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{{short description|Sacred Islamic relic}}
{{about|the physical seal (signet ring)|the title given to Muhammad| Seal of the Prophets|the mole or physical mark attributed to Muhammad|Seal of Prophethood}}
[[File:Muhammad Seal.svg|thumb|300px|The Seal of Muhammad, Muqwaki (circular) design]]

The '''Seal of Muhammad''' ([[Turkish language|Turkish]]: Muhammed'in mührü, {{lang-ar|ختم الرسول|KḪatm ar-Rasūl}}){{efn|to be distinguished:
*{{lang|ar|ختم الرسول}} or {{lang|ar|خاتم الرسول}}: "seal of the messenger", the term for Muhammad's signet ring (also {{lang|ar|خاتم محمد}} "seal of Muhammad");
*{{lang|ar|خاتم النبيين}}: "seal of the prophets", the title given to Muhammad;
*{{lang|ar|خاتم النبوة}}: "seal of prophethood", the name of the egg-shaped protrusion on Muhammad's shoulder-blade;
*also, {{lang|fa|محمد خاتمی}} by coincidential near-homography, the name of [[Mohammad Amir Khatam]].
}} is one of the [[relics of Muhammad]] kept in the [[Topkapı Palace]] by the [[Ottoman Sultans]] as part of the [[Sacred Relics (Topkapı Palace)|Sacred Relics]] collection.

The most popular design is allegedly the replica of a seal used by [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]] on several letters sent to foreign dignitaries.

== Topkapı seal ==
[[Jean-Baptiste Tavernier]] in 1675 reported that the seal was kept in a small [[ebony]] box in a niche cut in the wall by the foot of a [[divan]] in the relic room at Topkapı. The seal itself is encased in crystal, approximately 3" × 4", with a border of [[ivory]]. It has been used as recently as the 17th century to stamp documents.<ref>[[Jean-Baptiste Tavernier|Tavernier, Jean-Baptiste]]. "Nouvelle Relation de l'Intérieur du Sérail du Grand Seigneur", 1675.</ref>

The seal is a rectangular piece of red [[agate]], about 1 cm (½") in length, inscribed with {{lang|ar|الله / محمد رسول}} (i.e., ''Allāh'' "God" in the first line, and ''Muḥammad rasūl'' "Muhammad, [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|messenger]]" in the second).{{dubious|reason=Inversion is apparently a 14th century invention.|date=October 2021}} According to Muslim historiographical tradition, Muhammad's original seal was inherited by [[Abu Bakr]], [[Umar]], and [[Uthman]], but lost by Uthman in a well in [[Medina]]. Uthman is said to have made a replica of the seal, and this seal was supposedly found in the [[capture of Baghdad (1534)]] and brought to Istanbul.<ref>Rachel Milstein, "Futuh-i Haramayn: sixteenth-century illustrations of the Hajj route" in: David J Wasserstein and Ami Ayalon (eds.), ''Mamluks and Ottomans: Studies in Honour of Michael Winter '', Routledge, 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6tIgyrjr7dMC&pg=PT191 p. 191] (on the point of the tradition being controversial referencing 15th-century scholar [[Ali ibn Ahmad al-Samhudi|al-Samhudi]]). [[William Muir]] in ''[https://archive.org/stream/caliphateitsris00muirgoog#page/n7/mode/2up The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline and Fall]'' (1892) gives an account of the legend on Uthman's loss of the seal, the fruitless search for it, the calamity of the omen, and Uthman's eventual consent "to supply the lost signet by another of like fashion".</ref>

According to [[George Frederick Kunz]], when Muhammad was about to send a letter to the Emperor [[Heraclius]], he was told he needed a seal to be recognized as coming from him. Muhammad had a seal made of silver, with the words ''Muḥammad rasūl Allāh'' or "Muhammad the Apostle of God." The three words, on three lines, were on the ring, and Muhammad ordered that no duplicate was to be made. After his death, the ring came down to [[Uthman]], who accidentally dropped the ring into the well of Aris. The well was so deep the bottom has never been found, and the ring remained lost. At that time a copy was made, but the loss of the original ring was assumed to be an indication of ill-fortune to come.<ref>[[Ibn Khaldun]]. 1865. "Prolégomènes Historiques." [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/10190301 Prolégomènes d'Ebn-Khaldoun, texte arabe, publié, d'après les manuscrits de la Bibliothèque impériale.]. Volume XX, pt i, pp 61–62. Paris.</ref><ref>Kunz, George F. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/67401621 Rings for the Finger, from the Earliest Known Times to the Present]. Philadelphia and London, 1917. Page 141. See: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b361035;view=1up;seq=213</ref><ref>Ibn Khaldūn, Etienne Quatremère, and William MacGuckin Slane. Prolégomènes d'Ebn-Khaldoun, texte arabe, publié, d'après les manuscrits de la Bibliothèque impériale. Paris: F. Didot frères, fils et cie, imprimeurs de l'Institut impériale de France, 1858.</ref>

