Revering the Prophet to the point of shirk (a.k.a. worshiping the prophet without realizing it)

         

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  I think I benefit from being an outsider to Islam, I often see “problems” that many born and raised Muslims do not see. Similar to how outsiders to Christianity or whatever faith, tend to see problems. Convently, It took me to becoming Muslim to appreciate my Christian past; trust me guys Christianity has interesting scholarly beginnings. Muslims will often scoff when outsiders assume that Muslims worship Muhammad, but honestly how some Muslims act…well it’s an easy enough of a confusion. Most Muslim, and I do have to say most, place Muhammad on a pedestal. He is such on a high pedestal that well, he becomes God-like. Which to me borders on the line of shirk, or for those without the Islamic lingo (or Arabic) that means worshiping something other than God.

            It is la ilaha illa llah or no god but God, say the Shahada and we tack on muhaamadun rasulu llah (Muhamad is the messenger of God). If your Shia, well you take on something about Ali. Which the shahada is stating that Muhamad is a prophet, which isn’t so weird. The part about Muhammad is often called the second shahada and as a Muslim it is reminding us that we accept Muhammad as a line of prophets of God.  The Shahada is a statement of both ritual and worship. The first shahada or the tawhid (oneness of God) comes from for example 37:35 and Muhammad as the messenger of God, can be found in 48:29. Of course, looking at the Quran we can see throughout the tawhid and the proclaiming Muhammad as a prophet.

             Muhammad is mentioned throughout the Quran but people like Moses are mentioned many more times than he is. Jesus is given the same status, minus being God part, as in Christianity. Prophets like Elijah and Elisha and Jesus all still have their miracles with healing people and raising the dead. Muhammad wasn’t a prophet of miraculous miracles, he was quit similar to the prophets like Deborah who led battles and talked to God. Muhammad didn’t seek out war either, he didn’t aim for a nation like a nation of Israel, as the Jews did. Nor was he like Jesus, who was sent for the Jews in particular. Muhammad was sent, well sent for everyone with a message in Arabic. This dives into a whole another field in History and theology, which I won't get into. Yet, Muhammad’s only miracle was the Quran and establishing Islam. He did go on a night journey in his dreams going to the seven levels of heaven and talking to the prophets. Which dream travel or visions, seem to be a common theme to communicate to God.

             What makes Muslims border on the line of shirk, is their reverence for Muhammad. There is a difference from not wanting to swear in his name; there is nothing wrong wanting to follow in his path either. The problem is when Muslims associate Muhammad with no wrong. Every Prophet, maybe not Elijah, has done some wrong, Moses never even saw the promised land because he disobeyed God. So, what did Muhamad do so wrong? Well, his wrongdoing can be found in Sura 80 where Muhamad ignored a blind man.“He frowned and turned away that the blind man drew near him. And what will cause you to recognize so that perhaps he will purify himself or yet recollect and a reminder profit him? But as for he who was self-complacent, then, you attend to him and not upon you is any blame if he purifies not himself. Yet as for him drew near to you, coming eagerly for knowledge and de dreads God, then, you pay no heed to him? No indeed! Truly, this is an admonition. So let whoever willed, remember it in scrolls to be held in esteem, ones that are exalted and ones that are purified by hands of generous writers and ones who are kind, generous…”

Some say this verse isn’t referring to Muhammad, others say it is. For me, it shows Muhammad as a humbling character who ignored someone because either he didn’t want to answer the question or for whatever purpose. We know through hadiths, that Muhammad was asked a lot of dumb questions and we don’t know what this blind man was asking. It could be a reflection on how we shouldn’t ignore anyone’s questions, regardless of how annoying or stupid when they search for questions in faith. These questions, no matter how silly or small, could lead someone towards or away from Islam. This verse shows Muhammad as a human, but this verse is up for interpretation and isn’t really anything greatly wrong. Muslims forget that Muhammad lost battles and bled but his character is what eventually made Islam the winner of his enemies.

             Losing battles doesn’t really make anyone imperfect, nor does it make anyone perfect either. People who hate Islam might like to point out that Muhamad lost battles and this must be the proof he is a false prophet. Many of the Jews in the bible lost battles even with the prophets. God states in the Bible, he does what he pleases and makes you win when he wants you to win. So, we know winning battles doesn’t really matter perse', and honestly the Arabs are lucky they didn’t have to deal with the forty years slavery rotation that was common. When he was spoken to by Gabriel for the first time, he ran away thinking he was crazy. Muhammad also enjoyed sex and there are many hadiths about sex and foreplay. He is one of the most human of all the prophets because we know the most about his life.

