Is showing love and reverence to the Blessed Prophet considered worship?

“Allah and His angels send blessings to the Prophet: O you that believe! Send blessings on him, and salute him with all respect.” (Qur’an 33:56)

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What an honour it is that Allah, exalted and glorified above all else, has singled out his beloved Messenger (saw) to be singled out for praise and blessings. The one who’s very name means the praiseworthy!

This article is written to refute the extremist view of the (Hafs Qur’an only Religion) as well as others that believe that we as Muslims when we say: “ashadu an la ilaha illalah wa ashadu an muhammadur rasoolullah” (I bear witness that there is no God except God and I bear witness that Muhammed is the Messenger of God.) is a form of shirk!

For those who do not know, shirk is the most heinous sin in Islam. It is the association of partners with God.

Here are links to a website that espouses a view that is both extreme and unwarranted.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230930040405/https://submission.org/Making_Salawat.html

*Note* For some reason the link was not working. However, was able to retrieve it via the archives.

Muslims have handed down the tradition that when we enter into Islam we bear witness of foremost importance that there is only one God worthy of worship. We also bare witness that we accept as God’s Messenger, the one who brought his message.

Tawassul and Istigatha according to the Ibadi school.

“In which their prayer will be, “Glory be to You, O Allah!” and their greeting will be, “Peace!” and their closing prayer will be, “All praise (l-ḥamdu) is for Allah—Lord of all worlds!”
(Qur’an 10:10)

Note that in the above verse it says that all the hamd (praise) is for Allah. Yet, Allah (swt) himself says the following:

“And from [part of] the night, pray with it as additional [worship] for you; it is expected that your Lord will resurrect you to a praised (maḥmūdan) station.” (Qur’an 17:79)

“And those who believe and do righteous deeds and believe in what has been sent down upon Muhammed – and it is the truth from their Lord – He will remove from them their misdeeds and amend their condition.” (Qur’an 47:2)

“And when Isa son of Marium said: O children of Israel! surely I am the messenger of Allah to you, verifying that which is before me of the Taurat and giving the good news of an Messenger who will come after me, his name being Ahmed, but when he came to them with clear arguments they said: This is clear magic.” (Qur’an 61:6)

Muhammed and Ahmed both derive from the Arabic root meaning “praise” (hamd). Muhammed means “the praised one,” while Ahmed means “the more/most praiseworthy”.

Root word: Both names come from the Arabic root word “ḥ-m-d,” which means “praise”. This root is found in phrases like “Al-hamdu lillah” (praise be to God).

Mahmud, Muhammed and Ahmed. All mean one worthy of praise, praiseworthy.

So we should not be concerned with followers of the Hafs Qur’an Only Religion come along and say that Muslims who say Tashahhud or Shahada are associating partners with Allah.

Mentioning another along Allah (swt) in our prayers or testification of faith is far from worshipping that person.

There are many places in the Qur’an where Allah is mentioned alongside the Noble Messenger (saw).   There are also many places in the Qur’an where Allah is mentioned alongside his blessed angels.

“O you who have believed, fear Allah and give up what remains of interest if you should be believers. And if you do not, then be informed of war from Allah and His Messenger. But if you repent, you may have your principal – you do no wrong, nor are you wronged.” (Qur’an 2:278-279)

It would have been easy enough just to say ‘a war from Allah’.

“Indeed, those who disbelieve and die while they are disbelievers – upon them will be the curse of Allah and of the angels and the people, all together.” (Qur’an 2:161)

Again, it would have been enough to say the ‘curse of Allah’.

“Those – their repayment will be that upon them is the curse of Allah and the angels and the people, all together.” (Qur’an 3:87)

Again, it would have been sufficient to say ‘the curse of Allah’.

Those who annoy Allah and the Prophet, Allah curses them in this life and in the hereafter.” (Qur’an 33:57)

Annoying the Blessed Prophet (saw) is deserving of a curse just as if one were to annoy Allah (swt).

“He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah; but those who turn away – We have not sent you over them as a guardian.” (Qur’an 4:80)

Here the Qur’an has compared obeying the Messenger to obeying Allah himself.  Assuredly, this is more than sufficient proof testifying that the Blessed Prophet Muhammed (saw) is the Messenger of Allah is not idol worship.  Such a notion is truly absurd, to say the least.

What did Rasul Allah (saw) think when Angel Gabriel (as) said:

”Indeed this, your religion, is one religion, and I am your Lord, so worship Me.” (Qur’an 21:92)

Was Gabriel (as) making ‘shirk’ when he said that?

Here is something else for people who hold such a view to think about.

“You alone do we worship; You alone do we ask for help.” (Qur’an 1:5)

So are we to understand that if one were to ask the doctor to cure our children, we are now associating partners with Allah?

