THE SEALS OF THE PROPHET (PBUH)

The Seal of Prophethood

The word khatem (seal of prophethood) signifies that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was the final prophet, as well as indicating that there was a mark (seal) on his back that symbolized this fact. Islamic sources discuss different aspects of the seal of prophethood, focusing particularly on its nature, its form, whether it was an innate quality, whether there was any inscription found on the mark, and finally whether the seal disappeared when Prophet Muhammad died. As is well known, Prophet Muhammad not only had some unique qualities, but he also had other characteristics that he shared with ordinary people. The unique characteristics of the Prophet are discussed in Islamic sources under titles such as dalail (features) or hasais (characteristics), which are separate sciences from shamail and sirah (life of the Prophet) (see the article on shamail and sirah). The information collected about these characteristics are presented and evaluated in a genre of books that is commonly known as either dalail al-Nabawiyya (The Features [or Proof] of the Prophet) or hasais al-Nabawiyya (The Unique Characteristics of the Prophet).  

On the other hand, the fact that Prophet Muhammad was himself the ‘seal’, or the last link in the chain of prophets, was mentioned by the Prophet himself. One of the many hadiths on this issue is significant in terms of explaining the institution of prophethood and the place of the last Prophet among other prophets.

The Prophet is quoted as having said: “My position in relation to the other Prophets is like this: A man builds a house, completes it and decorates it beautifully, but leaves out one brick. When the people who come to see it enter this glorious house, they marvel at its beauty and say: ‘The house is splendid – but for the lack of this one brick (then, how much more splendid the house will be).’ Now, I am like this brick; I am the last of the Prophets.” (al-Bukhari, kitab al-manaqib, bab khatim an-nabiyyin; Muslim, kitab al-fada'il, bab khatam an-nabiyyin; see also Tirmidhi, kitab al-manaqib, bab fadl an-nabi and kitab al-adab, bab al-amthal; Musnad Abu Dawud Tayalisi, marwiat Jabir bin Abdullah; and Musnad Ahmad, marwiat Ubayyi bin Ka'b, Abu Sa'id Khudri and Abu Hurairah.)

Both of the main sources of Islam, the Quran and the hadiths, clearly state that the last of the Prophets that were sent to humanity from time to time, beginning with Adam, was Prophet Muhammad. It is for this reason that he is also called the “Prophet of the Last Days.” No prophet will follow him.

Therefore, Allah Almighty makes it clear that Prophet Muhammad is the “seal of all prophets” and that there no other prophet will come after him;  He created a manifestation of this fact in the form of a mark, or “seal”, on the blessed body of the Prophet, and on no other.

The original expression used by the Companions of the Prophet and later generations of Islamic scholars for the mark on the Prophet’s body is Khatem al-Nubuwwa. This phrase can be translated in different ways, including (the most commonly) the seal of prophethood, the symbol of prophethood, the cachet of prophethood, the sign of prophecy, and the mark of prophecy/prophethood.

Regarding the seal, the sources give, in brief, the following information: there was a mark on the back of Prophet Muhammad, between his shoulder blades, which was raised; this mark resembled a seal on a letter or document.

Islamic sources also discuss another aspect of this seal; was the “seal of the last prophet” there when the Prophet was born, or did it appear later in his life time? According to many sources, this seal was not a birthmark; however, these sources disagree about when it first appeared. The most common argument is that this seal was stamped on his back when his chest was opened and cleansed by an angel. On the other hand, there is also the argument that as the seal was not an innate mark it disappeared when Prophet Muhammad died. All these views suggest that the seal of prophethood was not a congenital birthmark that was part of his physical makeup, but rather a divine sign of Muhammad’s being the last Prophet.

The Seal Ring of Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh)

In the Hejaz region of the Arabian Peninsula it was not custumary for political leaders to use a seal until the time of the migration of the Prophet from Mecca to Medina. In the sixth year after the Hijrah (627 AD), Prophet Muhammad decided to send letters to the heads of neighboring countries in order to gain recognition for the newly-established Islamic state. These letters, which also served to invite these leaders to Islam, needed to be stamped with a seal. Some of the Companions of the Prophet explained that those leaders would not accept his letters if they had no seal on them, as this was custumary in other countries, and therefore they would not be seen as official letters without the seal of a head of a state. The seal would serve to make them official. The Prophet then ordered a seal to be made, and sent his letters to other statesmen with this seal.

The original word for ‘seal’ in Arabic is khatem. The Prophet’s seal was made in the form of a ring; for this reason the word khatem is generally used to mean a ring as well. For the same reason, the phrase Khatem al-Nabi is understood and translated as the “seal ring of Prophet Muhammad”. One of the great companions, Abdullah ibn Umar is reported to have once said: “Prophet Muhammad had a silver ring. He used it to seal the letters he sent to different places, but he did not wear it.”

According to evidence in historical sources, the seals of Prophet Muhammad were rings with stones, made of silver. On the rings were inscribed the three words “Muhammad Rasul Allah” (Muhammad, Prophet of Allah) arranged in such a way that each of the words constituted a line: the first line, going from the bottom to the top, read Muhammad; the second line consisted of the word Rasul (Messenger); and the third line read Allah. The majority of reports state that these seals were made of silver.

When Prophet Muhammad had his rings made and - from time to time - wore them, some of his Companions wanted to have similar rings. The Prophet, however, intervened, saying that no one should have a ring that had the same inscription as his. By discouraging the use of the official seal of state, Prophet Muhammad maintained the unique aspect of the institution of the state, separating public (or official) matters and private matters. On the other hand, despite the fact that all personal belongings of Prophet Muhammad, including his shoes, cloaks, water cups and swords, were transmitted to his Companions as gifts and kept by them, his seals (rings) were an exception. The sources clearly state that his seal was transferred to the first Caliph, Abu Bakr after his death, and then to Umar, and then to Uthman. (The seal was then lost in a well called the Aris Well in the sixth year of Uthman’s reign, which lasted a total of 12 years.) The fact that the seal was transferred to the three caliphs respectively indicates that it was not a piece of personal property, but a symbol that belonged to the head of the state. As is well-known, these three companions were the first three Caliphs (Heads of State) after the death of the Prophet. All three of them used the Prophet’s seal to stamp official documents and letters of state during their rule. In addition, according to a report by Hussein, his father, Ali, also had the same phrase inscribed on his own seal.