Hadith
Thawban narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The Hour will not be established until some tribes from my community join the idol-worshippers, and until some among my community come to worship idols. Indeed, there will arise within my community thirty great deceivers—each of them claiming to be a prophet. Yet I am the Seal of the Prophets; there is no prophet after me."
عَنْ ثَوْبَانَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم لاَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى تَلْحَقَ قَبَائِلُ مِنْ أُمَّتِي بِالْمُشْرِكِينَ وَحَتَّى يَعْبُدُوا الأَوْثَانَ وَإِنَّهُ سَيَكُونُ فِي أُمَّتِي ثَلاَثُونَ كَذَّابُونَ كُلُّهُمْ يَزْعُمُ أَنَّهُ نَبِيٌّ وَأَنَا خَاتَمُ النَّبِيِّينَ لاَ نَبِيَّ بَعْدِي
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2219
Ponder This Hadith
The Prophet ﷺ warned that imposters would arise claiming divine authority, then said plainly: “I am the last of the Prophets; there is no prophet after me.” If an Imam claims guidance from Allah that overrides what the Prophet ﷺ brought, how is that not a functional claim to prophethood – regardless of the title used?
And when the Prophet ﷺ also warned that people from his Ummah would return to idol worship, how should one understand a leader who boasts that his followers “pay me tribute and worship me”? What is idol worship, if not this?