One of the questions often raised by non-Muslims is: “If Muslims say that Allah alone is to be worshipped, why do they follow the words and example of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ so closely? Does this not amount to worshipping Muhammad?”
The answer is unequivocally NO. Islam draws a firm distinction between worshipping Allah and obeying the Messenger whom Allah appointed to convey and explain His guidance. Muslims worship neither Muhammad ﷺ nor any other prophet. They follow Muhammad ﷺ because Allah commanded them to follow him. This distinction is essential for anyone trying to understand Islam.
The Qur’an itself answers the allegation
Perhaps the clearest starting point is Sūrah al-Fātiḥah, which Muslims recite repeatedly every day:
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ “You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.” — Qur’an 1:5
The object of Islamic worship is therefore Allah alone. Muhammad ﷺ himself is commanded in the Qur’an (39:11) to say: “I have been commanded to worship Allah, being sincere to Him in religion.”
Even more explicitly: “I only invoke my Lord and associate none with Him.” — Qur’an 72:20
It would therefore contradict the Qur’an itself to turn Muhammad ﷺ into an object of worship.
Who, then, is Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in Islam?
Islam gives Prophet Muhammad ﷺ an extraordinarily honoured position—but never a divine one.
The Qur’an 3:144 says:
“Muhammad is only a messenger. Messengers have passed away before him.”
And Allah commands him to declare: “I am only a human being like you, to whom it has been revealed that your God is One God.” — Qur’an 18:110
Notice the balance:
- He is human like us, but unlike ordinary people he received revelation.
- He is therefore neither God nor an incarnation of God, neither a partner of Allah nor someone possessing independent divine powers. He is ʿAbdullāh wa Rasūluh — the servant of Allah and His Messenger.
This distinction is actually built into the Muslim testimony of faith:
أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
“I bear witness that none is worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.”
The first half prevents us from worshipping anyone besides Allah. The second prevents us from rejecting the messenger through whom Allah delivered His guidance.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ himself prohibited people from deifying him
This is perhaps the strongest answer to the allegation. The Prophet ﷺ warned:
“Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians praised the son of Mary… call me the servant of Allah and His Messenger.” (Recordded in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3445)
A man attempting to establish a religion centred on his own worship would hardly instruct his followers not to exaggerate his status and insist that they call him Allah's servant. Thus this hadith defines the Islamic balance beautifully:
- Love him—but do not deify him.
- Honour him—but do not worship him.
- Follow him—but remember that he himself worshipped Allah.
Then why must Muslims obey the Prophet ﷺ?
Because Allah Himself gave the Messenger that authority. The Qur’an 4:59 says: “O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger…”
And even more directly: “Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah.” — Qur’an 4:80
But this does not mean that Muhammad ﷺ is equal to Allah. Qur’an 4:64 explains where the Messenger's authority comes from:
“We did not send any messenger except to be obeyed by the permission of Allah.”
Those final words are decisive: بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ — “by Allah's permission.”
The Messenger does not possess independent divine authority. Allah gives him authority as His Messenger. Therefore:
- We worship Allah because He is the only true God (without partners and associates).
- We obey Muhammad ﷺ because Allah appointed him as Messenger.
These are not the same relationship.
The Qur’an itself tells Muslims to follow Muhammad ﷺ
If a Muslim said, “I follow the Qur’an but refuse the Prophet's guidance,” a serious problem immediately appears: the Qur’an itself commands him to follow the Prophet. Consider the Qur’anic argument:
- 1. Obey the Messenger: 4:59.
- 2. Obeying the Messenger is obedience to Allah: 4:80.
- 3. Messengers are sent to be obeyed by Allah's permission: 4:64.
- 4. The Prophet was sent to explain revelation: 16:44.
- 5. His life provides an excellent example: 33:21.
Thus following the Sunnah did not arise centuries later as an attempt to elevate Muhammad ﷺ. Its foundation is already present inside the Qur’an itself.
Why is the Qur’an alone not enough to explain every practice?
This is one of the oft question by the non Muslims. The answer lies in obeying the command of Allah, while Sunnah explains the methodology:
- The Qur’an gives Muslims the command: Establish prayer.
- But how exactly?
