the legitimacy of Hadith that I use (that the Quran is fully-detailed and thus there must be explicit pre-authorization from the Quran to follow any secondary source of law) originated from him, although his trust in the Quran is at such a level that he let the Quran make its own case and keeps the argument simple, rather than give a very thorough and lengthy explanation like I do in this book.   

• He clarified the Quranic definition of prophet and messenger, and correctly debunked the concept of infallibility of any messenger or prophet using the Quran. I discuss this further in the chapter “Infallibility Debunked”. 

• He unveiled Quran’s ultimate sign, the 19-based mathematical system. 

• There is much more that can be added. 

Mathematical Proofs

Now it’s time to shine a light on other proofs of Rashad’s messengership. The identity of the Messenger of the Covenant is not only given explicit mention, but also encoded with the 19-based system, and the facts below are derived from Rashad’s Appendix 2 and Appendix 26 in his translation of the Quran.

Note that for any calculation that involves Surah 9, verses 128-129 were not included because they are false verses. If they were included in the calculations presented below, those calculations would be invalid.  

• The tri-letter root of “Rashad” is actually “ra shin dal”, and there are 19 total instances of any word having this tri-letter root in the Quran. 

• If you add all the Surah numbers and the number of verses where the root “ra shin dal” occurs, (so, Surah 2 has 286 verses and you add 286 + 2, and Surah 72 has 28 verses so you add 72+28, and you do so with every Surah containing this root) the grand total is 1368 (19 x 72).  

• The first occurrence of any “ra shin dal” root word is verse 2:186, and the sum of the verse numbers of all the verses from the beginning of the Quran to right before 2:186 is 17233 (19 x 907). 

• Let’s write down the Surah number, followed by the number of total verses from the beginning to the end of the Surah, followed by individual verses in the Surah from first to last, starting from verse 2:187 (the verse right after the first occurrence of the root “ra shin dal” in verse 2:186) to the last occurrence in verse 72:21. So the number would look like this: 2 100 187 188 189…3 200 1 2 3 4 ……4 176 1 2 3 4 ….. 72 21 1 2 3 4 5…21. It is a 11087-digit number that is a multiple of 19. This does not include the false verses 9:128-129. 

So we can guess that the tri-letter root “Ra shin dal” has some special significance in the 19-based system. The following few facts will actually not involve the tri-letter root for Khalifa, but it will involve the instances where the actual word “Khalifa” occurs. The Quran’s 19-based system connects the root “ra shin dal” with the specific word “Khalifa” by the following facts:  

• The Surah numbers and verse numbers of all instances of the root “ra shin dal” and the word Khalifa is 1463 (19 x 77) The total for “ra shin dal” is 1369 (19 x 72)+1 while the total for the word “Khalifa” is 94 (19 x 5)-1. The “plus 1” for the root word “ra shin dal” and the “minus 1” for the specific word “Khalifa” indicates the different nature of the two objects being compared (one is a tri-letter Arabic root, and another is a specific Arabic word). 

• Let’s add the Surah number and the number of verses from all Surahs and verses starting after the first instance of the root word “ra shin dal” and going the way to the last instance of the specific word “khalifa”. The first instance of ra shin dal is in verse 2:186, so the verse that starts after this is 2:187. Thus, there are only 100 verses from verse 187 to the end of Surah 2, so we add 2 + 100. For Surah 3 we do 3 + 200 (the number of verses in Surah 3), and for Surah 4 we do 4 + 176 and so on, until we get to Surah 38, verse 26 (the last instance of the word Khalifa). This will yield 4541 (19 x 239). Once again, the false verses 9:128-129 were excluded from the calculation, otherwise it would have been invalidated. 

Gematria is assigning number values to the letters of the alphabet, and back then, Arabic letters served as numbers since there wasn’t any 1, 2, 3, or 4 like we have now. The Gematric Value (GV) of Rashad Khalifa is 1230, and the following facts involve the GV of Rashad Khalifa: 

• If you add the GV of Rashad Khalifa (1230) to the sum of the verses of the 19 occurrences of “ra shin dal” (1145) you get 1145 + 1230 = 2375 (19 x 125). 

• If you add 1230 to the sum of the Surah numbers and total number of verses before verse 2:186 (so you add 1230 + 2 + 1 + 7 + 185) you get 1425 (19 x 75) 

• If you add the GV of Rashad Khalifa (1230) to the sum of the Surah numbers for each Surah containing a Quranic initial, the total is 822 + 1230 = 2052 (19 x 108) 

• Writing down the GV of Rashad Khalifa (505 725) side by side with the Surahs and verse numbers of each verse containing “ra shin dal” until reaching verse 38:26 (containing the word khalifa) it will look like this: 505 725 2 186 256 4 6 …. 38 26, and this long number is a multiple of 19.  

The following facts involve verse 3:81, the verse which prophesizes the Messenger of the Covenant: 

• Adding the Surah numbers, and the number of verses, from the beginning of the Quran to verse 3:81 yields 1+2+3+7+286+81 = 380 (19 x 20) 

• The total gematric value of verse 3:81 is 13148 (19 x 692). 

• The GV of Rashad Khalifa (1230) added to the verse number 81 yields 1311 (19 x 69). 

The verse 36:3 translates to, “Indeed, you are definitely among the ones who are sent.” Rashad Khalifa stated that in 1980 when he was first informed of his messengership. Gabriel told him that this one specifically refers to Rashad.  

• Surah 36 happens to be the 19^th initialed Surah in the Quran.  

• If we add the gematric value of Rashad Khalifa (1230) to the gematric value of verse 36:3 (612), then add the Surah and verse number of verse 36:3, we get 1230+612+36+3 = 1881 (19 x 99) 

• If you add the Surah number of Surah 36 (36) with the total number of verses in this Surah (83) and the gematric value of Rashad Khalifa (1230) you get 1230+36+83 = 1349 (19 x 71) 

• From verse 3:81 (where the Messenger of the Covenant is mentioned explicitly, in the 3^rd person point of view), to Surah 36 (where the Messenger of the Covenant is directly addressed), there are 3330 verses, and if you add the GV (gematric value) of Rashad Khalifa (1230) to 3330 you get 4560 (19 x 240). This assumes the exclusion of the two false verses, 9:128-129. 

• From verse 3:81 to verse 36:3 there are 3333 verses if you exclude the two false verses 9:128-129, and if you add 3333 to the GV of Rashad (505) you get 3838 (19 x 202) 

• The number of verses from verse 1:1 (the first verse of the Quran) to verse 36:3 is 3705 (19 x 195), and the sum of the verse numbers is 257925 (19 x 13575), and both sums are attained by excluding the false verses 9:128-129. 

• The sum of all Surah numbers from Surah 1 to Surah 36 is 666, and if you add the GV of Rashad Khalifa (1230) and the GV of verse 36:3 (612) with that number, the total is 666+1230+612=2508 (19 x 132) 

• If we add the number of Surahs from the first instance of the root “ra shin dal” to verse 36:3 (35 Surahs), plus the sum of the Surah numbers (2 + 3 + 4 … + 36), plus the sum of the verse numbers from verse numbers from the first instance of the root “ra shin dal” to verse 36:3, we get 35 + 665 + 240695 = 241395 (19 x 12705). Once again, we get the sum by excluding verses 9:128-129. 

Three messengers in Islamic history distinctly stand out. One is Abraham (the spiritual forefather who first was given the main pillars of Islam), another is Muhammad (who delivered the final Book of Islam, the Quran) and another is Rashad (who was sent to unveil the confirmation of the Quran and thus the past prophets and scriptures). Thus, all three are mathematically encoded into the Quran, not only Rashad. 

• The GV (gematric value) of Abraham is 258, the GV of Muhammad is 92, and the GV of Rashad is 505, and 92 + 258 + 505 = 855 (19 x 45) 

• Abraham’s name is mentioned in 25 Surahs, Muhammad’s name is mentioned in 4 Surahs, and the triletter root “Ra shin dal” occurs in 9 Surahs, which totals 38 (19 x 2). 

• If we add the number of occurrences of Abraham in the Quran (69) with the number of occurrences of Muhammad (4) with the number of occurrences of the root word “ra shin dal” (19) and the sum of the Surah numbers where all three occur (991) we get 991 + 69 + 4 + 19 = 1083 (19 x 19 x 3, there’s 3 factors and one of the factors is the number 3, which signifies the 3 messengers that are a part of this calculation). 

• Let us add the sum of the Surahs where the names Abraham and Muhammad, and the root word “ra shin dal” occur (991), with the verses in each Surah where Abraham, Muhammad, and “ra shin dal” first occur. In Surah 2, the verse where the name Abraham first occurs is 124, and the verse where the triletter root “ra shin dal” first occurs is 186, so we add 2 + 124 + 186. For Surah 3, the first occurrence of Abraham is in verse 33, and there is no occurrence of the root “ra shin dal”, and Muhammad’s name occurs in verse 144, so we add 3 + 33 + 144, and we do the same for the remaining Surahs. The total is 2793 (19 x 147). 

