Title: Extension of Shahadah to Other Nations in the Time of the Last Messenger Question: In case of Messengers, after Itmam-ul-hujjat , the direct addresses are either destroyed or subdued. The last prophet did the same and after his long efforts of about 13 years, his direct addresses faced the same fate. How this same fate can be extended to other nations of that time through the companions when those nations were not the direct addressees of the last messenger nor the prophet directly made any preaching efforts for them? Dr. Muhammad Asif Pakistan Answer: It is, in fact, not a literal extension of the Itmam al-Hujjah of the Messenger (pbuh) that was given to the companions (ra). On the contrary, according to the information provided by the Qur'an, after Abraham (pbuh), his progeny - first the Israelites and then the Ishmaelites - were a source of Itmam al-Hujjah for others [1] . It was because of this Divine appointment of the Ishmaelites that the companions - on their own right - were a source of Itmam al-Hujjah for others. A major difference between the Itmam al-Hujjah of the Messenger and that of the companions is that in the former case, it is the person of the Messenger (pbuh) which is the source of this Itmam al-Hujjah , while in the latter case, it is not any individual who becomes the source of this Itmam al-Hujjah , but, in fact, the progeny of Ishmael in their collective capacity are a source of this Itmam al-Hujjah . The foregoing clarification should clarify that it was not only after the last Messenger that the Shahadah was extended to other nations through the companions (Banu Ishmael). On the contrary, the same position was given to the Banu Israel before them. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad December 7, 2002 [1] See Al-Baqarah 2: 124, Al-Baqarah 2: 143, Al-Nisaa 4: 154 and Al-Hajj 22: 78.