Part of Al-Shama'il Al-Muhammadiyah (the series is completed)
· Lesson 10 of 40
Al-Shamail Al-Muhammadiya | Episode (10) | Chapter on what was mentioned about the seal of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him
0:000:00
Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
0:00
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
0:07
With the pens of longing
0:09
And the ink of love
0:11
We inscribe insights more precious than gold.
0:15
Regarding the description of the Master of Creation, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
0:17
May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
0:20
The Prophetic characteristics (Shama'il)
0:30
Chapter on what has been narrated regarding the seal of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
0:36
The seal
0:39
It is a ring with a setting made of something else.
0:42
If it does not have one, then it is a matter of fiqh.
0:44
It is a trial.
0:46
The intended meaning here is the ring worn upon the finger.
0:49
And it is adopted for the completion.
0:51
He is not the Seal of Prophethood that was upon the back of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
0:56
This has already been discussed previously.
0:59
And the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
1:03
He adopted the ring at a late stage, after his migration.
1:07
He adopted it during the final months of the sixth year after the Hijrah.
1:11
When the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, began to correspond with kings, calling them to the religion of Allah the Exalted.
1:18
So when he intended to write to the Romans
1:21
It was said to him:
1:22
They do not read any book unless it is sealed.
1:27
He then adopted the seal ring at that time.
1:30
It is for this reason that some scholars have provided a detailed distinction regarding the ruling on wearing a ring.
1:34
They said,
1:36
If it is for a necessity, such as him being a judge or an official who requires the use of an official seal.
1:42
For him, it is considered a Sunnah.
1:45
However, if it is done without a specific need, it is considered permissible.
1:50
Anas Ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, reported:
1:56
The signet ring of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was made of silver.
2:01
And its setting was of Abyssinian stone.
2:04
In this hadith
2:07
Anas Ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, informs us
2:10
Regarding the Seal of the Prophets, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
2:13
He mentioned to us that it was made of silver.
2:16
That is, made of silver.
2:18
This serves as evidence for the permissibility of a man wearing a silver ring.
2:23
And his statement
2:24
And its setting was of Abyssinian stone.
2:27
The eloquence
2:28
This is the place upon which the seal is engraved.
2:32
The stone of the ring of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was made of Abyssinian stone.
2:37
Meaning, he is from the region of Abyssinia.
2:40
Or that he was Abyssinian in his physical features and the style of his carvings.
2:44
Or that his complexion was Abyssinian, meaning black.
2:48
And on the authority of Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both,
2:52
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
2:55
He took a ring made of silver.
2:57
He would conclude with it, but he would not wear it.
3:01
In this hadith
3:03
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, took for himself a ring made of silver.
3:08
And he used to conclude with it.
3:10
This has already been discussed by us previously.
3:12
However, the difficulty lies in his statement, "and he does not wear it."
3:16
This contradicts numerous hadiths.
3:19
which indicates that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, used to wear his ring.
3:24
Some scholars have adopted an approach of reconciliation between this hadith and those other hadiths.
3:30
Some of them deemed it defective due to its irregularity, owing to the contradiction it contains.
3:35
It was then said
3:36
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, possessed more than one ring.
3:41
He would wear some garments while leaving others.
3:43
Or perhaps the reason he did not wear it was...
3:46
It was not pure silver.
3:49
Rather, it is mixed with materials that are impermissible to wear, such as gold, for example.
3:53
This addition, if proven authentic, indicates this, and he should not be confused by it.
3:58
It is understood as applying to a specific circumstance.
4:01
Anas Ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that he said:
4:06
The ring of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was made of silver.
4:11
So he took it from him.
4:13
In this hadith, Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, says:
4:19
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had a silver ring.
4:24
So, take from it.
4:25
This contradicts what he stated in his aforementioned hadith.
4:29
And its setting was of Abyssinian stone.
4:32
Some scholars have reconciled these two positions.
4:35
that it is made of silver.
4:37
Furthermore, he was of Abyssinian descent in his physical features and the craftsmanship of his engraving.
4:41
And it has been said regarding how to reconcile between the two.
4:43
It is interpreted as referring to multiple instances.
4:45
Meaning that they are both seals.
4:47
The stone of his ring was of Abyssinian origin.
4:50
And the seal of his ring was made of silver.
4:53
And it is narrated from Anas Ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said:
4:58
When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, intended
5:02
That he should write to the non-Arabs.
5:04
It was said to him:
5:05
Indeed, the non-Arabs will not accept anything except a book that bears a seal.
5:10
So he had a ring made.
5:12
It is as if I am looking at its whiteness in his palm.
5:18
In this hadith
5:20
An explanation of the reason why the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, adopted a signet ring.
5:25
And he only adopted it
5:27
When he intended to correspond with the kings and great leaders of the non-Arabs.
5:30
And they are those other than the Arabs.
5:32
To invite them to Islam.
5:34
This took place during the final months of the sixth year after the Hijrah.
5:38
When the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, returned from al-Hudaybiyyah.
