وأْفضل الخْلقِ على الإ ْ طلاق نبِينا َفمِل عنِ الشَقاق

From Sunnipath:

Is it wrong to praise the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) too much?
Answered by Sidi Hamza Karamali

Some of our Muslim brethren are “hypersensitive” to excessive praise of the Prophet. They claim that excesses were
committed with regard to the prophet(s) and saints at a widespread
level a few hundred years ago in the islamic world, and
that we must adopt an exaggerated over cautious approach with matters
of the prophet(s) and our ulama. Is this claim correct?

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

assalamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah

Thank you for your question. Scholars explain that every Muslim has explicitly affirmed that that there is no god but Allah and that our master Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) is the messenger of Allah. In the first part of this testification, they have explicitly negated the existence of any god besides Allah.

Whenever Muslims praise the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), their praise must be understood in the context of the explicit negation of the existence of any god besides Allah. Praise is not the same as worship. To accuse someone who praises the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) of worshipping him based on “hypersensitivity” comprises harbouring a bad opinion of one’s Muslim brother or sister and accusing them of lying in their explicit negation of the existence of any god besides Allah. To harbour such suspicions is an act of sin: “O ye who believe! Shun most suspicion; for lo! some suspicion is a sin.” (49:12)

The approach that mainstream Sunni scholars take with Muslims is to give them the benefit of the doubt and to try their utmost to include them within the fold of Islam by interpreting their statements in an Islamically acceptable manner. The ease with which certain groups excommunicate other Muslims is the mark of a sectarian and intolerant mentality that is far from the way of mainstream Sunni Islam.

And Allah knows best.

Hamza.

~ by Ilyas on Aug 23, 2006.