The Prophet's Elevated Status and Allah's Protection of His Honor

The Status of the Prophet and Allah's Protection of His Honor

From the time Nabi ﷺ was sent as a prophet to this dunya, until Qiyamah, to the Day of Judgment, people will always raise objections. People will always accuse Nabi ﷺ. People will always insult Nabi ﷺ. And as a result of that, Allah from the beginning in His words — Allah mentions in the Qur'an — that before anyone were to mention any insults about Nabi ﷺ, before anyone were to attack Nabi ﷺ, Allah has already clarified his status to us.

This surah itself, Surah al-Inshirah, comes right after Surah al-Duha. Both of these surahs were a type of consolement for Nabi ﷺ, highlighting the different bounties that Allah gave him. Surah al-Duha speaking more so of the physical bounties that Allah blessed Nabi ﷺ with — from the time when he was an orphan and how Allah took care of him. And Surah al-Inshirah talking about the spiritual bounties that Allah has endowed and blessed Nabi ﷺ with.

The mufassirun have mentioned that you won't find any place in the Qur'an generally where Allah's name is mentioned except that Nabi ﷺ's name is paired up with that also. Allah Himself has mentioned in the Qur'an:

That all types of tasbih and glorification are solely for Allah. But when Allah mentioned وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ — talking specifically about Nabi ﷺ — that whenever Nabi ﷺ's name is mentioned, we are commanded to recite durood and send salutations. Allah revealed Surah al-Ahzab, and the majority of the themes of Surah al-Ahzab deal with safeguarding Nabi ﷺ and protecting him, and telling not only him but everything related to him — the Azwaj Mutahharat — not to harm Nabi ﷺ.

That when you eat at Nabi ﷺ's house, once you finish, you should leave. Don't be lingering around speaking and engaging in conversations. Allah has also mentioned in Surah al-Ahzab:

That Allah and the Malaikah and the believers are sending salutations upon Nabi ﷺ in different ways and forms. So Surah al-Ahzab was revealed to protect Nabi ﷺ and to give the warning to never insult him.

The Sublime Character of the Prophet ﷺ

Now amongst the different characteristics that Allah has given Nabi ﷺ — yes, He has raised him to a high maqam — but what is one of the key characteristics and features of Nabi ﷺ which has given him that maqam is:

That Allah has given him that impeccable and inimitable character that no one can copy to that extent and no one has had that previously in history. In this very ayah, Allah has used specific wording and huroof: خُلُقٍ عَظِيم. It's not just خُلُق itself — and that خُلُق comes in nakira, which gives the meaning of tafkhim, that it is a tremendous character that Allah has given him. On top of that, عَظِيم — showing a grand character. And the word عَلَى generally comes in the meaning of isti'la, meaning you have complete control and authority over that. The character of Nabi ﷺ was such that he had complete control and authority over it — meaning if he wanted to get angry, it was for the sake of Allah, not for his own nafs. At the time when he had to show hilm, it was very easy for him to show hilm.

This is why Nabi ﷺ mentioned, as narrated in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad and in other books of hadith:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 8952; also recorded in al-Bayhaqi, Shu'ab al-Iman)

"I was sent in order to perfect moral characters." Nabi ﷺ paired up his bi'thah with akhlaq. And we know the maqasid of the bi'thah — why Nabi ﷺ was sent — Ibrahim ﷺ made du'a for that. It comes in different places in the Qur'an:

The Fitri Love for the Prophet ﷺ

For us, anytime we see any human being doing any righteous good actions — giving us a gift, or if we do wrong to a person and they reciprocate back in a rightful and just manner, and rather beyond that they do ihsan upon us — then automatically our heart has an inclination towards that person, it has love for that individual. Nabi ﷺ's akhlaq was something by which a person can fall in love with him. Whenever Nabi ﷺ is insulted, whenever anyone has made any ash'ar against him — what we call hija' in Arabic — then at those times, one of the key things to do is always look at the akhlaq of Nabi ﷺ in order to increase our love for him.

We find that Nabi ﷺ has mentioned in a hadith:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 13; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 45)

And in another place, Nabi ﷺ has mentioned:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 15; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 44)

"Until I become more beloved to them than their own parents, their own family, their children, their wealth, and whatever they have." Mawlana al-Shafi'atani رحمه الله has mentioned in his khutubat: does a believer have fitri love for Nabi ﷺ? Everyone here has fitri love for Nabi ﷺ. And he proved this by showing that whenever our child were to do something wrong — for example, our child might insult us or do something disrespectful to us — we get angry but we may not throw a fit. Sometimes we might not even get angry; we just say he's just a child, he doesn't understand, or he's a teenager, he's ignorant, he doesn't know. But anytime when someone insults Nabi ﷺ, what happens? Generally all believers' blood boils. What does that show? That you have a fitri love for Nabi ﷺ.

Mawlana al-Shafi'atani رحمه الله has mentioned this — but at the times when, as a comparison, our love at the time to choose to follow a certain lifestyle according to the Sunnah versus following our own whims and desires and fancies and notions: at that time, if we choose our own hawa and our own whims, that's due to a deficiency. It's not the fact that we don't have any fitri love for Nabi ﷺ. Allah has placed this within the hearts of the believers. Yes, at certain times there's a blockade and a barricade due to our desires, but it remains there. You just have to cultivate it, grow it, and make it stronger.

So the akhlaq of Nabi ﷺ is something by which a person can grow the love for Nabi ﷺ inside their heart — by reading Shama'il al-Tirmidhi and reading the Sirah of Nabi ﷺ.

