the noble Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to one who praised him excessively: “I am Muhammad ibn Abd Allah, the servant of Allah and His Messenger. By Allah, I do not wish you to raise me above the station in which Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has placed me.”1 Whoever venerates him, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in a manner he does not approve of has done the very opposite of venerating him. True veneration is that which the Sacred Law has prescribed, and its place is in the heart, on the tongue, and in one’s actions.
Veneration in the heart consists in what follows from believing that he is the Messenger of Allah: placing one’s love for him before one’s love for oneself, one’s children, one’s parents, and all humanity. Two things attest to the sincerity of this love:
The first is upholding pure monotheism for Allah alone, Glorified and Exalted. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was the keenest of all people to preserve its purity, to the extent that he closed off every cause and means leading to polytheism. He forbade people to say, “What Allah wills and what you will,” or to swear by anyone other than Allah, and he stated that doing so constitutes polytheism. He also forbade prayers to be offered facing graves, graves to be made into mosques or sites of recurring festivity, lamps to be kindled over them, and other such practices—all of which he established with the utmost clarity through his words, deeds, and guidance. Venerating him, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, therefore consists in following him in this, not contradicting him.
The second is following him alone and appointing him as the sole judge in every matter, great or small, concerning both the fundamentals and branches of the religion; accepting his judgment, submitting and surrendering to it; turning away from anyone who opposes him and paying that person no heed—until he alone is the arbiter who is followed and whose word is accepted, just as his Lord, Exalted is He, alone is worshipped and adored as God, feared and hoped in, and sought for aid, with no partner.