The Rights of the Prophet

Prophet Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, deserves special rights,

by Umm AbdurRahman Hirschfelder

>which are due only to the final Prophet and Messenger. These rights have
>been enjoined upon us by Allah and are part of safeguarding the perfect
>religion of Islam. Unfortunately many Muslims today have become confused
>with regard to these rights and have innovated practices that have no
>basis in Islam. The Prophet himself knew that such practices would happen
>and warned against them, "Beware of newly invented matters [in religion,
>that is] for every invented matter [in religion] in a cursed innovation
>which leads astray." (Tirmithi and Abu Dawood) So as Muslims we must
>stick to giving our Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, his rights as
>commanded by Allah and stay away from the innovations that either ignore
>these rights or take them to extremes.
>
>Allah sent Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, to all of mankind, with
>the divine message of la ilaha illa Allah (there is no deity worthy of
>worship except Allah). He brought glad tidings of Paradise to the
>believers and warning of the punishment of the Hellfire to the
>disbelievers. He called to tawheed, the belief that Allah is the sole
>Creator and Lord of the universe, and therefore He alone should be
>worshipped. Believing in Allah is also believing in His Messenger.
>
>To Believe him
>There is no doubt that the first of our Prophet's rights, sallalahu
>allayhe wa salam, is to believe in him and to believe in the message he
>was sent with. Allah says, "Believe in Allah and His Messenger and the
>light which He sent down." [64:8] Qadhi Eyadh said in his famous and
>important book about the rights of the Prophet, Ash-Shifaa, that, "Belief
>in the Prophet Muhammad is therefore an obligation for every individual.
>Belief is not complete without it and Islam is only valid with it." Allah
>has linked belief in Him with belief in His Messenger. They are
>inseparable. This is what the shahadah, the declaration of faith, means.
>Even if a person follows other prophets like Musa and Eesa, alayhamas
>salam, he is not a believer until he completely follows the teachings of
>Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe wa salam. Abu Hurairah reported that the
>Messenger of Allah, sallalahu allayhe wa salam said, "I was commanded to
>fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and believe
>in me and what I have brought. When they do that, their blood and
>property are protected from me except for a right (they owe). Their
>reckoning is with Allah." (Bukhari and Muslim)
>
>Believing in the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, therefore, is about
>living according to his guidance. It is much more than just mere
>recognition of the fact that he is a prophet. Allah says, "When the
>hypocrites come to you, they say, 'We testify that you are the Messenger
>of Allah' and Allah knows that you are His Messenger and Allah testifies
>that the hypocrites are liars." [63:1]
>
>At the time of the Prophet Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, the Jews
>who lived in Arabia had been waiting for the promised Prophet that they
>knew of from their scriptures. But when Prophet Muhammad, sallalahu
>allaye wa salam, came they rejected him out of arrogance because he was
>not a Jew. Many of the rabbis, however, recognized that he was a Prophet
>but did not accept him or believe in him. Allah says about them, "Those
>to whom We gave the scriptures recognize him as they recognize their sons.
>But verily, a party of them conceal the truth while they know it."
>[2:146]
>
>Ibn Is'haq reports in his biography of the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa
>salam, that Safiyah bint Huyayy said, "I was the favorite child of my
>father and my uncle Abu Yasir. When I was present they took no notice of
>their other children. When the apostle was staying in Quba with the
>brother 'Amr ibn 'Auf, the two went to see him before daybreak and did not
>return until after nightfall, weary, worn out, drooping and feeble. I
>went up to them in childish pleasure as I always did and they were so sunk
>in gloom that they took no notice of me. I heard my uncle say to my
>father, 'Is he the one? Do you recognize him? Can you be sure?' 'Yes!'
>'And what do you feel about him?' 'By God, I shall be his enemy as long as
>I live!' " Believing in something is more than just recognizing that it
>exists. Satan, as explained in the Qur'an, recognizes that Allah exists
>yet he is the worst of the disbelievers.
