Class 4 – Rights Of The Prophet

RIGHTS OF THE PROPHET

This right is the greatest right of any of the creation. None of the creation have a right greater than the rights of Allah’s Messenger sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Allah – the Most High – said: “Indeed We have sent you as a witness rind a bringer of good-tidings and a warner, in order that mankind may believe in Allah and His Messenger, and that you may assist and honour the Messenger.” [Al-Qur’an 48:89] Listed below are rights of the Prophet ﷺ on his ummah.

 

Love the Prophet ﷺ

Therefore it is obligatory to love the Prophet ﷺ over and above any of mankind – even above one’s love for himself, his parents and his children. The Prophet ﷺ said: “None of you will truly believes until he loves me more then his parents, his children and the whole of mankind.” And from the rights that are due to the Prophet ﷺ are: that he should be honoured, loved and respected.

 

To believe in his sayings & that they are the best of guidance

Also from the rights that are due to the Prophet ﷺ is to believe in all that he informed as of with regards to the accounts of previous people and nations, to do that which he has commanded and leave that which he has prohibited, and to have ‘iman (faith) that his guidance and example is the best and most perfect guidance and example, and that the Shari’ah(Prescribed Laws) that he was sent with is perfect and complete – no human laws nor systems are to be given precedence or priority over his Shari’ah. Allah – the Most High – said:

But no by your Lord! They will not truly be Believers, until they make the Prophet a judge in all their disputes, and then find in their souls no resistance against his decision, but rather accept it with the utmost submission.” [Al-Qur’an 4:65]

Say: If you do love Allah then follow the Prophet. Allah will then love you and forgive you your sins. Indeed Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most-Merciful.” [Al-Qur’an 3:31]

 

 

 

 

Patterning after him.

Allah s.w.t said, – meaning –

  • {Say (O Muhammad s.a.w): “If you do love Allah, then follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins’},
  • {You have indeed in the Messenger of Allah s.w.t a beautiful pattern (of conduct)},
  • {Say (O Muhammad s.a.w): “O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah, to whom the dominion of the heavens and the earth belongs: there is no worthy god to be worshipped but He: it is He who gives both life and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, who believed in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) you may be guided}.

NOTE : Details about patterning after him and the Sunnahs will be discussed in a class in Week 2

 

To believe that he has conveyed all that is good

The Prophet ﷺ was compassionate towards his ummah and cared deeply for them, he did not leave anything good without explaining it to them. Whoever wants to attain the pleasure of Allaah, he has to adhere to the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). All paths to Allaah are blocked, except this path, the path of His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

So whoever today invents an act of worship, dhikr or wird and claims that it is good, is accusing the Prophet ﷺ – whether he realizes it or not – of not conveying the religion as Allaah commanded him to do. Hence Imam Maalik (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Whoever introduces any innovation into Islam claiming that it is good is implying that Muhammad ﷺ betrayed the message entrusted to him, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion” [al-Maa’idah 5:3].

The Prophet ﷺ did not die until he had conveyed the message from his Lord in full. He did not leave anything good but he enjoined it upon us, and he did not leave anything bad but he forbade it to us and warned us against it. May the blessings and peace of my Lord be upon him.

 

Defend Him and His Shariah

From the rights of the Prophet ﷺ is to defend his Shari’ah and his guidance. If the enemies are attacking it with false proofs and doubts, then his guidance and Shari’ah should be defended with sound knowledge which refutes such false arguments and clarifies the doubts. It is not possible for any Believer to hear of some attack upon the Prophet’s Shari’ah or his noble personality, and then to keep silent about it – especially when one has the power to counter such on attack.

 

Say Salam whenever you hear the name

It is prescribed for the Muslim when hearing the name of the Prophet ﷺ is to venerate him and show respect by sending blessings and salaams upon him.

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:

The Messenger of Allaah ﷺ said:

May his nose be rubbed in the dust,                                                                                                                              a man in whose presence I am mentioned and he does not send blessings upon me.”                                           (al-Tirmidhi, 3545; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani).

It was narrated from al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet ﷺ said:

The miser is the one in whose presence I am mentioned and he does not send blessings upon me.” (al-Tirmidhi, 3546; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani).

Note: Kissing the thumb and rubbing the eyes is something that was never said by the Prophet nor was done by any of his companions or the ones who followed them in the first three generations.

As mentioned above one of the rights of the Prophet ﷺ is to know and believe that what is left us with is complete and perfect and hence a Muslim should do is to avoid innovations and beware of them; he should strive to follow the Qur’aan and Sunnah, without adding anything or taking anything away.

Sending blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ is one of the greatest acts of worship encouraged in Islam, and it is one of the most beneficial supplications for a person in this world and the hereafter, and it is one of the requirements of loving, venerating and respecting the Prophet ﷺ and giving him his rights.

