Quran Garden

Session 472

Chapter 3

Verse 144

a continuation

Muhammad is only a messenger before whom many messengers have come and gone.  If he died or was killed, would you revert to your old ways?  If anyone did so, he would not harm God in the least.  God will reward the grateful.  (Chapter 3: Verse 144)

In the battle of Uhud, when the Archers violated the command of our beloved Muhammad and abandoned their positions, the tide turned against the Muslim army.  Quraysh charged from both ends, and the companions fled the battlefield in every direction.  The disbelievers closed in on God's Messenger to the extent that Ibn Qama grabbed a stone and threw it at the blessed face of Muhammad, driving two links of the Prophet's helmet into his bloodied cheek and breaking two of his incisors. 

Here we ask: Couldn't Allah have spared His Messenger from all this?  Surely, but it was a grant from the Almighty to allow the Prophet to experience the bliss of striving for His cause.  More importantly, Muhammad was sent to lead by example and not to be a pampered leader or a wealthy king.  He, peace be upon him, was on the front lines of every action of life.  God says,

Indeed you have in God's Messenger an excellent example to follow for whoever looks forward to God and the Last Day, and remembers and mentions God much.  (33:21)

While the wind of defeat was blowing on the faithful, the companion Abu Ubaydah rushed to God's Messenger and found him in pain while Abu Bakr tried to remove the chain links from his cheek.  He said, "Let me do it, O Abu Bakr."  Abu Ubaidah grabbed one of the two rings with his front teeth and pulled it out, loosening his tooth; then, another of his teeth came loose when he removed the second link.  Our beloved Muhammad said, "Every nation has a protector, and the protector of this nation is Abu Ubaydah ibn Al-Jarrah."  Then our Lady Fatimah, may God be pleased with her, burned a piece of cloth and used the ashes to pack the wounds of her father's face. 

Meanwhile, a short distance from the battlefield, Anas bin Nodar found that some companions, including Omar ibn Al-Khattab and Talhah ibn Ubaid, had put down their weapons.  Anas asked, "What are you sitting for!?" They said, "God's Messenger has been killed."  He said, "And what do you intend to do with your life after him?  Get up and die for the cause God's Messenger died for!" Then he returned to the battlefield and fought until he was killed.  All these heroic events would not have come to be except through this battle.

The verse continues with a logical question, "If he died or was killed, would you revert to your old ways?" Did the followers of the previous Prophets turn back on their heels when their Prophet died?  How can we be less committed than earlier nations?  Let's suppose that Muhammad was actually killed in Uhud.  Does that mean we dispose of all the good he brought from the heavens?  If all you did in your life disappeared the moment you died, what kind of life did you lead?  That is unacceptable.  You must ensure you leave something good behind. 

Many of today's failed states result from individual leaders who pass nothing to their nation.  After the leader's death, we look for a successor, but none are left.  We ask: why did the leader suppress his people and chase away the country's best talents?  Was he afraid of them?  Didn't he know that death is always around the corner?

The phrase "Muhammad is only a messenger" reminds the companions that he, peace be upon him, was a human being with the sole task of delivering God's message in the best way possible.  But does the statement "Muhammad is only a messenger" mean that some companions believed Muhammad was more than a Messenger?  Yes, some could not imagine a world without the Prophet.  We find proof in the story of the great companion Omar when our beloved Muhammad died.   

When the Messenger passed and ascended to the realms of Allah, Omar ibn al-Khattab said: "Some hypocrites are claiming that God's Messenger has died.  By Allah, the Messenger did not die.  He went to his Lord for forty days like Moses, and he shall return."  Omar, out of shock, could not comprehend the events of the day and forgot God's words, "Muhammad is only a messenger before whom many messengers have come and gone."  Our master Abu Bakr came and said: "Whoever worships Allah, Allah is alive and does not die.  And whoever worshipped Muhammad, Muhammad is indeed dead." And then he recited the verse:

Muhammad is only a messenger before whom many messengers have come and gone.  If he died or was killed, would you revert to your old ways?  If anyone did so, he would not harm God in the least.  God will reward the grateful.  (Chapter 3: Verse 144)

Omar ibn al-Khattab said: "It was as if I had never read this aya until that day."

The following day, after Omar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr for the caliphate, he turned and addressed the Muslim crowd: "Yesterday, I uttered some words, and things are not as I said.  By Allah, I did not find what I told you in God's Book or the covenant of His Messenger.  But I was hoping that the Messenger of Allah would outlive us all.  God chose for His Messenger that which is with Him over that which is with us.  Hold on to the Quran by which God guided His Messenger and be guided with it."

Such events present us with two crucial lessons about our beloved Muhammad,

The first is the remarkable level of love the companions had for the Prophet, peace be upon him.  The second lesson teaches us that regardless of your level of love, it should not veer you away from God's straight path.  Omar ibn Al-Khattab said: "When I heard Abu Bakr reciting this verse, I recognized the truth even before anyone told me.  My knees buckled, and my legs could no longer hold me upright."

Therefore, the phrase "Muhammad is only a messenger before whom many messengers have come and gone." Means: O believers, do not give the Prophet a status that God did assign him, for the Almighty has honored him far beyond what you will ever know.  God says, addressing our beloved Muhammad,

And during the night wake up and pray, as an extra offering of your own, so that your Lord may raise you to a glorious praised status.  (17:79)