A speaker in the UK recently translated a Hadith, left without further comment, in a series of provocative tweets that have been subject to much debate. This short article attempts to correct a misunderstanding of a Hadith that was cited.
The Hadith that concerns the discussion is a lengthy one. It is cited by Bukhari in his Sahih (§6830) and mentioned in the collection as a separate report in (§3445).
The relevant section is as follows: “Do not idolise me like the Christians idolised the son of Mary, for I am but His slave, so rather say [about me]: ‘The slave of Allah and His Messenger.’”
This Hadith is undoubtedly true and accepted as such by Muslims. However, there are two starkly contrasting interpretations of it in the contemporary climate.
On the one hand, it is used by certain quarters to arbitrarily restrict the praise and veneration of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, per what they deem to be exaggeration about him ﷺ, lest people spiral into the reprehensible Christian lizard-hole of associating divinity with Prophet Jesus, upon him be peace—and on the other hand, it is understood by others to affirm every possible virtue for the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, emphasising his absolute supremacy over every creation of Allah—save for associating him as a partner to the One and Only Lord.
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First, let us examine what the command “Do not idolise me” means.
The word “Itra’” in the Hadith means ‘to exaggerate in praise’. By exaggeration here, it means praise which is untrue (al-madH al-baTil). [‘Umdah al-Qari, 16:52] This is why the Prophet ﷺ mentioned the Christians here, for they claim for Prophet Jesus that which is undoubtedly false, which is to ascribe him with divinity, thereby falling into the unforgivable sin of associationism (shirk). Hence, I have preferred the translation ‘idolise’ here in the Hadith, since it captures both the connotation of loving, often falsely, to excess, as well as to worship as god.
As for simply praising the Prophet ﷺ, then no believer with an ounce of faith in his heart would disagree, or then wilfully misunderstand this Hadith to mean barring it, for it is proven by such incontrovertible evidence aside from the very love of faith which led the Damascene scholar, Ibn Taymiyyah (d.728/1328) to say:
“To praise and extol the Prophet ﷺ, to honour and revere him ﷺ, is the establishment of the faith in its entirety—severing this is collapsing the religion in its entirety!” [al-Sarim al-Maslul, 1:211]
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If it is alleged that the Hadith serves as a cautionary warning to the Ummah as to be on their toes, always anxious and wary in wholly praising the Prophet ﷺ with the depths of one’s heart – lest they fall into excess – then Allah Himself would not have extolled him ﷺ nor emphatically commanded us to do so as a hallmark of faith: ﴾So that you believe in Allah and His Messenger, and that you honour him and respect him.﴿ [Al-Fath 48:9]. Nor would He have adjoined His Glorious Name with the name of His Prophet ﷺ in the very testification of our faith, [la ilaha illa Allah Muhammad rasul Allah], nor when we stand for Prayer, for his ﷺ name is mentioned in its Call too. And in Prayer itself, worship which is solely intended for Allah alone, his ﷺ name is also mentioned therein; devotion without which one’s end is naught but the ghastly Fire.
Note that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ himself did not stop his praise or mention either. In fact, he ﷺ would ask his Companions to sing his praises and approved of them doing so, such as Hassan b. Thabit and Sayyiduna ‘Abbas [Muslim §2490, Mustadrak §5485], and did not forewarn them to not indulge in his “over-praise” since he ﷺ had qualified his aforementioned statement by saying “as the Christians do” — that is, by calling him the son of God, and far be it for a Muslim to ascribe the Prophet ﷺ with divinity, for Allah is One without no partner, as is known.
In another narration, a Companion asked the Prophet ﷺ whether he should spend a quarter of his prayers dedicated to sending salutations upon him ﷺ, to which the Prophet ﷺ replied, “As you wish, but more is better for you.”
The Companion then asked about a half, and then two-thirds—each time, he was met with the same response: “As you wish, but more is better for you.” When he finally asked, “Should all my prayers be dedicated to sending salutations upon you?” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “If so, your worries will be resolved and your sins shall be forgiven.” [Tirmidhi §2457].