• If we add the sum of the Surah numbers where all three occur in total (991), plus the sum of the verse numbers where they occur in the Quran WIHTOUT repeating any of the verse numbers (so we add 2 + 4 + 6 +7…) we get 991 + 5488 = 6479 (19 x 341).    

In spite of all of these incredible signs, has repeatedly warned against idolizing the messengers, including his own self.

Rashad Khalifa advised many times that obedience to the messenger is only obedience to his message, and not the messenger’s personal opinions or interpretations of the message. Rashad tells people that while he is a messenger of God, to disobey him if anything he says is not found in the Quran.

“We are not following Muhammad, we are not following Rashad Khalifa, we are not following any human being, and don’t let anybody tell you that. I don’t follow Rashad Khalifa, and you don’t follow Rashad Khalifa. We follow the words of God. We follow God, you and I.” 

“And if Rashad Khalifa says anything on his own, we don’t listen to him. We can listen and use our own discretion. But we do not follow what Rashad is saying, we follow what God is saying, you and I.” 

“If I say anything that is not in the Quran, you tell me, ‘Get out of here.’” 

“The criteria of obeying the messenger is: whatever he is saying must be in the Quran, must be backed up by what God is saying. If it’s not in the Quran, it is your obligation to disobey.” 

“And we do not follow Rashad Khalifa or worship Rashad Khalifa, we follow what God says. If Rashad Khalifa says anything that is not in the Quran, you will be the first to tell him, ‘This is not in the Quran, why do you say that?’ And it is your duty not to obey him if it is not in the Quran.” 

“We are going out of our way to destroy idols, not to make the idols. Our only god is God. And we have reached the conviction in our hearts that God alone possesses all power. We reached the conviction in our hearts that no saint, no prophet, no Muhammad, no Jesus, no Rashad Khalifa, no anybody, no one other than God can guide us.” 

“We are people who know full well that no human being, certainly not Rashad Khalifa, can help you in anything except give you the message.” 

“I’m not the boss.”

The Covenant Fulfilled

Rashad states that the covenant discussed in verse 3:81 was fulfilled on Dhul-Hijjah 3, 1391 A.H. Rashad mentioned in a 1988 speech that during this day, his soul was taken up by God to some unknown place to meet the prophets.

Rashad was told at the time that this event is currently not something he should be concerned about right now, but it is something that had to be done.

Then, he was shown a group of people and was informed that those were all the prophets God sent. They then came to him one by one and silently nodded their heads to show approval, then Rashad was sent back to Earth. Here is how he describes the event in Appendix 2 of his translation of the Quran:  

During my Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, and before sunrise on Tuesday, Zul-Hijjah 3, 1391, December 21, 1971, I, Rashad Khalifa, the soul, the real person, not the body, was taken to some place in the universe where I was introduced to all the prophets as God’s Messenger of the Covenant. I was not informed of the details and true significance of this event until Ramadan 1408. What I witnessed, in sharp consciousness, was that I was sitting still, while the prophets, one by one, came towards me, looked at my face, then nodded their heads. God showed them to me as they had looked in this world, attired in their respective mode of dress. There was an atmosphere of great awe, joy, and respect. Except for Abraham, none of the prophets was identified to me. I knew that all the prophets were there, including Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Aaron, David, Noah, and the rest. I believe that the reason for revealing Abraham’s identity was that I asked about him. I was taken aback by the strong resemblance he had with my own family – myself, my father, my uncles. It was the only time that I wondered, “Who is this prophet who looks like my relatives?” The answer came: “Abraham.” No language was spoken. All communication was done mentally. 

That incident, which took place during my pilgrimage to Mecca, was the fulfillment of Verse 3:81. That incident took place while I was fully awake, and I have shared the details with my family, my family of believers, and with my friends. 

It is worth clarifying that there is a slight inconsistency with the dating. Dhul-Hijjah 3, 1391 before sunrise in Mecca is actually Wednesday, January 19, 1972. But Rashad remembers that day in Mecca as a Tuesday as per his 1988 Conference speech, given that his favorite Quran reciter at the time (Mahmoud al-Banna) used to recite the Quran live on radio at Tuesday mornings, and given that he says this happened while he was listening to al-Banna in the morning with his brother.

He recalls bringing 100 cassette tapes with him to Hajj, and telling his brother Atef (who eventually came to believe Rashad’s messengership) on that day to record al-Banna’s recitals with them. Thus, it is likely the actual date in Hijri calendar is Dhul-Hijjah 2, 1391, which was a Tuesday.

