Everything about Seal Of The Prophets totally explained
Seal of the Prophets (
ar. خاتم اﻟﻨﺒﻴﻴﻦ
Khatim-an-Nabiyyin) is a title given to
Muhammad by a verse in the
Qur'an .
Muslims traditionally interpret this verse as meaning that
Muhammad was the last
prophet.
History of the concept in traditional Islam
The main Qur'anic reference to this phrase comes from the chapter (
surah) titled
Al Ahzab; "The Confederates" or "The Allies". In this chapter, God answers criticism of Muhammad's marriage to Zaynab, who was divorced from Zaid, his adopted son. Since the Qur'an already distinguished between adopted and natural children, God, in response to the accusations, said:
» :
"Muhammad isn't the father of any of your men, but he's the Messenger of God and the Seal of the prophets. And God is ever Knower of all things." - Qur'an: "The Allies", verse 40.
While the primary focus of this narrative is to answer accusations that his marriage to Zaynab was immoral according to Arabic custom, (cf.
note on adoption
) this phrase is nonetheless taken as being especially significant.
Hadith
Sunnis claims to quote the
Hadith of
Umar and
prophecy as proof of Muhammad's being the last prophet, while both
Shi'a and
Sunni quote the
Hadith of position.
Academic view
According to Welch, Muslim interpretation of
Khatam-an-Nabiyyin as the "last and greatest of the prophets", is most likely based on a later interpretation.
Carl Ernst considers this phrase to mean that Muhammad's "imprint on history is as final as a wax seal on a letter".
Wilferd Madelung states that the meaning of this term isn't certain.
Views of other religions and sects
Manichaeism
Before Muhammad, the term was used in
Manichaeism, a
Persian faith whose founder
Mani claimed to be the Last Prophet.
Ahmadiyya
In recent history, the interpretation of the term “seal of the prophets” has been a cause of much contention between the traditional Islam and the
Ahmadiyya Movement. The differences arose due to differences in the definition and usage of the terms “seal” and “prophet”.
The two branches of the Ahmadiyya movement differ in their interpretation of this term.
The
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community while accepting Muhammad as the 'seal of Prophets' and the last prophet to have brought a complete and comprehensive universal law for humanity, believe that prophethood subordinate to Muhammad is still open. Muhammad is believed to have brought prophethood to perfection and was the last law-bearing prophet, the apex of man's spiritual evolution. New prophets can come but they must be subordinate to Muhammad and can't exceed him in excellence nor alter his teaching or bring any new law or religion. The Ahmadiyya community believes
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be the
promised Messiah and
Mahdi, who claimed a certain kind of prophethood but never claimed to have brought a new divine law or change the law of Muhammad, but to have been Divinely appointed to revive and universally establish the law/religion of Muhammad. The Ahmadiyya community draws upon various opinions of Islamic scholars throughout the history of Islam to show the possibility of non-law bearing prophethood within Islam. In contrast the
Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement believes that
Muhammad was the last prophet and no new or old prophet can come after him, Though they too believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be the promised Messiah and Mahdi
Bahá'í Faith
The
Bahá'í Faith regards Muhammad as the seal of the prophets, but doesn't interpret this term as meaning that no further messengers from God are possible. In particular, Bahá'ís regard the end-times prophecies of
Islam (and other faiths) as being symbolic, and see the
Báb and
Bahá'u'lláh as symbolically fulfilling these prophetic expectations. The latter of these is the founder of the Bahá'í religion, which considers Islamic law to have been superseded by its own. These interpretive and legal differences have caused the Bahá'ís to be seen as
heretics and
apostates by many Muslims.
Sufism
The end-times prophecies of
Islam point to a
mahdi and those of
Christianity to a
messiah. That
Muhammad calls himself the
Seal of the prophets deals with the fact that any true prophet who arose would know of Muhammad's mission and bring out his true status and identity. The case of
Uwais al-Qarni who was given Muhammed's mantle after his death in 632 was because this was given to him as his successor. It is because
Elijah is the Seal of the prophets that Muhammad called himself the "last prophet" and other things to illustrate that he wore the
Mantle of Prophecy: he was carrying out God's will as one having been "instructed" by
Gabriel who also instructed
Zacharias and
Mary. Distinct from these, Muhammad's mission dealt with the fact that the
Qur'an is at the same time the Curse of God upon Israel, and the Blessing of God upon Ishmael as
Bani-Israel (or the "New Israel"). The arrival of the Messiah at the end can be better understood if one realizes that the Messiah will have his messenger who is "much more than a prophet", as Jesus Christ called him. This was
John the Baptist's status as the 'friend of the Bridegroom'. He was
the Messenger of Jehovah of hosts, as is written about in :
"For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he's the messenger of Jehovah of hosts."
In the
Sufic philosophy it's as Muhammad once said in comparing external and internal struggle; to wit, "The ink of the Learned is holier than the blood of the martyr".
Most commonly held view about the phrase Seal of Prophets is that "seal" means finality and end.
Some scholars have translated and interpreted the word Seal in terms of honour and superiority. Most scholars although accept that both translations are correct.
Mawlana Rumi in his famous
Mathnawi writes,
He has been raised to the station of Khatam by the grace of God. There can never be his like before him or after.
When a master excels all others in his art, don’t you use the
word ‘khatam’ to convey the idea that he's excelled all others in his domain?
Ibn Arabi also followed the same line of reasoning in his
futoohat. He has even argued that possibility of a subordinate prophet is open according to the verse 33:40. He has stated:
"That prophethood which ended with the advent of the Prophet (peace be upon him), is only law-bearing prophethood and not the status of prophethood. Thus now there will be no law that cancels the law of the Prophet (peace be upon him) or that adds to its commandments"
(Fatoohaat al-Makkiyyah, vol. 2, p. 3)
Non-Sufi Islamic interpretations
A majority of
Salafi and
Sunni scholars have adhered to the view that khatam means last .
Ibn Kathir in his commentary states .
Hence this verse is a clear proof of the fact that no prophet will come after Muhammad and when it's said that no prophet will come after him it's a foregone conclusion that no messenger will succeed him either.
Imam Raghib, the twelvth century Islamic philosopher has argued in favour of the possibility of non-law bearing prophethood, he states:
Prophethood is of two kinds, general and special. The special prophethood, viz: the law-bearing prophethood is now unattainable; but the general prophethood continues to be attainable. (Bahr al Muheet, vol. 3, p. 28)
Muhammad Qasim Nanotwi, the founder of
Deoband seminary seems to conform to the sufi idea of finality . He writes,
According to the layman, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings on him, being Khatam is supposed to have appeared after all the other prophets. But men of understanding and the wise know it very well that being the first or the last, chronologically, doesn't carry any weight. How could, therefore, the words of the Holy Quran 'But he's the messenger of Allah and the Seal of Prophets (33.40)' mean to glorify him? But I know very well that none from among the Muslims would be prepared to agree with the common men.
Despite the more philosophical stance taken by Nanutuwi, all the Deoband scholars have take a more simplitic view of this concept.
The
Barelvi sect of
Sunni Islam has, however, criticised the Deoband school of denying the finality of prophethood on the basis of the writings of their leader.
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