Religious Evolution

Bismillah,

I agree with you Brother Israfil that loving Allah, The Most High, the most will elevate our spirits more than anything else.  The endless wonderous qualities of our Lord are unmatched and limitlessly inspiring.

Assalamu Alaikum:

"Who knows we may even come close to developing the trinity in Islam Ali, Muhammad and God."

Astafra'Allah. 

I think this can only be called worship of the Prophet if that is what the intention is. All Prophets and Messengers have asked their followers to turn from their worldly lives and those who would not accept the message, and follow them. This would be showing greater love for God and His Messenger, whoever the Messenger, than you show for yourself or your family.

If a Muslim sees the Prophet Mohammed(PBUH) as more than a man, that is on that individual's head. Not on Islam, as the Quran and the Prophet(PBUH) both forbid this.

You should love the Prophet Mohammed as a Messenger of God and as one would love someone who has done a great deed for you by bringing the Message. But the Message originates from God, and all of the Prophets were just men entrusted with God's Word. No more, no less.

"They are never to marry anyone so long as their mortal lives exist on this earth. To me that is true love. To sacrifice even your lineage for God."

But Allah(SWT) did not ask us to do this. Just the opposite.

"After all, our sacrifices such as our children and family should be for God."

No one is asking you to sacrifice yourself or your family for the Prophet(PBUH). Do you mean sacrificing your life or your belongings or what?

Loving the Prophet(PBUH) for the sake of Allah(SWT) is different than sacrificing for him. Although the type of sacrifice is important. If someone asked you to sacrifice your life for your child's would you? If we sacrifice only for God, then we would not sacrifice for our families, our friends, our fellow Muslims, or human beings.

You are a police officer, you may sacrifice your life for your job. It all depends on your intentions.

Let me respond to you Mishmish yours will be in bold:

Astafra'Allah. 

I think this can only be called worship of the Prophet if that is what the intention is. All Prophets and Messengers have asked their followers to turn from their worldly lives and those who would not accept the message, and follow them. This would be showing greater love for God and His Messenger, whoever the Messenger, than you show for yourself or your family.

This is true that all prophets have asked their followers to turn away from their worldly pleasures, I mean, the materialism that leads people astray. I have to disagree that one does not have to intend to believe in the matter which I presented above you can indirectly worship without decleration of that worship. For instance Shi'ites seem to hold a high reverence for Ali more so than the prophet--it seems. Although Shi'ites may claim that they only show him honor in respect of his deeds the invocation of Ali's name in prayer the belief in "saints" and thus which show much more reverence of these worldly figures proves different.

If a Muslim sees the Prophet Mohammed(PBUH) as more than a man, that is on that individual's head. Not on Islam, as the Quran and the Prophet(PBUH) both forbid this.

You should love the Prophet Mohammed as a Messenger of God and as one would love someone who has done a great deed for you by bringing the Message. But the Message originates from God, and all of the Prophets were just men entrusted with God's Word. No more, no less.

True but erecting mosques with the prop[het's name next to God's is reverencee much greater than one who is entrusted with God's word. This has been proven.

No one is asking you to sacrifice yourself or your family for the Prophet(PBUH). Do you mean sacrificing your life or your belongings or what?

Loving the Prophet(PBUH) for the sake of Allah(SWT) is different than sacrificing for him. Although the type of sacrifice is important. If someone asked you to sacrifice your life for your child's would you? If we sacrifice only for God, then we would not sacrifice for our families, our friends, our fellow Muslims, or human beings.

You are a police officer, you may sacrifice your life for your job. It all depends on your intentions.

Sister Mishmish if you read my statement again I was merely making the example of the prophet Abraham who almost sacrficed his son Issac because God commanded him to. I was merely saying that, we should love God more and our willingness to sacrifice our families and children for God, not a messenger. Thus my belief in opposition to that hadith reference we should love Allah more than we love ourselves, family and children. You said if we sacrificed for God then we would not do it for our family, Muslims etc...Ah but in essence we would.

The fact that we are directly obeying God's commandment which he calls for in Islam in principle is the essence of a true Muslim. God calls us to do different tasks. God may have called me to be a Police Officer and if need be, if I were to sacrifice my life for a child it is for God and in essence to the Muslim community because I would be an example of a Muslim who gave his life as a selfless act thus reflecting the principle nature of Islam.

I never implied first that we should sacrifice for the prophet, the Hadith mentioned clearly states that our love for the prophet should superceed that of our family and children. In actuality, sacrifice would also encompass that love. But I'm not commenting on that in particular. sister instead of taking parts of my statements perhaps reading the entire paragraph would be of service to you when I said:

>>>>Sister you even surprise me! We make all kinds of comparisons to our world and to God! How can we say we "love" God when God is beyond such a physical quality?<<< Me

Our love for our parents is as unexplainable as our love for God! For instance we can say that we love our parents because they taught us what we know. They raised us, nurtured us the only distinction is because we can say that God is the author of those elements that allowed our parents here on earth to nurture us. My point is how we express something to God consequently is compared to how we express ourselves on earth. If not sister I challenge you to find another word which is not human related that is the same as "mercy" that we say (or do) that is expressed towards God. but this is besides the point.

You said:

I attribute nothing to Allah that He has not stated in His Word. I do not believe that the love I feel for another person, the Prophet, or for Allah is the same emotion that Allah(SWT) feels. How could I even have any idea of what Allah(SWT) feels other than what He has stated in the Quran? Nor did I write anything even close to this in my post.

Also sister you did attribute something to Allah by definition for you said:

But the love we feel for Allah(SWT) should go beyond any love that we feel for any human

You did attribute to Allah by definition on what love for Allah is just as you mentioned in the latter part of your statement. Any words such as saying "we love" allah are inadequate any words in my opinion. What God states in the Qur'an are limited words because he is using the human alphabet in order to help us understand. God being the greatest entity in the universe in relaity is beyond anything said or done in his name. The prophet perhaps being close to this divine entity is revered because people need a tangible figure to get as close to the divine as possible.

My point here is to show that "love" for the prophet should be no greater than we love a dear friend who has done something great for us as you mentioned sister. However in my personal belief I couldn't possibly love the prophet more than my family because my family are physically there for me something the prophet at this point cannot do. We are humans who need physical reaction and attention and sometimes spirituality cannot cover that aspect. Our love for God is definitely great than the prophet's as ytou have mentioned but in my point I'm basically stating the love of God consequently is no different emotion than we already express now.