001 - Specialties of Prophet Muhammad SAW

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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 whom Allah erases kufr (كفر - disbelief) through—, 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.


In a long sahih (صحيح - authentic) hadith (حديث - Prophetic tradition), it is narrated that on the Day of Judgment, everyone will know that Islam (إسلام) is the Truth (including the nonbelievers, even though of course it is too late to believe), so the people will all go to Adam (آدم - Adam) AS and say to him, "O Adam, you are our father, and Allah created you with His Hands, and Allah blew His ruh into you! Do you not see the situation your children are in?" They will ask him to go to Allah and beg Him to start the Reckoning and ask for forgiveness, but he will say, "I committed a sin I should not have done, and I am worried about myself"—and so he will say, "Nafsi (نفسي - myself), nafsi. Go to another person. Go to Nuh (نوح - Noah)." Humanity at large will then go to Nuh AS and make the same request, but he will also make an excuse, "I made a mistake which I should not have done. Allah told me not to ask anybody to be saved, but I asked Him to save my son and I disobeyed Him." So Nuh AS is also worried about himself and will say, "Nafsi, nafsi." Then they will go to Ibrahim (إبراهيم - Abraham) AS, and he will also make an excuse, "I made 3 lies" (even though technically they were not lies). Then they will go to Musa (موسى - Moses) AS who will also make an excuse, "I killed someone in anger" (even though it was an accident). Then they will go to Isa (عيسى - Jesus) AS who will also say he is not worthy. And so they will go to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH and beg him to be an intercessor and representative to go in front of Allah for all of humanity. To do what? To begin the Reckoning. Just to begin it. Because the Day of Judgment is so hard they will say, "Whatever comes let it come! Let us just move on to whatever it is! The tension is too much!" So they will beg the Prophet PBUH, and he will say, "Ana laha (أنا لها), ana laha — this is my job, this is my job." And because of this, all of humanity will praise him. And he will be given the Praiseworthy Station which in Arabic is called al-Maqam al-Mahmud (المقام المحمود). And because it is the Praiseworthy Station, who better then it be given to than the one who is Muhammad and Ahmad.

Both Muhammad and Ahmad mean "the one who is ultimately praised," but what is the difference? Muhammad means he is being given continuous praise, time after time, praise after praise — from the beginning of time, up until our time, until the Day of Judgment, on the Day of Judgment, and after the Day of Judgment. So Muhammad is for the quantity of the praise. As for Ahmad, it means he is being given the best type of praise. So Ahmad is for the quality of the praise. And both Muhammad and Ahmad are combined in our Prophet PBUH who will be given the Praiseworthy Station.

Why is it that Prophet Musa AS predicted our Rasul (رسول - Messenger) with the name of "Muhammad," and Prophet Isa AS predicted our Rasul with the name of "Ahmad"? The famous scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (ابن القيم) said the wisdom behind this is that the largest ummah (أمة - nation) of true believers after our ummah is that of the Bani Israel (بني إسرائيل - Children of Israel, i.e., the Jews); therefore they were told the name that is fitting with them — because they were large in quantity. As for Prophet Isa AS, his followers were few, but they were very pious and great in quality — they were tortured and persecuted; the pagan Romans killed them, combed their skin with combs of iron, etc., but they persevered and they were truly devoted; so for them, the name Ahmad was mentioned.

As for his third name, the Prophet PBUH explained it himself: Al-Mahi (الماحي) means the one whom Allah wipe out kufr through. "Through me, Allah SWT will wipe out kufr." Indeed the Arabian Peninsula was immersed in kufr, but in his own lifetime the entire peninsula converted to Islam. And within 20-30 years, major bastions of kufr were converted to Islam and remained in Islam ever since; within 60-70 years, Islam reached the borders of China and Andalus where it remains to this day. Al-Mahi — the one who erases and effaces kufr.

Al-Hashir (الحاشر) — mankind will be resurrected at the feet of the Prophet PBUH (i.e., right after him). What does this mean? One interpretation is that the coming of the Prophet PBUH is the first sign of the DoJ (Day of Judgment), and therefore the Prophet PBUH is al-Hashir. Another interpretation is that the Prophet PBUH will be the first person to be resurrected on the DoJ and then everyone else thereafter. Indeed the prophets will be resurrected first and foremost, then the salihun (صالحون - the righteous) and the shuhada (شهداء - martyrs), and then the rest of the ummah. So al-Hashir is the one that will signal the Hashar (Day of Judgment).

