This has been indicated earlier in lesson twenty-one...

This has been indicated earlier in lesson twenty-one, and that the concept of prophet is more universal than that of messenger. b. The traditional proofs for the seal of prophecy The subject concerning the Prophet of Islam being the seal of the prophets has been well established in the traditional texts. The most famous and widely accepted tradition narrated by the Prophet is known as the tradition of manzilat and leaves no doubt upon this issue.

This famous and widely accepted tradition by both the schools of Shi’ites and Sunnites is as follows: When the Prophet of Islam began his journey from Medina for the battle of Tabūk, he left Imam Ali (a), the commander of the faithful, behind in his place in order to attend to the affairs concerning the Muslims. This saddened Imam Ali as it meant that he would be unable to accumulate the blessings of attending a holy war.

Tears appeared in the eyes of the commander of faithful and the Prophet then addressed him: “Don’t you want to be like Aaron, as he was for Moses as you are to me?”Without any delay the Prophet of Islam continued: “But with this difference that there will be no Prophet after me.” In another tradition, it has been narrated that: “O people! There is no Prophet after me and there is no nation after you.” Another tradition states in this regard: “O people!

There will be no Prophet after me and no Sunna after my Sunna.” Similarly in the sermons of the Nahj al- Balaghah (‘the peak of eloquence’), in several supplications of the infallible Imams, this matter has been clearly clarified. The secret behind the seal of prophecy As indicated earlier, the wisdom behind dispatching numerous prophets consecutively is that the propagation of the Divine word in the previous eras for all the various lands through one individual was not possible or influential.

From another standpoint the complicated sociological issues and appearance of new sociological phenomena, aswell as changes in the law or establishment of new rules, required several prophets. Furthermore the alterations and corruption of the scriptures throughout the course of time, through the hands of tyrants and ignorant men necessitated rectification of the Divine word and hence prophets were sent consecutively.