“Before me every Prophet was specifically sent to his own people; but I have been sent for all mankind.”
(Bukhari and Muslim)
In this hadīth, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) asserts that the difference between the Prophets who had come before him and his own self was that every Prophet before him was specifically sent to his own people but he has been sent for all mankind.
In another hadīth, the Holy Messenger declared the same fact in a more concrete manner. He said, “My appointment as Prophet and Resurrection are like this. Saying this, the Holy Prophet raised his two fingers.” What he meant by this was: ‘Just as no third finger intervenes between these two fingers, so there is no Prophethood between him and Resurrection. After me there will be Resurrection only, and I shall be the Prophet till Resurrection.’
The fact that the Holy Prophet was appointed a Prophet not only for his own country or for his own age but for all mankind till Resurrection has been stated at several places in the Qur’ān as well.
These repeated assertions mean to say that Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) was sent as a Prophet not for the people of a particular city or country or for a particular time, but for the people of the entire world and for ever.