The Best Exemplars for Mankind

That is very different from the way the Muslims see this. For us, the prophets are the best exemplars for mankind; and for us, the exemplar is the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), because the information we have of him, his being the chosen one and the greatest of the prophets, and everything that is related about him, is historically proven. It stands the test of historicity, and it has come down to us. So we are actually told to emulate him and his Ṣaḥābah, because that was the most glorious period for us.

This Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was a very specially selected one. It is part of our belief that he is Allah's servant, which basically means that he is not another kind of creation, but he is a servant: he is an ʿabd, in the position of servitude. Our belief is that he is a human being; he is specially selected; he was selected as a prophet and as a messenger.

So the first thing al-Ṭaḥāwī says here is ʿabd, because that is the basic and initial nature of the human being: to be an ʿabd. The greater an ʿabd a person is, which means the greater the level of servitude a human being has, the more he is fulfilling his own position in this world, in relationship to Allah (swt). Because our position in this world is that of being servants of Allah, the created beings of Allah (swt), and we need to recognise that fact. That fact needs to be in our conscience all the time. The more present that feeling is within us, and the more we give it expression, the greater a servant we will be. That's true humanity, that's true servitude, and that's true ʿabdiyyah.

That is why many ʿulamāʾ mention the reason for ʿabd, as in subḥāna alladhī asrā bi-ʿabdihi laylan, from al-Masjid al-Ḥarām to al-Masjid al-Aqṣā. Some consider the title ʿabd to be actually higher than prophet, because ʿabd is at that really, really fundamental level, where a person acts that way; whereas nabī is what is given by Allah (swt) to select individuals. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) was the greatest of the ʿabd.