Rashad has previously admitted he is often not good at remembering dates. In a 1989 Friday Khutbah, Rashad admitted that he only recently found out he unveiled the Quran’s 19-based structure in 1974. He said that his son repeatedly insisted Rashad discovered the Quran’s 19-based structure in 1974, but Rashad didn’t believe him and thought his son was maybe a few years off the mark. When Rashad went through his old records, he found that his son was indeed right, that Rashad first unveiled his discovery in January of 1974. 

The meeting with the prophets that Rashad experienced in 1972 marked the start of Rashad’s messengership, because the covenant in 3:81 says that a messenger will come to all past prophets as one who will confirm all previous scriptures. If Rashad came to them in 1972, then that was the day Rashad officially became a messenger, although he not told by God of his messengership at the time why this event took place.

He was not yet aware of the 19-based mathematical composition of the Quran in 1972, nor was Rashad made aware that he was a messenger until 1980.

In fact, it was in 1969 that he first started to study the Quranic Initials, and he states at the time that while the number 19 was frequently noticed during his study of Quranic initials, his main finding at the time regarding the Quranic initials (which he published in his 1973 book Miracle of the Quran: Significance of the Mysterious Alphabets) was that the letters of each initial occurred in the highest proportions in the Surahs that they occurred compared to other Surahs. Out of the 114 Surahs, there are only 29 of them with Quranic initials which nobody understood the purpose or significance of. Surah 50 is one of them, and it is initialed with the letter “Qaaf”. Rashad found that Surah 50 has the highest proportion of the letter Qaaf relative to other letters than does the other Surahs of the Quran, meaning it has the highest percentage of the occurrence of the letter Qaaf in its verses out of all Surahs, and it’s the same for every initial except Surah 36 (initialed with the letters “Ya” and “Seen”), which contained the lowest proportion of those two letters out of all Surahs.

It wasn’t until after he published the book in 1973 that he realized that maybe there’s something else that needs further research. He noticed a recurring pattern of 19 at the time when analyzing the Quran but didn’t think much of it when writing the book.

But as he re-examined the data after publishing that book in 1973, he realized that the letters of the Quranic initials seemed to occur in the initialed Surahs in multiples of 19, and then finally in January of 1974, the fact that a vast and complex 19-based mathematical system pervades the entire Quran became a reality to him.

Since the Islamic calendar is dated to the year the prophet migrated to Medina, the Quran was revealed in 13 B.H. (13 years before the Hijrah, or migration). If you add 13 + 1393, you get 1406 (19 x 74) lunar years between the Quran’s revelation to the discovery of its ultimate miracle. So there exists a connection between the number 19, Surah 74, the year 1974, and the fact that the Quran’s ultimate miracle was discovered 19×74 (1406) Islamic lunar years after the Quran itself was first revealed.

So, January of 1974 should be one of the most significant dates in Islamic history to have occurred, because that is when the Messenger of the Covenant in verse 3:81 fulfilled the prophecy in verses 3:81 and 74:31.  

Rashad also started that even during the year 1980, while he was told that he was a messenger of God, he wasn’t told that he was the Messenger of the Covenant mentioned in verse 3:81. The explanation of verse 3:81 didn’t come to him until 1988, according to Rashad.

He stated, in his speech at a 1989 conference, that in 1980 he was approached by the angel Gabriel who informed him that he was a messenger. Just as Mary did, Rashad stated he thought the angel was Iblis, the devil/satan, and invoked God’s protection and refuge against the devil.

But after some back and forth discussion, Gabriel assured him that he was not Satan, and conveyed that Rashad was God’s messenger and that verse 3 of Surah Ya Seen is addressed directly to Rashad.

Afterward, Rashad resolved to just teach God’s message (the Quran), believing that there was no need to make the announcement, and fearing the ridicule and backlash he would receive even from his own friends and family whom he loved very much and wanted to be with in the Hereafter. He said, “I went on my merry way, saying I will preach the word of God alone.” So he resigned himself to just preaching the Quran, and never made a public announcement until 8 years later, in a Friday khutbah which was recorded on video at April 15, 1988, and is publicly available on YouTube.

