Prophet Muhammad: Allah’s Mercy to the Worlds and Favor to the Faithful

By Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi

We sent you not except as a mercy for the worlds. (Al-Anbiya’ 21:107)

Allah did confer a great favor on the Believers when He sent among them a Messenger from among themselves, rehearsing unto them the Signs of Allah, sanctifying them, and instructing them in Scripture and Wisdom, while before that, they had been in manifest error. (Al ‘Imran 3:164)
Prophet Muhammad – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - was the “Rahmah of Allah” to the worlds. Rahmah is mercy and grace. Whatever exists in this world exists by the mercy of Allah; but one of the greatest signs of Allah’s mercy is His Last and Final Prophet Muhammad. Through Prophet Muhammad Allah completed His mercy to the whole world. Before him the Prophets used to come only to their own people; but Prophet Muhammad brought Allah’s love and mercy to all people and to all creation. In a Hadith the Prophet explained in this way:

Narrated by Abu Musa al-Ash’ari: The Prophet told us some of his names. He said, “I am Muhammad, Ahmad, al-Muqaffa (the Final One), al-Hashir (the one who gathers humanity), Nabi al-Tawbah (the Prophet of Repentance) and Nabi al-Rahmah (the Prophet of Mercy).” (Muslim 4344)
Besides being “the Mercy of Allah to the Worlds,” the Prophet was also “the Favor of Allah” (Mann Allah). However, the favor is to the faithful only because they are the ones who will benefit from his teachings, his message and mission and take the lead in spreading Allah’s mercy.
Allah says that the Prophet is from among them (min anfusihim), meaning that he is from among the human beings. Imam Qurtubi says that there are several meanings in this favor of Allah: One of them is that he is from amongst them. That is his being from the human race is a favor to human race and his being from among the humans make it easy for the human to follow him. Was he from among the angels or some extra terrestrial creatures, it would have been very difficult for them to take him and his example seriously. In some readings of the Qur’an, it is read “min anfasihim” not “min anfusihim” and the meaning is that he was the most “nafis” (precious and valuable) among the human beings.
Prophet Muhammad is the favor of Allah to the faithful for the following reasons:
1. He recites the ayat of Allah to them
2. He purifies them
3. He teaches them the Book and Wisdom

1. He recites to them the Ayat of Allah: Allah revealed to him His Book, the Qur’an and he recites the Ayat of this Book to them. He gives them the Book as it was given to him from Allah. He is not only to deliver the book to them, but he is also to show them how to read this book. He is to make sure that the book is recited in the right way without any mistakes or errors. He makes sure that the book is preserved not only in the written but also in the spoken form.
2. He purifies them: Tazkiyah is both: purification and growth. Prophet Muhammad purifies the believers from sin, corruption, bad habits and customs. He purifies them individually and collectively. He purifies their societies: their cultures, their economic dealings, their political structures. He purifies every aspect of their life. He makes them grow to become better human beings. They are the deputies of Allah (khalifah) on this earth; he brings them up to their potential. He upgrades their human level and makes them pride of humanity. Before him they were living in error and sin; he changed their condition. The humanity saw that suddenly the people who had no history and had to place among the nations of the world, they became the pride to the world.
3. He teaches them the book and wisdom: Prophet Muhammad did not only deliver the Qur’an to the believers; he also taught them the Qur’an. He explained the words of Allah and told them the teachings of the Qur’an and the way to follow those teachings. He did this through his Sunnah: his words and his personal example. Without Sunnah one cannot understand the Qur’an as it ought to be understood. The Sunnah is the Companion of the Qur’an. Some people explain “hikmah” as the Sunnah while others have taken “hikmah” as wisdom in the general sense of the word. Prophet Muhammad gave both the practical explanation of the Qur’an and he also gave us deeper meaning and wisdom of Allah’s words and commands. By knowing the wisdom of the Qur’an we can interpret the Qur’an in all situations and in all times. The Prophet was not only to give us textual meanings, but he also gave us the understanding of the text in its proper context and its application in different times and places. This is the basic role of the Sunnah and Hadith.
It is important that we as Muslims benefit from Allah’s favor and then make Allah’s Mercy available to all people. After the departure of the Prophet from this world, it is the responsibility of his Ummah to benefit from this favor and then spread his mercy and grace to the worlds.

(Khutbah at ISOC – Rabi’ul Awwal 13, 1426/ April 22, 2005)
- DrSiddiqi@aol.com

Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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