Rights of God’s Messenger
Just as the Prophet (sws) had obligations as well as
responsibilities towards his ummah according to his position,
he also had rights which his addressees, the faithful and in
general, the Muslim ummah were required to fulfill. Among
these, some rights were clarified to the faithful of ancient
times and promises taken from them that they would not
hesitate to fulfill his rights when the last prophet came. The
narrative of these promises was present among the People of
the Book for centuries, and they were reminded of it at the
time when the Prophet (sws) was bestowed prophethood. It would
be better if we discuss this before taking up the general
rights of the Prophet (sws).
Demands of the Narrative of rights of the Promised prophet
among the People of the Book
Within the
context of predictions of the prophets of the Israelites, it
has been stated above that covenants had been taken from the
Israelites from time to time that when a messenger possessing
certain qualities came, they would believe in him and support
him in every way. This promise has been specially mentioned in
the Qur’an to awaken the People of the Book who were living
during the time of the Prophet (sws). The personality for
whose welcome they had been prepared for centuries had come as
a mercy for the world, but their situation was that they were
in a stupor of ignorance. The Qur’an said:
Behold! Allah took the covenant of the prophets, saying: “I
give you a Book and Wisdom; then comes to you an apostle,
confirming what is with you; do ye believe in him and render
him help.” Allah said: “Do ye agree, and take this my Covenant
as binding on you?” They said: “We agree.” He said: “Then bear
witness, and I am with you among the witnesses.” If any turn
back after this, they are perverted transgressors. (3:81-82)
Verse 187 of
Surah Al ‘Imran also clarifies that the People of the Book had
been bound by their promise that they would declare this
promise openly to others and at no stage would they make any
attempt to hide it. This would ensure that it got rooted
within the memory of people and their commitment and loyalties
to his rights as soon as the last prophet was known.
A few points
become very clear from the above quoted verse. Firstly, that
this promise was taken from various prophets one after the
other from the people of the Book. This is why it is called
“covenant of prophets”. Secondly, the promise taken was
related to a messenger to come in the future and many of his
attributes were explained. It was instructed that only the
messenger who possessed those attributes would be considered
to be the objective of this covenant. Thirdly, this promise
was related to belief in that messenger and to providing him
the support he would require to fulfill his responsibilities.
This meant that when that great person gained prophethood, his
status as a messenger of God was to be believed with full
faith in the heart. The message which he presented would be
taken as a message from God; he would be supported in
spreading and communicating this message and be protected from
his enemies. Fourthly, in every period of time, People of the
Book reiterated their promise and made God their witness upon
it.
Referring to
this covenant, the Qur’an instructed the Prophet (sws) to
invite the People of the Book to believe in him. If they did
so, they would find blessings to come to the right path:
Say: “O people! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of
Allah, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the
earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life
and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the
Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words:
follow him that (so) ye may be guided.” (7:158)
It was also
clarified that if any path of redemption remained for the
People of the Book, it was in that they act upon this ancient
covenant and believe in the Prophet (sws). They were to be
with him in his struggles; devote their strength and
capabilities to his support and backing and were to become an
inviolable wall for him against his enemies. They were then
not to live their lives according to their own desires but in
the light of what had been sent down with him from heaven:
Those who follow the apostle, the unlettered Prophet, whom
they find mentioned in their own [scriptures], -- in the law
and the Gospel; -- for he commands them what is just and
forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is
good [and pure] and prohibits them from what is bad [and
impure]; He releases them from their heavy burdens and from
the yokes that are upon them. So it is those who believe in
him, honour him, help him, and follow the light which is sent
down with him, it is they who will prosper. (3:157)
People of the
Book were also given the glad tidings of double reward by the
mercy of God, if they believed in the Prophet (sws) after
recognizing him, while retaining their belief in their own
sacred books. One of these rewards was for remaining on the
teaching they received from their prophets and the other for
fulfilling their promise to believe in the Prophet (sws).
Thus, according
to the narrative that existed among the People of the Book,
the rights of the Prophet (sws) were as follows:
That he would be
believed in with full and firm faith of the heart, i.e. he was
the last link in the chain of prophets sent by God. The
teaching he possessed was based on truth and the message from
God which He had sent for the well being of humans. It was an
obligation for every human being to accept it and make it a
guiding light for his life. Ignoring it would have dangerous
consequences that would bring a person as a criminal in front
of God.