This incident should serve as a lesson to those who wish to ‘portion’ the mention of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ with the perfidious excuse of excess or ‘too much’. Note that the Companion had already prefaced his question with: “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I send abundant salutations upon you…” and yet was prompted to increase!
As Allah Almighty says: ﴾And We have raised for you your remembrance.﴿ [Al-Inshirah 94:4]
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Contrary to the outlandish claim that the Ummah had descended into a mass-psychoses of shirk and polytheism of Prophet-worship, only to be later corrected – or killed (!) – by a Bedouin reformer from the arid deserts of Najd, the prohibitive command in the Hadith does not necessitate that over-exaggeration in the rank of the Prophet ﷺ actually occurred, as was noted by the Hanbali jurist, Ibn al-Jawzi (d.597/1201). He says: “We do not know anyone who attributes to our Prophet ﷺ what the Christians do to Prophet Jesus” [Fath al-Bari, 15:652] which accords with the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: “I do not fear that you will commit shirk after me.” [Bukhari §1344, §3596, §4085, §6426, §6590]
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As for the command itself, then it has been understood to denote the prohibitive extent (al-qadr al-mamnu’) of praising the Prophet ﷺ [al-Nihayah, 2:123] or an expression of “his sheer humbleness” [Ashraf al-Wasa’il, pg.471], hence why Imam al-Tirmidhi cited this Hadith in the Shama’il under the Chapter of the Prophet’s ﷺ Humility.
As for the prohibitive extent, then it follows that any virtue and praise which does not surpass this bound, ie. of idolatry, is permitted, and thus, by extension, deemed praiseworthy in the Prophet’s ﷺ right. The underlying reason for this is the premise that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is the greatest and most supreme being that Allah has created. He ﷺ is the very wellspring of all good, beauty and majesty. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ not only combines within himself all the qualities that are present in every other Prophet, but he ﷺ surpasses them in that, including those of Prophet Jesus. Moreover, since it is Allah Himself who extols the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, then no human being can ever do his praise justice. Even if they try, they simply cannot.
As al-Busiri (d.696/1294) says, elaborating on a sentiment although reiterated across the Islamic scholarly tradition – which may appear rather ‘provocative’ to modern ears, that:
Da’ ma’dda’athu al-nasara fi nabiyyihimi
wa’hkum bi ma shi’ta madhan fihi wa’htakimi
Wa’nsub ila dhatihi ma shi’ta min sharafin
Wa’nsub ila qadrihi ma shi’ta min ‘izamin
Fa-inna fadla rasul-Allah laysa lahu
Haddun fa-yu’ribu anhu natiqun bi-famin
Leave what the Christians claimed regarding their Prophet
And ascribe to him what you will praise, and be firm!
Ascribe whatever nobility you wish to his personage
And ascribe whatever greatness you wish to his rank
For indeed, the virtue of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has no limit
That could ever be expressed with the tongue of a human being
The Cairene scholar and notable student of Ibn Kathir (d.774/1373), al-Zarkashi (d.794/1392), far from decrying this as shirk or ‘absurd’, instead states that every ‘hyperbole’ or ‘exaggeration’ would, in reality, be utterly deficient in praising the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Even the most eloquent of poets and ardent lovers, like Abu Tammam (d.231/846) and Buhturi (d.284/897), were rendered silent from penning his praise because they realised that “whatever they would have thought of in terms of descriptions panegyric novelties would be less than his [the Prophet’s ﷺ] actual perfection.” [Ashraf al-Wasa’il, pg.472]
Similarly, al-Haytami (d.973/1566) says, “Even if they reached the apex of what was possible for them in his ﷺ praise, then they would have not been able to truly praise his loftiness which has no limit.” [ibid]
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Heed that the Hadith (§3445) contains the following wording: “I am but His slave” with ‘His’ referring to Allah Almighty, and not just ‘a servant’ as was left (mis)translated by the speaker.
