The Seal of the Prophets

The Almighty said,

{Muhammad was 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 aware of all things.}^[1]

As previously mentioned, the Seal of prophecy, and when I say seal here I mean the end (i.e. the end and termination of the prophecy), is not correct if the prophecy means reaching the rank of prophecy. And therefore knowing some of the tidings of heaven of the Truth and the Unseen. Because the path to rise in the Kingdom of Heavens was opened and it was not closed nor will it be closed.

Thus Prophet Muhammad pbuhap emphasized in more than one narration mentioned by the Sunna, the Shia and Ahlul Bayt pbut that one of the ways of Divine Revelations will stay open and will not be closed, which is the true vision from Allah swt.

It is narrated from Ali bin Al-Hussein bin Ali bin Fadhal, on the authority of his father, from Abu Al-Hassan Ali bin Musa Al-Retha pbuh:

One of the men from Khurasan told him, “Oh son of the Prophet, I saw the Prophet in my sleep as if he was saying to me, ‘How will you be if a piece from me is buried in your land; and if you were entrusted with my consignment and my star is hidden in your ground?!’”

So Al-Retha pbuh replied, “I am the one buried in your land and I am a piece of your Prophet, as I am the consignment and the star. Verily who visited me knowing what Allah swt obligated of my righteousness and obeying me, then my fathers and I are his intercessors on the Day of Resurrection, and for whom we were his intercessor has been saved even if he carried the sins of the Two Weighty Things: the Jinn and Mankind. Verily my father told me on the authority of my grandfather from his father from his forefathers that the Prophet pbuhap said, ‘Who saw me in his sleep has indeed seen me, because Satan does not appear in my image, nor the image of one of my successors, nor in the image of their followers. And the true vision is a part of the seventy parts of prophecy.’”^[2]

It is narrated from the Prophet pbuhap that he said,

“If the Time has approached, the vision of the Muslim will rarely lie and the most truthful amongst you in vision is the most truthful in his speech. Thus the vision of the believer is a part of forty-five parts of prophecy.“^[3]

It is narrated from the Prophet pbuhap that he said,

“It is a part of seventy parts of prophecy.”^[4]

It is narrated from the Messenger of Allah pbuhap that he said,

“The vision of the believer is a part of the seventy parts of prophecy.”^[5]

It is narrated from Ali pbuh that he said,

“The vision of the believer is considered as a speech of the Lord spoken upon him.”^[6]

The Prophet pbuhap said,

“If the Time has approached, the vision of the believer will rarely lie and the most truthful amongst them in vision, is the most truthful in his speech.”^[7]

Al-Allama Al-Majlisi narrated in the book of Bihar Al-Anwar from the book of Jama’ Al-Akhbar and in the book of Al-Ta’beer that the Imams pbut said:

“The vision of the believer is true because his soul is pleasant, and his Faith is true, and when it [his soul] departs it receives from the angels. Thus it [the vision] is a revelation from Allah, the Noble and Omnipotent.”^[8]

It is narrated from the Messenger of Allah pbuhap that he said,

“Who saw me in his sleep has indeed seen me, as Satan does not appear in my image, nor the image of any of my of successors, nor the image of any of their followers, and the true vision is a part of the seventy parts of prophecy.”^[9]

It is narrated from the Messenger of Allah pbuhap, he said,

“If it is the end of time, the vision of the believer will rarely lie and the most truthful amongst you in vision is the most truthful in his speech.”^[10]

It is narrated from the Prophet pbuhap, he said,

“If the Time has approached, the vision of the believer will rarely lie and the most truthful amongst you in vision is the most truthful in his speech. Thus the vision of the Muslim is a part of forty-six parts of prophecy.”^[11]

It is narrated from the Prophet pbuhap, he said,

“The vision of the believer is a part of forty-six parts of prophecy.”^[12]

The Prophet pbuhap said,

“If one amongst you has seen a vision that he loves, then it is from Allah, so let him praise Allah for it and speak about it.”^[13]

It is narrated from the Prophet pbuhap, he said,

“The vision of the believer is a part of seventy-seven parts of prophecy.”^[14]

It is narrated from the Messenger of Allah pbuhap, he said,

“The vision of the believer is a part of forty parts of prophecy.”^[15]

It is narrated from the Messenger of Allah pbuhap, he said,

“The vision of the believer or the Muslim is a part of forty-six parts of prophecy.”^[16]

The Messenger of Allah pbuhap said,

“The vision of the believer is a part of forty-six parts of prophecy.”^[17]

It is narrated from the Messenger of Allah pbuhap, he said,

“If the Time has approached, the vision of the believer will rarely lie and the most truthful amongst you in vision is the most truthful in his speech. Thus the vision of the Muslim is a part of forty-six parts of prophecy.”^[18]

The Messenger of Allah pbuhap, he said,

“The vision of the believer is a part of forty parts of prophecy.”^[19]

It is narrated that Allah revealed to Imam Musa Al-Khazem pbuh in a vision that the Imamate after him is to his son Ali bin Musa Al-Retha pbuh.