>
>To Obey him
>The second right, which is due to our beloved Prophet, sallalahu allayhe
>wa salam, is that we obey him. Allah says, "O you who believe, obey Allah
>and His Messenger..." [8:20] Allah has mentioned obedience to the
>Messenger in connection with obedience to Him. You cannot have one
>without the other. Obeying the Messenger means, following his commands
>and staying away from what he has prohibited. Abu Hurairah narrated that
>the prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, said: "All of my ummah will
>enter Paradise except for those who refuse to." They asked, "O Messenger
>of Allah, who will refuse?" He replied, "Whoever obeys me will enter the
>Paradise. Whoever disobeys me has refused." (Bukhari)
>
>To Follow him
>Allah says, "You have a good model in the Messenger of Allah for one who
>hopes for Allah and the last day." [33:21] Commenting on this verse,
>Imam Tirmithi said, "To take the Messenger as a model means to emulate
>him, follow his Sunnah and avoid opposition to him in either word or
>action." We should strive to follow his mode of life, his sayings and
>doings, his conduct and manners.
>
>We can see from the Prophet's companions, they way in which they emulated
>the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, followed his examples, and
>modeled their behaviors upon his. This is what is means to follow the
>Prophet Muhammad. A man from Khalid ibn Asid's family asked Abdullah ibn
>Umar, "Abu Abdurrahman. We find the fear salah and the salah at home in
>the Qur'an, but we do not find the travelling salah." Ibn Umar said, "My
>nephew, Allah sent Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, to us when we did
>not know anything. We do as we saw him doing." When Umar looked at the
>black stone and he said, "You are a stone and can neither help nor harm.
>If I had not seen the Messenger of Allah kiss you, I would not have kissed
>you." Then he kissed it. Umar ibn Abdul Aziz said, "The Messenger of
>Allah made a Sunnah and the people in command after him made sunnahs. To
>adopt them is to confirm the Book of Allah and to act on them is to obey
>Allah and strengthen the deen of Allah. It is not for anyone to change
>the Sunnah, or alter it, or to look into the opinion of those who oppose
>it. Whoever follows it, is guided. Whoever opposes it and follows other
>than the path of the believers, Allah will entrust im to what he turns to
>and will roast him in the hellfire, which is a bad ending."
>
>To Love him
>A Muslim must love the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, truthfully.
>Allah says, "Say, if your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives,
>your tribe and the possessions you have earned, commerce you fear may
>slacken, dwellings you love - if these are dearer to you than Allah and
>His Messenger and to struggle in His way, then wait until Allah brings His
>command." [9:25] The Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, said, "None of
>you will believe until I am more beloved to you than your children, your
>fathers, and all people." Umar ibnul Khattab said to the Prophet, "I love
>you more than anything except my soul, which is between my two sides."
>The Prophet replied, "None of you will believe until I am dearer to him
>than his own soul." Umar said, "By the One who sent down the Book to you,
>I love you more than my soul which is between my two sides." The Prophet,
>sallalahu allayhe wa salam, said, "Now, O Umar, now you have it."
>
>Related to this love is nasiha. Nasiha is usually translated as good
>counsel and sincere conduct. It is "used to designate the desire for what
>is good for the one who is its object." Linguistically it means purity.
>The Messenger of Allah, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, said, "The deen is
>nasiha. The deen is nasiha. The deen is nasiha." They asked, "To whom,
>Messenger of Allah?" He said, "To Allah and His Book and His Messenger
>and the imams of the muslims and the common people." Nasiha to the
>Messenger of Allah is confirming his Prophethood, obeying him, supporting
>and protecting him, and following his Sunnah. Abu Baker al-Ajurri said,
>"Nasiha for his sake includes two types of sincere conduct. One is nasiha
>during his lifetime and the other is nasiha after his death." During his
>lifetime it was helping, protecting and obeying him. After his death it
>is "By maintaining esteem, respect and great love for him. By persevering
>in learning his Sunnah and understanding his Shari'ah. It is to love for
>the people of his house and his companions, avoiding things disliked in
>his Sunnah and what deviates from it."
>
>As loving the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, is an obligation, it
>comes with an excellent reward. Anas said that a man came to the Prophet
>and asked, "When will the last Hour come, Messenger of Allah?" He said,
>"What have you prepared for it?" He said, "I have not prepared a lot of
>salah or fasting or charity for it, but I love Allah and His Messenger."
>The Prophet said, "You will be with the one you love." He also said,
>"Whoever loves me will be with me in the Garden."
>
>Love for the Prophet Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, manifests
>itself in many ways. One will prefer what the Prophet came with, over his
>own desires. His anger against people will be for the sake of Allah. He
>will mention the Prophet often. He will have a yearning to meet him. He
>will exalt and respect him and be humble when he hears his name mentioned.