- How many units constitute Fajr, Ẓuhr, ʿAṣr, Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ?
- What movements are performed?
- What is recited? How is congregational prayer conducted?
The Prophet ﷺ demonstrated it, saying: “Pray as you have seen me praying.” — Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 7246
Likewise the Qur’an commands Hajj, but many of its practical rites were demonstrated by the Prophet ﷺ. During his pilgrimage he instructed the Companions to learn their rites from his practice. This is recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1297.
This is exactly what Qur’an 16:44 says: “We revealed to you the Reminder so that you may explain to the people what has been revealed to them…”
The Messenger was therefore not merely a postman delivering a book. He was also its teacher, interpreter and living demonstration.
Qur’an and Sunnah are not competitors
It would therefore be misleading to picture Islamic authority as: Qur’an versus Muhammad ﷺ.
The Islamic understanding is: Allah reveals → the Messenger receives → the Messenger conveys, explains and demonstrates → believers follow.
The Sunnah derives its authority from Allah, not independently of Him. This is exactly why the Qur’an can say:
“If you love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you…” — Qur’an 3:31
Notice where following Muhammad ﷺ leads: Not to Muhammad as the final object of devotion. It leads to Allah.
What exactly is the Sunnah?
Broadly speaking, the Sunnah is the normative way of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ—his teachings, practices, approvals and religious example.
It is useful, however, particularly for a thoughtful reader, to distinguish Sunnah from Hadith.
- A hadith is a report narrating something attributed to the Prophet ﷺ—his words, deeds, approvals or circumstances. Muslim scholars did not simply accept every report carrying Muhammad's name. They developed extensive disciplines for examining narrators, chains of transmission and reports, classifying narrations according to reliability.
- Thus “following the Sunnah” does not mean believing every statement someone claims Muhammad ﷺ said.
- It means following authentically established prophetic guidance.
How eminent scholars understood the relationship
1. Imam al-Shāfiʿī, one of the foundational scholars of Islamic jurisprudence, devoted substantial discussion in al-Risālah to the authority of the Sunnah. He argued that Allah Himself imposed obedience to the Messenger and that the Sunnah explains what Allah intended in the Qur’an—including general and specific commands. Importantly, al-Shāfiʿī places the Sunnah under the authority of Allah's revelation rather than making Muhammad ﷺ an independent deity or source competing with God.
2. Ibn Kathīr, commenting on 4:59, explains “obey the Messenger” as following his Sunnah, and understands referring disputes “to Allah and the Messenger” as returning to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger. On 4:80 he likewise explains that obedience to Muhammad ﷺ counts as obedience to Allah precisely because Muhammad is Allah's servant and Messenger. Quran.com
3. Abul Aʿla Maududi makes the distinction especially clearly. Commenting on 4:59, he says that God alone is the ultimate focus of loyalty and obedience; no prophet has authority in his own right. The Messenger is obeyed because he is the authentic means through whom God communicates His guidance. This directly answers the allegation of prophet-worship: Muhammad's authority is delegated prophetic authority, not divinity.
4. Muhammad Asad, discussing the same verse, interprets reference back to “God and the Apostle” after the Prophet's lifetime as reference to the Qur’an and the Prophet's Sunnah. IslamiCity
5. Javed Ahmad Ghamidi uses more precise terminology than many traditional scholars in distinguishing Sunnah from individual hadith reports, but he too holds that the religion transmitted by the Prophet reaches Muslims through the Qur’an and established Sunnah. He also recognizes the Prophet's explanation, religious directives and practical example as authoritative once their attribution to him is established.
Despite differences among scholars about terminology, classification and individual reports, the broad principle is remarkably consistent: The Prophet is followed because he is Allah's Messenger—not because he is worshipped as God.
Muhammad ﷺ himself denied divine attributes
The Qur’an repeatedly prevents Muslims from crossing that boundary. Allah instructs Muhammad ﷺ to say:
“I do not tell you that I possess the treasures of Allah, nor that I know the unseen, nor do I say that I am an angel. I only follow what is revealed to me.” — Qur’an 6:50
And:
“I have no power to benefit or harm myself except as Allah wills. Had I known the unseen, I would have acquired much good and no harm would have touched me.” — Qur’an 7:188
These statements would make little sense if Islam intended Muhammad ﷺ to become an object of worship.
