> I feel very sad as I leave this discussion that after all my missives my
> brother Gilberto has not read the article this servant co-wrote on the
Seal
> of the Prophets...
>
> If he were to really read it without any preconception he would really
come
> to a different understanding.
That's not actually true. I did read it for a while before coming to
the Bahai studies list, maybe by several months. Susan had pointed me
to it after the discussion had come up on soc.reglion.bahai. I
actually really liked it as an article. It wasn't just one sided and
did a decent job of presenting the back-and-forth of the various
arguments. Actually pointing to the hadith which say prophethood has
ended or the statement from Nahj-ul-Balagha to the same effect for
example. I especially liked the Perennialism stuff at the end...
Also
On Sun, 2 Jan 2005 09:48:46 -0800 (PST), John Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> ***
> Gilberto, it doesn't seem like you are familiar with the Persian Language.
> It is very flowery. Reading Khazeh's writing styles is like listening
> to Persians speaking among themselves, or like reading persian books
> in persian. I personally enjoy it.
No, I realized to some degree there is a cultural aspect to it.
I was just expressing a preference.
Peace
Gilberto
Dear brother Gilberto Simpson
Thank you again. It is evening again and this servant has a few moments to
share with you.
In terms of the article this servant co-wrote thank you for your kind words
and hopefully sense of fairness.
The article is on Jonah Winter's website.
To be fair the arguments in it are mainly as a result of a lot of thought
between Dr Fazel and this lowly one over the years. Of course we used others
who preceded us. Mirza Abul-Faz.l's arguments were the main source s indeed
Ruhi Rawshani's book Khaatamiiyat [Seal-ship]. Ruhi Rawshani was martyred
executed in Iran post Revolutionary times so at the time we wrote it the
news of his passing was in the forefront of our mind...
There is a section of the article which goes like this:
When God entered into covenant [mítháq] with the prophets [nabiyyín], he
said, "This is the Book and the Wisdom which I give you. Hereafter shall a
prophet [rasúl] come unto you to confirm the Scriptures already with you. Ye
shall surely believe on him, and ye shall surely aid him". (3:75)[19]
The term apostle also has specific associations. First there is the Qur'ánic
assertion that "every community [umma] has its (own) messenger [rasúl]"
(10:47, 16:38, 17:15, 23:44, 30:47). He acts as his community's
representative with God. More importantly, he is also God's representative
to his people, and in this context he has a unique authority. Men are called
to listen to, believe in and obey God and his apostle. Indeed the words
obey-obedience [atá`a], disobey-disobedience are used twenty-eight times in
connection with the rasúl (messenger), but not one single time with nabí
(prophet). A further feature is that the apostle is the bearer of a
`manifest' message: "it is only for the messenger [rasúl] to deliver the
manifest message" (29:18).[20]
Future Messengers
Finally a significant difference that has been identified by Bahá'í writers
between prophets and apostles is the reference of Qur'án 7:34. This verse
appears to promise the coming of apostles in the future:
O Children of Adam! there shall come to you Apostles from among yourselves,
rehearsing my signs to you.[21]
... In summary, there are three major reasons why the words prophet and
apostle have distinctly different applications in the Qur'án. First is that
prophet and apostle are used at distinct periods in Muhammad's ministry.
Second, the individuals to whom these titles apply are different. Third, the
terms are used in different contexts which identify unique features of the
particular historical mission of prophets and apostles.[27]
Bahá'í writers have used the distinction between prophet and apostle - a
distinction which, although helpful, is often presented in a simplistic
manner.[28] This distinction provides a way of explaining that, although
Muhammad was the last prophet, the Qur'án allows the possibility of future
apostles to appear to humanity - the Prophet of Islam was not the last rasúl
(messenger). However, their argument has been criticized in certain
anti-Bahá'í polemical literature. Among the criticisms repeatedly stated is
that this distinction may have some validity for the prophets and apostles
before Muhammad's coming, but with his coming it was rendered irrelevant
because, with him, both prophethood and apostleship were closed (Amirpour,
Khátimiyyat 96). In support, there is the hadíth:
The prophethood and the institutions of Divine Messengers has come to an end
with me; there will be after me neither any messenger nor any apostle
[rasúl] or any prophet [nabí]. (qtd. in Noori, Finality 4)
...
