Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him): An ‘ordinary’ human being?
Q515 :You have emphasized on several occasions that
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was an ordinary human being. It is
well known that a person who acnetplishes some extraordinary things is
himself extraordinary. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) received
revelations from Allah, sent to heaven, met Allah and conversed with
Him. How can he be projected as an ordinary human being? I fear that
this might be a slip into disrespect. Please netment.
A515 : I have indeed said that Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) was and continued to be an ordinary human being
throughout his life. This is indeed what he has been required to
declare to his people when they made absurd demands that he should
acnetplish some supernatural things to prove his prophethood. Allah
instructs him in Surah 17 entitled “The Night Journey”: “Say: limitless
in His glory is my Lord! Am I anything but a human messenger?” The
final verse of Surah 18 entitled “The Cave” gives this instruction to
the Prophet: “Say: I am but a mortal man like all of you. It has been
revealed to me that your God is the One and only God.” In both the
verses, the emphasis is placed on the fact that Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him) was an ordinary human being, a mortal, who had been chosen
for the noble task of being Allah’s messenger. He himself made no claim
whatsoever to being anything other than a human being who has been
given a divine message to convey to mankind. If we were to claim that
he had a superhuman status, should we not ask what status would that
be? We can only think of an angel, or that of a god. Far being from him
to make any claim to godhood. We should never contemplate for a moment
that anyone, including Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), had any
divine status of any sort. The only alternative would be that he was an
angel. He certainly was not, because he had all the characteristics of
human beings. Let us remember that angels have not been given the power
to choose attitudes and actions. They simply “do not disobey Allah
whatever He netmands them, and they do what they are bidden.” It simply
does not occur to an angel to disobey. Human beings, on the other hand,
have always the choice of doing what God likes them to do or of
disobeying Him. This ability to choose is the distinctive quality of
human beings, which enables them to earn admittance into heaven if they
consistently choose what pleases Allah. They certainly experience
temptation to disobey Him and it is through rising above that
temptation that they prove their worth. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) was certainly a human being and he shared with all humans all
their qualities and characteristics. He would love and hate, experience
happiness and distress, satisfaction and irritation, calmness and
anger, etc. The Prophet was great because he was able to conduct his
life in the way he did despite experiencing all the feelings and
emotions of human beings and working within their limitations. You say
that he was extraordinary because he did extraordinary things. He
certainly was favored with receiving Allah’s message and being assigned
the task of conveying it. That is why we are required to declare that
we believe that he was Allah’s messenger. If we do not, then we are not
Muslims. But that is as far as it goes. He gave us a living example of
what a perfect human being is like. We can follow his example in every
respect. Indeed, we should try to do so. But we should remember that
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not choose to have
revelations, it was Allah who chose him to be His last messenger to
mankind and sent down His revelations to him. Nor did Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) have any say in his ascension to heaven: it was
Allah who wished to favor him with that to give him reassurance, at a
time when he certainly needed that reassurance. He decidedly did not
meet with Allah nor did he converse with Him. Allah only revealed what
He wished to reveal to him through the Archangel Gabriel. What we are
told about his ascension to heaven in the Qur’an is that he “has seen
some of the greatest signs of his Lord.” No human beings has ever
spoken to Allah directly except Prophet Moses. We must not confuse
matters. When we stress the humanity of Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him), we are not being disrespectful to him. Indeed, we love him
and respect him so much because he has been a means for us to have
divine guidance which enables us to earn reward from Allah and ensures
for us a happier life in the next world.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )