Aqida Tahawiyya, Lesson 5: The Chosen Messenger and the Speech of Allah
Section 4 of 23 · Aqeedah · Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
The Most Beloved of Names
The other thing is that he used the word ʿabduhu here. That is the most beloved name according to Allah (swt): aḥabbu al-asmāʾi ilā Allāhi taʿālā ʿAbdullāh wa ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. Those two names are beloved because of the ʿabd: servant of Allah, servant of the Raḥmān, the Most Merciful One. That is one of the most kāmil, and perfect, and complete designations of the human being, and that is why it was used.
Allah (swt) uses that term in the Qur'an in some of the loftiest of descriptions. He says:
ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَلَمْ يَجْعَل لَّهُۥ عِوَجَا ۜ
“Praise belongs to Allah who has sent down the Book to His servant, and allowed no crookedness in it,” (18:1)
Anzala ʿalā ʿabdihi al-kitāb: He sent on His servant, He revealed on His servant, the Book.
تَبَارَكَ ٱلَّذِى نَزَّلَ ٱلْفُرْقَانَ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِۦ لِيَكُونَ لِلْعَـٰلَمِينَ نَذِيرًا
“Glorious is the One who has revealed the Criterion to His servant, so that he may be a warner to all the worlds,” (25:1)
Nazzala al-furqāna ʿalā ʿabdih: the Furqān, the criterion, which is the Qur'an, on His servant.
وَأَنَّهُۥ لَمَّا قَامَ عَبْدُ ٱللَّهِ يَدْعُوهُ كَادُوا۟ يَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِ لِبَدًا
“and that when Allah’s servant stood invoking Him, they almost rushed on him in crowds.”” (72:19)
Wa annahu lammā qāma ʿabdu Allāhi yadʿūh: when the servant of Allah stood up to propagate to them. Again, He uses the word ʿabd Allāh for the Prophet (peace be upon him).
سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِۦ لَيْلًا مِّنَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ إِلَى ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْأَقْصَا ٱلَّذِى بَـٰرَكْنَا حَوْلَهُۥ لِنُرِيَهُۥ مِنْ ءَايَـٰتِنَآ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ
“Glorious is He Who made his servant travel by night from Al-Masjid-ul-Harām to Al-Masjid-ul-AqSā whose environs We have blessed, so that We let him see some of Our signs. Surely, He is the All-Hearing, the All- Seeing.” (17:1)
Subḥāna alladhī asrā bi-ʿabdih: glorified be that Lord who took His servant by night.
فَأَوْحَىٰٓ إِلَىٰ عَبْدِهِۦ مَآ أَوْحَىٰ
“Thus He (Allah) revealed to His slave what He revealed.” (53:10)
Fa-awḥā ilā ʿabdihi mā awḥā: Allah revealed to His servant that which He revealed to him. He did not say prophet. It is a very special position, one that we should all aspire to: the position of high ʿabdiyyah. We obviously cannot reach the same position as the Prophet (peace be upon him).
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, in a hadith related by Ibn Mājah and Tirmidhī**: inna Allāha iṣṭafā Kinānata min waladi Ismāʿīl, wa iṣṭafā Qurayshan min Kinānah, wa iṣṭafā min Qurayshin Banī Hāshim, wa iṣṭafānī min Banī Hāshim.
So how is the Prophet (peace be upon him) the Muṣṭafā, the specially selected one? This was a process that began a long time ago. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that Allah (swt) selected, or chose, Kinānah, the tribe of Kinānah, from the children of Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him). Obviously, from Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him), Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him) was chosen; the Prophet (peace be upon him) started after that. He said that Kinānah was chosen from the children of Ismāʿīl. The Quraysh were then chosen from the Kinānah, from among the Kinānah. And then from the Quraysh, the Banū Hāshim were chosen and specially selected. And then from them, from all of the Banū Hāshim, he himself was chosen.