That the Prophet
(sws) be protected against his enemies. This means that
enemies and detractors would be punished and a wall of support
would be erected for him.
That the Prophet
(sws) be supported. Support means every kind of help,
cooperation and agreement. This would mean that full
cooperation would be offered in fulfilling the Prophet’s
responsibilities and no effort would be spared in spreading
his message. If some people became active to stop him, People
of the Book would become his right hand.
And that the
Book which he brought be accepted as heavenly guidance and
that it be used as the torch with which to light up one’s path
in life.
Although the
promises made during previous times were very clear in their
requirements, the Qur’an still made them explicit in order to
ensure that the People of the Book living in the time of the
Prophet (sws) would not be under any misunderstanding. In
spite of this, they became proof of the parable of Jesus (sws)
according to which when virgin brides were informed of the
coming of their grooms, they remained awake throughout the
night and kept their candles alight. Yet, when the time came
for the groom to arrive, they blew out their candles and went
to sleep. Even after the Prophet (sws), it is incumbent upon
those who follow the prophets of the Israelites to believe in
the guidance and religion brought by the Prophet (sws) and
play their role in spreading it. It is only by doing so that
they will be able to find the right path.
Now we will
clarify to a great extent the general rights of the Prophet (sws)
to which the Qur’an has referred.
Belief
Since man is the
caliph of God in this world, He has established a system of
prophethood and messengership in order to provide guidance for
man’s deeds. God provided His guidance in the form of sacred
texts that were then explained by both the words and deeds of
prophets and messengers. Then He declared the Prophet (sws) to
be the best of all prophets and the sacred text which he
brought to be the complete and preserved guidance. Therefore,
it is not sufficient to believe that the Prophet (sws) was
just one of all prophets. In contrast, belief in him requires
that the Prophet (sws) be considered as an essential link for
connection and relationship between God and humans. There must
be total trust in him that the message which he brought is, in
reality, the message from God, which if accepted by a human
being can be a source of redemption for him. To ignore it
would be equivalent to rebellion against God. To clarify this
message, what the Prophet (sws) said or did is also an
essential part of faith. If one turns one’s eyes away from it,
one is guilty of relinquishing a part of religion. The
teachings of the Prophet (sws) are eternal and will remain
permanent, from the need of which man can never be free.
Unless man accepts this status of the Prophet (sws), he can
never be successful before God. The guidance brought by
earlier prophets of ancient times is no longer of any use.
This is why the Prophet (sws) said: “If today, Moses (sws)
comes to this world, he will not have any option but to become
my follower. And if Jesus (sws) comes, instead of becoming the
Imam of prayer, he would request someone from my ummah to lead
the prayer.”
Obedience
A messenger of
God not only possesses verbal teaching, but also instructions
and guidance, obeying which is necessary for anyone who
believes in that messenger. This is why obedience of the
Prophet (sws) is his right about which God has said Himself:
We sent not an apostle, but to be obeyed, in accordance with
the will of Allah. (4:64)
In Surah
Muhammad, verse 33, God has asked people to obey Him and the
Prophet (sws). If they are not obeyed, just believing in them
would be meaningless and apparently good deeds would be in
vain.
Obedience
requires that before taking any step in life, a person should
first determine what guidance God and His Messenger have given
about that matter. When it is clarified that a particular
cause of action has been stated to be correct by the Book of
God and the Sunnah of the Prophet (sws), no possible worldly
benefit should be a barrier to adopt this course of action and
neither the love of dear ones nor the enmity of enemies should
stop him from taking the right step. He should be thoroughly
satisfied and happy with whatever guidance he receives from
the Book and Sunnah about his problems and not let any doubt
or concern come within his heart against these.