             The human aspect of Muhammad is what brought me to Islam. He is a great example for the faith because well, he founded the faith. According to most hadiths and the Quran, he was an intelligent man who was very nice and reserved. That didn’t mean he didn’t have moments of anger, like the verse of the veil came about after people wouldn’t leave his home. Jesus also had fits of annoyance and so did….every other prophet. The human aspect of Muhammad is proof that he is, simply human.  The problem is many people like to venerate him to the point of worshipping him. I am not the only Muslim who has thought that some Muslims border on the line of shirk with their veneration of Muhammad.  Wahabis have destroyed the prophet’s home in Saudi Arabia to prevent people from venerating the space and focusing on Muhammad and not God. I once told my husband “even Muhammad farted”, he acted like I just insulted the prophet. The truth is, he farted and had bodily functions…you know how I know this? Because he was human and had to do wudu before prayer. Muhammad’s sex and bathroom hadiths are not shy of anything and actually some of these hadiths would shock some conservative Muslims today. Some followers even tried to watch him go to the bathroom, to see his every motion. So yes, Muhammad was human, and no do not like to say “so and so, pooped”. When I say he used his body like a human, I’m saying that he was human.  Some Muslims believe that Muhhammad existed before humanity was created, that yes Muhammad’s spirit was apart of the divine. Which people like Al-Ghazali and Ibn Taymiyyah have disputed. Again this is shirk, it shows that instead of accepting what Muhammad was, people are trying to find a proof of his divineness which he never claimed to have. Its acceptable to say, I saw him in a dream because we know prophets and angels can send messages in dreams.

             There are problems with hadiths that report on his youth. Some like say he did small acts of miracles at a young age, or some Christan knew he was prophet or something in the like. The
problem with these hadiths is that they come from unauthentic sources, and most likely came about to prove some divine aspect of Muhammad. When an Imam has to state that “baby Muhammad was so perfect…”, then we border on the line of giving Muhammad a God status. How do we know young Muhammad didn’t get angry or ever get drunk? We don’t know, because it isn’t important at all. We know Muhammad didn’t drink and didn’t like alcohol, he probably had beer or wine on his travels. Most people during his day drank alcohol instead of water, because it was safer but drinking beer wasn’t high in alcohol as it is today. He most likely didn’t drink ever, and probably wasn’t a crazy teenager, we know this because of his character in life. So, was he perfect? No, but he definitely is a good role model and a person we should probably achieve to be one day.

              Muslims need to be careful about how they act about Muhammad. Are you venerating him to such a high status that you’re basically treating him like a demi-god? Are you giving him a divine nature that he never had? Muhammad was a man, a prophet but a human. The Quran says we should follow in his footpath and at times does say he is perfect, but there is a difference between being of good character and not being human. We don’t like to think of anything negative about the prophet, but he had negatives and that is what makes him great. In the world that he was in, his character was damn near perfect and I think that is what we should focus on. Not some false statements about him being a miracle messiah perfect baby, because we don’t know what he was like at a young age. Muhammad was bringing us to God, not acting as a blockade to God. If your thinking more about Muhammad and not enough about God, then you to reevaluate what you read in the Quran and what Muhammad actually taught. Humans like to ignore the divine and focus on the undivine, then obsess about it. That’s why the companions and the prophet are so idolized because that’s how humans are. We don’t want to know that our favorite movie stars, actually have flaws or are the same as us. The truth is, and I keep repeating it, is that Muhammad was human and had flaws like going to the bathroom, that is okay. His perfection comes from his spirituality and character because every time he accidentally did something (if he did) he fixed it. When his wives felt ignored he didn’t just say “I'm a prophet deal” ( kinda like Jesus did to his mom), he came to them and gave them attention. So remember this, Muhammad was human like you and me, but he was intelligent, perfect spirituality (Quran says), and had one of the most amazing characters that most people today struggle to achieve.

***I am not saying Muhammad drank alcohol or Muhammad is a bad person. I am saying Muhammad was human, had human functions. Like a human probably overlooked things, because he was constantly busy and when he noticed he did, he fixed it. So his character was perfect, but that doesn't mean he is dvine or a miracle child. I suppose this is how you interpret perfect as well. This is my interpretation, and mean no disrespect to others beliefs. ****