From: hakim@bigq.enet.dec.com (11-Nov-1992 0844)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Re: Question about Baha'i (1/5)
Date: 16 Nov 92 23:05:24 GMT



There are several implications associated with the terms Khatam'ul
Nabi-een, and Khatam'ul Rosol-een which I will summarize a few below:
 
1- The question of "seal of prophethood" deals with the IMMEDIATE
successorship of Prophet Muhammad. That is to say, after all the
Messengers inspired by God, according to the Semitic tradition, from
Adam to Jesus, the Messengers of God were followed by prophets who
promulgated and reinforced the message of the religion within which
they had appeared. A close examination of the purpose behind the
mission of the prophets of Israel (i.e. Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah,
etc....) who appeared after Moses, suggests that the function of these
highly esteemed individuals was to strengthen the faith of the
children of Israel in the Mosaic Covenant. None of them claimed to a
new, or unique revelations from God. They did not change or abrogate,
even to the smallest extent, any of the laws established by Moses.
They just, promulgated the teachings of Moses, and further elaborated
on the application of those laws in the life of the Jews. This
continued until the robe of Revelation was granted to Jesus, during
Whose period (until the revelation of Muhammad) many individuals also
became the exponents of His law and Revelation.
 
Through Muhammad's revelation the office of prophethood was ended.
That is to say, no other prophet such as that of Jewish or Christian
prophets were to appear. Instead Khalifs (according to Sunni
terminology), and Imams (according to Shi'ah usage) appeared.
 
2- The same argument which was applied to "seal of the prophets"
applies to the concept of "seal of the apostles". That is to say, no
apostles were to appear after Prophet Muhammad. In a sense, such a
commandment was revealed by Muhammad, in my opinion to place control
over this offices of prophethoodship or that of apostleship which
thrived rather wildly during Christian dispensation. A study of the
Christian Scriptures and the examination of arguments offered by
Christian scholars might clarify the reason behind behind sealing of
these two offices. In I Corinthians 12:28 Paul says;
 
"And God hath set some in the church [i.e. the church of Christ or the
religion of Christ], first APOSTLES, secondly PROPHETS, thirdly
teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps,
governments, diversities of tongues."
 
He elaborates on this subject in Ephesians 4:7-12;
 
4:7 "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure
of the gift of Christ." And later on in verse 4:11-12, He says: "And
He gave some, APOSTLES; and some, PROPHETS; and some, evangelists; and
some, pastors and teachers. For the perfecting of the saints, FOR THE
WORK OF THE MINISTRY, for the edifying of the body of Christ. TILL WE
ALL COME IN THE UNITY OF THE FAITH, and of the knowledge of the Son of
God..."
 
Here Paul is referring to various responsibilities and functions
within the Christian community, which is given to each and every
individual according, "to the measure of the gift of Christ", received
by that person. In essence He established the foundation of the future
Christian administrative order, by identifying various categories of
responsibility and organizing the foundation of the early Church.
 
In I Corinthians 14:26 He says; 
 
"How is it then brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath
a Psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an
interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. If any man speak
in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at most by three, and that
by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let
him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself and to
God. Let the PROPHETS speak two or three, and let the other judge. If
any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold
his peace. For YE MAY ALL PROPHESY [i.e. to reveal by inspiration like
a prophet] one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.
And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets...." Later
on in verse 37 He says: "IF ANY MAN THINK HIMSELF TO BE A PROPHET, or
spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you
are the commandments of the Lord."
 
Interestingly enough Miller in his book "The History of the Church of
Rome and Persia" (Persian translation page 105) refers to the same
concept, which I will translate myself (since I do not have an English
translation of this book handy). He describes the meaning of
apostleship and prophethood according to the early church terminology
as follows:
 
"The term apostle has been used in two ways throughout the New
Testament; In the majority of cases it has been used to identify the
twelve pupils of Jesus Christ; as in Matthew 10:2, Acts 1:26 and
Revelation 21:14.  This term has also been used to identify the early
teachers who were directly commissioned by the church to go and spread
the glad tidings of the appearance of Jesus throughout various
countries; as is suggested by Acts 14:14, Collosians 1:1 and 1:19. An
example of this latter category are Paul and Barnabas.
 
"The term prophet was on the other hand used to indicate a form of
responsibility within the church hierarchy. The function of the
prophets was very similar to that of the apostles, but the main
difference was that while the function of the apostles was to teach
the newly born faith to the non-believers, the purpose of the prophets
was to deepen the believers in the teachings of Christ."
 
Miller later on in his book mentions that, and I am paraphrasing here,
never had God raised SO MANY PROPHETS in the world as He did during
the first century of Christ's dispensation. He furthermore, suggests
that, as the prophets of Israel caused the establishment of Jews in
their faith and theology, by the same token, these Christian prophets
deepened the early believers and established them in their faith
towards Jesus and the theology promulgated by the Apostles.
 
In page 189 of Millers history, the false prophets referred to in the
Gospels are identified with these early Christian prophets discussed
above. He suggests that among these early Christian prophets, there
were many false prophets or false teachers, some of whom not only
taught incorrect doctrines, [not in tune with the teachings of Christ
and the apostles] to the masses of the early believers, but also
promoted and encouraged the people to commit seditious acts and
unworthy behavior.
 
In light of the problems which resulted from this specific usage of
the term "prophet" and "apostle" during Christian dispensation,
Prophet Muhammad, in His role as a Messenger of God and the Promised
One of Christianity and a Warner of the people of the Book offered an
inspired correction to this theological problem by SEALING once and
for all these two offices of PROPHETHOOD and APOSTLEHOOD through His
own revelation. Thus, the sayings of "Khatam-ur-rosoleen" and
"Khatm-un- nabieen" (Seal of the Prophets and Seal of the Apostles)
 
3- As a direct result of the points raised in 1 and 2 the Messengers
of God appearing after Prophet Muhammad WILL NOT be referred to as
PROPHETS or APOSTLES, but as MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD, since, the usage
of these terms has, according to the directives of the Holy Qur'an,
been abandoned.
 
4- As a direct result of the point raised in 1 and 2 will there appear
after these FUTURE Manifestations of God NO minor prophets such as the
Jewish Prophets, or Christian prophets/apostles.
 
5- Prophet Muhammad was the last Messenger/prophet in the Adamic
cycle.  That is to say He ended the prophethood for the cycle of 6000
years (i.e. 6 days) of creation/revelation which was INAUGURATED by
Prophet Adam and SEALED by Prophet Muhammad. Baha'u'llah, like Adam is
viewed as the INAUGURATOR of a new cycle which is to last 500,000
years, within which Manifestations of God will appear approximately
every 1000 years.
 
6- "...the term Nabi (i.e. prophet) was given to the ones who
prophesied based on visions, or dreams. This usage was solidified
during the Jewish and Christians dispensations. However, after the
appearance of Prophet Muhammad (Khatam'ul-Anbia), the ender of the
prophetic cycle, the era of revelation from God "through the medium of
dreams and visions" was ended and a new era of "revelation through
direct inspiration" was started."
			 		Fara'id, A. Golpayegani
  
							Part 1 of 5