Submission without obedience
Yesterday Friday September 6, 2025 was declared a public holiday in Nigeria to commemorate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Yesterday was equivalent to 12th Rabi’ul Awwal, 1447AH; the day on which the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was born in the city of Makkah in the year 570CE. To mark the occasion, this column intends […]
Yesterday Friday September 6, 2025 was declared a public holiday in Nigeria to commemorate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Yesterday was equivalent to 12th Rabi’ul Awwal, 1447AH; the day on which the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was born in the city of Makkah in the year 570CE. To mark the occasion, this column intends to discuss the way and manner in which some Muslims practice Islam in contradiction of the love they express to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet (SAW) who brought Islam and taught it to them.
Depending on the context in which the word is used, submission could have more than one meaning. Within the framework of this discourse, the word submission refers to the act of accepting or yielding to the authority of another person considered superior in every sense. The faith of a Muslim is deficient if he or she does not believe in the oneness of the creator of the heavens and the earth, Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger sent to the world of jinn and mankind.
Besides acknowledging Allah’s greatness with the tongue and the heart, the Prophet (SAW) is held in awe by Muslims as signified by the creed statement of Islam. Being the greatest personality in human history, the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) deserves all the respect that can be expressed by the global community of Muslims. Given his description in several verses of the holy Qur’an including his being a mercy to humanity, no submission or loyalty would be too much for the Prophet (SAW) as long as the submission does not seek to accredit him with any divine qualities that are exclusively attributable to Allah alone.
However, no matter the awesomeness of the love, respect, and loyalty Muslims express for the Prophet (SAW), such reverence shall amount to nothing if it is not accompanied with apparent adherence to his practices and traditions as exemplified by his Sunnah. In essence, this would mean that celebrating the prophet’s birthday without emulating his teachings is only tantamount to submission without obedience, or in other words, loyalty without faithfulness. It’s ridiculous to actually love a person without patterning yourself after him. Imbibing the virtuous qualities of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and emulating his religious, social, political and economic practices is simply the best way to express our love, loyalty and respect for him.
The life lived by the 21st century Muslims, especially in Nigeria generally shows a clear departure from the basic teachings of the Prophet (SAW). The level of intolerance even among Muslims (themselves) contrasts with his ideals. As Muslims, some of us claim to love the Prophet Muhammad; yet, some of the things we do in the practice of Islam as well as many more we do in our personal life and in our interactions with others do not portray us as genuine followers of his principles. If we have been of those who truly love the Prophet (SAW), we would not have had any cause to search for Islam among Muslims. Some of us, today, have rather become his followers in name more than we follow him in his practice of Islam.
Allah states in Qur’an 33:21 “Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for those whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day, and who engages much in the remembrance of Allah.” The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is a model for all times. He took mankind out of darkness in to light, from ignorance to knowledge, from transgression to righteousness, from loss to guidance, from evil to good, from falsehood to truth, from unbelief to faith, and from ungratefulness to submission. The entire life of the Prophet (SAW) from birth to demise remains an ocean of charming virtues.
Muhammad (SAW) lived a life of mercy, compassion, care, understanding, perseverance, kindness, and tolerance. He was honest, trustworthy, patient, calm, and very unassuming, His care for those around him and even for those who caused him harm provides shining examples of a perfect model. His love for orphans was deep, and the kindness that he exhibited to the needy, the poor and the vulnerable knew no bounds. He taught Muslims to demonstrate a character that would inspire others to feel safe and secured including their lives and properties.
Unfortunately, today’s Muslim communities are rather characterized by envy, wickedness, hatred, hypocrisy, betrayal, bloodshed, mistrust, intolerance, bigotry, crass materialism and brazen transgression of all the bounds set by Allah. That which make contemporary Muslims unlike the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) are too many to be listed on this page. We can only mention a few of them for want of space. Virtues and ethical values including honesty, integrity, modesty, justice, kindness, sympathy, and selflessness which the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) epitomized have all become rare commodities in today’s world of human character.
The Nigerian-phenomenon of street-begging, among other oddities, is one of the worst way to be unlike Prophet Muhammad (SAW). As an orphan, Muhammad (SAW) took up the job of a salesman under a wealthy Quraish businesswoman, Khadijah, who later became his first wife and gave birth to six of his children even as she was older in age. He did not marry another wife until after Khadijah’s death. One most-important virtue that endeared the Prophet (SAW) to Khadijah was the honesty with which he carried out all business transactions on her behalf. Integrity, which is the most precious of all the virtues missing in most Nigerians nowadays, earned the Prophet (SAW) what dishonesty and corruption may not have certainly bestowed on him.
To be a true follower of the orthodox teachings of the Prophet (SAW), corrupt practices, which are pushing hard work and honesty to the background, should be eschewed by Muslims. May Allah guide us to match our love for the Prophet (SAW) on the annual celebration of his birthday to moderate our public and private life to conform with his teachings.
Happy Maulid celebration!