WELL OF THE RING (BI'R AL-KHATIM / BI'R ARIS)
The well that swallowed the seal of the Prophet ﷺ.
The prophetic seal lost forever
Near the Mosque of Quba, there is an ancient well with a strange name: Bi'r al-Khatim — "the Well of the Ring". Also known as Bi'r Aris, after its former owner.
Why this name? Because in its dark depths lies forever the seal of the Prophet ﷺ.
The authentic account
Anas ibn Malik (رضي الله عنه) reports: "The Prophet ﷺ had a silver ring, the stone of which bore the name 'Muhammad Rasul Allah'. After the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr wore it. Then Umar. Then Uthman. And it was under Uthman that the ring fell into the well of Aris." (Sahih al-Bukhari no. 5866)
Uthman ibn Affan (رضي الله عنه), then caliph, searched for the seal for three days. He had the well emptied. He had the mud sifted. Nothing. The seal of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — which sealed correspondence to emperors and kings — was lost forever.
A portentous event
Classical historians viewed this event as a portent: the loss of the seal preceded the troubles that led to the assassination of Uthman (رضي الله عنه) a few years later, and to the beginning of the first great fitna of Islam.
As if the disappearance of this symbol of unified prophetic authority foreshadowed the political fragmentation to come.