>He will have love for the Qur'an, which the Prophet brought. He will have
>compassion for his community, striving for their best interests. And
>another sign for love of the Prophet, sallalahu allahe wa salam, is that
>he who aspires to it, does without in this world and prefers poverty. The
>Prophet said, "Poverty for those among you who love me comes quicker than
>a flood from the top of the mountain to the bottom."
>
>To Respect him
>Allah says, "O Prophet, We have sent you as a witness and a bringer of
>good news and a warner, so believe in Allah and His Messenger and help him
>and respect him." [48:7-8] Respect for the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa
>salam, includes honoring him, exalting him, calling him with the noblest
>title such as the Messenger of Allah or Prophet of Allah. It includes
>putting his opinion over our own and defending him if he is verbally
>abused.
>
>Malik said that when he was asked about Ayyub as-Sakhtiyani he said, "I
>have not reported from anyone without Ayyub being better than him." He
>went on, "I went on hajj twice and watched him. Whenever the Messenger of
>Allah, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, was mentioned, he wept until his eyes
>were red. When I saw him do that and the respect he had for the Prophet,
>I wrote down things from him."
>
>Respect for the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, also includes
>respecting his family. The Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, said,
>"Recognition of the family of Muhammad is freedom from the fire. Love for
>the family of Muhammad is crossing over sirat. Friendship for the family
>of Muhammad is safety from the fire." He also said about al-Hasan and
>al-Husayn, his grandsons, "Whoever loves these two and their father and
>mother will be with me on the day of rising." Abu Baker said, "Respect
>Muhammad by respecting the people of his house."
>
>It also includes respecting his companions. Allah says about those who
>pledged allegiance to the Prophet at al-hudaybiyah, "Allah was pleased
>with the believers when they gave allegiance to you under the tree."
>[48:18] The Prophet said, "Do not curse my companions. If any of you
>were to spend the weight of Uhud in gold, it still would not reach the
>measure of one of them or even one-half of it."
>
>Likewise it is forbidden to curse the Prophet Muhammad. Allah said,
>"Those who abuse Allah and His Messenger, Allah has cursed them in this
>world and the next world. He has prepared a humiliating punishment for
>them." [33:57] The Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, said, "Whoever
>curses a prophet, kill him. Whoever curses my companions, beat him."
>
>It is also not allowed to even joke about the Prophet or the religion of
>Islam. Allah said, "If you ask them, they declare, 'We were only talking
>idly and joking.' Say, 'Was it Allah and His ayah and His Messenger that
>you were mocking?" [9:65] It is reported that in the course of the
>campaign of Tabuk, a man came up one day and declared, "We have seen no
>people with greater appetite, more lying, or more cowardly in battle than
>the Prophet of Allah and his reciting companions." Awf ibn Malik rose and
>said, "It is rather you that are a liar. You are a hypocrite, pretending
>to be a Muslim. I shall tell the Prophet of Allah about you." Awf then
>went to the Prophet to inform him but found that revelation had already
>preceded him. (When the news reached) the man, he mounted on his camel,
>sought the Prophet of Allah and said, "But we were only joking, trying to
>pass time while travelling." Ibn Umar said, "He was clinging to the
>saddle belt of the Prophet's camel as it ran, his feet and legs being
>battered by the rough ground and repeating, "But we were only joking."
>And the Prophet insisting without turning his face to him, "Joking?
>Joking with Allah, with His revelation? With His Prophet?"
>
>To Judge according to his Shari'ah
>The sixth right of the Prophet Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, is to
>judge by him and be pleased with his judgment. Allah said, "If you
>quarrel over anything, then refer it back to Allah and the Messenger."
>[4:58] Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to look in the Qur'an and the
>hadeeth of the Messenger of Allah when we have a question about something.
>We must follow the laws that the Prophet Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe wa
>salam, brought and judge by them, and rule according to them.
>
>At the time of the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, when he was once
>reciting, "They took their rabbis and their monks to be their lords
>besides Allah, and the Messiah, son of Maryam, while they were commanded
>to worship none but One deity, none has the right to be worshiped but He.
>Praise and glory be to Him, far above is He from having the partners they
>associate" [9:31] a former Christian, Adi ibn Hatim, said, "O Allah's
>Messenger. They do not worship them." Allah's Messenger said, "They
>certainly do. They (i.e. rabbis and monks) made lawful things as unlawful
>and unlawful things as lawful, and they (i.e. Jews and Christians)
>followed them, and by doing so, they really worshiped them."