5:42
It was then said to him
5:44
The kings of the non-Arabs would never rely upon any document unless it bore an official seal.
5:49
For concluding it [the letter] is a way of honoring the status of the recipient.
5:53
And abandoning it is a sign of failing to revere it.
5:56
Furthermore, this is because if he does not conclude it
5:59
Doubt began to creep into its content.
6:02
Yet they do not act upon it.
6:04
And His saying
6:05
It is as if I am looking at its whiteness in his palm.
6:08
This is because it was made of silver.
6:11
He would see the shimmer of silver in his palm, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
6:17
And in the hadith
6:18
He encouraged interacting with people in the manner they love to be treated.
6:22
And abandoning what they dislike.
6:24
And seeking the help of the enemy in matters that cause no harm and contain no religiously prohibited elements.
6:31
Anas Ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that he said:
6:35
The inscription on the ring of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was:
6:40
Muhammad is the one who will be cast into Saqar.
6:42
And the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
6:44
And by Allah, it is Saqar.
6:47
In this hadith
6:50
Anas Ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, informs us
6:53
That the inscription on the seal of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was...
6:57
It was composed of three words.
7:00
And it is: Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
7:03
These words were not written in a single line.
7:07
Rather, it is contained within three lines.
7:10
Muhammad, in a single line.
7:12
And a Messenger [sent] in a line.
7:14
And the majestic name, Allah, is on a line.
7:18
Perhaps this is because the signet ring was not large enough to accommodate the three words on a single line.
7:24
The apparent meaning of the hadith
7:26
The first line from the top is Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
7:29
The second is the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
7:31
The third is the majestic name of Allah.
7:34
And this was his inscription.
7:36
And there was nothing else incumbent upon him.
7:39
As for what some of the scholars have mentioned
7:42
That its writing was from the bottom to the top.
7:45
This means that the majesty of the name of Allah is placed at the top of the three lines.
7:49
And Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is at the lowest level of it.
7:52
Nothing from the hadiths regarding that matter has been authentically established.
7:56
And on the authority of Anas Ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him
8:00
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
8:03
He wrote to Kisra, Caesar, and the Negus.
8:07
It was then said to him
8:08
They do not accept any book unless it bears a seal.
8:13
Thus, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, formulated
8:16
He wore a ring with a silver band.
8:19
And he had engraved upon it: "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."
8:23
We have already discussed this in a previous hadith.
8:28
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
8:31
He used to write to kings and dignitaries.
8:34
He calls them to Allah, the Exalted.
8:36
And in this hadith
8:38
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
8:41
He wrote to Kisra, Caesar, and the Negus.
8:44
This Negus is not Ashama.
8:47
The one upon whom the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, invoked prayers.
8:52
And His saying:
8:53
Thus, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, fashioned
8:56
Concluding.
8:57
He ordered that a ring be fashioned for him.
9:00
And his statement, "Its ring is made of silver."
9:03
Meaning, it is fashioned from silver.
9:05
And he had engraved upon it, "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."
9:08
As we have previously discussed.
9:10
This indicates that it is permissible to have one’s name engraved upon a ring.
9:13
And the permissibility of engraving the name of Allah, the Exalted.
9:16
And he may have a word of wisdom engraved upon it.
9:19
Or anything else of that nature.
9:21
As for his statement, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
9:24
Let no one engrave anything upon the seal of this ring.
9:28
The reason for the prohibition
9:30
That he, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
9:32
He only adopted the ring and had it engraved.
9:35
So that he may conclude his books with it.
9:37
to the kings of the non-Arabs and others.
9:39
If someone else were to engrave something similar to it.
9:41
Corruption would have entered, and imbalance would have ensued.
9:45
And it is narrated from Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said:
9:50
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, adopted
9:53
A ring made of silver.
9:55
It was in his hand.
9:57
Then it was in the possession of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him.
9:59
And the hand of ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him.
10:01
Then it was in the possession of ‘Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him.
10:03
until it fell into the well of Aris.
10:06
His mission was that of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
10:09
In this hadith
10:11
This serves as evidence that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
10:15
He left behind no inheritance.
10:17
For if he were to inherit
10:18
To hand over the ring to his heirs.
10:21
For this reason, the seal of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was as follows:
10:25
in his hand until he passed away.
10:27
And in the hands of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them.
10:29
until he passed away.
10:31
Then it was in the possession of 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him.
10:33
Six years.
10:35
Then Uthman sat by the well of Aris.
10:39
It is a well in a garden near
10:42
the Quba Mosque.
10:44
He moved the ring of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
10:47
on his hand,
10:49
and the ring fell into the well.
10:51
They searched for the ring in the well
10:53
for three days,
10:55
to the point that they drained the well's water,
10:58
but they did not find the ring.
11:00
The people did not disagree regarding Uthman
11:03
until the ring fell from his hand.
11:07
The claim that the ring of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
11:11
exists in this late era
11:14
is a claim that lacks proof.
11:17
Something like this is not accepted except with established evidence
11:20
and clear proofs.