If one were to hold a belief that if they were to pursue a university degree that it would somehow help their lot in life that this would be tantamount to an association of partners with Allah?

What is important for the person to realize is that the Creator is in control of all affairs. The Creator is Sovereign.  If one were to believe that the doctor himself can cure their child, then yes, this is an association of partners with Allah.  If one were to believe that the Blessed Prophet Muhammed (saw) can guide us independent of Allah, then yes, that is in error.  If one were to believe that their university degree will, in and of itself, guarantee them a livelihood, then yes, this necessitates a dangerous position. If one believes that a knife can cut them independently of the power of Allah (swt), then yes, that is in error.

Adherents of the Qur’an only Religion do not think deeply about these things because their religion is theologically bankrupt.

However, if we believe that Allah has endowed the doctor with the ability to cure our child, and that Allah has blessed the Noble Muhammed (saw) with the ability to guide, and that our degree could increase our chances of getting employment by Allah’s grace, then this is the proper focus.

The focus, of course, should always be Allah (swt).

It is said that this world that we live in is also known as Darul Asbaab– a world of means.

Asbaab can mean ’cause’, ‘reason’.

So we live in a world of cause and effect.

When a Muslim does something kind to another Muslim, one will usually say to the other ‘JazakAllahu Khayran‘ (thanks be to God who gave the provision). If you were ignorant of this, you might say to a Muslim, ‘Thank you, brother’. The Muslim may respond, “Al hamdulilllah wa ShukrAllah” (All the praise be to Allah and Thanks to Allah). Notice that the praise and the thanks are deflected away from the person and directed to Allah.

However, if someone says ‘you’re welcome‘, it is not haram (forbidden) nor are they committing blasphemy. No one would assume that if a person said ‘you’re welcome‘ that they are making a claim to divinity.

The reason one says jazakAllahu Khayran to a person is that there is a recognition that Allah (swt) is giving you provision through this person. 

Examples in the Qur’an of people making sujud -prostration to other than Allah.

“So he raised his parents upon the throne, and they bowed to him in prostration. And he said, “O my father, this is the explanation of my vision of before. My Lord has made it a reality. And he was certainly good to me when he took me out of prison and brought you here from bedouin life after Satan had induced estrangement between me and my brothers. Indeed, my Lord is Subtle in what He wills. Indeed, it is He who is the Knowing, the Wise.” (Qur’an 12:100)

“When Joseph said to his father: O my father. Lo. I saw in a dream eleven planets and the sun and the moon, I saw them prostrating themselves unto me.” (Qur’an 12:4)

Allah (swt) himself orders the prostration of all the angels and jinn to Adam.

“And when We said to the angels, “Prostrate to Adam,” and they prostrated, except for Iblees. He said, “Should I prostrate to one You created from clay?” (Qur’an 17:61)

Say, “Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.” (Qur’an 6:162)

After the Death of the Noble and Blessed Prophet (saw) Abu Bakr (ra) said this very eye opening statement:

Narrated `Aisha:

Abu Bakr came riding his horse from his dwelling place in As-Sunh. He got down from it, entered the Mosque and did not speak with anybody till he came to me and went direct to the Prophet, who was covered with a marked blanket. Abu Bakr uncovered his face. He knelt down and kissed him and then started weeping and said, “My father and my mother be sacrificed for you, O Allah’s Prophet! Allah will not combine two deaths on you. You have died the death which was written for you.” Narrated Abu Salama from Ibn `Abbas : Abu Bakr came out and `Umar , was addressing the people, and Abu Bakr told him to sit down but `Umar refused. Abu Bakr again told him to sit down but `Umar again refused. Then Abu Bakr recited the Tashah-hud (i.e. none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammed is Allah’s Messenger (saw)) and the people attended to Abu Bakr and left `Umar. Abu Bakr said, “Amma ba’du, whoever amongst you worshipped Muhammed, then Muhammed is dead, but whoever worshipped Allah, Allah is alive and will never die. Allah said: ‘Muhammed is no more than an Apostle and indeed (many) Apostles have passed away before him ..(up to the) grateful.’ ” (3.144) (The narrator added, “By Allah, it was as if the people never knew that Allah had revealed this verse before till Abu Bakr recited it and then whoever heard it, started reciting it.”)

Source: (https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1241)

Let us look at this statement:

“Abu Bakr said, “Amma ba’du, whoever amongst you worshipped Muhammad, then Muhammad is dead, but whoever worshipped Allah, Allah is alive and will never die.”

Subhan’Allah! That means that the love and devotion that the companions had for the Blessed and Noble Prophet (saw)…..bordered on….understand? It bordered on…but it did not exceed! It did not cross that threshold!

May Allah open the Eyes and Hearts of the Ummah.

May Allah Guide the Ummah.

May Allah Forgive the Ummah.