Allah has not created His slaves to neglect them, and He did not leave them in vain. He, therefore, sent to them messengers to provide knowledge of Him, His Majesty, His perfection and His laws. Almighty Allah sent the best person to mankind. He sent many messengers, such as... Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them) and He sealed the message with the best of messengers, Muhammad (peace be upon him). He gave them all miracles which indicated that they came with the truth. They delivered the trust and conveyed the message, and made Allah known to His slaves as their Lord and Creator. He, therefore, who does not believe in their message and their truthfulness, does not believe in Allah. Almighty Allah says: &"The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and (so have) the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers&" (Al-Baqarah: 285).
For they are the conveyors of His message to us and have been sent by Him to us, and we believe in them all. Allah says: &" We make no distinction between any of His messengers &" (Al-Baqarah: 285).
Almighty Allah sent scriptures with His messengers to be a guiding light to mankind. He sent Al-Sohof (sheets) with Ibrahim, Al-Zaboor (Psalms) with Dawood, Al-Tawrah (Torah) with Moses, Al-Injeel (Bible) with Jesus, and the Lord&"s miraculous Scripture, Al-Quran Al-Majeed, with Mohammed (peace be upon him). Allah says: &" (This is) a Book whose verses are perfected and then presented in detail from (One who is) Wise and Acquainted&" (Hûd: 1).
Allah (exalted be He) has made it a guide, a light, a blessing and a proof. Allah says: &"And this (Qur&"an) is a Book We have revealed (which is) blessed, so follow it and fear Allah that you may receive mercy&" (Al-An&"âm:155).
He also says: &"O mankind, there has come to you a conclusive proof from your Lord, and We have sent down to you a clear light&" (An-Nisâ&": 174).
Allah has made Iman in the seal of the prophets and messengers and the best of mankind, Muhammad (peace be upon him), and his message a condition for Iman in His Oneness. This we see in the statement of the Shahada (i.e. Ash-hadu alla ilaha illa Allahu wa ana Mohammadan Rasoulollahu. Meaning: &"I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah&"). He was sent by the Almighty as a mercy to the worlds, taking them out of darkness into light (peace be upon him), from ignorance to knowledge and from misguidance to guidance and Iman. He delivered the trust, advised the nation and was concerned about them.
Allah says: &"There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; (he is) concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful&" (At-Taubah: 128).
Allah gave His Prophet and Messenger (peace be upon him) the rights that he deserves for he is the best of mankind and he is their master. He (peace be upon him) said : &"I am the leader of the sons of Adam, and I do not boast about it&" (Narrated by Ibn Majah).
1-Iman in that he is the slave of Allah and His Prophet, and that Allah (exalted be He) had sent him as a mercy to the worlds. He (peace be upon him) delivered the trust and conveyed the message. Allah (exalted be He) says: &"So believe in Allah and His Messenger, and the Qur&"an which We have sent down&" (At-Taghâbun: 8).
And he (peace be upon him) said: &"By Him in Whose hand is the life of Muhammad, he who amongst the community of Jews or Christians who hears about me but does not affirm his belief in that with which I have been sent and dies in this state (of disbelief), he shall be but one of the denizens of Hell-Fire&" (Narrated by Muslim).
2-To believe in and accept all that he (peace be upon him) conveyed from his Lord (exalted be He), and be sure, without a shred of a doubt, that it is the truth that he conveyed from Allah (exalted be He). Allah says: &" The believers are only the ones who have believed in Allah and His Messenger, and then doubt not&" (Al-Hujurât: 15).
Allah says: &"But no, by your Lord, they will not (truly) believe until they make you, (O Muhammad), judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged, and submit in (full, willing) submission&" (An-Nisâ&": 65).
3-To love him (peace be upon him). Allah (exalted be He) says: &"Say, (O Muhammad): ‘If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, wealth which you have obtained, commerce wherein you fear decline, and dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and jihad in His cause, then wait until Allah executes His command. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people’&" (At-Taubah: 24).
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: &"None of you will have Iman till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind&" (Narrated by Al-Bukhari).
4-Respecting him and honouring him (peace be upon him). Allah (exalted be He) says: &"That you (people) may believe in Allah and His Messenger, and honor him and respect the Prophet&" (Al-Fath: 9).
He also says: &"So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful&" (Al-A&"râf: 157).
5-To love and respect the members of his house (peace be upon him) who embraced Islam and followed his Sunnah (commands and way of life), and to understand his commandment (peace be upon him): “I remind you (to be kind) to the members of my family. I remind you (to be kind) to the members of my family” (Narrated by Muslim).
The members of his house, such as his wives, his progeny and his relatives to whom it is forbidden to pay any charity, are the most honourable people. It is not permissible to belittle them or to insult them, and it is also not permissible to claim that they are infallible, or to call on them or supplicate to them beside Allah.
6-To love his Sahaba (Companions) (may Allah be pleased with them) who believed and had faith in him, and not harm them in any way for Allah praised them.
7-Not to talk or think badly about the lives of these Sahaba who believed and had faith in him. They are praised by Allah in the Qur&"an. Allah says: &"Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah ; and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating (in prayer), seeking bounty from Allah and (His) pleasure. Their mark is on their faces from the trace of prostration&" (Al-Fath: 29).
He (peace be upon him) said about them: “Do not revile my Companions, do not revile my Companions. By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if one amongst you would have spent as much gold as (the size of) Uhud it would not amount to as much as one mudd (small amount) of (the deeds of) one of them, or (even) half of it” (Narrated by Muslim).
The best of the Sahaba are the Kholafa&" Rashedoon (The Rightly-Guided Caliphs): Abu Bakr, then Omar, next Othman and then &"Ali (may Allah be pleased with them). Allah says: &"And the first forerunners (in faith) among the Muhajireen and the Ansar and those who followed them with good conduct - Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great attainment&" (At-Taubah: 100).
All these have conveyed the message from The Prophet (peace be upon him) to us.