11:26
Chapter: What has been narrated regarding the fact that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
11:30
used to wear his ring on his right hand.
11:34
On the authority of Ali Ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him,
11:37
that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
11:40
used to wear his ring on his right hand.
11:43
And on the authority of Hammad Ibn Salamah, who said:
11:46
I saw Ibn Abi Rafi' wearing a ring on his right hand,
11:50
so I asked him about that.
11:52
He said: I saw Abdullah Ibn Ja'far
11:55
wearing a ring on his right hand.
11:58
And Abdullah Ibn Ja'far said:
12:00
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
12:03
used to wear a ring on his right hand.
12:07
And on the authority of Jabir Ibn Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with them both,
12:10
that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
12:13
used to wear a ring on his right hand.
12:16
And on the authority of As-Salt Ibn Abdullah, who said:
12:19
Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both,
12:22
used to wear a ring on his right hand.
12:24
And I do not think he said anything other than:
12:27
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
12:30
used to wear a ring on his right hand.
12:32
In these hadiths, there is a consensus;
12:37
we learn that he, peace be upon him,
12:40
used to wear his ring on his right hand.
12:44
And on the authority of Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both,
12:48
that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
12:50
took a ring made of silver,
12:53
and placed its stone toward his palm.
12:56
And he had "Muhammad the Messenger of Allah" engraved on it,
13:00
and he forbade anyone from engraving anything on it.
13:03
And it is the one that fell from Mu'ayqib into the well of Aris.
13:09
We have already gone through an explanation of parts of this hadith.
13:13
As for his saying, "and placed its stone toward his palm,"
13:17
An-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
13:19
The scholars said:
13:21
The Prophet, peace be upon him, did not command anything specific regarding that,
13:26
so it is permissible to place the stone on the inside of the palm,
13:29
or on the outside.
13:31
The salaf practiced both ways.
13:33
As for those who wore it on the outside,
13:37
they said:
13:39
But the inside is better,
13:42
following the example of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
13:45
and because it is more protective of the stone,
13:47
and safer for it,
13:49
and further removed from vanity and showing off.
13:51
And his saying,
13:53
"And it is the one that fell from Mu'ayqib into the well of Aris,"
13:57
it was mentioned previously that it fell from the hand of Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him.
14:01
It has been said in reconciling the two hadiths:
14:04
Perhaps Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him,
14:06
handed the ring to Mu'ayqib, may Allah be pleased with him,
14:09
to stamp with it or for some need,
14:12
and then when he returned to take it from him,
14:15
it fell into the well.
14:17
And Mu'ayqib, may Allah be pleased with him,
14:19
is Ibn Abi Fatimah Ad-Dawsi,
14:21
one of the foremost early converts to Islam.
14:25
And on the authority of Ja'far Ibn Muhammad,
14:28
from his father, who said:
14:30
Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn
14:32
used to wear their rings on their left hands.
14:35
From this hadith,
14:38
we learn that the matter is flexible,
14:41
for if one wishes, he may wear it on his right hand,
14:44
and if he wishes, he may wear it on his left.
14:47
And on the authority of Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said:
14:52
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
14:56
took a ring made of gold,
14:58
and he used to wear it on his right hand.
15:01
So the people took rings made of gold,
15:04
then he, peace be upon him, discarded it
15:07
and said: "I will never wear it again."
15:10
So the people discarded their rings.
15:13
In this hadith,
15:17
Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, informs us
15:20
that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
15:23
took a ring made of gold,
15:25
and that was when it was permissible in the beginning,
15:29
then it was abrogated.
15:31
This is why he, peace be upon him, discarded it,
15:34
and the people discarded theirs.
15:36
And he, peace be upon him, said:
15:39
"I will never wear it again."
15:41
Thus, a gold ring is not permissible for men,
15:44
rather, they were granted a concession for a silver ring,
15:48
as the hadiths from the Prophet, peace be upon him, have previously stated.
15:54
In conclusion to this chapter,
15:58
we know that it is authentically established that he, peace be upon him, wore his ring
16:02
on both his right and left hands.
16:06
Authentic hadiths have come to that effect.
16:09
Some scholars said:
16:11
Both ways are permissible, but the right is better,
16:14
because it is an adornment,
16:16
and the right hand is more deserving of it.
16:18
Ibn Uthaymin, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
16:21
The correct view is that it is Sunnah on both the right and the left.
16:25
Wearing the ring should be on the little finger of either hand.
16:30
There is a prohibition against wearing it on the middle finger and the index finger,
16:34
as in the hadith of Ali, may Allah be pleased with him:
16:37
"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, forbade me
16:40
from wearing a ring on this finger or this one,"
16:44
and he gestured to the middle finger and the one next to it.
16:49
As for the woman, she may wear rings on all her fingers,
16:54
because she wears them for adornment and beauty.
16:58
The hadith has more to follow, if Allah wills.
17:02
And Allah knows best.
17:04
May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad,
17:08
and upon all his family and companions.