>
>We cannot put our own desires above the laws of Allah and that which the
>Messenger, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, brought. To do so essentially, is
>to believe that we know better than Allah. Allah is our Creator and He
>know us better than we know our ownselves. "Verily, He is the All-Knower
>of what is in the chests." [67:13] He knows what is best for us and He
>has perfect wisdom and He is Just in all that He decrees. Ruling by other
>than what Allah revealed is therefore tantamount to disbelief.
>
>To Send Prayers and Salaam
>The seventh right that is due to the Prophet Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe
>wa salam, is saying the salah and salaam upon him. Allah says, "Allah
>sends His salah [blessings, mercy] on the Prophet and His angels too [ask
>Allah to bless and forgive him]. O you who believe, send your salah on
>him and [you should] greet him with the Islamic way of greeting [i.e.
>as-salamu alaikum]." [33:56] Prophet Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe wa
>salam, said, "Whoever blesses me once, Allah blesses him with then salahs
>and ten wrong actions fall away from him and he is raised by ten degrees."
>And he said, "The nearest people to me on the Day of Rising will be those
>who have said the most salahs on me."
>
>The Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, taught one way in which to say
>the salah on him. Abu Humayd as-Saidi said that they said, "Messenger of
>Allah, how should we pray on you?" He replied, "Say, O Allah, bless
>Muhammad and his wives and his descendants as You blessed the family of
>Ibrahim and grant blessing to Muhammad and his wives and his descendants
>as You granted blessing to the family of Ibrahim. You are the
>Praiseworthy, Glorious." This is the tashahud, which is said in the
>sitting of the salah. Another way is to say, 'sallalahu allayhe wa salam'
>(peace and blessings be upon him) when the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa
>salam is mentioned.
>
>The meaning of sending salaam upon the Prophet is asking Allah to preserve
>him from any harm coming to him and it is also a greeting to the Prophet,
>sallalahu allayhe wa salam. Abu Hurairah said that the Messenger of Allah
>said, "When anyone greets me with peace, Allah will return my soul to me
>so that I can return the greeting." The Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa
>salam, also said, "I will hear whoever blesses me at my grave. If someone
>is far away and blesses me, that is also conveyed to me."
>
>Since Allah has commanded that we send salah and salaams upon the Prophet
>Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, then it is a general obligation and
>not restricted to a specific time. The obligation is that we must do it
>as least once. However, saying it more than once is highly recommended
>and is the Sunnah.
>
>Other times include when one is supplicating to Allah for something. Ibn
>Mas'ud said, "When one of you wants to ask Allah for something, he should
>begin by praising and extolling Him as He deserves, and then by blessing
>the Prophet. Then his supplication is more likely to be accepted."
>Likewise, during the Athan, on Friday, when entering the masjid and when
>leaving the masjid, at the funeral salah, and when writing letters, are
>other highly recommended times. The Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam,
>said, "Whoever blesses me in a book or a letter, the angels continue to
>ask forgiveness for him as long as my name is on it."
>
>Avoiding Innovations
>While the Prophet Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, deserves and is
>due the aformentioned rights, it is also important that we don't go to
>extremes regarding his rights. Many Muslims today have innovated
>practices into the religion concerning his rights. It is indeed correct
>that the Prophet Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, deserves certain
>rights, but to innovate practices that go against his very teachings under
>the guises of loving and respecting him is bid'ah and will only lead to
>the fire. The Prophet, sallalahu alayhe wa salah, said, "Beware of newly
>invented matters [in religion] for every invented matter [in religion] is
>a cursed innovation which leads astray."
>
>In Deifying him
>One such innovation to avoid is deifying Muhammad, sallalahu alayhe wa
>salam. This is how the Christians went astray with their belief in Jesus.
