Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) was a special man, a very special man indeed. The messenger of Allah, the leader of the believers, the intercessor for the believers on the Day of Judgment, and above all, the one with the highest status before Allah: He deserves very special rights. These rights, argues Umm Abdur Rahman Hirschfelder: “… have been enjoined upon us by Allah and are part of safeguarding the perfect religion of Islaam.”
It is no surprise; therefore, that he himself warned the believers not to take his love and his rights beyond what is honorably suitable for a man, for he was after all just a man and a servant to Allah. Hirshcfelder in her lucid compilation of the rights of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) emphasizes that: “… it is also important that we do not go to extremes regarding his rights.”
The Rights of the Prophet
Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) deserves special rights: Rights which are due only to the final Prophet and Messenger (ﷺ). These rights have been enjoined upon us by Allah and are part of safeguarding the perfect religion of Islaam. Unfortunately, many Muslims today have become confused about these rights and have introduced innovations that have no basis in Islaam. The Prophet knew that such practices would happen and warned against them, “Beware of newly invented matters [in religion] for every invented matter [in religion] is a cursed innovation which leads astray.” So Muslims must stick to giving our Prophet (ﷺ) the rights given to him by Allah, and stay away from innovations that either ignore these rights or take them to extremes.
Allah sent Muhammad (ﷺ) to all of mankind, with the divine message of, La Ilaah Illa Allah. He brought glad tidings of Paradise to the believers and warning of the punishment of Hellfire to the disbelievers. He called to Tawheed53, the belief that Allah is the sole Creator and Lord of the universe, and therefore only He should be worshipped. Believing in Allah requires believing in His Messenger (ﷺ), and according him his rights, which are:
The First Right: To Believe Him and Believe in Him
There is no doubt that the first of our Prophet’s rights is to believe in him and to believe in the message he was sent with. Allah says: “ So believe in Allah and His Messenger and the light [i.e., the Qur’an] which We have sent down.” [64:8] Al-Qadhi Eyaadh said in “Ash-Shifaa” (his famous and important book about the rights of the Prophet (ﷺ)) that: “Belief in the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is therefore an obligation for every individual. Belief is not complete without it and Islaam is only valid with it.” Allah has linked belief in Him with belief in His Messenger. They are inseparable. This
is what Shahadah54 means. Even if people follow other prophets like Moses and Jesus, sallAllahu alayhem wa sallam, they are not believers until they completely follow the teachings of Muhammad (ﷺ). Believing in the Prophet (ﷺ), therefore, is about living according to his guidance. It is much more than just mere recognition of the fact that he is a prophet. Allah says: “When the hypocrites come to you, [O Muhammad], they say, “We testify that you are the Messenger of Allah.” And Allah knows that you are His Messenger, and Allah testifies that the hypocrites are liars.” [63:1]
At the time of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) the Jews who lived in Arabia had been waiting for the promised Prophet that they knew about from their scriptures. But when Muhammad (ﷺ) came they rejected him out of arrogance because he was not a Jew. Many of the rabbis, however, recognized that he was a Prophet but did not accept him or believe in him. Allah says about them: “Those to whom We gave the Scripture know him [i.e., Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)] as they know their own sons. But indeed, a party of them conceal the truth while they know [it].” [2:146]
The scholar Ibn Is-haaq reports in his biography of the Prophet (ﷺ) that Safiya bint Huyayy said: “I was the favorite child of my father and my Uncle Abu Yasir. When I was present they took no notice of their other children. When the apostle was staying in Quba with the brother Amr ibn Auf, the two went to see him before daybreak and did not return until after nightfall, weary, worn out, drooping and feeble. I went up to them in childish pleasure as I always did, and they were so sunk in gloom that they took no notice of me. I heard my uncle say to my father: ‘Is he the one? Do you recognize him? Can you be sure?’ ‘Yes!’ ‘And what do you feel about him?” “By God I shall be his enemy as long as I live!’
” Believing in something is more than just recognizing that it exists. Satan; as explained in the Qur’an; recognizes that Allah exists yet he is the worst of the disbelievers.
