Explanation of the hadith: {Do not praise me as the Christians praised 'Isa ibn Maryam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Shaykh : This reminds me of another hadith in which many scholars have neglected its meaning, let alone the fact that the majority of Muslims have neglected its meaning in practice. It is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Do not praise me as the Christians praised 'Isa ibn Maryam. I am only a servant, so say: the servant of Allah and His Messenger. In the language, "praise" (atraw) sometimes means praise in general, i.e., to praise is to commend, and sometimes it means exaggeration in praise. You must remember this distinction in connection with the discussion of this hadith, because the fact that this word in the language carries these two meanings—praise in general and exaggeration in praise—was one of the causes of the disagreement in interpreting this hadith. Many of the early scholars, let alone the later ones, interpreted as "do not exaggerate in my praise." This has a basis in the language, but when linguistic terms contain more than one meaning, it is not permissible for a Muslim to lean toward or prefer one of these meanings without considering what is related to this term that appeared in one place or in one context. This is the first point. Also, without considering the many other texts related to that word by which a Muslim can be assisted in preferring one of the two meanings the term contains linguistically. Those who interpreted as "do not exaggerate in my praise" have a viewpoint from the linguistic aspect, as I mentioned earlier. But the other meaning, which is praise in general, is more appropriate for the context of this hadith and its conclusion. Because if we interpret "praise" as exaggeration in praise, this meaning does not fit with the entirety of the hadith, which is: If we return to the text of the hadith, we imagine as if a questioner says, or even by implication, "So what do we do, O Messenger of Allah?" The answer comes immediately, because the Shari'ah is complete by the inspiration of Allah the Exalted to this Prophet, a completeness mentioned in the Qur'an. So the answer came without a question: The interpretation of exaggeration in praise does not meet the command of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), which is: This is one thing. And another thing, which is important in my view, is that if this hadith is interpreted with the first meaning, exaggeration in praise, it does not correspond to the classification of some hadith scholars for this hadith, such as Imam Abu 'Isa al-Tirmidhi, who established a chapter in his famous book al-Shama'il al-Muhammadiyyah titled: "Chapter on the Humility of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family)." This chapter does not fit with the first meaning, because every Muslim who has some knowledge and righteousness is obligated to say, "Do not exaggerate in my praise." This is not a matter of humility; it is an obligation on every person, and even more so on the Prophet of Islam. How does it befit or how does it meet the hadith with this interpretation and the chapter on the humility of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family)? There is a conflict, and there is no meeting at all between this meaning and this chapter. And as you know, if Allah wills, that hadith scholars translate an aspect of the jurisprudence of hadith and its meaning by the chapter they establish above it. So the chapter on the humility of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) only meets the prohibition of Muslims from praising him in general, and not from exaggerating in his praise. Because this exaggeration is an obligation on every Muslim, so the Messenger does not have a special virtue in prohibiting exaggeration in his praise. But what befits his humility (peace be upon him), as indicated by his other characteristics (peace and blessings be upon him), is the prohibition of praise in general.
So we now have two things that confirm to us the interpretation of "praise" as praise in general: "Do not praise me in general." The first is: "Say: the servant of Allah and His Messenger." The second is the classification and translation of hadith scholars for this hadith with the chapter on the humility of the Messenger (peace be upon him)... a chapter that does not meet the first interpretation, which is exaggeration in praise, but rather the prohibition of praise in general.
And the third thing is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): Many of the later scholars imagine that this comparison means the prohibition of exaggeration in praise. They imagine that his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): means "do not exaggerate in my praise," because that is what the Christians fell into. The truth is that this interpretation is apparently acceptable, but the reality known by scholars and those who appreciate the rule of blocking the means to harm, which is repeated in the Shari'ah, is that they are farthest from this observation that the interpreters of "praise" here as exaggeration in praise have clung to. That is because if we stop at this comparison, it might be said: "Do not praise me as the Christians praised 'Isa ibn Maryam." What did the Christians say about 'Isa ibn Maryam? They said: "The Son of Allah." So you do not exaggerate and say about me what the Christians said about 'Isa, that he is the Son of Allah, or something similar that is explicit shirk (associating partners with Allah). Is there anyone who says, even if he is from those people who interpret "praise" as exaggeration, who stops at this phenomenon and says: "As the Christians praised 'Isa ibn Maryam," meaning "do not say the Son of Allah"? I do not think a scholar would say this, even though their poet fell into this bad understanding when he said:
"Leave what the Christians claimed about their Prophet *** And judge as you wish about them in praise"
This means this praise has no limits, but it is further from the Christians' saying "Son of Allah." This is the exaggeration in religion that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited in that hadith, and the Lord of the Worlds prohibited the Christians from exaggerating in their religion. So the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) came true in some Muslims: And in some narrations in Sunan al-Tirmidhi and others, there is a very terrifying phrase. He said (peace and blessings be upon him): And oh, glory to Allah, this hadith almost applies literally to the imitation of Muslims, or at least some Muslims, of these disbelievers from the Christians and others. The point is, we return to what I mentioned regarding the chapter on blocking the means to harm, by which we are certain that the Christians did not fall into major shirk in their saying "Isa is the Son of Allah" in a sudden jump. Because the habit of Allah in His creation is that evil does not come except gradually. This is how Satan beautifies for his enemy, man, to reach the greatest evil by presenting very gentle, soft steps that his enemy, man, does not notice until he falls on his head into the trap and the shirk that the accursed Satan put him into. Therefore, some poets in some eras said:
"I see a flicker of fire in the ashes *** And it is likely to become a blaze"
"For fire is kindled from two sticks *** And war begins with words"
And most of the evil is what?

Another questioner : And most of the fire.

The Shaykh : From the one who considers the sparks small. Yes, and Islam came with the rules of blocking the means to harm, as is known in the Book and the Sunnah, and we are not in this context. So it was of the utmost wisdom and wise Shari'ah policy that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) closed the door of praising him (peace be upon him) except with what came in the Shari'ah, fearing that exaggeration in his praise would lead to something that contradicts the Shari'ah. The praiser may start with words praising the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that are beyond reproach, but it is very difficult for the praiser to stop at the limits of the Shari'ah unless he is a scholar, a scholar of the prohibitions that came explicitly in the Shari'ah and the prohibitions that did not come explicitly but came through the chapter of blocking the means to harm. For this reason, we see that the interpretation of the previous hadith is "Do not praise me, but say: the servant of Allah and his Messenger." If the Muslims had committed to mentioning everything authentic from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) of virtues and merits, that would suffice them from inventing praise for him (peace and blessings be upon him), as that poet al-Busiri said, that it would suffice them from any praise, because Allah the Exalted, after His saying about him: and after what came in the Shari'ah, Book and Sunnah, of virtues and merits for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), that is better and more lasting than what some Muslims are doing today in organizing poems and anthems which they claim to be in praise of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)...