Insha'Allah (إن شاء الله - God willing), before we embark on the journey of seerah, we will study the Prophet's PBUH (ﷺ - May Allah Sends Blessings and Peace Upon Him/Peace Be Upon Him) shama'il (شمائل - characteristics) to build up even greater eagerness and motivation to learn about the life and times, the lessons and morals, the incidents that occurred, in the life of our Prophet Muhammad PBUH.
Where do we begin when it comes to describing the one whom Allah (الله) has chosen above the entire creation. How can we do justice to him when Allah AWJ (Azza wa Jal/عز وجل - Mighty and the Majestic) Himself says, "We have raised up your remembrance and mention" [see Quran, 94:4]. And indeed, Ibn Abbas (ابن عباس) and other scholars of the sahaba (صحابة - Companions of the Prophet) said, "Allah has raised up his remembrance such that whenever Allah is mentioned, the Prophet PBUH is mentioned right after." Allah SWT (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala/سبحانه وتعالى - Glorified and Exalted be He) Himself called our Prophet PBUH a "Rahma li al-Alamin (رحمة للعالمين - Mercy to the World)" — He is
the embodiment of rahma (رحمة - mercy); he is the channel of Allah's mercy. Indeed the Prophet PBUH is mercy, his sending is mercy, his Message is mercy, his teachings are mercy, and believing and acting upon what he has come with is mercy. He is everything associated with mercy. So how then can we begin to do justice to the Prophet PBUH when Allah has praised him so highly.
However, even if we cannot mention all of his blessings and characteristics, let us at least mention some.
The Names of Prophet Muhammad PBUH
We begin by mentioning some of the names that Allah AWJ gave our Prophet Muhammad PBUH. He had many names. Many of his names were given by later people (i.e., the sahaba, tabi'un, and the early scholars), and one of the famous scholars of the seerah has derived over 250 names for the Prophet PBUH; but we will only mention some of the names that Allah has given him, because those are the primary names that have the deepest meaning.
From Jubayr ibn Mut'im (جبير بن مطعم), in Sahih Muslim, he said the Prophet PBUH said: "I have a number of names. I am Muhammad, and I am Ahmad, and I am al-Mahi —the one through whom Allah erases kufr (كفر - disbelief)—, and I am al-Hashir —people will be resurrected after me—, and I am al-Aqib —the one who has no prophet after—."
And in another narration: "And I am Nabi al-Rahma, and Nabi al-Tawba, and al-Muqaffa, and Nabi al-Malahim."
The two nouns that the Quran (قرآن) explicitly mentions are
Muhammad (محمد) and
Ahmad (أحمد).
The name Muhammad is mentioned 4 times in the Quran (see [3:144], [33:40], [47:2], [48:29]), and the name Ahmad is mentioned 1 time from the tongue of Isa (عيسى - Jesus) AS (Alayhi al-Salam/عليه السلام - Peace Be Upon Him) in the Quran, "A messenger after me whose name will be Ahmad" [Quran 61:6]. Both names come from the root ح م د (h-m-d); and "hamd" means "to praise," but not any type of praise, it means to praise not in return for some favor given to you; a praise that is given simply because of the inherent characteristics in the one that you are praising; that is, he deserves to be praised for who he is. An object of perfection. He is worthy of being praised regardless of what he has done or has not done. And both of the Prophet's PBUH names —Muhammad and Ahmad— come from "hamd." Why? Because Allah has praised him, the angels have praised him, all the prophets have praised him, and every single one of mankind praises him directly or indirectly. As for praising him directly, these are the Muslims — we praise him directly; and as for praising him indirectly, these are the non-Muslims — even those who reject the Prophet PBUH by the tongue, they must praise his character and qualities. So he is praised in the heavens and the earth, in the previous umam (أمم - nations) and the present umam, in this dunya (دنيا - world) and the akhira (آخرة - Hereafter). This is the ultimate praise. There is no human before, now, or after, who is praised more than the Prophet PBUH.