There are other indications that the belief in the finality of Muhammad's
prophethood was not generally accepted in the early days of Islam. In a
gloss explaining the expression of khayr al-khawátim (the best of the seals)
used in the Naqá'id, the commentator Abú `Ubayda who died in 209 A.H. says,
"He [the poet] means that the Prophet . . . is the seal of the prophets,
which means he is the best of the prophets" (Naqá'id 349). A similar
interpretation is given by Abú Riyásh al-Qaysí in his commentary on
al-Kumayt's Háshimiyyat. Commentating on a verse in which the prophet is
referred to as khátam (or khátim) al-anbiyá', Abú Riyásh says that the
meaning of khátim al-anbiyá' is someone who seals the prophets; khátam
al-anbiyá', on the other hand, means "beauty of the prophets" or "the best
of them" (Friedmann, Prophecy 57). Another explicit tradition that supports
this idea is attributed to `Á'isha, who said, "Say [that the Prophet is] the
seal of the prophets and do not say that there is no prophet after him"
(Al-Suyúti, qtd. in Friedmann, Prophecy 63). The phrase khátam al-nabiyyín
(seal of the prophets) here cannot mean "the last prophet", but is
understandable in the sense of the best prophet. Also, the foremost Kúfí
grammarian al-Tha'lad held that "al-khátim is the one who sealed the
prophets and al-khátam is the best of the prophets in character and physical
constitution" (Al-`Ayní, qtd. in Friedmann, Prophecy 58).
...
These interpretations also found their way into hadíth literature. For
instance, there is a saying of the Imam `Alí that "Muhammad is the Seal of
the Prophets [khátam al-anbiyá'] and I am the Seal of the Successors [khátam
al-wasiyyín]" (Majlisí, Bihár 4-5).[32] If seal solely meant termination,
then how can one understand `Alí as sealing the successorship, when there
were to be eleven Imams after him according to Shi`i belief and the
Caliphate was to continue after him in the history of Sunni Islam? Also, one
Bahá'í writer discusses the implications of a hadíth in which the Prophet is
reported to have said, "I am the last prophet and the mosque I am
constructing is the last mosque." Rawshani argues that if by the term "last
mosque" is understood that no other mosque will be built in the dispensation
of Islam, then clearly this is an absurd contradiction, unless it was used
in a doxological manner. On this ground the term khátam al-nabiyyín (seal of
the prophets) refers to the fact that the Prophet confirmed the prophets
before him and thus the peoples of Arabia, who had not accepted the
prophethood of the prophets of the past, particularly those of the Abrahamic
tradition, were summoned to recognise them (Rawshani, Khátamiyyat 30-31)....
The concept of Muhammad sealing a cycle in religious history finds rich
resonances Shí`i and Shaykhí interpretations of this verse. The "Nahj
al-Balághah", a compilation of the Imam `Alí's utterances, depicts the
Prophet Muhammad as the terminator [khátim] of that which preceded Him, and
the opener [fátih] of that which was closed by him (Imam `Alí, Nahj 109).
There is also a Tablet of Visitation of Imam `Alí addressing Muhammad, which
says, "Peace be upon Thee, O Muhammad, the Seal [khátam] of the Prophets,
the Lord of the Divine Envoys, the Trustee of God in mediating divine
revelation, the One that closeth [khátim] that which preceded Him, the One
that openeth [fátih] that which will unfold in the future" (qtd. in
Al-Qummi, Mafátíh 363). Corbin summarizes the classical Shí`i understanding
of khátam al-nabiyyín (seal of the prophets) by an interpretation that
leaves open the possibility of the future theophanies of Imams or walí.
Corbin explains that the cycle of the Imamate was opened with the function
to "initiate" and expound "the hidden meanings of revelation":
After the cycle of prophecy (dá'irat al-nubúwa) that ended with Muhammad,
the "Seal of the Prophets," there comes the cycle of Initiation (dá'irat
al-waláya), the present cycle, placed under the spiritual rule of the
Twelfth Imám, the hidden Imám . . . (Spiritual 58)...
