The Seal of the Prophets, the Imam of the Pious

Point 32 reads:

Article 32. Wa innahu khātamu al-anbiyāʾ, wa imāmu al-atqiyāʾ, wa sayyidu al-mursalīn, wa ḥabību rabbi al-ʿālamīn. He is the finality of the prophets, the paragon of the pious, the master of the messengers, and the beloved of the Lord of all the worlds.

These are some additional qualities of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He is the khātam al-anbiyāʾ. As Allah says:

Wa lākin rasūla Allāhi wa khātama al-nabiyyīn: he is the Messenger of Allah and the seal of the prophets. This means that he is the final one, the seal: something with which something is completed.

In the hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave the example of a building: a beautiful structure that people go around and admire. On one side, some bricks are missing, a brick or so is missing, which basically spoils the façade of it. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that he is that labinah: he is that brick which has come to finalise the core message and the fundamental message of Allah (swt) to mankind, and to complete good character. So he is the seal. Wa khutima biya al-nabiyyūn: according to a hadith in Muslim, he was the last of the prophets, the seal of the prophets.

Wa imāmu al-atqiyāʾ: he is the imam of all of the righteous ones. So he is the leader of the righteous; basically, the most righteous. Atqiyāʾ is from taqwā, personal taqwā; it is the plural of taqī. Taqwā is basically an abundance in taking care, in caution, in scrupulousness with regards to the rights of Allah (swt).

Being Muslims, we all have the first level of taqwā, which is to abstain from an eternal abode in the Hellfire. Becoming a Muslim takes the person out of being in the Hellfire forever. Even if they are sinful, they get punished for a short while, and then they come out.

This relates to the question of the Hellfire coming to an end, taken up in an earlier chapter: the opinion related to Ibn Taymiyyah (raḥimahullāh), that the entire Hellfire will one day come to an end and cease to exist, together with all of its inhabitants. Of course, our belief is that any believer who has true faith in the prophet of the time, a believer in the prophet of the time, and who is a sinful person whom Allah chooses to send to Hell to be cleansed, will be sent to Paradise after the cleansing.

Then there are other levels of taqwā, high levels of taqwā: to abstain from all sins and everything, so that we do not even end up in the Hellfire, and Allah (swt) is pleased with us. There are different levels of taqwā. Allah (swt) says:

Ittaqū Allāha ḥaqqa tuqātih: have fear of Allah (swt) as much as He has the right of being feared.