Al-Aqib (العاقب) — the successor; the one who cuts off; the one who is at the end. And by this it means he is the last prophet.

Nabi al-Rahma (نبي الرحمة) — the prophet of rahma (mercy).

Nabi al-Tawba (نبي التوبة) — the prophet of tawba (repentance). Meaning by believing in him and following his teachings, people can be forgiven.

Al-Muqaffa (المقفى) — the one who comes at the end and makes the message of the previous prophets complete; or the one who makes the message of the previous prophets not needed anymore because he comes with the complete message.

Nabi al-Malahim (نبي الملاحم) — the prophet that will signal lots of trials. And indeed the biggest trials the world will ever see (the Dajjal [دجال], the three major earthquakes, etc.) will occur in this ummah.

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The Specialties of Prophet Muhammad PBUH

As for the Prophet's PBUH khasa'is (خصائص - specialties) [something that only he was given and no other human being was given], some scholars have listed up to 50 unique and specific characteristics/blessings. Some of these include:

1. (Obviously) He is the final prophet of Allah. No prophet has been the final; and Allah chose him to be the final. The Quran says:

مَّا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَا أَحَدٍ مِّن رِّجَالِكُمْ وَلَٰكِن رَّسُولَ اللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ النَّبِيِّينَ

"Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of Allah, and the seal of the prophets." [33:40]

2. The prophethood of the Prophet PBUH had been decreed by Allah even before Adam AS existed; even before the ruh (روح - soul) was blown into Adam.

One sahabi (صحابي - male Companion) asked the Prophet PBUH, "When were you decreed to be a prophet, ya Rasulullah (يا رسول الله - O Messenger of Allah)?" The Prophet PBUH said, "When Adam was between the tin (طين - mud) and the ruh." In other words, when the ruh and tin of Adam were still not yet combined — were still two separate entities. Before the ruh was blown in, Allah had already decreed.

3. The only prophet to have been sent for all of humanity — in fact the only prophet to have been sent even to the jinn. (Note: Somebody can say Adam and Nuh were sent for all of humanity. But Adam and Nuh were both exceptions that simply happened by a coincidence of early history; in that, Adam was the first human, and naturally, the only human beings in his time were his descendants. The same goes for Nuh: there was only one city, nation, group, community of people in the whole world in his time, so it was just a coincidence. It is not as if Adam & Nuh were intended to be sent for all of humanity.) The Prophet PBUH was sent to all of humanity; and even to the jinn. (Insha'Allah in the course of our lectures we will mention the incident of the Night of the Jinn — the night in which the jinn came to Makkah [مكة - Mecca] to learn about Islam.)

4. The Prophet PBUH said, "Allah has helped me with ru'b (رعب - a type of fear) — Allah will inflict into my enemies fear even one month journey away before I reach them." This is unique to the Prophet PBUH only. When he went into battle, people became terrified of him even before he reached them.

5. He has been given the largest ummah out of all of the prophets. In a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari (صحيح البخاري), he said Allah showed him the umam, and he saw an ummah as large as the eye could see, and he said, "Maybe this is my ummah," but he was told, "No, this is the ummah of Musa," and then he saw an ummah even larger that blocked his vision, and he was told, "This is your ummah."

And in another hadith, he said to the sahaba, "Do you wish your ummah should be ⅓ of the people of Jannah (جنة - Paradise)?" They said, "Allahu'akbar (الله أكبر - Allah is the greatest)!" Then he was silent. Then he said, "Would you be happy if I told you if your ummah is ½ of the people of Jannah?" They said, "Allahu'akbar!" Then he was silent. Then he said, "By Allah, my hope is that my ummah shall be ⅔ of the people of Jannah!" (Subhan'Allah [سبحان الله - Glory be to Allah]! Modern estimates say there are close to 2 billion Muslims on this earth today; so do the math — from the time of the Prophet PBUH until the Day of Judgment; and then compare this to the real followers of the prophets who came before, i.e. the Bani Israel, the actual followers of Isa AS; how few must they be?!)

