[Verily, there is indeed for you in the Messenger of Allah the most beautiful of examples, for those who seek Allah and the Last Day, and remember Allah abundantly.] Above all of His creation, Allah SWT has chosen and honoured mankind, He has placed mankind on a pedestal overlooking the rest of creation, and made everything subservient to man. From amongst them, He has chosen one great personality and made him the choicest and most honourable of His entire creation, placing him on an elevated position far above the rest of creation. The Beloved of Allah, Sayyidunaa Muhammad SAW has been gifted with the most beautiful of qualities and attributes that no one else has been gifted with. Allah has blessed him with some of His own attributes and He has made the Holy Prophet SAW His chief representative amongst creation until the Last Day. In Surah Al-Anbiyaa, v 107, Allah SWT says: [And We have not sent you, except as a mercy to all the worlds.] Allah has sent him as a mercy to the entire creation, making him the main source of Allah’s mercy. It is narrated on the authority of Sayyidunaa Abu Hurayrah RA that the Holy Prophet SAW was asked to invoke Allah SWT to punish the idolaters. He replied in a most beautiful manner, by saying: “Indeed, I have been sent as a mercy and I was not sent as a curse.” The incident at Taa-if is one of the most manifest proofs that highlight the limitless mercy of the Noble Prophet SAW. After the people of Taa-if had sent their dogs after him and their children to pelt him with small rocks and stones, and after his Mubaarak face was dripping in blood, Allah sent Sayyidunaa Jibreel AS to him. Sayyidunaa Jibreel As told the Holy Prophet SAW that Allah has sent him with the
angel of the mountains, and if he wishes, then Allah SWT will instruct the angel to bring the mountains together and destroy and crush the inhabitants of Taa-if. The Noble Prophet’s SAW reply to this was: “I do not wish that but rather that Allah will create from their offspring a nation that will worship Him and not ascribe partners to Him.” This is undoubtedly, clear manifestation of the mercy of the Noble Prophet SAW. The virtues of the Holy Prophet SAW cannot be counted and described in words, because he is unique; there is no other creation and there will be no other creation like him. Allah SWT teaches us the greatness of His Beloved SAW in the Holy Qur’aan. From these virtues in the Holy Qur’aan, is that Allah SWT has not once addressed His Beloved SAW directly by his name, nor has Allah told us about him, except by mentioning the mantle of Prophethood, and that he is the Messenger of Allah SAW. Allah SWT has directly addressed the other Prophets by their names in the Holy Qur’aan, and He has not mentioned them as Messengers except with His Beloved Sayyidunaa Rasoolullah SAW. Undoubtedly, Allah SWT has placed His Beloved SAW far above all creation.
by their names, like He addressed Nabi Adam AS, in Surah Al-Baqarah, v 35: [And oh Adam; dwell you and your wife in Paradise.] Also, when He addressed Nabi Musa AS, He does so directly, like in Surah Al-A`raaf, v 144: [Oh Musa; indeed I have chosen you above mankind with my message and by speaking to you. Additionally, Allah SWT addresses Nabi Ibraheem AS by name directly, in Surah Hood, v 76: [Oh Ibraheem; turn away from this.] If we look in the Holy Qur’aan, we see that Allah SWT has only mentioned the Noble Prophet SAW by name when stating his Prophethood, like in Surah Al-Fatah, v 29: [Muhammad SAW is the Messenger of Allah.] The noble names of the Holy Prophet SAW are amongst his countless virtues. Allah SWT has named him Muhammad, which is derived from one of the attributes of Allah SWT Himself. His uncle, Abu Talib realised this and composed a poem in praise of him: “And He has derived from His Own Name a name to honour him above others; The One of the Throne is Mahmood (All Worthy of praise) and he is Muhammad (constantly praised).”
Allah SWT has granted Sayyidunaa Rasoolullah SAW the highest honour and most elevated status. We read in the Holy Qur’aan, when Allah SWT addresses him directly, for example, in Surah AlAhzaab, v 45: [Oh My Beloved Prophet; verily We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings and a warner.] Also, in Surah AlMaa’idah, v 41: [Oh My Beloved Messenger; deliver what has been revealed to you from Your Lord.]
We will also find in the Holy Qur’aan that Allah SWT mentions His Beloved SAW before the other Prophets AS when mentioning them together. An example of this is in Surah An-Nisaa, v 163: [Verily We have revealed to you just as we have revealed to Nooh and the Prophets after him. And We have revealed to Ibraheem, Isma`eel, Ishaaq and Ya`qoob] In a hadeeth narrated by Sayyidunaa Abu Hurayrah RA, the Noble Prophet SAW is reported to have said: “I became the first of the Prophets to be created and the last of them to be sent.”
When Allah SWT addresses other Prophets AS, He addresses them
Another one of his virtues is that Allah has taken it as His own responsibility
to defend him. If we look in Surah Al-A`raaf, we read: [Verily we see that you are in manifest misguidance.], the people of Nabi Nooh AS told him. His reply was: [He said: Oh my people, misguidance has not taken my but I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds.] The same goes for the other Prophets; they all defended themselves, and some of them mentioned in the Holy Qur’aan. Allah SWT Himself defends His Most Beloved SAW in the Holy Qur’aan. For example, in Surah AlQalam, v 2, He says: [You are not a madman due to the favours of your Lord.]; and in Surah An-Najm, v 2-4: [Your companion has not gone astray nor has he been deceived. And he does not speak of his own desires. Verily, it is revelation that is inspired to him.] Allah SWT has made obedience to the Holy Prophet SAW obligatory without any conditions or exclusions. He says in Surah Al-Hashr, v 7: [And whatsoever the Messenger has given you, then take it; and whatsoever he has forbidden you, then abstain from it. May Allah SWT grant us the necessary guidance and good fortune, to obey the Noble Prophet SAW, to revere him and to love him as we should.