Yazeed bin Saleet Al-Zaidi said, “We met Abu Abdullah pbuh on the way to Mecca while we were a group so we said to him, ‘Oh by my father and mother, you are the purified Imams and no one is devoid of death, so tell me a thing to pass on to he who succeeds me.’

He told me, ‘Yes those are my sons and this is their master, (and he pointed to his son Musa pbuh) in him is the knowledge, wisdom, understanding, generosity and acquaintance of which people need in what they disagreed in the matter of their religion and in him is the good-manners and good-neighborliness and he is a door from the doors of Allah swt... and in another, ‘It is better than all of these.’’

So my father told him, ‘Oh by my father and mother, and what is it?’ He said, ‘Allah will bring out of him the Comforter of this nation; and its relief, knowledge, enlightenment, comprehension, wisdom, the best infant and the best youth. By him, Allah will prevent bloodshed, reconcile between people, reunite the divisions, branch out from the narrow opening, clothe the unclothed, satiate the hungry, console the frightened, by him the rain falls and from him the servants take their orders, a fine elder and a fine youth, a good tiding for his tribe upon his adulthood, his speech is judgment and his silence is knowledge, he clarifies to the people that which they disagree in.’”

He said, “My father has said, ‘Oh by my father and my mother, will he have a son to come after him?’ He said, ‘Yes,’ and stopped talking.”

Yazeed has then said, “I have met Abu Al-Hassan (meaning Musa bin Jafar pbuh) and said to him, ‘Oh by my father and my mother, I want you to inform me in what your father has informed me.’

He said that he said, ‘My father pbuh was in an era different from this.’”

Yazeed said, “I said, ‘May Allah curse whoever accepts this from you.’”

He said, “He laughed then said, ‘Let me inform you Oh Abu-Omara, I left my house then included my sons apparently in my will and made them partners with my son Ali, and I have singled him out hiddenly in my will, and I have seen the Prophet of Allah pbuhap in my vision with the Prince of Believers pbuh, and he has a ring, a sword, a cane, a book and a turban, and I said to him, ‘What is that?’

He said, ‘As for the turban it is the majesty of Allah (m), as for the sword it is the pride of Allah (m), as for the book it is the light of Allah (m), as for the cane it is the power of Allah (m), as for the ring it is the gatherer of all these things.’

He then said, ‘The Messenger of Allah pbuhap said, ‘The matter will be upon your son Ali.’”

He said, “Then he said, ‘Oh Yazeed, this is a trust that you have. Do not reveal it but to a sane person, or a servant whom Allah has tested his heart in believing, or to an honest person. And do not disbelieve in the graces of Allah swt, and if you were asked to testify then do so, as Allah swt says, {Verily, Allah commands you that you restore deposits to their owners,}^[20] and Allah (m) says, {And who is more unjust than he who hides a testimony which he has received from Allah?}^[21]”

I then said, “I swear by Allah I would never do that.”

He said, “Abu Al-Hassan pbuh then said, ‘Then the Messenger of Allah pbuhap described him to me. He said, ‘Ali your son, whom sees by the light of Allah, and listens by His clarification, and speaks by His wisdom, always right never mistaken, always knowing never ignorant, and has been filled with wisdom and knowledge. How low is your status with him! It is a definite matter that has not happened, so when you return from your travel, mend your command and clear your demands as you are moving away from him and neighboring others. So gather your sons and make Allah the witness over them and Allah is sufficient as a witness.’’

He said, ‘Oh Yazeed, I will be taken this year, and Ali my son has been named Ali bin Abu Talib pbuh, and has been named Ali bin Al-Hussain pbuh. He was given the understanding of the first, as well as his knowledge, victory, and clothes. And he can not speak after Harun^[22] for four years, and after the four years pass, ask him what you wish and he will answer you if Allah swt wills.’”^[23]

Thus the vision is a pathway for Allah’s revelation and it remains open after Muhammad pbuhap. Furthermore, it certainly remains open to people as mentioned in narrations and perceptible reality.

Thus there is no deterrent for some believers who are sincere to Allah in their worship to reach the rank of prophecy, and so Allah may reveal to them through this pathway (the vision) and make them acquainted with some of the Truth and the Unseen by His grace swt.

Certainly the Imams pbut reached the rank of prophecy. The Truth and the Unseen reached them through the vision and revelations as so many narrations confirm. One of the narrations is the one mentioned above.^[24]

So it is possible to find sincere believers who reached the status of prophecy and Allah revealed to them through vision, by the least, it already happened with the Imams pbut.

As for the narrations from them pbut, their denial of being prophets is understood. The intention from these narrations is that they deny being prophets dispatched from Allah swt, or else what does it mean when they obtain news from the Holy Spirit and what does it mean that he is always with them?^[25]

So if this is the case, what does it mean when Prophet Muhammad is the seal of the Prophets (meaning their last)?

And also what does it mean when he is the seal of the Prophets (meaning their middle)? As seal and seal are from the names of Prophet Muhammad pbuhap.

So to know the answer, we have to know something about the rank of Prophet Muhammad pbuhap and some of the things that he is preferred with over the rest of the children of Adam, rather over the prophets pbut from them in particular.

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