>After his death they began to worship him as their deity and left the
>tawheed that he brought them. Allah says about them, "Surely in disbelief
>are they who say that Allah is the Messiah, son of Maryam. Say, 'Who then
>has the least power against Allah if He were to destroy the Messiah, son
>of Maryam, his mother, and all those who are on the earth together?' "
>[5:17] Likewise, deifying Prophet Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe wa salam,
>would throw a person into disbelief. Muhammad wa a servant and a
>worshipper of Allah. He was a Prophet and a Messenger. Allah says,
>"Muhammad is no more than a Messenger." [3:144] The Prophet Muhammad
>said, "Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in
>their praise the son of Maryam. For indeed I am a slave, so say, 'The
>slave of Allah and His Messenger.' "
>
>We cannot claim that Muhammad, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, knew the unseen
>or brought harm or benefit or even guided anyone. These are things that
>only Allah knows and has the power to do. Muhammad only knew what
>knowledge Allah revealed to him and he does not have the ability to decree
>anything. Allah says, "Say (O Muhammad), 'I know not whether [the
>punishment] is near or whether my Lord will appoint for it a distant term.
>(He alone is) the All-Knower of the unseen, and He reveals to none His
>unseen." [72:25-6]
>
>In keeping away from deifying the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, we
>must also accept his death. He was human and all humans must die, for
>Allah says, "Verily, you (O Muhammad) will die and verily they will die."
>[39:30]
>
>Through Istigatha
>Related to this in innovation is istigatha to the Prophet, sallalahu
>allayhe wa salam. Istigatha means to call for help, or to appeal for aid.
>Some Muslims have gone astray, to the point of calling upon the Prophet,
>sallalahu allayhe wa salam, for help, instead of Allah. This is
>tantamount to shirk, which Allah does not forgive. Allah says, "Do not
>call onto any beings other than Allah. These are capable of neither
>benefit nor harm. To do so is therefore to become guilty of wrongdoing.
>When Allah invests you with an affliction, none can remove it except Him."
>[10:106-7]
>
>Through Tawassul
>Another innovation that has become popular is making tawassul by the right
>of the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam. The meaning of tawassul is to
>draw near to what one seeks after, and to approach that which one desires.
>Allah says in the Qur'an, "O you who believe! Do your duty to Allah and
>fear Him. Seek the means of approach [al-wasilah] to Him, and strive hard
>in His cause as much as you can. So that you may be successful." [5:35]
>Ibn Kathir said that the meaning of wasilah is to draw closer.
>
>There are three types of tawassul that are allowable in Islam. The first
>is by Allah's names and attributes. The proof for this is the verse, "And
>the most beautiful names belong to Allah, so call on Him by them."
>[7:180] Shaikh Al-Albaanee said that the meaning of this verse is, "Call
>upon Allah, the Most High, by means of [performing tawassul with] His
>perfect Names, and there is no doubt that His exalted Attributes fit into
>this since His Names are Attributes of His." Also the Prophet used to
>seek Allah's refuge with he words, "O Allah, I seek refuge in Your Might,
>none has the right to be worshiped but You."
>
>The second type is by means of a righteous deed, which one has done.
>Allah says, "Those who say, 'Our Lord. We have indeed believed, so
>forgive us our sins and save us from the punishment of the fire." [3:16]
>So it is allowed to use a righteous action that one has performed in one's
>supplication as a means of tawassul so that his supplication is more
>likely to be responded to. An example of this is the hadeeth reported by
>Abdullah Ibn Umar who said that the Prophet said, "Three me, amongst those
>who came before you set out until night came and they reached a cave, so
>they entered it. But a boulder rolled down from the mountain and blocked
>the entrance of the cave. So they said: Nothing can rescue you from this
>rock except that you supplicated to Allah by mentioning righteous deeds
>you have done. So one of them said, 'O Allah I had two elderly parents
>and I had not used to give precedence over them to my family and slaves in
>giving them milk to drink. But one day I was delayed in seeking after
>something and I did not return with the flock until they had slept. So I
>milked the animals for them but found that they were both asleep. However
>I hated to give milk to my family and slaves before them, so I waited with
>the bowl in my hand for them to awake. Then with the break of dawn they
>awoke and drank their milk. O Allah if I did that seeking Your Face, then
>relive us from this situation caused by the rock.' So it moved slightly,
>but they were unable to escape. The Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam,
>said, 'The next said, 'O Allah my uncle had a daughter and she was the
>most beloved of the people to me and I tried to persuade her to have
>sexual relations with me, but she refused until she suffered from a year
>of famine. Then she came to me and I gave her a hundred and twenty dinars
>on the condition that she would comply with me desire for her, so she
>agreed. But when I was about to fulfill my desire she said "It is
>unlawful for you to break the seal except by lawful means." So I felt
>ashamed to commit the crime against her so I left her alone, and she was
>the dearest of all the people to me, and I left the gold which I had given
>her. O Allah if I did that seeking Your Face then release us from the
>situation we are in.' So the rock opened further, but they were still
>unable to escape." The Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam said, 'And the
>third said, 'O Allah I employed some laborers and paid them their wages
>except a single man who did not take his wages and went away. I invested
>his wages and it grew into a great deal of property. Then after some time
>he came to me and said, 'O servant of Allah, give me my wages.' So I said
>to him, 'All the camels, cows, sheep and slaves that you see are your
>wages.' So he said, 'O servant of Allah, do not mock me.' So I said, 'I
>am not mocking you.' So he took all of that and led them away and did not
>leave any of it. O all if I did that seeking Your Face, then release us
>from our situation.' So the rock moved and they walked out of the cave."
