Answered by Sidi Abdullah Anik Misra
Question: Salaam. Could you please give me a thorough description of the seal of prophethood on our beloved Prophets saw back. I’m getting too many confusing descriptions on the Internet and frankly I don’t trust their sources.
Answer: As salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
Thank you for your question.
The Seal of the Prophethood, which was essentially a mark etched into the pure skin on the blessed back of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), has been described differently in various hadeeths.
This is because there was nothing exactly like it in the world to compare it to: only the Final Messenger (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) bore this sign, so that those of knowledge could identify him without a shadow of a doubt.
Hence, each Companion would describe it as he saw it, trying his best and using relative descriptions that would help us imagine what it must have been like. So the differences you read about in hadeeth accounts are not problematic: they are relative perspectives.
To get a better explanation of the various descriptions, please see Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqubi’s lessons on the Characteristics of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at the following link:
http://www.sacredknowledge.co.uk/sacred-learning/chapter-2-description-of-the-seal-of-prophethood.html
One thing for sure was that the believers of that time would strive and vie just to catch a glimpse of it, touch it out of reverence, even lovingly kiss it, and cry with tears of joy when they realized that Muhammad, the final guide to mankind from Allah Most High, had at last come.
And may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon His Messenger, his friends, his family and all those who follow him with excellence till the Day of Judgment.
Wasalam,
Abdullah Anik Misra
Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani