Obeying the Prophet (SAW)

All praise is due to Allah. He sent the messengers as warners and bearers of good tidings. And He revealed the books as guidance to all creation. So glory be to the merciful Lord. He established evidence for His lordship. He has great wisdom in His creation and arrangement. And He has the conclusive argument in His commands and prohibitions. He sent His prophet Mohammad ﷺ with the clear proofs and supported him with miracles. And He reinforced him and made him prevail over his adversaries.

So be conscious of Allah the Most High and turn to Him during every hardship. And seek refuge in Him in every great matter. For He is the Magnificent and nothing escapes Him.

As-Shura (42) 29:Ref: And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and earth and what He has dispersed throughout them of creatures. And He, for gathering them when He wills, is competent.

From Allah Almighty’s mercy on those responsible is that He guided them to the path to Him. For He sent the messengers as warners and bearers of glad tidings. And He obliged mankind to obey them. For they are the emissaries between Allah and His servants. They issue from Him, receive His revelation, and convey His messages. And on the Day of Resurrection, they will be asked about their conveyance and mankind will be questioned about their response.

Al Maedah (5) 109: [Be warned of] the Day when Allah will assemble the messengers and say, “What was the response you received?

And since Mohammad ﷺ was the last and seal of the Messengers, there is no prophet after him, it is obligatory for everyone to whom his call has reached to believe and follow him. Otherwise, he is an enemy to Allah Almighty and all the prophets even if he claims that he believes in some as is the case of the people of the book after Mohammad ﷺ was sent. That is why they were called disbelievers in the Noble Quran, and they were linked with the polytheists. And they were described as the worst of creation and the fire is their abode.

Al Bayyinah 6: Indeed, they who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein. Those are the worst of creatures.

And Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
By Him in Whose Hand is the life of Muhammad, no one among this community, Jew or Christian, who hears about me and dies not affirming his belief in what I have been sent with, except that he is one of the companions of Hell-Fire.

And the noble verses converged on the obligation to follow and obey the Messenger ﷺ and warn against disobeying him. And obeying him is obeying Allah Almighty as Allah said:
An Nisa (4) 80: He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah;

Among the verses that state the obligation to obey the Messenger ﷺ :
Al Hashr (59) 7: And whatever the Messenger has given you – take; and what he has forbidden you – refrain from. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.

The Quranic verses bring good tidings to the one who obeys the Prophet ﷺ with reward in the Hereafter

An Nisa (4) 13: These are the limits [set by] Allah, and whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger will be admitted by Him to gardens [in Paradise] under which rivers flow, abiding eternally therein; and that is the great attainment.

Then the very next verse came warning whoever disobeys the Prophet ﷺ:
An Nisa (4) 14: And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits – He will put him into the Fire to abide eternally therein, and he will have a humiliating punishment.

Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, looked up the verses about obedience to the Messenger ﷺ said: “I looked in the Quran and found obedience to the Messenger ﷺ in thirty-three places”, then he began to recite:
An Noor 63: So let those beware who dissent from his [i.e., the Prophet’s] order, lest trails and affliction strike them or a painful punishment.

Oh Muslims:
The Prophet ﷺ informed about people who would come after him and refute the Prophetic Sunnah. Limiting themselves to the Quran in their rotten claim and faulty understanding. And this indicates the genuiness of his prophethood.

The Prophet ﷺ said:
Beware! I have been given the Qur’an and something like it, yet the time is coming when a man replete on his couch will say: Keep to the Qur’an; what you find in it to be permissible treat as permissible, and what you find in it to be prohibited treat as prohibited.

The authentic prophetic sunnah is revelation from Allah. It is a good aid for understanding the Book of Allah Almighty. No one can claim that the Quran suffices them from the Sunnah. For the Prophet ﷺ is the most knowledgeable person about the words of Allah Almighty. And from his ﷺ roles is to explain the meanings of the Quran. Allah Almighty says:
An Nahl (16) 44: And We revealed to you the message [i.e., the Qur’ān] that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them and that they might give thought.

Shaikh Al Islam ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: And the sunnah of the messenger of Allah ﷺ explains the Quran just as it explained the number of prayers and the amount of Quranic recitation within them. As well as reciting out either loudly or quietly. Just as the sunnah explains the zakat and its requirements. Just as it explains the hajj rites and the number of rounds of tawaf. As well as the sa3ee and throwing the jamarat. And if a sunnah is authenticated then all the Muslims agree on the obligation to follow it.

May Allah make us among those who obey the Prophet ﷺ. Verily, Allah is All Hearing, Answering.

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