There has never been an apostle of God or a messenger whom Allah Has so willed and affirmed His statement or speech with his name except prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam).
He Has done this as an expression of His unparalleled love to him as He did sometimes whenever He wants to affirm or swear when He resorted to His own names and the names of special creatures of Him such as names of times of the day ( by the Time, by the morning light, by the sun, etc ) , name of His city ( Makkah) and the sky ( by the sky and the night-visitant), whereas He Has not deemed the name of any of human being fit to be used for affirmation or swearing but the names of prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam)
Nay, this is what Allah Has done in Suratul-Yasin and Taha in the glorious Qur’an while He wants to affirm the truth of the apostleship of Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) and the consolation of the fact that the revelation of the Qur’an to him would not be a source of distress ,sorrow and pain to him alas! its revelation is only an admonition to those who fear God! These are contained in Qu’ran 36:1-2 and Qur’an 20:1-3 below respectively:
” Ya-Sin ( i.e by you Muhammad) and by the Qur’an,full of wisdom;
You are indeed one of the messengers”
And :
” Ta-Ha.
We have not sent down the Qur’an to you so that you will be distressed ,
But only an admonition to those who fear ( Allah)!.
And when God Had wanted to confirm the wild intoxication and lust of the people of Lut in the glorious Qur’an, He had benevolently used the pious and moral life of prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) to swear as a pointer to the degree of their lustfulness had reached . We read in the glorious Qur’an about that as follows:
” Verily, by your life ( O prophet), in their wild intoxication, they wander in distraction to and fro” _ Qu’ran 15:72
Not only that, every other heavenly prophets (Alehim Sallam) are called by their names whenever God decides to summon them either for admonition or as an encouragement to guidance ,but in the case of prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam), God Has instead employed his monikers, attributes and other depictions of him to summon him !
For examples, whereas prophet Daud ( alehi Salam) was directly called by his name in verse 26 of surah Saad, Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) is called Al- Mudathir in verse 1 of Surah Mudathir respectively as follows:
” O David! We did indeed make you a vicegerent on earth : so judged between men in truth and justice : nor follow the lust of your heart, for it will mislead you from the path”
” O you who Wrapped up in a mantle ( i.e O Muhammad who Wrapped up in mantle!)
The examples of the above cases between the manners of calling other prophets with their direct names and Muhammad with his attributes and other positive depictions are many in the glorious Qur’an. Besides, God out of His love for prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) Has gone a step higher than in His love for the rest of His apostles by forbidding the followers of Muhammad to call him directly using his direct name when calling him.
This is contained in Qu’ran 63 of Suratul-Nur as follows:
Deem not the summons of the Messenger ( Muhammad) among yourselves like the summons of one of you to another…”
And for all the praise and elevation of prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) by God, the prophet salla-llahu alehi wasalam had not disappointed his praiser nor found wanting in good behaviour for all the 23 years of his apostleship! His morals and disposition have been at the top of the packs among the comity of other apostles of God before him and the saints!
In terms of containment of anger and dealing with others, both Muslims and non-Muslims, during the period of peace and in the time of war, prophet Muhammad ‘s disposition has been the best and exemplary. For examples:
When members of his community who were living in the counties and remote areas of the cities in the Arabian peninsula and who were naturally rough and bucolic in manner and character due to their environment would come to the city to ask the prophet ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) on the matters of religion and their supposedly rights, they would overdo these and even went above board to attack the prophet but the prophet ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) would handle their cases as if they had just not been rough in their approach to him and sometimes,after they had physically maltreated him, he would still be smiling with them and even giving them their demand with cheerfulness!
For example,as narrated by Anas Bin Malik in an Hadith:
” While I was walking with the prophet ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) who was wearing a Najrani outer garment with a thick hem, a Bedouin came upon the prophet ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) and pulled his garment so violently that I could recognize the impress of the hem of the garment on his shoulder caused by the violence of his pull.
” Then the Bedouin said, “order for me something from Allah’s fortune which you have”. The prophet ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) turned to him and smiled, and ordered that a gift be given to him!”
In this regards , Anas Bin Malik while commenting on the enviable personality of prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) has this to say in an Hadith:
” I have never touched a fabric or a silk as soft as the palms of prophet Muhammad (salla-llahu alehi wasalam) as I have not felt a fragrance so fresh and clean like that of prophet Muhammad ( Salla-llahu alehi wasalam); I had been his maid for ten good years but he had not used jarring or vulgar words on me no matter how small; and he has not asked me on something I had done;” why did you do it?” ; and on things I had not done, he had never said :” won’t you do it?”
