‘Allama ‘Abdur Rahman bin Khaldun(rh) (died 808 A.H.) is mentioned as a noted Muslim thinker in the White Paper. He writes:
Saintliness is analogous to prophethood; just as there are various ranks in prophethood, there are similar ranks in sainthood. One who possesses the best of the saintly qualities is called Khatamul-Auliya’, just as the one who possesses the best of the qualities of prophethood is known as Khatamul-Anbiya’ (al-Muqaddimah ibn-e-Khaldun, vol. 1, p. 271)
That is to say, khatam does not mean the last with respect to time, but the ultimate according to degree or rank. If we use it to mean ‘the last’ with reference to time, then we have to agree that sainthood has come to an end, God forbid, and the ummah will be deprived of sainthood.
Hazrat Abu Sa‘id Mubarak Ibn-e-‘Ali Mukharrami(rh) (died 513 A.H.), the patron saint of no less a person than Hazrat Syed ‘Abdul-Qadir Jilani(rh), states:
Man holds the highest position of all creation. When he rises, all the noble qualities in all their grandeur find their manifestation in him and he is called the Perfect Man. The noble qualities in all their grandeur have found their perfection in our Holy Prophet(sa) and therefore he is Khatamun-Nabiyyin. (Tuhfa Mursalah Sharif, by Abu Sa‘id Mukharrami, translation and commentary by Muhammad ‘Abdul-‘Aziz Jalandhari, p. 51)
The above passages contain similar themes, but all aspects of Khatamiyyat are not covered in them.
Hazrat Maulana Rum(rh) (died 672 A.H.) writes:
The Holy Prophet(sa) is khatam because there neither was nor will be any equal to him in generosity, that is, spreading the blessings… (Miftahul-‘Ulum, by Maulavi Muhammad Nadhir ‘Arshi (Sharah Mathnawi Jalal-ud-Din ar-Rumi(rh), vol. 15, Book 6, part 1, p. 56–57)
This is the same theme expressed by the Promised Messiah(as), as noted earlier, where he says that an important aspect of Khatamiyyat is that the Holy Prophet(sa) passed on to his followers the spiritual blessings he had achieved.
…When a craftsman excels and achieves perfection, don’t we use the word khatam to denote his excellence in craftsmanship? (Ibid.)
Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanotawi, founder of the Deobandi sect, which is now in the forefront of distorting the meaning of Khatamun-Nabiyyin, writes:
Prophets are similar to governors as they are charged with the duty of delivering divine commandments to the people. They are God’s vicegerents. Therefore, it is necessary for them to hold positions of authority. The office of a governor or minister is considered the highest in a chain of subordinate officers. A governor or a minister has the authority to set aside the orders or directives of his subordinates. His orders, on the other hand, cannot be set aside by subordinate officers. The final authority rests with the governor. Similarly, there is no one above the ranks or with more authority than the ‘Khatamun-Nabiyyin.’ All others are subordinate to him. (Collection of Rare Periodicals and Addresses— Mubahathah Shahjahanpur, 1914, p. 25)