Sir [[Richard Francis Burton]] writes that it is a "Tradition of the Prophet" that [[carnelian]] is the best stone for a signet ring, and that tradition was still in use in 1868. The carnelian stone is also "a guard against poverty".<ref>Burton, Richard Francis. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/655934941 Supplementary Nights, in Seven Volumes]. [Place of publication not identified]: Private, n.d. Volume V, page 52.</ref>

== Muqwaki seal ==
[[File:Muhammad's Letter to Mukaukis.png|thumb|Circular seal impression in Muhammad's letter to the [[Muqawqis]] of Egypt (1904 drawing)<ref>"the original of the letter was discovered in 1858 by Monsieur Etienne Barthelemy, member of a French expedition, in a monastery in Egypt and is now carefully preserved in Constantinople. Several photographs of the letter have since been published. The first one was published in the well-known Egyptian newspaper Al-Hilal in November 1904" Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, ''Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets'', Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1980 ([http://www.alislam.org/library/books/muhammad_seal_of_the_prophets/chapter_12.html chapter 12]). The drawing of the document published in Al-Hilal was reproduced in [[David Samuel Margoliouth]], ''Mohammed and the Rise of Islam'', London (1905), [https://archive.org/stream/mohammedriseofis00margrich#page/364/mode/2up p. 365], which is the source of this image.</ref>]]

A different design of the seal of Muhammad is circular, based on Ottoman era manuscript copies of the [[Muhammad's letters to the Heads-of-State|letters of Muhammad]]. This is the variant that has become familiar as the "seal of Muhammad."

This version of the seal is inscribed thus, to be read from the bottom to the top:
* {{lang|ar|{{nobold|{{script/Arabic|الله}}}}}} (''[[Allāh]]'', "God")
* {{lang|ar|{{nobold|{{script/Arabic|رسول}}}}}} (''[[Prophets in Islam|rasūl]]'', "is the messenger of")
* {{lang|ar|{{nobold|{{script/Arabic|محمد}}}}}} (''[[Muḥammad]]'')

The authenticity of the letters and of the seal is dubious and has been contested almost as soon as their discovery, although there is little research on the subject. Some scholars such as Nöldeke (1909) consider the currently preserved copy to be a forgery, and Öhrnberg (2007) considers the whole narrative concerning the letter to the [[Muqawqis]] to be "devoid of any historical value", and the seal to be fake on [[paleography|paleographical]] grounds, the writing style being anachronical and hinting at an Ottoman Turkish origin.<ref name=Ohrnberg>"The story of this particular embassy to al-Mukawkis must be considered as legendary and devoid of any historical value. The parchment which was thought to be the original of Muhammad's letter to al-Mukawkis—it was found in a monastery at Akhmim in 1850 (cf. the publication by Belin, in JA [1854], 482-518)—has been recognized almost from the beginning as a fake, on both historical as well as paleographical grounds (J. Karabacek, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Mazjaditen, Leipzig 1874, 35 n. 47; Nöldeke-Schwally, Geschichte des Qorans, i, Leipzig 1909, 190)." K. Öhrnberg, ''[[Encyclopedia of Islam]] Second Edition'' s.v. "Muḳawḳis", (2007).</ref>

== Other signatures ==
[[File:The_Patent_of_Mohammed.jpg|thumb|left|The hand seal of the prophet Muhammad on the [[Ashtiname of Muhammad]], a grant of protection to the [[Holy Monastery of Sinai]].]]

In addition to using a signet ring to seal documents, Muhammad may have also used other techniques to show the provenance of his correspondence. In an alleged letter to the [[Saint Catherine's Monastery]] in Egypt, he signed the letter, also called the [[Ashtiname of Muhammad]], by inking his hand and pressing the impression on the paper. The letter granted protection and privileges to the monastery. In part it says: "I shall exempt them from that which may disturb them; of the burdens which are paid by others as an oath of allegiance. They must not give anything of their income but that which pleases them—they must not be offended, or disturbed, or coerced or compelled. Their judges should not be changed or prevented from accomplishing their offices, nor the monks disturbed in exercising their religious order, or the people of seclusion be stopped from dwelling in their cells. No one is allowed to plunder these Christians, or destroy or spoil any of their churches, or houses of worship, or take any of the things contained within these houses and bring it to the houses of Islam. And he who takes away anything therefrom, will be one who has corrupted the oath of God, and, in truth, disobeyed His Messenger." It is sealed with an imprint representing Muhammad's hand.<ref name=Ratliff>Ratliff, "The monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai and the Christian communities of the Caliphate."</ref>

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==Notes==
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==References==
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{{Muhammad footer}}

[[Category:Possessions of Muhammad]]
[[Category:Relics]]
[[Category:Seals (insignia)]]
[[Category:Islamic religious objects]]

Seal of Muhammad - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article