“Indeed, Allah confers blessings upon the Prophet, and His angels (ask Him to do so). O you who have believed, ask (Allah to confer) blessing upon him and ask (Allah to grant him) peace.” Qur’an (33:56)
A prophet is a unique person – a human being, yet he speaks for God.The difficult task has always been that of dealing with a human being as a prophet.It is easy to go to one extreme of making him divine or another of treating him like an ordinary person.
Jesus (pbuh) is a good testimony of a prophet that has been made divine by Christians and treated like ordinary person by the Jews.One must contrast the delicate balance offered by Islam.
Muhammad (pbuh) is presented as the servant, messenger and ‘perfect example’ of human being, but he is not divine.He is the object of our gratitude, ardent love, devotion, and unswerving allegiance;but he is not the object of worship.
The testimony of faith, “there is no god, but Allah; and Muhammad is His servant and messenger” protects Muslims from making him divine. Also to invoke Allah to confer His blessing and peace upon him as required by Qur’an 33:56 protects Muslims from treating him like an ordinary person.
Muslims thus find in Muhammad (pbuh) the perfect example to follow; they also find him a mighty prophet to love and respect.
He left behind a rich human legacy and to love him and follow him is to set up a life-long journey of aligning to the Divine Will.
He was an orphan and a father; a husband and a widower; a shepherd and a trader; a commander and a spiritualist; a ruler of his people and among the poorest of them; a father who suffered the heartbreak of burying his children and a grandfather who relished the delightful time with his grandchildren.
He exemplified truthfulness, justice, forgiveness, compassion, tolerance, restraint, perseverance, thankfulness, gratitude, cleanliness, modesty, and the many more beautiful etiquettes.
Action for the day, in commemoration of the Prophet’s birthday, is to indulge in invoking Allah to confer His blessings and peace upon the Prophet, his Family, his Companions, and all his Followers until the end of time.
By: Hafidh bin Saif Alrawahy
Islamic Information Center-Oman