The Qur’an did
not accept the faith of those who pretended to believe in God
and the Prophet (sws), promised that they would obey them and
then rescinded on the same. (24:47). Similarly, it was also
clarified that no faithful person had any right to act against
the ruling of the Prophet (sws). Disobedience of the Prophet (sws)
could easily throw him into a pit of ignorance and be the
cause of his destruction. (33:36)
The Prophet (sws)
also removed the concern of people when they said that they
would not be able to receive guidance after he had passed
away. He said that he was leaving two things with them. As
long as they held on to these firmly, they would never be
misguided. These were the Book of God and the Sunnah of His
Messenger (Mawatta’, Kitab al-qadr, chapter 1). In this way,
the Prophet (sws) declared his Sunnah to be representative of
his being. Because this Sunnah has been preserved as part of
the practice of the Muslim ummah, as long as the world exists
and as long as Muslims exist in the world, the same Sunnah is
available to guide humankind.
Ittiba‘ (Following the Footsteps)
Ittiba‘ means following every footstep of someone. The effort
is that one tries to do exactly what the person in front is
doing. One tries to develop the same qualities in oneself
because when God’s messenger acts in a particular manner, it
is the best way the deed can be carried out. This is why a
messenger’s deeds are a perfect example or uswah-e hasanah.
The more a person of faith acts to be as close as possible to
this deed, the better his deed and the more acceptable by God.
The companions of the Prophet (sws) were in the habit of
observing his each and every action, keeping it in mind and
copying it and demonstrating it in front of those who were not
in the presence of the Prophet (sws) earlier. This is the
reason why innumerous acts and deeds of the Prophet (sws) have
entered the practices of the ummah such that every person
follows these by himself. Books of Ahadith contain detailed
explanations of the Prophet (sws)’s sleeping, waking, getting
up, sitting down, eating, drinking and talking. The companions
demonstrated to their friends how the Prophet (sws) carried
out ablutions and took a bath. Everyone amongst them desired
that he should mould his life in the example of that of the
Prophet (sws)’s preferences by following him closely.
One follows another when one possesses deep respect for him.
Since a messenger is a representative of God, by demonstrating
one’s love for him and, as a result, following in his
footsteps, he shows his love for God directly. This, in itself
makes him a beloved servant of God. The Qur’an said:
Say: “If ye do love Allah, Follow me: Allah will love you and
forgive you your sins.” (3:31)
This means that the way to show love for God also comes
through emulating the Prophet (sws).
As stated above, the ummah has absorbed many of the preferred
attitudes and behaviour of the Prophet (sws) within its
practices. Hence, every person of faith can follow it and
transform his life according to that of the Prophet (sws)’s.
God will not accept his excuse that since he was not present
during the times of the Prophet (sws), he remained deprived of
his emulation.
Love
An important right of the Prophet (sws) is that he should be
loved. During his lifetime, some Muslims claimed that they
loved him, but harboured spite against him in their hearts.
Similarly, the hypocrites would come to the mosque when he
called them and apparently even obeyed the instructions that
he gave, but all of this was mere drama. Their hearts did not
support their actions and as soon as they could find an
excuse, they would leave, without caring that this would cause
the Prophet (sws) to be displeased. God did not accept the
faith and obedience of such people. Thus, the faith and
obedience which is not based on love is not to be trustworthy.
The Prophet (sws) himself explained this as follows: “None
amongst you would be a believer until I become for him more
beloved than his children, his father and all other people.”
This statement of the Prophet (sws) means that love for him
should dominate that for everyone else. Everything in the
world can be given up for it, but it cannot be given up at any
cost. Obviously, this love demands that the person neither
ignores the teaching brought by the Prophet (sws) nor the ways
to implement the same, i.e. the Sunnah. In case his desires
are a barrier in this path, he should sacrifice his wishes and
if his wives, children, parents or clans and tribes try to
stop him, he should reject their demands. This reality was
stated by the Prophet (sws) thus: “He who loves my Sunnah
loves me and he who loves me would be with me in Paradise.” (Tirmidhi)
One requirement of this love is that a person should always be
praying to God for mercy for the Prophet (sws) and his safety.