Please God you address the substantive points...I would in all humility and
humanity beg you not to worry about different personalities past or
present...as you can see the main Iranian author to whom the work was
dedicated had given his life in the path of explaining the issues.
My humblest pleading with you dearest Gilberto [and to my self] is to remain
focussed on the substantive issues.
If you like the cyclical theory the theory that a particular anticipatory
nubuwwat has ended this, believe me, is a great step in our mutual dialogue.
The authoritative Writings say
***The Faith of Baha'u'llah should indeed be regarded, if we wish to be
faithful to the tremendous implications of its message, as THE CULMINATION
OF A CYCLE, the final stage in a series of successive, of preliminary and
progressive revelations. These, beginning with Adam and ending with the
Bab, have paved the way and anticipated with an ever-increasing emphasis the
advent of that Day of Days in which He Who is the Promise of All Ages should
be made manifest
***
****
The successive Founders of all past Religions Who, from time immemorial,
have shed, with ever-increasing intensity, the splendor of one common
Revelation at the various stages which have marked the advance of mankind
towards maturity may thus, in a sense, be regarded as preliminary
Manifestations, anticipating and paving the way for the advent of that Day
of Days when the whole earth will have fructified and the tree of humanity
will have YIELDED ITS DESTINED FRUIT. ****
I would beg you most humbly to read the above two Passages and see
if you cannot find a way of agreeing with them in your mind and
heart...khazeh uttering salaam to you and working for the Most Great Salaam
and S.ulh.
The URL of the Hadith wherein the Prophet says My Mosque is the last Mosque
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/007.smt.html#00
7.2803
Book 007, Number 3210:
Abu Huraira (God be pleased with him) reported God's Messenger (may
peace be upon him) as saying: Prayer in my mosque is more excellent than a
thousand prayers observed in other mosques except the Masjid al- Haram.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Book 007, Number 3211:
Abu Huraira (God be pleased with him) reported: Prayer in the mosque of
God's Messenger (may peace be upon him) is more excellent than a thousand
prayers in other mosques except the Masjid al-Haram, for God's Messenger
(may peace be upon him) is the last of the Apostles, AND HIS MOSQUE IS THE
LAST OF THE MOSQUES. Abu Salama and Abu Abdullah (two of the narrators in
this chain of narrations said: We had no doubt that what Abu Haraira (God
be pleased with him) had said was from God's Messenger (may peace be upon
him), and so we did not like to get an attestation from Abu Huraira about
this hadith until Abu Huraira (God be pleased with him) died. We discussed
it (the issue of getting attestation from Abu Huraira) amongst ourselves and
blamed one another as to why we did not talk about it to Abu Huraira
regarding it so that he could attribute its transmission to God's
Messenger (may peace be upon him) in case he had heard It from him. While we
were discussing it as we sat with 'Abdullah b. Ibrahlm b. Qariz; we made a
mention of this hadith, and our omission (in getting its attestation) about
its direct transmission by Abu Huraira from him (the Holy Proohet) ;
thereupon Abdullah b. Ibrahim said to us: I bear witness to the fact that I
heard Abu Huraira (God be pleased with him) say that God's Messenger
(may peace be upon him) said: I AM THE LAST OF THE APOSTLES AND MY MOSQUE IS
THE LAST OF THE MOSQUES.
=
Masjidee Aakhirul Masaajid
INNEE AAKHIRUL ANBIYAAI WA INNA MASJIDEE AAKHIRUL MASAAJID"
I AM THE LAST OF THE PROPHETS AND MY MOSQUE IS THE LAST MOSQUE.
(Sahih Muslim, Kitabul Haj Fazlis Salaat, p. 531)
So lastness means highest in honour in sanctity not temporal and ontological
lastness...
I am glad you like Perennialism and Traditionalism.
Read
Mark Sedgwick: Against the Modern World. Traditionalism and the Secret
Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century.
Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
If the religions are true it is because each time it is God who has spoken
and if they are different it is because God has spoken in different
"languages" in conformity with the receptacles. Finally, if they are
absolute and exclusive, it is because in each of them God has said "I".
- Frithjof Schuon (1963)
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