![Muhammad Seal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Muhammad_Seal.svg)
The Seal of Muhammad (
Turkish: Muhammed'in mührü, ar, ختم الرسول, KḪatm ar-Rasūl) is one of the
relics of Muhammad
Traditionally, Islam has had a rich history of the veneration of relics, especially of those attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.Goldziher, I. and Boer, Tj. de, “At̲h̲ar”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition'', Edited by: ...
kept in the
Topkapı Palace
The Topkapı Palace ( tr, Topkapı Sarayı; ota, طوپقپو سرايى, ṭopḳapu sarāyı, lit=cannon gate palace), or the Seraglio
A seraglio, serail, seray or saray (from fa, سرای, sarāy, palace, via Turkish and Italian) i ...
by the
Ottoman Sultans
The sultans of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı padişahları), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its hei ...
as part of the
Sacred Relics collection.
The most popular design is allegedly the replica of a seal used by
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
on several letters sent to foreign dignitaries.
Topkapı seal
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605–1689) was a 17th-century French gem merchant and traveler. Tavernier, a private individual and merchant traveling at his own expense, covered, by his own account, 60,000 leagues in making six voyages to Persia ...
in 1675 reported that the seal was kept in a small
ebony
Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...
box in a niche cut in the wall by the foot of a
divan
A divan or diwan ( fa, دیوان, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan'').
Etymology
The word, recorded in English since 1586, meanin ...
in the relic room at Topkapı. The seal itself is encased in crystal, approximately 3" × 4", with a border of
ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...
. It has been used as recently as the 17th century to stamp documents.
The seal is a rectangular piece of red
agate
Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Anci ...
, about 1 cm (½") in length, inscribed with (i.e., ''Allāh'' "God" in the first line, and ''Muḥammad rasūl'' "Muhammad,
messenger
''MESSENGER'' was a NASA robotic space probe that orbited the planet Mercury between 2011 and 2015, studying Mercury's chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field. The name is a backronym for "Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geoche ...
" in the second). According to Muslim historiographical tradition, Muhammad's original seal was inherited by
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...
,
Umar
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...
, and
Uthman
Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic prop ...
, but lost by Uthman in a well in
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
. Uthman is said to have made a replica of the seal, and this seal was supposedly found in the
capture of Baghdad (1534)
The 1534 capture of Baghdad by Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire from the Safavid dynasty under Tahmasp I was part of the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1532 to 1555, itself part of a series of Ottoman–Persian Wars. The city was taken w ...
and brought to Istanbul.
According to
George Frederick Kunz
George Frederick Kunz (September 29, 1856 – June 29, 1932) was an American mineralogist and mineral collector.
Biography
Kunz was born in Manhattan, New York City, USA, and began an interest in minerals at a very young age. By his teens, he ...
, when Muhammad was about to send a letter to the Emperor
Heraclius
Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was List of Byzantine emperors, Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exa ...
, 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
Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic prop ...
, 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.
Sir
Richard Francis Burton
Sir Richard Francis Burton (; 19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar,and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary kn ...
writes that it is a "Tradition of the Prophet" that
carnelian
Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker (the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often use ...
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".
[Burton, Richard Francis]
Supplementary Nights, in Seven Volumes
lace of publication not identified
Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread (yarn), thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, suc ...
Private, n.d. Volume V, page 52.
Muqwaki seal
![Muhammad's Letter to Mukaukis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Muhammad%27s_Letter_to_Mukaukis.png)
A different design of the seal of Muhammad is circular, based on Ottoman era manuscript copies of the
letters of Muhammad. This is the variant that has become familiar as the "seal of Muhammad."
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
Al-Muqawqis ( ar, المقوقس, cop, ⲡⲭⲁⲩⲕⲓⲁⲛⲟⲥ, ⲡⲓⲕⲁⲩⲕⲟⲥ, p-khaukianos, pi-kaukos "the Caucasian") is mentioned in Islamic history as a ruler of Egypt who corresponded with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ...
to be "devoid of any historical value", and the seal to be fake on
paleographical grounds, the writing style being anachronical and hinting at an Ottoman Turkish origin.
["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 ]854
__NOTOC__
Year 854 ( DCCCLIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Europe
* Emperor Lothair I meets his (half) brothers (Louis the German and Charles the Bal ...
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
The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies published by Brill. It is considered to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies. The first edition was published i ...
Second Edition'' s.v. "Muḳawḳis", (2007).
Other signatures
![The_Patent_of_Mohammed](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/The_Patent_of_Mohammed.jpg)
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
Saint Catherine's Monastery ( ar, دير القدّيسة كاترين; grc-gre, Μονὴ τῆς Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Katherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, ...
in Egypt, he signed the letter, also called the
Ashtiname of Muhammad
The ''Ashtiname'' of Muhammad, also known as the Covenant or Testament (''Testamentum'') of Muhammad, is a document which is a charter or writ written by Ali and ratified by Muhammad granting protection and other privileges to the followers of ...
, 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.
[Ratliff, "The monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai and the Christian communities of the Caliphate."]
Notes
References
{{Muhammad footer
Possessions of Muhammad
Relics
Seals (insignia)
Islamic religious objects