- The sealing of the divine messages with the mission of Muhammad ﷺ.
Allah has sealed prophethood with the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ. The Exalted says, “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men; rather, he is the Messenger of Allah and the seal of the prophets” ⦗1⦘. The Prophet ﷺ declared, “I am the seal of the prophets; there is no prophet after me.” Once the broader category is closed, the more specific is necessarily closed as well; therefore the sealing of the prophets entails the sealing of the messengers.
To say that prophethood is sealed by his prophethood means that after his mission no new prophecy will begin and no new sacred law will be instituted. The future descent of Jesus, peace be upon him, does not contradict this, for when Jesus descends he will practice the law of our Prophet ﷺ, not his former law, for that earlier dispensation has been abrogated. He will thus act as a deputy to our Prophet ﷺ, judging among his community according to his teaching.
This prophet—the last of all prophets, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them all—was sent with the finest book, the most complete law, the best creed, and the most perfect religion. His law suffices the needs of humankind in every age and every place until the Hour is established, and with him the chain of prophethood has been perfected: there will be no prophet after him.
In the two Ṣaḥīḥs and elsewhere it is related from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said, “My likeness and the likeness of the prophets before me is that of a man who built a house, perfected and beautified it except for the place of one brick. People would enter, admire it, and say, ‘If only this brick were set.’” Muslim adds: “I am that brick, and I am the seal of the prophets.”
The two Ṣaḥīḥs also contain a report of the same meaning from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) in which it is said, “People would walk around the house and say, ‘Why has this brick not been placed?’ I am that brick, and I am the seal of the prophets.”
He ﷺ further said, “The Children of Israel were governed by the prophets; whenever a prophet died another succeeded him…”