The reason is that every person of faith is grateful to the
Prophet (sws) for communicating the message of God to the
ummah with so much effort and for opening up the path to
redemption for the faithful. Just as every good person
remembers his parents and relatives in his prayers and
beseeches God for forgiveness for them after they have passed
away, so was loving him to the extent of dying for him during
his lifetime and protecting him from harm was the
responsibility of every Muslim. Without any doubt, it is his
right that people pray for his safety and mercy and for his
levels in Paradise to be raised after his demise. The Prophet
(sws) declared the person who does not pray for him when his
name is taken to be a miser. This requirement of love for him
has a special mention in the Qur’an. It was said:
Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that
believe! Send ye blessings on him, and salute him with all
respect. (33:56)
Protection of the Mission
Just as the People of the Book were advised to become a
support for the Prophet (sws), so was the Muslim ummah told to
take up the responsibility to help in fulfilling the mission
of the Prophet (sws). When the ummah was bestowed with the
qiblah of Ibrahim (the ka‘bah), it was clarified to them that
after this, God was including them in accomplishment of the
obligations of the Prophet (sws). He would be witness of God’s
religion for them and they would communicate this truth to
other servants of God. It was not the responsibility of the
Prophet (sws) alone to communicate the religion of truth to
the rest of the world. It was said:
Thus, have We made of you an ummah justly balanced, that ye
might be witnesses over the nations, and the Messenger a
witness over yourselves. (2:143)
The manner in which the Prophet (sws) extended the sphere of
communicating the religion stage by stage has been explained
earlier. A stage was reached when his invitation extended
beyond the Arabian Peninsula and introduced to Romans,
Persians and the people of Abyssinia and many rulers had
started to feel its strength. Wherever people accepted Islam,
the companions went there to provide knowledge of the Qur’an
and to teach the faith, thus fulfilling their
responsibilities. After the Prophet’s demise, the ummah was
mobilized and fought with every force which resisted the
spread of Islam. It took up the responsibilities of
messengership and spent its energies in recitation of God’s
verses, education of the Book and its wisdom and purification
of people. Hence we observe that while previous ummahs were
neither able to maintain their own beliefs, nor protect their
texts, nor stay steadfast on their worship, the Muslim ummah
made its Book the light to the true path, memorized it,
preserved its language and its knowledge and tried to transfer
the sayings and actions of the Prophet (sws) in their actual
form to subsequent generations. The worship routines of
prayer, fasting and Hajj are still being performed exactly in
the same way as they were during the time of the Prophet (sws).
The understanding of true belief can be availed by anyone who
seeks it while avoiding irreligious or perverted beliefs. The
passion to spread the religion of truth and to fight against
wrong beliefs ideologies and life systems is still present
within the ummah, even though this passion may be found in a
small number of people. However small the role of the ummah
after the Prophet (sws) may be, it is not possible to ignore
the fact that its services to retain the religion of truth in
comparison with those of previous ummahs are far more worthy
of praise.
More needs to be done today to accomplish the Prophet (sws)’s
mission. The ummah is faced with the divisions of which the
Qur’an had warned and instructed it to hold on tight to the
rope of God. The Prophet (sws) had said that Muslims should
not let go of the Book of God and his Sunnah, otherwise
guidance would be lost. If The Muslim ummah unites to hold on
to the Book of God and the Sunnah and make arrangements to
implement the same in practical life, there will be no reason
for the helplessness it faces today. At present, Muslims live
in all continents and speak different languages. They lack
religious knowledge. There is no centre for them that can
cater to their needs, address their problems and make
available to them religious knowhow in their own languages.
The need of the day is for Muslims to garner their resources
and create a centre for themselves. They should use it to make
decisions that are beneficial for themselves, create linkages
with all Muslims of the world to become a strength and prove
to the world that they are connected to their religion from
the depths of their hearts and consider it a blessing to
communicate the same to the rest of the people.
Reverence
Reverence of the Prophet (sws) means recognizing his great and
noble status, giving him the respect appropriate to his
elevated position and being grateful to him. Some people have
the habit of giving their own selves extraordinary importance
and thinking of the rest of the world as beneath them. They
are unwilling to give consideration to the most noble and
respected of people. In front of such people, they try to
behave artfully, pretending to be great leaders. The
requirement of holding the Prophet (sws) in veneration by a
faithful person is to consider oneself the lowest of all in
front of him and remain subdued, because he was the teacher
and patron of everyone who possessed faith. He should always
be careful in case he becomes guilty of something which may
cause him to be disrespectful to the Prophet (sws) in any way
whatsoever.