The second Right: To Obey Him
The second right due to our beloved Prophet (ﷺ) is that we obey him. Allah says: “O you, who have believed, obey Allah and His Messenger…” [8:20] Allah has mentioned obedience to the Messenger in connection with obedience to Him. You cannot have one without the other. Obeying the Messenger means, following his commands and staying away from what he has prohibited. Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet said; “All of my followers will enter Paradise except for those who refuse to.” They asked, “O Messenger of Allah; who will refuse?” He replied. “Whoever obeys me will enter the Paradise. Whoever disobeys me has refused.
The Third Right: To Follow Him
Allah says: “There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day…” [33:21] Commenting on this verse, the scholar Imam At-Tirmithi said: “To take the Messenger as a model means to emulate him, follow his Sunnah and avoid opposition to him in either word or action.” We should strive to follow his mode of life, implement his instructions, and emulate his actions, conduct and manners.
We can see from the Prophet’s companions, the way in which they emulated the Prophet (ﷺ), followed his examples, and modeled their behavior after his. This is what it means to follow Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). A man from Khalid ibn Asid’s family asked Abdullah ibn Umar: “Abu Abdurrahman: We find the
fear prayer58 and the home prayer in the Qur’an, but we do not find the travel prayer (prayer performed while traveling).” Ibn Umar said: “O My nephew: Allah sent Muhammad (ﷺ) to us when we did not know anything. We do as we saw him doing.
”When Umar looked at the Black Stone he said: “You are a stone that can neither help nor harm. Had I not seen the Messenger of Allah kiss you, I would not have kissed you.” Then he kissed it. Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz said: “The
Messenger of Allah made a Sunnah and the people in command after him made Sunnahs. To adopt them is to confirm the Book of Allah and to act on them is to obey Allah and strengthen the Deen61 of Allah. It is not for anyone to change the Sunnah, or alter it, or to look into the opinion of those who oppose it. Whoever follows it is guided. Whoever seeks help by it, will have victory. Whoever opposes it and follows other than the path of the believers, Allah will entrust him to what he turns to and will roast him in the Hellfire, which is a bad ending.”
The Forth Right: To Love Him
A Muslim must love the Prophet truthfully. Allah says: “Say, [O Muhammad], “If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, wealth which you have obtained, commerce wherein you fear decline, and dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and Jihaad [i.e., striving] in His cause, then wait until Allah executes His command.” [9:25] The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “None of you will believe until I am more beloved to you than your children, your fathers and all people.” Umar ibn Al-Khattab said to the Prophet (ﷺ): “I love you more than anything except my soul, which is between my two sides.” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied: “None of you will believe until I am dearer to him than his own soul.” Umar [having briefly reflected on the matter] said: “By the One who sent down the Book to you, I love you more than my soul which is between my two sides.” The Prophet said: “Now O Umar, now you have it.
Related to this love is Nasiha. It is used to designate the desire for what is good for the one who is its object. Linguistically it means purity. The Messenger
of Allah said “Deen is Nasiha. Deen is Nasiha. Deen is Nasiha.” They asked: “To whom, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “To Allah and His Book and His Messenger and the rulers of the Muslims and to the common people.” Nasiha to the Messenger of Allah is confirming his Prophethood, obeying him, supporting and protecting him, and following his Sunnah. The scholar Abu Bakr al-Ajurri said: “Nasiha for his sake includes two types of sincere conduct: One is Nasiha during his lifetime and the other is Nasiha after his death.” During his lifetime it was helping, protecting, and obeying him. After his death it is “by maintaining esteem, respect and great love for him, and by persevering in learning his Sunnah and understanding his Shari’ah. It is to love his family and his companions, to avoid things disliked in his Sunnah and what deviates from it.
”As loving the Prophet (ﷺ) is an obligation, it comes with an excellent reward. Anas said that a man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and asked: “When will the last Hour come, Messenger of Allah?” He said: “What have you prepared for it?” The man said: “I have not prepared a lot of prayer or fasting or charity for it, but I love Allah and His Messenger.” The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “You will be with the ones you love.” He also said: “Whoever loves me will be with me in the Garden.”
Love for Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) manifests itself in many ways. It means we will prefer what the Prophet (ﷺ) came with over our own desires. Our anger against people will be for the sake of Allah. We will remember and mention the Prophet (ﷺ) often. We will have a yearning to meet him. We will exalt and respect him and be humble when we hear his name mentioned. We will have love for the Qur’an that the Prophet (ﷺ) brought. We will have compassion for his community, striving for their best interests.
