Muhammad: The Slave of Allaah and His Messenger

بسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله ، وبعد

Allaah تعالى says:

﴿قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَـٰهُكُمْ إِلَـٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ ۖ فَمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاءَ رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا﴾

{Say (O Muhammad ﷺ): “I am only a man like you. It has been inspired to me that your Ilaah is One Ilaah (i.e. He [Allaah] is alone worthy of worship). So whoever hopes for the Meeting with his Lord, let him work righteousness and associate none as a partner in the worship of his Lord.”} [Surah al-Kahf (18) 110]

Narrated `Umar Ibn al-Khattaab رضي الله عنه: I heard the Prophet ﷺ saying: ❝Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians praised (`Eesa) the son of Mary, for I am only a Slave. So, call me the Slave of Allaah and His Messenger.❞

[Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (3445, 6830)]

Part 1:

Qur’aan: “I am only a man like you”

Hadeeth: “I am only a Slave”

Benefit: Acknowledging the attributes that he ﷺ was a “human” and a “slave”, and never to be worshiped. The one who is himself a worshiper can never be worshiped. The one who needs nurturing (Marboob) can never be the Lord (Rabb).

The noblest attribute for a person is for him to be Allaah’s slave, and this attribute prevents the person from over-praising as the Christians over-praised `Eesaa Ibn Maryam as they made him a deity or the son of Allaah, worshiping him and supplicating to him.

Part 2:

Qur’aan: “It has been inspired to me”

Hadeeth: “So, call me the Slave of Allaah and His Messenger”

Benefit: Acknowledging that he ﷺ is also the Messenger of our Lord, so it becomes obligatory to believe in him, obey him, shun what he prohibits, and to worship Allaah only in the way he has legislated.

And this noble attribute prohibits a person to belie him ﷺ, like the Jews who disbelieved in `Eesaa and Muhammad عليهم الصلاة والسلام

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So he ﷺ is a Slave, never to be worshiped, and a Messenger, never to be belied.

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[Based on Shaikh Ibn al-`Uthaymeen’s explanation of Saheeh al-Bukhaaree and Kitaab al-Tawheed]