With regard to the ideal way of sending blessings upon the master of mankind ﷺ, there are a number of ways of doing that. Among the soundest and most well-known of these ways are the two ways to be recited during prayer.

~1~ “Allaahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad wa ‘ala aali Muhammad kama salayta ‘ala Ibraaheem wa ‘ala aali Ibraaheem, innaka hameedun majeed. Allaahumma baarik ‘ala Muhammad wa ‘ala aali Muhammad kama baarakta ‘ala Ibraaheem wa ‘ala aali Ibraaheem, innaka hameedun majeed (O Allaah, send prayers upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent prayers upon Ibraaheem and upon the family of Ibraaheem; You are indeed Worthy of Praise, Full of Glory. O Allaah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad as You sent blessings upon Ibraaheem and upon the family of Ibraaheem; You are indeed Worthy of Praise, Full of Glory).” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (3700) and Muslim (406) from the hadeeth of Ka‘b ibn ‘Ajrah (may Allah be pleased with him).

~2~ “Allaahumma salli ‘ala Muhammadin wa ‘ala azwaajihi wa dhurriyyatihi kama salayta ‘ala Ibraaheem, wa baarik ‘ala Muhammadin wa ‘ala azwaajihi wa dhurriyyatihi kama baarakta ‘ala aali Ibraaheem, innaka hameedun majeed (O Allaah, send Your salaah (grace, honour and mercy) upon Muhammad and upon his wives and offspring, as You sent Your salaah upon Ibraaheem, and send Your blessings upon Muhammad and upon his wives and offspring, as You sent Your blessings upon the family of Ibraaheem. You are indeed Praiseworthy, Most Glorious).” (Bukhaari & Muslim).

It is better to vary the phrases used, switching between the versions that have been narrated, sometimes reciting one and sometimes reciting another, so as to follow the Sunnah and sharee‘ah and it helps keep your heart alive in prayer.

But we should point out that it is not prescribed to combine and mix these phrases so as to produce a combination of all of them in one; rather that is contrary to the Sunnah, as was stated by a number of scholars.

With regard to sending blessings upon him (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)) by saying “Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammadin wa aali Muhammad (O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad) outside of the prayer, its wording is correct and fulfills the purpose. The scholars still say, “Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad” or “sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam (may Allah send blessings and peace upon him)” and the like. The matter is broad in scope, in sha Allah.

Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar stated in Fath al-Baari (11/166) that the majority of scholars think that any wording that fulfills the purpose of sending blessings upon him is acceptable, but in the prayer one should keep to the wording that has been narrated and not omit any part of it, so as to be sure of following the Sunnah and what is narrated from the Prophet ﷺ.

Some innovated Salaams have phrases that are prohibited

These days people have gone over board and came up with various types of Salams which has all sorts of prohibited phrases some even leading towards Shirk. For example, “ALLAHUMA SALL-E-WASALLIM ‘ALAA SAYEDINA MOHAMMADIN QAD DAQAT HEELATI ADRIKNI YA RASOOL ALLAH “ and/or like “Allahumma salli salaatan kaamilatan wasallim salaaman taamman ‘ala sayyidina muhammadin alladhi(allathi in some prose) tan’hil bihi il uq’ad· watatafarrij bih il karb· wataq’dhi bih il hawaa’ij· wa tanaal bih ir raghaa’ib· wa hasan al khawaayitam wa yastasq il ghamaam bi wajhih il kareem wa ‘ala ‘aalihi wa sah’bihi fee kulli lamhatin wa nafs”

These counts as shirk, because it is seeking the help of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and complaining about one’s situation to him. They contain phrases which go against Islam, it attributes to him actions which cannot be attributed to anyone other than Allaah, such as meeting people’s needs, relieving distress, fulfilling their desires and granting a good end. These implies that the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) can hear the call of those who call upon him in any place, and that he helps those who seek his help, and that he can relieve their distress. The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was not able to do this when he was alive, so how about after his death? He does not know the unseen, and he does not possess the power to cause harm or bring benefits to himself or to others. Allaah says (interpretation of the meanings): Say (O Muhammad): “I possess no power over benefit or hurt to myself except as Allaah wills. If I had the knowledge of the Ghayb (Unseen), I should have secured for myself an abundance of wealth” (al-A’raaf 7:188)

To conclude we reiterate that lets stick to the Sunnah and what was done by the honourable companions of the prophet and we will be successful. May Allah make us all fulfil the rights of the Beloved Prophet ﷺ in a way that is accepted by Allah and is pleasing to Him and which gets us the intercession of the Prophet ﷺ on the day of Judgement.