He says in the October 1989 edition of his newsletter:  

For eight years, I had maintained the same views as those who believe that an announcement was not necessary. I used to think: Why is the announcement necessary? Why not preach the word of God, uphold the word of God ALONE, and preach the worship of God ALONE, without announcing anything about the messengership? In those days of ignorance, I resisted making such an announcement. Finally, I was told that I was too coward to carry out the duties of God’s messenger. I was fired. It took a whole night of repenting, crying, apologizing, and pledging. When I reached a solid conviction that I must make the announcement, even at the cost of losing my own children and my best friends, I was restored. The following night, I spoke with my daughter during the pre-dawn meal of a Ramadan night, and I was trying to be as diplomatic as I could be. My daughter interrupted, “What are you trying to say, Dad? I knew all along that you are God’s messenger.” I received the same response from all the believers around me. They had known me for a long time, and they knew that I was not a crazy man. They realized that a person who lies about God or claims messengership falsely has to be a person who does not believe in God or the Hereafter; a person who does not expect to stand before God on the Day of Judgment to answer for his actions. 

He stated that God accepted the repentance for his past 8 years of cowardice and restored his mission. He says in his May 1988 newsletter: 

The recent announcement that I am God’s commissioned messenger to the world was NOT my idea. In fact, God Most Gracious has been immensely merciful towards me. Despite my cowardice for eight long years, God has accepted my repentance and my solemn pledge to (1) announce my identity as God’s messenger, and (2) never hesitate, hold back, or waver in declaring such identity. Thus, I can no longer afford to hesitate or be humble about this divine truth.

Rashad stated in a September 1988 conference speech that God told him about the covenant in verse 3:81, and how his meeting with the prophets that occurred many years ago was the fulfillment of that covenant.

The explanation he received from God in April 1988 was that when Rashad was taken by God to meet the prophets, God informed the prophets (who were in the afterlife) that the person standing before them is the one whom they all took a pledge to support before the creation, who will confirm all the scriptures they were given, and asked them if they approved of him.

Thus, when they all came to him one by one, nodding their heads, they were in fact expressing their support of Rashad in response to God’s question.

Fear of the Public

In fact, Rashad has told the story before about one example of his cowardice that occurred during a 1986 speech.

He said that he has long prayed that someone would not directly ask him, point-blank, if he were a messenger, because he would have admitted it and his secret would have gotten out. In the few occasions that someone asked him if he were a prophet, he would say no and respond that Muhammad was the last prophet. But no one asked him before if he was a messenger, and he wanted it to stay that way. He used to pray that no one asked him that question.

So after some heated back-and-forth discussion between Rashad Khalifa who was on the podium, and audience member Soussan Rey, she “let the cat out of the bag” and came to the conclusion that Rashad was a messenger of God.

Rashad suddenly went quiet after that, at a loss for how to answer. He said that Kathryn Kolton later told him that she noticed how quiet he was when Soussan asked him that. He said that what the audience didn’t know at the time was that he was praying very hard that no one would come to him afterward and ask him point-blank, to his face, because he would have said yes if that happened. Rashad’s lack of response caught the attention of many.

Rashad recalls Kathryn telling him that at the time, she overheard an audience member Ismail Barakat talking angrily amongst a couple people, saying he was determined to go ask Rashad after this event point-blank if he was a messenger. But to Rashad’s knowledge, Ismail did not ask him that question. So at some point during a speech, Rashad invited Ismail to the podium to explain why.

Ismail Barakat explained that the Quran-alone movement was supposed to be about destroying idols, not making new ones. Ismail recalled that in his understanding at the time, a messenger was someone who delivered a scripture. Rashad didn’t deliver any scripture to his knowledge, and if Rashad said he did, then he would be a confirmed liar. So he was very determined to confront Rashad point-blank and get a straight answer out of him.

But Ismail said, while swearing by God as his witness, that he was unable to open his mouth to ask Rashad that question. Rashad believes this was God answering his prayers at the time.

This shows that Rashad always avoided the topic of messengership like a flaming hot pack and never discussed anything about it, until he couldn’t hide it anymore in 1988.

What is Rashad’s Message?

So, what is the message that the Messenger of the Covenant was sent with?

His first and primary mission given by God was to confirm all scriptures of God, including the Quran, as stated in verse 3:81.

Thus, Rashad’s God-given mission was to teach the Quran’s 19-based mathematical miracle. Therefore, anything related to number 19 in the Quran is part of the message Rashad was sent to convey.

Another part of Rashad’s message was to teach the Quran alone, and to convey the message that the Muslims are doing the five pillars wrong and that their worship needs to be purified.

Here is a quotation from Rashad from a recorded Quranic study session:

“And then God renewed the message right now. And the message went loud and clear, ringing throughout the whole world: ‘Worship God alone. Say, “La ilaha illa Allah,” not “La ilaha illa Allah Muhammad Rasulullah.” And devote yourselves to God alone. Uphold the commandments of the Quran. Purify your worship. Your prayer is wrong. Your fasting is wrong. Your Zakat is wrong.’ These are all the blessings from God that He sent to our generation. And yet, we are subject to the same persecution, the same ridicule, lucky us.”   

