QUESTIONS I AM STRUGGLING WITH IN MY FAITH - PART 2 “PEACE BE UPON HIM” Another very important prayer of a Muslim that I have a few questions on is the one prayed probably more than Al Fatiha. When I mention the name of Muhammad in a conversation, I must immediately pray for him: Sallah Allahu alehi wa sallam (May the Peace of Allah be Upon him); This prayer comes from a command both in the Quran and in the Hadith. The Quran says: “…O you who believe (followers of Mohammad), invoke blessings on him and invoke peace upon him …” (Sura 33:56). Hadith of At-Tirmidhi records Abu Hurayrah as saying: “The Messenger of Allah said… “May he be humiliated, the man in whose presence I am mentioned and he does not send Salah upon me; may he be humiliated, the man who sees the month of Ramadan come and go, and he is not forgiven; may he be humiliated, the man whose parents live to old age and they do not cause him to be granted admittance to Paradise.” OK. Because I do not want to be under a curse, so I must pray for the prophet every time his name is mentioned. The prayer is simple: “May the peace of Allah be upon him.” Sometimes, in order to avoid the monotony of this, I must write “(PBUH)” instead of a full ‘Peace Be Upon Him’ or the Arabic ‘SAWS’ to mean ‘Sallah ‘lahu alehi wa sallam’. I heard of a University in an African city that would penalize you if you do a course in the Department of Islamic Religious Studies or even if you are a Law student who has to do a course in Shariah and you write an assignment or project paper and mention the name of Muhammad without adding (SAWS) or (PBUH) in brackets. Some marks will be deducted from your marks for not praying for the prophet. It is regarded as dishonouring him. At the end of every daily prayer (salah) session, as a Muslim, I must repeat a similar prayer: “O Lord, have mercy upon and give peace to Muhammad.” I know that it is not the decayed body or bones of Muhammad that I am praying peace for; I am praying for peace for his soul after death. I am praying that Allah would grant Muhammad Paradise, which is actually called “the home or abode of peace” in the Quran (Surah 10:25-26). In other words, we are all praying for his salvation. Describing how people will be welcomed in Paradise, the Quran says: "Enter you therein in peace and security; this is a Day of eternal life!" There they will have all that they desire, and We have more (for them, i.e. a glance at the All-Mighty, All-Majestic). (Surah 50:31-35 Hilali-Khan). 14. Is this demand and command for prayer an indication that the prophet didn’t have an assurance that he would be saved and so decided to command all of us his followers to pray that Allah would grant him mercy to enter the abode of peace? I have not yet heard of any place in the Bible where Christians are commanded to pray for Jesus or for the peace and salvation of any of God’s true prophets and apostles after their deaths. 15. Why is it necessary for us to be praying for Muhammad’s peace regularly? 16. Am I on a safe ground to be following a prophet that depends on my prayer for his peace? Or should I follow a prophet who will be praying for me? 17. Since billions of us have been praying to Allah to grant peace to Muhammad for 1,400 years, should the prayer not have been answered? 18. What guarantee do I have as a Muslim that after death I will have peace? If prayers of billions of people have not produced peace in 1,400 years for the prophet, would I not need more than that volume of prayers to get me into paradise? Since I will never have such number of people to pray for my own peace after my death, what then is my hope? 19. If Muhammad is in paradise will he not be in peace? 20. Has it ever crossed your mind that the only place where there is no peace after death is Hell fire? 21. Can prayer deliver anyone from Hell fire? 22. Is it true that Christians do not pray for Jesus Christ and that such prayer is not needed for Him from Muslims? 23. When His name is mentioned, what do Muslims say? 24. Do you know the Bible says that the peace of God already rests upon Jesus and that He is “the Prince of Peace”? (Isaiah 9:6). Jesus himself said, “Peace I give unto you, My peace give I unto you, not as the world giveth. …” I hear Christians say: “Jesus is our peace. We don’t pray for Him. He prays for us. He is at the right hand of the Father in heaven interceding for us His followers.” What a prophet, what a Saviour! At a time when He was praying to the Father for those who follow Him, He said, “I have manifested Thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: Thine they were, and Thou gavest them me; and they have kept Thy Word. “Now they have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given me are of Thee. “For I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given me; for they are Thine. And all mine are Thine, and Thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. (John 17:6-10). 25. Did Allah give Muhammad the assurance that he would be saved? Allah told Muhammad: “Say (O Muhammad): “I am not a new thing among the Messengers (of Allah) nor do I know what will be done with me or with you (following me). I only follow that which is revealed to me, and I am but a plain warner.” (Surah 46:8-9). 26. Does this not sound like saying, “You guys, follow me; but I don’t know where we are going”? Again, Allah told Muhammad, “… Verily, you (O Muhammad) will die and verily, they (too) will die. Then, on the Day of Resurrection, you will be disputing before your Lord.” (Surah 39:30-31). 27. Does that mean when we all die as Muslims, we would enter a dispute with Muhammad before Allah? 28. What kind of dispute could this be? 29. Can I as a Muslim have greater assurance that I will be saved than the founder of the religion? 30. Does this not mean that I would actually need a lot more prayers for my peace after death than Muhammad himself would since I can never expect to be on Muhammad’s level as a Muslim? Can I be more faithful Muslim than Muhammad? 31. Is it necessary to pray for a person’s peace if he or she is in paradise or in some other state in which he or she is already experiencing joy and bliss? 32. Has it ever crossed our minds that by commanding that we should be praying for the peace of Muhammad, Allah has actually dishonored his prophet since this calls into question the very salvation of the one whom we claim is the perfect man to follow? 33. In all sincerity, is this issue not enough to cast great fear and doubt into my heart since I can never know whether or not Allah is truly pleased with me enough to give me peace after death? 34. Does that not indicate that no Muslim can ever be certain about his salvation and will therefore die in uncertainty?
Posted on: Sun, 15 Sep 2013 20:43:40 +0000
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