In answer to the video "Top 10 Ways Muslims Ignore the Quran"
Although some might do, not all, bordering on a deification of the man as other religions did with their leading figures, this is a rejected attitude both from the words of the prophet and the Quran.
Muslims of the past and today, including contemporaries of the prophet would sometimes over exalt him. Like in every community with a charismatic leader, there will be people who will be inclined to overstep the bounds of reverence, even when the leader explicitly tells them not to do so. And when these leaders are prophets, per the Quran the highest rank a human being can reach in terms of spiritual eminence, then this tendency among the followers becomes more pronounced. The prophet Muhammad disliked being honoured like a royalty, and hence forbade his people to stand up for him. His followers knew it and despite their love for him would refrain from doing so
"There was no person more beloved to them than the Messenger of Allah." [He said:] "And they would not stand when they saw him because they knew that he disliked that."
This resulted in many times visitors being unable to distinguish between him and the remaining assembly. In contrast, one thing God made sure of is that the believers should lower their voices and carefully listen to the prophet in their midst and on whose instructions salvation depends 49:2. He would not let people stand for him although he himself would stand up for others, as he did when
"A funeral passed by the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and he stood up. It was said to him, “It is a Jew.” The Prophet said, “Was he not a soul?”.Just as he refused for others to stand up for him, he did not let anyone bow down for him out of reverence
"When Mu‘aadh ibn Jabal came from Syria, he prostrated to the Prophet, who said, “What is this, O Mu‘aadh?” He said, I went to Syria and saw them prostrating to their archbishops and patriarchs, and I wanted to do that for you. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, “Do not do that".
Once, during Badr
"The Prophet was arranging the ranks with his switch (miqra`a) and he nudged Sawad’s belly with it, scratching him inadvertently, with the words: “Align yourself with the others.” Sawad said: “Ya Rasulallah, you hurt me, so give me reparation.” The Prophet handed him the switch and said: “Take reparation.” Sawad approached him and kissed his belly. The Prophet said: “What made you do that, O Sawad?” He replied, “Y Rasulallah, the time has come for what you see, and I loved that my last action in this dunya be to touch you.”
As is clear here, the prophet Muhammad did not expect this, nor did he ask for it, nor did he command others to do it. Kissing in this manner in Arabian tradition was understood as reverence as is done to a leader. Even the Jews, upon the prophet's arrival in Medina
"kissed his hands and his feet, and they said: 'We bear witness that you are a Prophet.' So he said: 'Then what prevents you from following me?' They said: 'Because Dawud supplicated to his Lord that his offspring never be devoid of Prophets and we feared that if we follow you then the Jews will kill us".
Many ahadith, let alone the Quran, explain that there is a fine line between justified reverence, due to a person's righteousness only, and unjustified over exaltation
”A group of men once said, ‘O Muhammad! You are our most righteous person, and the son of our most righteous person, our ‘sayyid’ (great Master) and the son of our ‘sayyid.’ The Messenger of Allah thereupon said, ‘O people! Say what you have to say, but do not allow Satan to deceive you. I am Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdullah, Allah’s Servant and Messenger. I do not like that you elevate me above the rank that Allah, Almighty and Ever-Majestic be He, has granted me.’ “ The prophet further said “Do not exagerate in praising me as the Christians praised the son of Mary,for I am only a slave. So, call me the slave of Allah and His Messenger".
The result is that despite the reverence of the multitudes, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, for various reasons, towards this righteous, humble and God-fearing man, neither he nor his admirers, past and present, claimed that he was a son of God, His incarnation or divine in any other way, but instead he always was and still is the slave and messenger of Allah. This was certainly no false humility. Although he was known as the most trustworthy individual among his contemporaries, enemies and friends alike who would both entrust him with valuables, as well as the fair distribution of charity, to the point that he was given the epithet al-amin/the trustworthy one, he showed that this quality, even in its supreme form is not his prerogative
"The Prophet said, "Every nation has an Amin (i.e. the most honest man), and the Amin of this nation is Abu 'Ubaida bin Al-Jarrah"
He consistently refused the offers of worldly compensation by his opponents in exchange for giving up or changing some of his message. Even when the community had grown prosperous he maintained a simple, sometimes bordering on ascetic lifestyle.
3:144 was revealed in the context of the battle of Uhud during which the Muslims were overwhelmed by the enemy and rumor spread that the prophet was killed. So many of the believers fled the battlefield and some considered apostasy. They are admonished not for stopping to fight but for depending their faith on the prophet; meaning their belief would continue as long as he lived, and disappear the moment he died, turning back to their former state after finding the guidance. The verse tells them that the religion of truth and its successful establishment is in the hands of Allah, Muhammad has no authority in this affair, he is but a messenger charged with conveying the message and many passed away before him.
This is particularly made clear when Allah mentions the war of Badr and his assistance to the believers and suddenly cuts short the speech, turning towards His Prophet to tell him,
3:127-128"You have no concern in the affair".In its wider implication the verse re-states the fundamental Islamic doctrine that adoration is due to God alone, and that no human being - not even a prophet - may have any share in it. 3:144 also hints to another reality, by mentioning both the possibilities of assassination and of Muhammad dying a natural death it projects on the future behavior of the Muslims and warns them that Muhammad is naught but a messenger, that they should not idolise him and turn upon their heels after him. When prophets were sent to humanity with the guidance, wisdom and Book from Allah, it was not for their followers to be their servants and neither to be worshiped, but to worship Allah alone 3:78-79. Muslims must uphold at all costs, this religion of Ibrahim and this Quran. The striking similarity between
3:144"Muhammad is not except a messenger, indeed, the messengers before him have passed away"and
5:75"The Messiah son of Marium is not except a messenger, indeed, the messengers before him have passed away"comes as a sign from Allah who makes clear His communications. Only these 2 messengers are described with the exact same wording because no other prophets were inappropriately over exalted among the nations to whom they were sent and the subsequent generations, as much as these 2
"See how We make the communications clear to them, then behold, how they are turned away".Nothing encapsulates that notion more than the shahada which places God as the only entity worthy of worship, side by side with Muhammad who is nothing but His messenger. The Quran requires from the prophet in turn, to declare belief in God and the past prophets equally 2:285.
The Quran, when referring to the most honourable experiences of the prophet still calls him a slave, such as in the context of his chosenness, possessor of a miracle and taken on the israa and miraj 2:23,17:1,18:1. Therefore the Quran continuously stresses the prophet Muhammad being a slave of Allah like any Muslims 7:194, not possessing the keys of the unseen except what Allah granted him 7:188 and him being nothing but a warner and giver of glad tidings. Upon the prophet's passing away and as the Muslims were bewildered with grief, Abu Bakr rose up and recited this verse 3:144. The attendance perceived then the appropriateness and relevance of the verse in relation to their inner thoughts. Hearing the verse again shocked them to such an extent that
"it was as if the people never knew that Allah had revealed this verse".
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