Here are all the messages from God that Rashad mentioned being sent to convey:  

1. When God informed him in 1980 that he is a messenger, and that verse 36:3 referred to him. 

2. The command to announce his messengership in April 1988, and the temporary revocation of his status as messenger due to 8 years of cowardice, and subsequent forgiveness.   

3. The explanation of verse 3:81 that Rashad received in 1988 after he was restored to his position as messenger, that not only was he a messenger, but he is the Messenger of the Covenant mentioned in this verse. God explained to Rashad that his 1972 meeting with the prophets in Heaven is the fulfillment of the covenant in 3:81 about the messenger destined to confirm all of God’s scriptures. 

4. The proclamation that all who die before age 40 will go to Heaven (the Quranic evidence of this, verse 46:15, is discussed in another article). 

5. The revelation that Zakat is necessary to be guaranteed God’s mercy (also found in verse 7:156). 

6.  The revelation that Muhammad wrote the Quran with his own hand when it was revealed to him (the issue of the prophet Muhammad’s literacy will be discussed in another chapter). 

7. The revelation that God never actually ordered Abraham to kill his son Ismael (i.e. Abraham’s dream never came from God, and that God only intervened to save Abraham from committing such a horrible deed as a reward for his sincerity and righteousness). 

8. The declaration in September 1989 (four months before his assassination) that after Rashad dies, millions of believers will know that he represents the Messiah the Jews are waiting for, the second coming of Christ that the Christians (and Muslims) anticipate, and the Imam Mahdi that Muslims anticipate.
   • In essence, this is God telling us through Rashad that Imam Mahdi isn’t coming, the long-awaited Jewish Messiah isn’t coming (Jesus was the Messiah and already came but the Jews reject him) and Jesus isn’t coming back a second time, and that instead of these people, the one they should all have been waiting for is the Messenger of the Covenant. This is no surprise, since if there was a second coming of Jesus or an Imam Mahdi, the fully-detailed Quran would have said so. 

9. The message from God (through Gabriel) that Rashad received, stating that like the time of Noah, those who stand with God’s messenger will be saved, and those who refuse to do so will be destroyed.  

10. A proclamation from God that Rashad received in 1989, instructing people of all religions to “Purify, unify, consolidate your religions into one,” and instructing people of all religions to forget all idols and devote themselves totally to God alone. I will discuss this further, with relevant Quranic passages, in another article. 

11. One of the duties Rashad said he was charged with by God is to declare the year “the Hour” (or the end of the world) will happen, which is the year 2280 (or year 1710 in the Islamic calendar). Rashad also writes in a footnote of his translation of Surah 18 that, “One of my duties as God’s Messenger of the Covenant is to state that Gog and Magog, the final sign before the end of the world, will reappear in 2270 AD (1700 AH), just 10 years before the end.” Rashad explains it well in Appendix 25 of his translation. 

12. One of Rashad’s listed duties as messenger in Appendix 2 is to proclaim the secret to happiness. God willing, this will be further discussed in another article. 

13. Rashad’s final message that he received from God in December 1989, a month before his assassination and shortly before he learned of his mother’s death in Egypt, that the righteous people do not experience death, but they go straight to Paradise. This topic will be discussed in detail in another article.

In brief, regarding the bombshell revelation that Rashad never ordered Abraham to kill his son, verse 7:28 states in clear terms that God never commands anyone to do any immoral or sinful act (fahishah). Human sacrifices are something universally regarded today as a terrible and immoral deed, whether you ask a Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, or more.

Thus, there really was no need for God to reveal this to Rashad because verse 7:28 settles the issue. That dream of Abraham was not a revelation by God. However, we Muslims have proven ourselves countless times to be unaware of what the Quran teaches, thus a messenger was sent to clarify this.

The story of Abraham almost killing his son ends with God saying, “We thus repay the good-doers,” after stopping Abraham from killing his son. Now that Rashad delivered this piece of information, we know that the reason God repaid Abraham by saving his son is not because God is praising Abraham for following divine instructions, but because God is saving Abraham, a righteous servant, from committing a tragic act based on a dream that Abraham mistakenly thought was a revelation from God.

Thus, God graciously chose to ransom Abraham for almost carrying out a dream that possibly came from Satan by sending in Ismael’s place another animal to be the sacrifice.

