Giving Due Respect to the Blessed Medium of Revelation, Pt. 2
In light of all this, there is an important point that must be made clear in regards to understanding our holy texts, because, unfortunately, in our times, the Qur’an and hadith often go misunderstood or are misused by those among us who neither have the knowledge to understand such texts nor do they have the necessary scholastic training to draw proper and orthodox conclusions from them. There are two often-quoted texts that we must be cognizant of concerning the topic at hand. Firstly, there is the ayah in Surah al-Kahf, in which Allah states, “Say, ‘I am only a mortal like you, yet Allah has inspired me with revelation that your God is one God. So whoever awaits the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous deeds and not associate anyone with his Lord in worship.” Secondly, the Prophet (may Allah bless him, and may He grant him peace) is reported to have said, “Do not transgress bounds in praising me as the Christians praised the son of Mary, for I am only a slave. So, call me the Slave of Allah and His Apostle.”
Concerning the verse quoted above, Allah confirms that indeed the Prophet is a human being, but He then characterizes the Prophet as someone endowed with a revelation that is meant to clarify the very purpose of all existence: and that is to recognize and pay homage to the grandeur of the Lord of the worlds. The medium by which such a critical and integral message is delivered to creation must not be undervalued or underestimated. As Allah Almighty says in a separate ayah of the Qur’an, “Indeed, We are going to descend upon you a weighty word.” It is among the magnificent aspects of the Qur’an that Allah determined that its immensity be revealed over a period of 23 years. We must then contemplate and revere the individual who Allah chose to reveal this book to and the distinction held by the Prophet because of this. After considering the process of revelation, its importance and its magnificence, would it then be fair to characterize the Prophet as simply a man with a message? Or must we recognize the greatness of our Prophet and conduct ourselves in a manner that befits his stature in the sight Allah Almighty?
Concerning the hadith: our scholars have created entire sciences dedicated to understanding the Prophet’s statements, how they shape our beliefs and how we can apply his example in our lives. The sciences of hadith [‘ulum al-hadith], Islamic creed [al-‘aqida] and purification of the ego [suluk] are essential starting points to approaching and properly grasping the life of our Prophet in general. Before we are able to begin understanding this specific hadith of the Prophet (may Allah bless him, and may He grant him peace) – or any other hadith for that matter, it is most suitable to do a few things: we must know to whom the Prophet was speaking, we must understand the context in which the Prophet gave his statements and we must be vigilant in not attempting to draw conclusions prematurely without proper recourse to classical explanations of such texts. As Sufyan ibn ‘Uyayna, an early scholar of the hadith sciences once said, “The realm of hadith is a place of misguidance without the aid of scholars.”
In making an initial and rudimentary attempt at understanding this hadith we must realize that the Prophet (may Allah bless him, and may He grant him contentment) was addressing the companions, who knew the Prophet’s stature and had a deep-seated love for him because of their dedication to the Lord, His message and the Prophet’s personality. The companions were well known for expressing their love for the Prophet through holding firm to his sunna, praising him, composing poetry to describe his limitless virtuosity and regularly performing charismatic feats of self sacrifice for the Prophet’s sake. Although love for the Prophet is an essential characteristic to being Muslim, and we all claim to love the Prophet, we cannot dare to say that our love for the Prophet rivals the love that that blessed generation had for him; the Prophet was not trying to discourage his followers from praising. The Prophet was setting a boundary for a people whom he knew already loved him, were dedicated to him and were already praising him profusely on a consistent basis; the adith in no way indicates that it is inappropriate to go to lengths in praising the Prophet. Rather, the Prophet is setting a boundary for praise that is appropriate. The Prophet is forbidding his followers from attributing divinity to him. The Prophet was not issuing his statement in a vacuum of ignorance in which people did not know the importance of their prophet; he gave his statements in an atmosphere where the Prophetic majestic was regularly on display: the laws of nature were all but coming to halt by way of miracles and the message of Islam was flourishing, penetrating hearts and transforming lives at a rate never seen before in history.
As Allah Almighty says in Surah al-Hujurat, “And be well aware and cognizant that the Messenger of Allah is in your midst.” And as it is clear in Surah al-Hujurat, Allah is telling the believers that must respect the fact that they were dwelling with the Allah’s honorable Emissary in their company, and that such a blessing is not a thing to be taken lightly. Rather, the people should have the utmost respect and reverence for Allah’s Messenger because he was dwelling among them.
Unfortunately, our times are much different, and this does not need much illustration. We do not have Allah’s Messenger living amongst us; rather, some Muslims are even in doubt about whether the Prophet even really existed. We live in times where recognizing the Prophet’s greatness requires more work, dedication and consideration. Using the above hadith as if it was recorded to discourage praise of the Prophet is then just that much more to our detriment and destruction.
Let us then work to recognize the grandeur of our Prophet. Let us reintroduce his life into our lives. Let us pay homage to that most blessed medium of Divine revelation.
Ustadh Derrick is an advanced student of sacred knowledge. He has degrees in journalism and Arabic from the University of Florida. He currently serves as head of Sanad Prep’s advanced Qur’an and Hifz program.
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