And on the day of Hud when his teeth had been lost with a lot of blood , prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) had instead of cursing the pagans that did this to him, rubbed the blood from his own face and prayed for those who had attacked him thus :
” Oh Lord ! Pardon the people of my community for they know not !”
In terms of moderation during the periods of buoyancy and wants, ‘Aisha his wife has reported this :
” I have not witnessed the prophet ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) occupied himself with laughter till you will see his upper teeth, what he did was smiling ( not laughter)
Rights Of Prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) Over His Community
If we can deliberate on the uncountable favours of God on prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) ,how can one not respect and honour whom God Has showered respect and honoured whom He Has honoured? An intentional deliberation on the blessing of Allah on Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam), which has presupposed our blessing too, will make us come to a realization that honouring him with some rights while he lives and after his death is not too much on our parts.
Therefore, below are some of his rights on us ,we his followers and people of his communities:
_ Believing In Him
Concerning this, Allah says in His Book;
” O you who believe! Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and the scripture which He Has sent to His Messenger and the scripture which He sent to those before him. For anyone who denies Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Day of judgement,has gone far, far astray” Qu’ran 4: 136
Qadi-‘Iyad ( may he be blessed by God) said : believing in prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) entails accepting his apostleship as truth from God and the believe in all what he has brought with the mind and the affirmation of this with the tongue in conjunction with the practice of it with one’s body!
Prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) himself has declared on the importance of believing in him in one of his sayings as follows:
” From Abiy Hurrairah ( may he be pleased with) who said that the prophet ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) said:
” By the one on whose hands possessed my hands, nobody will hear me among this community whether he be a Jew or a Christian and he dies without believing in what I had been sent with except that he be among the people”
_Loving Him
Loving the prophet ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) is a lofty basis out of the basics of believing in him in Islam. Allah exalted is He, Says:
” Say: If it be that your fathers , your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred: the wealth that you have gained; the commerce in which you fear a decline: or the dwellings in which you delight _are dearer to you than Allah or His Messenger,or the striving in His cause;- then wait until Allah brings about His decision: and Allah guides not the rebellious”
_Qur’an 9:24
When the seeds of belief is planted in a soul and it is irrigated with the water of sincerity and the love of prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam), it will germinates many a fruitful harvest and feed many a people without hindrance since it is a tree which basis is surefooted!
Loving the prophet ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) also entails obeying his directives and Sunnah ( practices and traditions) ! Allah says:
” He who obeys the Messenger ( Muhammad) has indeed obeyed Allah!” _Qur’an 4:80
This also expressly encompasses following his footsteps and covers practicing his traditions as he had done while alive!
_ Adoring and Venerating Him
For Allah Has promised those that have cultivated the habits of adoring and venerating him success and way out of problems in this life and in the hereafter! We read in the glorious Qur’an as follows:
” Those who follow the Messenger ( Muhammad) , the unlettered prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own scriptures , in the Taurat 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( what is 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.”
_ Relating With Him After His Death
Ibn Al-‘Arabiyyi said:
” Honouring the prophet ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) after his death is like honouring him while alive! And his reported words at death are like his words while living! Therefore, when his words are being recited, it is compulsory for everyone who is present to not raise their voice above the voice of the one who is reciting the prophet’s words and while they should not move out of the place where his statements are being rendered!”
The Examples Of ‘Umar Bn Khattab And Imam Malik With The Prophet’s Words And Honour After His Demise!
‘Umar Bn Khattab ( Radiya-llahu anhu) used to punish who raised their voice in the mosque of the prophet in Madina after the prophet’s demise.
From Saahib Bn Yaziid who said :” I was standing in the Mosque one day when two men started throwing pebbles at one another and when I gazed forward to look at the them, I saw ‘Umar coming who said : ” Go and bring the two persons who are throwing pebbles at one another here for me! ”
When I had brought them to him, he said:” where are you both from? ” And they replied: ” we are from Taifah! And ‘Umar said :” are they being both of you are from this city, I would have made sure I deal decisively with you for raising your voice in the prophet’s Mosque ”
Abiy Awsi said:
” Whenever Imam Malik ( rahimahu llahu Rahmatan wasi’a) wanted to teach the ahadith of the prophet ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) he would perform ablution, sit in the middle of his mat; comb his beard and sit well in his mat again with reverence and fear and he would now begin teaching the ahadith of the prophet ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam)!
It is therefore instructive that the Muslims of this era and every era must endeavor to honour, serenade and obey the one who the Creator of the heavens and earth Has honoured, serenaded and commanded us to honour and serenade when He said :
” Allah and His Angels , send blessing on the prophet; o you that believe! Send blessing on him, and salute him with all respect !” _Qur’an 33:56