Quranic Verses Referring to Rashad Khalifa

Throughout Rashad’s translation of the Quran, he points out a number of verses in the Quran which God told him is either directly talking to Rashad himself, or the messenger mentioned in those verses in the 3^rd person point of view is Rashad.

Those verses specifically are: Verses 98:2, 81:19-24, 72:1-28, 61:9, 48:28, 46:35, 44:13, 43:43, 42:24, 41:43, 36:3, 35:24, 34:28, 34:43, 34:46, 28:44, 26:214-223, 25:27-30 (Rashad said this refers to Muhammad too), 25:56, 24:62, 22:49, 13:38, 13:30, 9:33, 5:19, 3:81, 2:252, and 2:119.

Some people may have a difficult time accepting that such verses are either directly addressing Rashad, or talking about Rashad. The traditional interpretation is that each of the aforementioned verses refer to Muhammad only, but Rashad stated in multiple Quranic study audios that while he is always embarrassed to say things like that, it’s not his personal opinion and that he cannot afford to be ashamed, shy, or modest about admitting something like that.

When discussing Surah 72 and what Rashad was told from God, he stated that the group of jinns who heard the Quran in this Surah refer to a group who walked by his masjid (Masjid Tucson) and heard the Quran there. These were former Christian jinns who used to believe God had a son, and attributed other nonsense to God. After learning about how amazing the Quran is and its 19-based mathematical composition, they became believers, continuing to attend the weekly Quran study sessions hosted by Rashad. Here is what Rashad said, when discussing Surah 72 during a Quranic study session, after stating that nothing in the Surah is addressed directly to Muhammad, but rather, it is addressed to Rashad himself: 

• “This is not my personal opinion. If this was my personal opinion, I’d be wrong. This is not my personal opinion.” 

• “I can’t afford to be embarrassed or ashamed or shy or modest.” 

• “And when I tell you this, either I’m a very, very bad person, or I’m really a messenger of God. Because nobody will fabricate lies against God and attribute it to God in this flagrant manner, unless he’s really, really a disbeliever who doesn’t think he will face God one day on the Day of Judgement. So take your pick, there are only two extremes here: either a very bad person who claims to be receiving information from God, or a true messenger of God.” 

Rashad used similar words in Quranic study audio number 31, when discussing how verses 81:19-24 refer to himself, saying that, “This is, of course, very embarrassing to me, but I can’t afford to hold back any of this. It’s mainly for the future generations. Our generation may not be able to withstand this kind of news.”

He also said, “If you find that this is not acceptable, I don’t blame you. This is very difficult to accept.” 

So this is all that Rashad was given to convey from God, nothing more and nothing less. Any other teachings beyond that is Rashad’s own understanding and interpretation.

This is important because if you look through his works, speeches, and other recordings, you are 100% guaranteed to find things that he said or wrote which you may not agree with, or which you may think Rashad is mistaken about.

As was discussed earlier in the chapter, Rashad himself admits his own imperfections. He stated we can learn from his personal teachings and interpretations at our own discretion, but he does not follow Rashad Khalifa, and neither should anyone else; rather, at the end of the day, we should follow only the teachings revealed directly from God as religious law and not the words of any human being.

God says in verses like 2:151 that one of the purposes of a messenger is to teach the scripture, but God did not say that the teaching of the messenger is perfect and without mistakes. Some say that God would never appoint an imperfect teacher to teach His Book, but the truth is that God can do anything He pleases, and it is God’s right to appoint an imperfect messenger to interpret and teach God’s message. We never know, maybe the imperfections of the messenger may serve as a test to see who falls into the trap of idolization of the messenger, who is only a human like the rest of us according to verse 18:110 and others. Or the test can be in the other direction, seeing who will reject the messenger due to his perceived flaws and mistakes.

Also. it is not for us to attribute any statement to God without evidence. Unless the Quran specifies that the messenger is 100% perfect at interpreting the message he is sent, or is 100% perfect in the way that he teaches the message, we cannot make that assumption. 

And we should be aware that other messengers had imperfections in their character. The prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) in the Quran can be argumentative even with God, such as in verse 11:74 when he was disputing God regarding the people of Lot, and was reprimanded in verse 11:76 to stop doing that. Or the prophet Yunus (Jonah) when he ran away from his mission as prophet and messenger and was punished. Or Musa (Moses) who was a lousy and impatient student. He kept questioning everything the mysterious teacher who was appointed by God did in Surah 18 despite promising not to do so beforehand. Even Muhammad was reprimanded by God for a number of mistakes such as prohibiting something God did not prohibit (verse 66:1), frowning and turning away from a blind man who was eager for his guidance due to being preoccupied by trying to guide a an indifferent wealthy man (verses 80:1-11), withholding information from the public that God told him to convey out of fearing the people (verse 33:37), and more.