6. He has been given the most powerful miracle, i.e., the miracle of the Quran. There is no miracle that compares to the Quran. One thing demonstrates this: Look at any other miracle, e.g., the splitting of the Red Sea, or when Isa resurrected the dead — we cannot see and experience those miracles ourselves except that we just believe they happened. But the Quran is a living miracle — it is a miracle that all of humanity has access to. It is a miracle that we can recite and the people can hear.

7. The Night Journey of al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj (الإسراء والمعراج) — no other prophet has had the privilege of undertaking this journey. Even when Allah AWJ spoke with Musa, it was the Divine Speech given while Musa was on earth, on Tur Saina (طور سيناء - Mount Sinai). The Prophet PBUH was the only human to have been called up to the presence of Allah AWJ. He undertook a journey no other makhluq (مخلوق - creation), as far as we know, ever undertook: he went up to a maqam (مقام - place) that even Jibril (جبريل - Gabriel) said, "My permission stops here; you must go alone." "This is where it ends for me; I cannot go any further."

8. He is the leader of all of humanity. He himself told us this in the hadith in Bukhari (بخاري) and Muslim (مسلم), "I am the Sayyid (سيد - the one who is in charge of, i.e., the leader) of the children of Adam." Sayyid here means he is the master, the perfection of humanity. And he deserves to be the leader of humanity. And indeed he will be the leader of humanity on the DoJ.

9. The Prophet PBUH will be the first to be resurrected on the DoJ [Sahih Bukhari] — the first grave to open up when the second trumpet is blown will be the Prophet's PBUH grave. This explains his name al-Hashir. And he will be the first to be clothed on the DoJ.

10. He will be given the largest hawd (حوض) — a pool that is square in shape; it is so large that one side of it is as if it is from Makkah to Sana'a (صنعاء), which is half of the Arabian Peninsula.

11. He will be given the Kawthar (الكوثر) — the main river of Jannah; and all rivers of Jannah split from it. It is as if the people of Jannah will drink water from the gift of the Prophet PBUH.

12. He will be the first to cross over the Sirat (صراط - the Bridge) — the one to guide his ummah to Jannah; first to knock on the Doors of Jannah; he will be the first human to ever enter Jannah after Adam left it; and he will be the one in whose name the Gates of Jannah will be opened. The angel will ask, "Who is it?!" ... "To you I have been commanded to open." So it is his name that will be the permission to open up the Gates of Jannah. So the very first step to enter into Jannah is the right step of our Prophet Muhammad PBUH, followed by his ummah (even though we are the last ummah chronologically).

13. Allah has blessed him with the highest level of Jannah: the pinnacle of al-Firdaws al-A'la (الفردوس الأعلى). It is an entire level. Some scholars have said Jannah is kind of like a pyramid, in that, the higher up you go, the fewer the people; there will come a point where the whole plain of Jannah is meant for only one person; it will be the pinnacle of al-Firdaws al-A'la; and it will be immediately underneath the Throne of Allah SWT; and it is called al-Fadila (الفضيلة). The Prophet PBUH said, "This Fadila is a level of Jannah that Allah has chosen for only one of His servants." And then he said modestly, "I hope that I am that person" (even though obviously there is no other human than him that is qualified for this position). And he PBUH wanted us to pray that Allah gives him the Wasila (الوسيلة) and Fadila (الفضيلة). And that's why every time the adhan (أذان) is called, we say:

اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّ هَذِهِ الدَّعْوَةِ التَّامَّةِ، وَالصَّلاَةِ الْقَائِمَةِ، آتِ مُحَمَّدًا الْوَسِيلَةَ وَالْفَضِيلَةَ، وَابْعَثْهُ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا الَّذِي وَعَدْتَهُ

"O Allah! Lord of this perfect call (perfect by not ascribing partners to You) and of the regular prayer which is going to be established — give Muhammad the Wasila and Fadila, and resurrect him on the Praiseworthy Station that You promised him (of)" [Sahih Bukhari].

Even those who mocked him, ridiculed him, drew diagrams against him in this dunya, will be praising him on the DoJ. And in the akhira, he PBUH will be given al-Wasila and al-Fadila.  

[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Re-revised by Muhammad Abdul Rahman, April 2021]