Examples of the Prophet's Hilm and Forbearance

If you look at the hilm of Nabi ﷺ — when the mushrikun were battling the Muslims and the Sahaba had requested Nabi ﷺ to make du'a against the mushrikun and to send la'nah upon them — Nabi ﷺ said: "I was not sent to send la'nah upon anyone." He did not want to make du'a against them. He said perhaps from this qawm there will be believers that come out, and not necessarily from them but even from their grandchildren and their progeny — their dhurriyyah — that might come.

Compare that to us: anytime someone does something wrong to us, the most hilm and tolerance and forbearance that we have is we try to overlook the person. But if we had the opportunity to say anything bad about them, we might take that opportunity. If we had the opportunity to retaliate against the person, we might take that chance. And if we had the ability to do good upon the person and do ihsan upon them, we might not take that opportunity at all. But every time Nabi ﷺ had the opportunity, he would overlook their faults and do good upon them.

An example is Abu Sufyan رضي الله عنه's wife, Hind رضي الله عنها. At the time after Fath Makkah, when she came — everyone was accepting Islam and coming to Nabi ﷺ — she came veiled out of haya because she had commanded Wahshi to kill Hamza رضي الله عنه, who was the uncle of Nabi ﷺ. So at that time after the Fath, she felt very shy. But Nabi ﷺ open-heartedly accepted her Islam and did not remind her about whatever had occurred in the past. To wholeheartedly forgive someone, and on top of that show actual emotions of love and affection for the person — that was something Allah granted Nabi ﷺ.

That's why the ulema have mentioned: akhlaq itself — the discussion happens among the ulema in the books of hadith — is akhlaq something that you can gain? Is it something that you can actually practice to acquire? Or is it fitri, meaning that you are just born with good akhlaq? Everyone has some good characteristics, and some characteristics we might not have — we might not be tolerant, we might not be generous, we might not be able to control our anger. Those qualities, yes, a person has to work on. But certain characteristics as far as a person's akhlaq, they are fitri. Allah gave this to Nabi ﷺ in the most perfect form.

The Weight of Good Character on the Day of Judgment

Nabi ﷺ has mentioned in a hadith:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2002; graded Hasan Sahih)

"There is nothing going to be more heavy on the scales of a believer on the Day of Judgment than good akhlaq. And Allah hates a person who is obscene and very harsh and crude."

And you find there are numerous other ahadith on the akhlaq of Nabi ﷺ — check the books of Sirah, check the books of Shama'il; you'll find all the different ahadith regarding the akhlaq of Nabi ﷺ. Whether it's regarding his haya, his tawadu', his humility, his hilm, how he was able to control his anger, his appreciation for others. For the smallest things that a sahabi did, he would show appreciation. The way he was affectionate with his own family and with his own children — how with Aisha رضي الله عنها, when she drank from a cup, he would put his mouth around the same part of the cup, saying that he didn't know which part the lips of his wife had touched. How he would address Aisha رضي الله عنها with the nickname Humaira as a way of showing affection. All of that is considered under the akhlaq of Nabi ﷺ.

The Prophet ﷺ as the Perfect Teacher

Just the kamalat of Nabi ﷺ — how he is the perfect mu'allim. A Sahabi had built an additional room on top of his house. When Nabi ﷺ passed by, he asked who it belonged to. When another Sahabi told him, and then that Sahabi came to greet Nabi ﷺ, Nabi ﷺ did not smile at him. Simply not smiling at him had such a dramatic and deep impact upon that Sahabi that he was asking, trying to figure out: what did I do wrong? So he asked the other Sahabi what he had done wrong that Nabi ﷺ was not greeting him the way he used to. So he said it was because he had built that extra floor on top.

After that, he demolished it, and when he greeted Nabi ﷺ, Nabi ﷺ greeted him again with the old, loving, smiling way — the way Nabi ﷺ would always treat him before. What is that? That is the effect of love. First, if any of us were to implement that with our children, our wives, or even our own colleagues, it wouldn't be effective. Why? Because we don't show them enough love. The fact that Nabi ﷺ showed his Sahaba and everyone around him a tremendous amount of love meant that simply him detracting from that love and not acting the normal way with someone was itself enough for a person to realize: I did something wrong. That's part of husn al-akhlaq.

Perfecting What Existed and Following His Path

At the time of Jahiliyyah, the Arabs had some good characteristics — for example, doing ikram of their guests and being extremely generous. But in some aspects of akhlaq, things were not good. So Nabi ﷺ came and perfected what needed to be perfected and showed them what the actual mi'yar — the true measurement — is by which everyone is supposed to judge their akhlaq. Simply if a person were to read about the akhlaq of Nabi ﷺ, that would be sufficient enough to cause a person to desist from any type of doubts about Nabi ﷺ, let alone trying to make any insults or remarks about him.

So as believers it is necessary for us to increase our love for Nabi ﷺ and always look up to his akhlaq and try to implement it — and by increasing our love for Nabi ﷺ, that will also be a shield within our own hearts and minds whenever anyone were to attack him. Rather than people having doubts, as soon as someone mentions something about Nabi ﷺ in a wrong manner, a person will have a firm belief that who they are following is the best man, the best creation that Allah ever created.

This is why Allah has mentioned — addressing Nabi ﷺ — that if you claim to love Allah, then if you want Allah to love you and forgive you, then follow me, meaning follow Nabi ﷺ. You can follow as many paths as you want. You can go on one extreme and try to do all the mujahidah that you want — go against your nafs, eat very little, sleep very little, do all those things. On the other end, you can try to follow all your whims and desires thinking that is going to get you closer to Allah. But the best way Allah has given to us is the path of following Nabi ﷺ, his akhlaq, his Sunnah, and everything that he brought.

So may Allah give us the tawfiq.