Lecture 9 November 9th Muhammad as the Uswa Hasanah

Thus far we have dealt with the historical Muhammado Up to 632 – the date of his death

The Prophet was a merchant, who later became a Prophet that received wahi (revelation) from a divine being

Legacy of Muhammad: Muslims live in the shadow of his legacyo Political legacy: he began what would later become the Islamic world: an alteration of

the Near Easto Legal Legacy: Uswah Hasanh, Muhammad as a role model

Koran (the kiab): part of the legal legacy but it doesn’t cover everything The Sunnah, tradition of the Prophet: a broad term that covers 2 notions:

The authority of the Prophet’s actions: For the Sunnah to become authoritative, the Prophet has to become authoritative as well…and if the traditions of the Prophet are authoritative, then it would mean everything he did has authority.

How are his traditions determined? Due to the schism between Shia and Sunni, there are two modes:

o 1) The Shia have, in addition to the sunnah of the Prophet, the sunnah of the imams, through Muhammad, Ali, Hassan and Hussein, and their descendents. The Sunni derive their only sunnah is that of the Prophet, doesn’t include any imams.

o 2) Because there are so many different reported traditions of the prophet, a science was developed to determine which would be accepted in the canonized sunnah of each respective tradition

Isnad: biographical references, “D (the most recent transmitter) said that C said that B said that he heard it from A (the FIRST transmitter, usually a companion of the Prophet, such as Aisha, Ali, Bakr, Uthman, etcetera).

Sahi: the soundness of the Isnad. Different ranks with the highest being Sound and the lowest being, well, not accepted and unreliable.

The first sunnah was compiled and codified 250 A(fter).H(ijra). His legacy essentially defined Muslims apart from other monotheists

The fundamental element being the belief and the acceptance of one(ness of) god and that the Prophet was that god’s messenger.

The reports (hadiths) attempt to capture the sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet There are 6 canonical hadiths, but in reality there are thousands upon

thousands of hadiths all claiming to date back to the time of the Prophet.

o Muslims, however, believe that the hadiths only contain fragment of truth and possibility of corruption in the Isnad and the weakness of the sahi(soundness of isnads).

Hadith literature, once compiled, were made into books but without any holy characteristics.

o It is not worshipped in anyway. In a nut shell, Muslims begin to look at the Prophet’s tradition as a

source of authority used for guidanceo The histories that recount the tradition of the Prophet were

simply compiled and codified This became a task for Muslim jurists.

o Pietistic Legacy: The relationship Muslims developed with the purpose of emulation

The moral character of Muhammado For example, what did he eat, how did he behave, what were

the things that motivated him. It establishes him as simply a human being and nothing else, not divine, etc.

All were determined through hadiths Had nothing to do with legal sphere/legacy

o Promoted being good, doing the right thing, be chaste, anti-lewdness, promoted generosity

The hadiths consequently create a moral world that would establish the Prophet as an infallible human being and a perfect role model for humans.

Since the Prophet was considered to be a perfect model human being (Uswah Hasanh), could he make mistakes? Could he err? Was he infallible?

Notion of Ismah arises: can he err or is he immune from human sins/mistakes, infallible?

o He is infallible/ismah. He can’t err/make mistakes. However, he only becomes infallible after 610, when he

begins to receive wahio However, his followers have extended his infallibility/ismah

beyond his human life: Nur Muhammadan, the light of Muhammad.

His followers believe that the first of god’s creation was the light of Muhammad, Nur Muhammadan, the first creation and everything else was created through him.

Hence making him a being that has been infallible before anything else was ever created, even predating the first man, Adam.

o He was a Prophet before the beginning of the universe

Ultimately, the Prophet’s status changes from a human to the light of creation.

Shafa’ah: intercessiono Fundamental sunni belief: they believe that the Prophet has been given the ability to

intercede (shafa’ah) on behalf of his followers on Judgment Day It defines Sunnism

Muhammad was a focal of prayer in the old traditional sunni practices.

Wahabi movement really opposed It has also been challenged by modern Salafi Muslims

The Prophet is believed to be able to intercede on Sunni Muslims on the Day of Judgment based on the reasoning that being a good Muslim is not good enough, hence the need for shafa’ah