The Qur’an considered the attitude of disrespect towards the
Prophet (sws) to be akin to lack of fear of God and gave
strong injunctions to Muslims that they remain within their
boundaries and not try to outreach themselves in getting ahead
of the Prophet (sws). Similarly, when they talked to him, they
were not to do so in an overbearing style but present their
problems to him with respect. During this time, their voices
were not be raised above that of the Prophet (sws)’s. It was
said:
O Ye who believe! Put not yourselves forward before Allah and
His Messenger. but fear Allah. for Allah is He Who hears and
knows all things. O ye who believe! Raise not your voices
above the voice of the Prophet, nor speak aloud to him in
talk, as ye may speak aloud to one another, lest your deeds
become vain and ye perceive not. (49:1-2)
It had become necessary to give this instruction to the
companions because when the Islamic state established itself
in Madinah after consecutive successes, many tribes considered
it in their interest to express their loyalties to Madinah.
Their leaders thought that since they had accepted to obey the
Islamic government without fighting with it, they had done a
favour to the Prophet (sws) by believing in him. They
considered it their right that when they came to Madinah, the
Prophet (sws) be overcome with gratitude and leave everything
else aside to serve them and accept every advice or opinion
which they expressed without any reservation. According to
narratives, they would address the Prophet (sws) as “O’ Muhammad”
at a level of equality, instead of the established form of “O
Messenger of God”. When the Prophet (sws) came, they would
present their problems or opinions in a voice louder than that
of the Prophet (sws). To correct these habits, they were told
that when a person accepts faith, he does not do a favour to
either God or His Prophet (sws). Rather, it is a favour upon
him from God that he has been given the guidance to believe
and come to the right path. Had God not been generous to him,
he would have been lost in the darkness of denial and
ultimately face the punishment which will be the fate of all
those who deny.
A terrible
consequence of the attitude of not valuing the Prophet (sws)
has been described by the Qur’an in that such a person’s good
deeds go waste and, in his arrogance, he remains unaware of
the horrible accident that has happened to him. When he comes
before God on the Day of Judgement, he will find out that he
has no good deed to call his own. In other words, disrespect
to the Prophet (sws) is such a great sin that it overcomes all
the good that a person may have done in his whole life and
neutralizes it. This is the reason why people of faith never
utter a single word that may be considered to be
disrespectful. When they pray for mercy for the Prophet (sws)
at his grave, they do so with great humility. If anyone
recites in a loud voice, the guards stop him and advise him to
read in a low tone. Even people sitting in the Masjid-i Nabawi
keep their voices low.
It is totally wrong to say that putting one’s own views above
those of the Prophet (sws) was limited only to the life time
of the Prophet (sws). The fact is that he is the seal of
prophets. His education, his way of life and his Sunnah is the
light to guide every man’s life until the Day of Judgement.
Every truly faithful person cannot consider him to be someone
who has disappeared into the past, but feels his spirituality
in the present too and establishes a connection of love with
him. Thus, it is necessary today also that the Prophet (sws)
be revered and venerated as his essential right; his teachings
not be declared to be out of date and non aligned with needs
of current times and one’s good deeds not be destroyed by
bringing the prophet (sws) to the same level and negating his
noble status.
At present times, groups influenced by the West are determined
to believe that religion is irrelevant and the systems
proposed by it and instructions of the shari‘ah are things of
the past, thus wanting to break away from them. Such people
are frustrated by the religion brought by the Prophet (sws)
and consider the boundaries which it set to be barriers to
their indecent independence and lives of comfort. Similarly,
those who have set up systems of their own in parallel to
those of true religion and wish to keep others confused in
their labyrinths are not fulfilling any right of the Prophet (sws).
They claim to be among the faithful apparently, but shall be
exposed when they are presented in front of the One who knows
whatever is hidden. It is only then that the truth of their
claims shall emerge. For such people, the Qur’an says:
O Mankind! The Messenger hath come to you in truth from Allah.
believe in him: It is best for you. But if ye reject Faith, to
Allah belong all things in the heavens and on earth: And Allah
is All-knowing, All-wise. (4:170)
(Translated by Nikhat Sattar)
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