>
>The third allowable type of tawassul is through the supplication made by a
>righteous man. This means going to a man whom one deems to be righteous
>and asking him to supplicated for him. There are a number of examples of
>this in the Sunnah of the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam. A man once
>came to the prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, and asked him to pray for
>rain because they were having a drought. The Prophet, sallalahu allayhe
>wa salam, did so and it rained heavily for a week. Then a man came back
>and asked the Prophet to supplicated for the rain to stop and so the
>Prophet asked for the rain to be around them and not on them and the
>clouds made a circle around Madinah.
>
>After the Prophet's death, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, Umar used to ask
>the Prophet's uncle Al-Abbas to supplicated for rain for them. None of
>the companions, however, supplicated to Allah for anything by the right or
>the status of the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, after his death.
>Ibn Taymiyah said, "So a created being can only benefit another by means
>of his supplication or means of help while alive. So Allah, the Most
>High, loves that we seek nearness to Him by means of eman, righteous
>actions, by sending prayers and salaam upon His Prophet, sallalahu allayhe
>wa salam, by our loving him, obeying him and allying ourselves with him.
>These are the things which Allah loves to see us seek nearness to Him by
>means of." Related to tawassul, some Muslims are now asking the Prophet
>for intercession. Shafa'ah, intercession, literally means to make
>something odd, even. In the dictionary, Lisanul-Arab, shafa'ah is defined
>as, "The intercessor's speaking to a king about a need which he is
>requesting for someone else, through whom he intercedes to attain what is
>desired." So people ask the Prophet to ask Allah to forgive them or to
>respond to their need. As mentioned, this was done during the Prophet's
>lifetime, but after his death his companions stopped doing this, and
>instead, they went to his uncle.
>
>Prophets are alive in their graves, and therefore can respond to calls for
>intercession. About this Ibn Taymiyah said, "Neither the Prophet, nor any
>of the prophets before him prescribed that the people should supplicated
>to the angels, the prophets, or the pious, not that they should ask them
>to intercede for them, neither after their death, nor when they were
>absent."
>
>Through Celebrations
>Other innovations, which have crept into the ummah, are the celebration of
>his birthday, the israa and miraj, and the hijarh. Celebrating these
>events has no place in the Sunnah of the Prophet of in the religion of
>Islam. The Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, or his companions did not
>do this. Ibn Taymiyah said about celebrating the Prophet's birthday,
>"Also, what many people do is due to imitating the Christians in their
>celebrating Jesus' birthday or a claimed love for the Prophet. These are
>the reasons behind it. To celebrate the Prophet's birthday, even when
>many scholars dispute the date, is an innovated act the salaf did not do.
>If this were a good act, then the salaf would have done it before us."
>
>Two celebrations have been prescribed for the Muslim ummah, the Eidul Fitr
>and the Eidu Adh-ha. Anas said, "The Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam,
>came to Madinah and the people of Madinah had, before Islam, two days for
>play and amusement. So the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa salam, said, "I
>came to you and you had in jahileeyah two days for play and amusement.
>Indeed Allah has replaced them for you by that which is better than them.
>The day of Nahr (slaughtering) and the day of Fitr (breaking fast)." Any
>celebrations, other than these are innovations and have no part in this
>religion.
>
>These innovations have no part in the religion but are a result of going
>to extremes with regard to the rights of the Prophet, sallalahu allayhe wa
>salam. Certainly, the Prophet has a high position of honor among us. But
>to deviate further into matters that go against his very teachings is by
>no means an expression of love and respect but rather an expression of
>disobedience and a straying from the true rights of the Prophet Muhammad,
>sallalahu allayhe wa salam.