Reverence and Veneration
The simplest foundation for meaningful imitation is that the heart of the follower holds a great degree of reverence and veneration for the Prophet. For this reason, Allah commanded the companions to show respect for the Prophet and to send blessings upon him, saying:
“Indeed, Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and peace.” (33:56)
We have already established that the companions were believers (Mu’minun), while the brethren are Muslims (Muslimun). In our book The Second Message of Islam, we explained that we would gain a new understanding of the Quran if we distinguished between the stage of the believers and the stage of the Muslims. We discussed this matter in detail there, so we will not repeat it here. Those interested may refer to it.
Here, we suffice with stating that Muslims are closer to Allah than believers. Their prayer to Allah is more complete and more perfect than that of the believers, and their blessings upon the Prophet are fuller and more profound than those of the believers.
When the essence of a Muslim becomes complete, their individual Shari‘ah emerges from this essence. They become someone who follows a personal path in their prayer to Allah and in their blessings upon the Prophet. They are no longer bound by the collective practices of the believers in these acts. This completeness of essence and the emergence of individual Shari‘ah is achieved through Allah’s grace and through the faithful imitation of the Prophet.
No Muslim reaches this stage without first passing through the stage of being a believer. Similarly, the Muslim community begins with the stage of the believing community.
The difference between Muslims, while in the stage of faith (iman), and the believers is that Muslims retain the potential for progress along the sevenfold path (as-sullam as-sab‘i), whereas this potential is closed off at the third stage for the believers.
Muhammad, as the Messenger to the Muslim community, held a greater message than he did as the Messenger to the believing community. In his message to the Muslims, he was Ahmadian, while in his message to the believers, he was Muhammadan. The difference between the two messages stems from the difference in the times: the time of the first message in the seventh century, and the time of the second message in the [present] twentieth century.
To signal these distinctions, this book has been presented without including verbal blessings upon the Prophet. Yet, the book in its entirety is a form of prayer upon him at a level higher than the verbal prayers commonly recited.
Our companions do not neglect verbal blessings upon the Prophet as they read this book or whenever the noble Prophet is mentioned. This is the appropriate conduct while journeying toward Islam and during the realization of Islam itself, as Allah said: “Say: Each works according to their manner.” (17:84)