Reaction to Rashad

The Quran in Surah 2 highlights a striking similarity between the Jews during Muhammad’s time and how the Sunni Muslims reacted to Rashad during his time.

Verse 87 said that whenever a messenger came to the Jews with what they didn’t like, they denied some and went as far as killing others.

Likewise, Rashad came with the message of returning to Islam by the Quran alone, and his mission of confirming the past scriptures via the number 19 (which the Sunnis did not like), and for that, he was denied, targeted, and ultimately killed in January 1990. His own father tried to hire a man to assassinate Rashad, which failed at the time.

Verse 89 says that Jews in the past had certain prophecies in their past books that they were waiting to be fulfilled, so that it can evidence that their books were correct; but when another book came to them in the future that contained what they recognized from their past books (such as prophecies being fulfilled) they disbelieved in it. One example is that the Messiah (Jesus) is prophesized in the Torah, and the Jews constantly wait for the Messiah even today to prove that Judaism is the truth. But when Jesus came to them, the Jews disbelieved in him.

Similarly to the Jews in verse 89, the Sunnis during Rashad’s time disbelieved in him despite Rashad being the Messenger of the Covenant prophesized in verse 3:81.

Verse 91 criticizes the Jews for believing in their own books while disbelieving what came afterward; likewise, we Muslims have believed in the Quran, but disbelieve in what the Quran said was coming afterward (the Messenger of the Covenant).  

• [2:87] … But is it not that whenever a messenger came to you with what yourselves did not desire, you were arrogant? You thus denied one group and kill another group. 

• [2:89] And when a (new) book came to them from God, a confirmer for what was with them (their past books), while they used to seek victory over the disbelievers before. But when what they recognized came to them (in the new book), they disbelieved it (the new book). Thus, God’s curse is on the disbelievers. 

• [2:91] And when it was said to them, “Believe in what God has brought down,” they said, “We believe in what was brought down upon us.” But they disbelieve in what is after it, while it is the truth, a confirmer for what is with them… 

Conclusion

Unfortunately, most people have already dismissed Rashad Khalifa as nothing but a liar and pretender because his teachings are completely contradictory to their ways.

In February 1989, the Islamic Council of Fiqh (IFC) held their 11^th conference in Mecca. The leading voice of that conference was Abdul-Aziz ibn Baz, who would become Arabia’s Grand Mufti 4 years later. The council issued declarations against Rashad Khalifa as “apostate”, thus possibly setting the stage for his murder. In Sunni Islam, apostasy (a Muslim becoming a non-Muslim) is punishable by death.

Since then, the death threats against Rashad intensified, both verbal and written. Investigators in Colorado uncovered a 1989 plan to assassinate Rashad Khalifa, written by members of the terrorist group Jamaat ul-Fuqra. Rashad was stabbed to death on January 1990 by a Jamaat ul-Fuqra affiliate in a manner similar to the written plan.

How ironic is that even a messenger of Islam fell victim to radical Islamic terrorism?

The many objections and criticisms from the disbelievers both before and during Muhammad’s time have been well-documented in the Quran, and this is not an exhaustive list, thus we must resolve at once to accept Rashad wholeheartedly and not follow in their footsteps:  

[25:41] And when they see you (Muhammad), they take you not but as a joke: “Is this the one whom God sent as a messenger?” 

[7:66] The chiefs of the ones who disbelieved among his people said, “Indeed, We definitely see you as foolish, and we assume you are among the liars.” 

[11:53] They said, “O Hud, you have not come to us with clear proof, and we will not be ones who leave our gods upon your saying, and we are not believers for you.” 

[11:91] They said, “O Shu’aib, we do not understand much of what you say, and indeed, we definitely see you as weak among us. And if not for your family, we would have stoned you. But you are not with might against us.” 

[43:31] And they said, “Why was not this Quran brought down upon a great man of the two towns!” 

[11:27] But the chiefs of the ones who disbelieved among his people said, “We see you not but as a human like us, and we do not see who followed you except the ones who are the most abject of us, the ones who are shallow of vision. We do not see for you any favor over us. Rather, we think you are liars.” 

[5:104] And when it was said to them, “Come towards what God has brought down, and towards the messenger,” they said, “Sufficient for us is what we found our fathers upon.” Even if their fathers neither know anything, nor accept guidance?