- He does not create.
- He does not share Allah's sovereignty.
- He does not independently control benefit and harm.
- He does not possess unlimited knowledge of the unseen.
- He is the Messenger of the One who does.
Respect is not worship
Another misunderstanding sometimes arises because Muslims say ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam after mentioning Muhammad ﷺ, which means love him intensely and try to imitate his character.
But love, respect and imitation are not necessarily worship. Muslims love parents. They obey teachers. They respect scholars. They follow physicians' instructions. None thereby becomes God.
The critical question is: What divine status is being attributed?
In Islam, worship—ʿibādah—is directed to Allah. Muslims pray to Allah, make ritual sacrifice for Allah, worship Allah, seek forgiveness ultimately from Allah, and affirm that Allah alone possesses divinity.
Even when Muslims send blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, they are actually asking Allah to bless him:
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ “O Allah, send Your blessings upon Muhammad.”
The grammar itself shows who is being addressed: Allah—not Muhammad.
What if the Prophet's command contradicted Allah?
The very question misunderstands his prophetic role.
- A genuine prophetic teaching cannot legitimately establish a rival religion against Allah because the Prophet's mission is to convey Allah's guidance.
- At the same time, Islam does not establish a general principle of blindly obeying human beings. Even political and religious authorities are obeyed only within the obedience of Allah. Ibn Kathīr's discussion of Qur’an 4:59 emphasizes that human authority is not obeyed in disobedience to God.
So Islamic obedience has a hierarchy:
- Allah is absolute.
- The Messenger is obeyed because Allah sent him.
- Other human beings are obeyed only within what Allah permits.
This is Tawḥīd, not prophet-worship.
A useful question for a non-Muslim reader
- Instead of asking: “Why do Muslims obey Muhammad if they worship only Allah?”
- A more precise question would be: “If Muhammad really was a messenger of God, would refusing his authenticated message amount to obeying God—or rejecting the messenger God sent?”
That is the real issue.
If he were merely an ordinary seventh-century Arabian, then there would be no religious reason to obey him. But if he truly was Allah's Messenger, obeying his prophetic guidance becomes a consequence of believing in Allah who sent him.
Therefore the central question remains Risālah: Was Muhammad ﷺ truly a Messenger of God? Once that is established, the authority of his authentic Sunnah follows naturally.
Thus it shoukd be understood that Muslims neither worship Muhammad ﷺ nor place him alongside Allah. Islam actually closes that door emphatically: Muhammad ﷺ called himself Allah's servant, the Qur’an calls him a human messenger, and he explicitly warned his followers against exaggerating his status. Yet Islam also rejects the opposite error—claiming to accept Allah while disregarding the Messenger Allah deliberately chose to convey, explain and embody His guidance.
The relationship can therefore be expressed in one sentence: We worship Allah alone; we follow Muhammad ﷺ because Allah told us how to follow Him through His Messenger.
- The Qur’an gives the revelation.
- The Sunnah shows revelation lived.
- The Qur’an tells Muslims what Allah commands.
- The Prophet ﷺ explained how that command is carried out.
Following Muhammad ﷺ is therefore not a rival to Tawḥīd. Properly understood, it is one of Tawḥīd's consequences.
Concluding Reflection
The heart of the matter is simple: Islam does not ask Muslims to choose between the Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, because the Qur’an itself directs believers to follow the Messenger who conveyed and explained it. Muslims do not worship Muhammad ﷺ; they worship Allah alone, while loving, respecting and obeying Muhammad ﷺ as Allah’s servant and final Messenger. To reject his authentic Sunnah while claiming loyalty to the Qur’an would therefore create a contradiction, because the Qur’an repeatedly commands obedience to him. The proper balance is neither to diminish the Prophet ﷺ nor to elevate him beyond his human and prophetic status. Allah alone is worshipped; Muhammad ﷺ is followed because Allah sent him. In that sense, following the Sunnah is not a departure from Tawḥīd—it is one of the clearest ways of living Tawḥīd in practice.
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
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Resource references for further reflection|
Imam al-Shāfiʿī -Ziauddin University Libraries
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