Are there any other Quranic verses that are relevant to this theme? How about Hadith or in the Sunnah?
Q. 33:40 is the only verse of its kind, but the
sunna is more specific about this matter, and especially as it relates to the imamate. We find even in the Sunni collections the statement of the Prophet to ʿAlī: 'You are to me in the position that Aaron was to Moses, except that there is no prophet after me (
lā nabiyya baʿdī)' (see
al-Tirmiḍī, 1.46:3731). The same is recorded in Muslim (
44.48) and is also found in Shīʿī sources (see
Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 5, p. 69, vol. 44, p. 119, vol. 32, p. 487, vol. 37, p. 261, 267-268, 273).This tradition also appears in al-Bukhārī (
64.438) where the wording is just slightly different. Instead , he says, '
laysa nabiyya baʿdī,' which means the same. Elsewhere in al-Tirmiḍī (
33.62) he also says, 'I am the Seal of the Prophets; there is no prophet after me (
ʾanā khātamu 'n-nabiyyīn lā nabiyya baʿdī).' Moreover, in al-Bukhārī (
61.41), he also says, 'I am the last (
ʾanā al-ʿaqibu),' which is interpreted as referring to his prophethood. There is one odd-ball tradition, however, narrated from ʿĀʾisha, which is not attributed to him but is merely an explanation by her of, presumably Q. 33:40 and these traditions. She says, 'Say that he is the seal of the prophets, but do not say that there is no prophet after him' (al-Suyūṭī,
al-Durr al-manthūr, vol. 6, p. 618). Since it is from ʿĀʾisha. the Shīʿa naturally do not take this tradition as authentic. The Sunnis do, however, and their scholars have thought of multiple ways to reconcile this contradiction. Many of them say, for instance, that
lā nabiyya baʿdī simply means that there would be no prophet after him who would abrogate the Islamic
sharīʿa, which allows for the return of Jesus on the Day of Resurrection.
Notably, Ibn ʿArabī suggested that the phrase
lā nabiyya baʿdī does not necessarily carry a literal connotation, citing a similar statement from the Prophet where he says, 'When this Caesar will die, then there will be no Caesar after him,' and interpreting the tradition according to this sense. He says, 'Prophethood has not been abolished altogether, but the prophethood of legislation (
nubuwwa al-tashrīʿ) is abolished (...) Therefore, know that his saying, "there is no prophet after me," i.e., no legislator, is like (his saying), "When this Caesar will die, there shall be no Caesar after him (
fa-lā Qayṣara baʿadahu)"' (
al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, vol. 2, p. 58).
What if anything is the Quranic basis for the rightly guided Imams of the Shi'a tradition?
The proof for
imāma in the Qur'an is plentiful if one reads the passages closely. I will give one notable example. Both Sunni and Shīʿī traditions note that the station of ʿAlī is analogous to that of Aaron. If you recall, Aaron was the one who became leader of the Israelites after the departure of Moses before the golden calf incident. Moses literally says to Aaron, 'Take my place (
ukhlufnī) among my people' (Q. 7:142). Aaron was the
khalīfa (successor) of Moses, that is, his caliph. The same was ʿAlī to the Prophet.
