Seal of the Prophets (Khatam-an-Nabi) is a title given to Muhammad by a verse in the Qur'an (33:40). This verse is interpreted in Islamic tradition as meaning that Muhammad was the last of the prophets. He is not only considered a prophet, but also a messenger, since he was the medium through which the Qur'an was revealed.

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 to Zaid, his adopted son. Since the Qur'an already distinguished between adopted and

"Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the prophets. And Allah 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. ) this phrase is nonetheless taken as being especially significant. Much has been made over the years that the term "Khatam" meaning seal, or ornament is used in the Qur'an, and not the related "Khatim", which is more commonly used to mean final or last. Some Muslims argue that this choice of wording implies that Muhammad was not merely the last prophet, but also that no other prophets have or could appear without his "seal of approval" or the like.

Views of



other religions and sects

Before Muhammad, the term was used in Manichaeism, a Persian faith whose founder Mani claimed to be the Seal of the Prophets and the Last Prophet. Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, also claimed to be the last prophet in a series of 24 Tirthankars.

In Christianity Jesus is considered to be synonymous with God and prophets are dependent beings. Prophets could, therefore, continue to appear after Jesus, whereas God is not expected to return incarnate until the "time of the end". (See Eschatology.) Examples of prophets after Jesus can be found in the Book of Acts, where the prophet Agabus appears (Acts 21:10) and are mentioned elsewhere in that book (Acts 13:1).

In recent history, the interpretation of the term “seal of the prophets” has been a cause of much contention between the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The differences arose due to differences in the definition and usage of the terms “seal” and “prophet”. Historically, the interpretation of this phrase has been a common source of contention between Ahmadiyya Muslims and the rest of Islam.

The Bahá'í religion regards Muhammad as the seal of the prophets, but does not interpret this term as meaning that no further prophets are possible. In particular, Bahá'ís regard the end-times prophesies 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 superceded by its own. These interpretive and legal differences have often caused the Bahá'ís to be seen as heretics and apostates by many Muslims.