Sunday 31 January 2010

The Prophet's respect

Allah always attaches His name with the name of Muhammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) and has raised his status beyond man’s imagination. This is the distinctive feature of the last Prophet Muhammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) that he was made the Prophet of the Prophets. God addressed the Muslims in these words.

“So that you may believe in Allah and His messenger that you may assist and honor him…” (48:9)

Another Ayah (verse of the Holy Quran) says:

“O believers! Put not yourselves forward before Allah and His messenger; but fear Allah, because Allah is He who hears and knows all things”. (49:1)

Again in Surah Al-Hujrat the respect for Muhammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) has been stressed.

“O believers! Raise not your voices above the voice of the Prophet, nor speak aloud to him in talk, as you may speak aloud to one another, lest your deeds you waste and you perceive not”. (49:2)

It reveals that just by raising one’s voice from that of Muhammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) all one’s good deeds like prayers, Hajj, Zakat etc. may go waste. Certainly, success in both the worlds is entirely dependent on the respect one has for Muhammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam). Allah says:

“Those who lower their voice in the presence of Allah’s Messenger, Allah has tested their hearts for piety. For them is forgiveness and a great reward” . (49:3).

There are three glad tidings for such persons, namely (i) Piety (ii) forgiveness and (iii) great reward. There are a number of Ayaat in the Quran that show that Allah has promised success in both the worlds and lot of outer and inner blessings for the pious. In the same way forgiveness by Allah is a great blessing as all other blessings in the hereafter depend on this one. Likewise, we cannot quantify the greatness of the blessing to which Allah himself has referred to as 'a great reward'. All this proves that the success in both the worlds depends on the respect for Muhammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam); and vice versa, disrespect (Allah forbid) leads to the failure and loss in both the worlds.

The Holy Quran prohibits the use of words for Muhammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) which may suggest disrespect for him. In Quran Allah has called those persons the foolish ones who do not keep in mind the respect for prophet Muhammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam):

“Those who shout out to you from outside your place, most of them lack sense” (49:4).

In another place it has been said:

“Consider not the summons of the messenger among yourselves like the summons of one of you to another.” (24:63)

The people who used to call the Holy Prophet with his name or Patronymic (Kuniyyat) Allah forbade them from doing so and ordered them to call him “O Prophet” or “O messenger of Allah”, so that they may show respect and regard for Muhammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam).

Whenever the Holy Prophet was out in the sun, Allah made Muhammad’s shadow disappear lest someone stepped on the holy shadow; nor any fly could ever sit on his body.

May Allah help us pay due respect to Muhammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) and may we get his intercession in the hereafter. Amen!

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