Hadith: Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in praising the son of Mary, for I am only His slave. So, call me the slave of Allah and His Messenger
عَن عُمَرَ بنِ الخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قال: سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ:
«لَا تُطْرُونِي كَمَا أَطْرَتِ النَّصَارَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ؛ فَإِنَّمَا أَنَا عَبْدُهُ، فَقُولُوا: عَبْدُ اللهِ وَرَسُولُهُ».
[صحيح] - [رواه البخاري] - [صحيح البخاري: 3445]
المزيــد ...
‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) say:
"Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in praising the son of Mary, for I am only His slave. So, call me the slave of Allah and His Messenger."
[Authentic hadith] - [Narrated by Bukhari] - [Sahih Bukhari - 3445]
The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) prohibits immoderateness and exceeding the Shariah-prescribed limit in praising him and forbids ascribing to himself the peculiar attributes and actions of Allah or knowledge of the unseen, or that he should be supplicated to along with Allah, as the Christians did with Jesus, the son of Mary (peace be upon him). Then, he made it clear that he is one of the servants of Allah and commanded us to call him: the servant and Messenger of Allah.
Benefits from the Hadith
- It warns against exceeding the Shariah-prescribed limit in extolling and praising, for this leads to polytheism.
- What the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) warned about did take place within this Ummah, as a group of people went to extremes regarding the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), and another group did the same regarding the members of his household and another group did it for the pious figures. So, they fell into polytheism.
- The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) described himself as a slave of Allah, thus pointing out that he is merely His slave, and it is not permissible to devote to him anything of the Lord's characteristics.
- The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) described himself as the Messenger of Allah, thus pointing out that he is a messenger sent by Allah, and so we are obligated to believe and follow him.
More ...
- Hadith: May the curse of Allah be upon the Jews and the Christians, for they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship - He wanted to warn against what they did - If it were not for that, his grave would be made prominent; yet, he feared it might be taken as a place of worship
- Hadith: Of all the associates, I am the most able to dispense with association. If anyone does a deed in which he associates anyone else with Me, I shall abandon him to what he associates with Me
- Hadith: I stand acquitted before Allah that I took anyone of you as an intimate friend, for Allah has taken me as an intimate friend just as he took Ibrahīm as an intimate friend. Had I taken anyone from my nation as an intimate friend, I would have taken Abu Bakr as an intimate friend
- Hadith: Who will be the happiest of people to receive your intercession? He said: The one who says 'there is no god but Allah' sincerely from his heart
- Hadith: Whoever bears witness that there is no god but Allah, alone with no partner, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger, that ‘Isa is the slave and Messenger of Allah, and His word which He communicated to Maryam, and a spirit from Him; and that Paradise is true and Hell is true, Allah will certainly admit him into Paradise, regardless of the deeds which he has done
- Hadith: Whoever dies while invoking anything other than Allah as a rival will enter Hell
- Hadith: "Ruined are the extremists!" He said it thrice