Know that there is no station above the station of servitude. So, what may, on the apparent, seem to be a modest declaration of the Prophet’s ﷺ rank is, in reality, the greatest praise anyone could confer or ascribe themselves with since it involves an honorary attribution to the Divine (idafah tashrifiyyah), and thus underscores the unrivalled divinity of Allah with the ontic reality of one’s servitude (al-’ubudiyyah) to Him alone—which was quintessentially expressed and manifested by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. This is why Allah has described the Prophet ﷺ with this attribute and marvellous praise in many instances, including upon the very revelation of the Holy Qur’an: ﴾Exalted is He who revealed The Criterion upon His servant.﴿ [Al-Furqan 25:1] and upon mention of the miraculous Night Journey and Ascension: ﴾Glorious is He who made His servant travel by night from Masjid al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa.﴿ [Al-Isra’ 17:1] [Mirqat al-Mafatih 9:121]
A poet once remarked:
La tad’uni illa bi ya ‘abdiha
Fa-innahu ashrafu asma’i
Only address me by saying: ‘O servant of hers’
For this is the noblest of all my names!
Divine Bestowals are in accordance with the depths of one’s servitude. In an age where notions of hierarchy are blurred, and the impudent broach upon the sacred—imposing their own profane ‘ideas’ upon God’s Chosen One ﷺ, the Recipient of His Revelation ﷺ, then it ought to be emphasised that the humbleness of the Prophet ﷺ is of his own accord and indicative of his supreme rank, and should not dupe another to audaciously flatten the reverential relationship which ties believing folk to him ﷺ — especially by using precedents of his own humility.
Remember, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ who said, “So rather say [about me]: ‘The slave of Allah and His Messenger’” – as in the Hadith in discussion – is the very same Messenger ﷺ that also said, “I am the Master of the Children of Adam and this is no boast…” [Ibn Majah, §4308]
May Allah increase us in our gnosis of Him and His Messenger ﷺ and allow us to be drowned in their love. Amin.
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Post-Script: Beyond Words
Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi (d.741/1340), the exegete from Andalus, writes a beautiful poem encapsulating the impossibility of being able to praise the Messenger ﷺ as he ought to be praised:
Arumu imtidah al-Mustafa wa yarudduni
Qusuri ‘an idraki tilka al-manaqibi
Wa man li bi-hasr al-bahr w’al-bahru zakhirun
Wa man li bi-ihsa’ al-hasa w’al-kawakibi
Wa law anna a’daiy ghadat alsunan idhan
La-ma balaghat f’il madh ba’da ma’aribi
Wa law anna kulla l-’alamin ta’sabaqu
‘Ila madhihi lam yablughu b’ada wajibi
Fa-amsaktu ‘anhu haybatan wa ta’adduban
Wa khawfan wa i’dhaman li-arfa’ janibi
Wa rubba sukutin kana fihi balaghatun
Wa rubba kalamin fihi ‘atbun li-’atibi
I desire to extol the Chosen One, but my inadequacy
In comprehending his rank prevents me from doing so
How can I encircle the vast and overflowing ocean?
How can I enumerate the countless grains of sand and stars?
And even if all my limbs transformed into tongues, yet
I would not approach even a fragment of his deserved praise
If entire universes were to compose tributes for him,
Still, they would not fulfil even a sliver of his rightful due
So I remain silent, borne of awe and reverence,
And out of trepidation and esteem for the most distinguished one
How often eloquence is found within silence,
And often speech leads to the censure of the speaker
Similarly, Imam Ahmad Rida Khan (d.1340/1921) writes:
Keh legi sab kuch unke thana-khwan ki khamoshi
Chup ho rahe hai keh ke, mai kya kya kahun tujhey!
The silence of his admirer will speak volumes in itself!
He is speechless, wondering ‘however may I describe you?’
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