Setting
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
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
‘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."
Translations
عربي বাংলা Bosanski Español فارسی Français Bahasa Indonesia Русский Tagalog Türkçe اردو 中文 हिन्दी Kurdî Português മലയാളം తెలుగు Kiswahili தமிழ் සිංහල မြန်မာ Deutsch 日本語 پښتو Tiếng Việt অসমীয়া Shqip Svenska cs ગુજરાતી አማርኛ Yorùbá Nederlands ئۇيغۇرچە Hausa ไทย دری bg ff hu it kn Кыргызча Lietuvių mg or ro rw Soomaali тоҷикӣ uz ak नेपाली mos az woExplanation
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
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.
Categories
Oneness of Allah's Worship