between earth and heaven, signaling their revela-
tory function. The color green has long been asso-
ciated with Muhammad’s family and, in a larger
sense, the community of Islam, where it is fre-
quently found in both Islamic religious flags and
the state flags of Muslim countries. Islamic mys-
tics have reflected on the emanation of God’s light
in the color green as a metaphor for the resurrec-
tion. Just as the green growth of living vegetation
comes out of the dry earth, and as humanity was
originally formed as “vegetation” from the earth,
so the body will grow from the earth again at the
resurrection (Q 71:17–18).
Finally, one last special quality associated
with prophecy is the Islamic doctrine of “seal of
prophets” (Q 42:24, khatim al-nabiyin or khatim
al-anbiya). The Sunni majority interpret “seal of
prophets” to mean the closure of prophetic func-
tion and they assign that title solely to Muhammad.
However, minority Muslim opinion (among some
Sufis and Shiis) interprets “seal” to be the seal on
the King’s (God’s) treasure-house that validates
or preserves its contents for future reopening and
use, implying an open-ended, even cyclic under-
standing of prophecy and the possibility of future
prophets and revelations from God. This notion of
ongoing “prophecy” has been embraced by some
modern Muslim sectarian groups who have been
very influential in the spread of Islam in North
America, especially among African Americans
during the 20th century (for example, ghUlam
ahmad (d. 1908) and the Qadiri branch of the
ahmadiyya community and their impact on Elijah
Muhammad, “Prophet” to the nation oF islam, as
well as Isa Muhammad, founding theologian and
“revelator” of the Ansaru Allah Community).
See also ahl al-bayt; angel; bidaa; blasphemy;
dreams; Flag; gabriel; heresy; holy books; imam;
night oF destiny; perFect man; saint; shiism;
Women.
Kathleen M. O’ConnorFurther reading: Muhammad ibn Ishaq, The Life of
Muhammad: A Translation of Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah.
Translated by Alfred Guillaume (London: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1967); Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Kisai,
The Tales of the Prophets (Qisas al-anbiya). Translated by
W. M. Thackston, Jr. (1978. Reprint, Chicago: KAZI
Pubs, 1997); Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based
on the Earliest Sources (1983. Reprint, Rochester, Vt.:
Inner Traditions, 2006); Jane D. McAuliffe, “Mary and
Fatima in Quranic Exegesis,” Islamochristiana 7 (1981):
19–28; Gordon Darnel Newby, The Making of the Last
Prophet (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press,
1989); Geoffrey Parrinder, Jesus in the Quran; Annema-
rie Schimmel, And Muhammad Is His Messenger: The
Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 1985); Brannon M.
Wheeler, Moses in the Quran and Islamic Exegesis (Lon-
don: Routledge, 2002); Brannon M. Wheeler, Prophets
in the Quran: An Introduction to the Quran and Muslim
Exegesis (New York: Continuum, 2002).puberty rites See children; circumcision.
purdah
A Persian and Urdu word meaning curtain, pur-
dah most commonly refers to practices of sexual
segregation by Muslims and Hindus in the Indian
subcontinent (india, pakistan, bangladesh). This
separation of the sexes may be organized spatially,
delegating separate areas for men and Women
in hoUses or in public spaces. A barrier such as
a screen or curtain may divide joint spaces, or
different rooms in a building (or separate build-
ings altogether) may be assigned to each sex. The
practice of purdah may also make use of women’s
garments, such as head scarves or the bUrqa.
Muslim practices of purdah are intended as a
safeguard against illicit sexual contact between
members of the opposite sex. Muslims in India
likely assimilated the practice from Hindu cus-
toms that preceded the emergence of Islam in the
area, although those bear significant historical
differences from Muslim adaptations.
Muslim practices of purdah most likely devel-
oped as a way of enforcing the sexually modestpurdah 561 J