Reverence To The Holy Prophet

Q. If the Messenger is like a shadow (something immaterial) how did he father children?

A. When a very righteous person, a friend of Allah prays for something, it is readily granted. For instance someone married for ten years had no child but as a result of a Wali's prayer he beget children? So, can we suppose that the Messenger needed copulation to beget children? Second, in order to secure the freedom of Hazrat Suleman, the Persian, the Messenger had the stoneless dates grown by only issuing a prophetic decree. Then why should he need copulation (or coitus) and not an edict to have children?

“No” He did not need the copulation at all.

Major Proof

All birds in the world have been created in pairs male and female and they mate together for procreation. After coitus the outward body of the pair is defiled and a bath is required for cleaning the body. It is on account of this defilement, the feather of a bird is never kept in the Holy Quran. However the Feather of a Peacock is kept in the Holy Quran because the peacock and peahen never copulate, though they do procreate.

It is obvious that even the humble birds (i.e. peacocks) who are only the followers of the Holy Prophet, despite living together as couples; the male does not use the female though the process of procreation goes on. How? When the peacock dances, it sheds tears like pearls, which the peahen picks up and begins to lay eggs.

This proves that a humble slave of the Holy Prophet is above the necessity of copulation. In the like manner the Holy Prophet is above the necessity of performing coitus for procreation. Just as a peacock procreates by providing its tears to the female, in the same manner procreation by the Holy Prophet is related to his saliva. The Holy Prophet would mix his saliva in water with the help of his index finger and then ask his wives to drink it which resulted in procreation.

Modesty

Even in today's world, a father would never tell his son that he mates with his wife nor a son contemplates of such acts between his parents. Now when a common man does not talk of his coitus to his son, how could the Holy Prophet have done so.

To perform coitus one has to remove one's clothes. If it is believed that the Holy Prophet performed coitus, then the one who caused him to remove his clothes was guilty of ultimate act of immodesty. Anyone guilty of this act can neither be a Muslim nor a believer, rather he deserves the wrath of God.

Even a wicked person's newly born son is believed to be innocent because (the baby ) he has no desires. In the same way the Prophet is also innocent because he has no desires. Hungry or thirsty a child asks for nothing.

In the same manner, the Prophet asks for nothing. Prosperity or adversity, in either case they are full of contentment. He is himself above humanly desires, but he has commanded his followers to live with their wives to gratify their desires.

The Holy Quran says:

(Your women are like the ploughing fields for you).

Had the Prophets been a part of this activity, the word used would have been
()“our women”. But this is not so. This refers to the followers and not to the Prophet himself.

It's a simple question of showing of respect. Just as a person who becomes the disciple of a mystic,(Pir) doesn't sit with him on the same cot. In the same way whoever has come to believe in the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet can never imagine to perform coitus with him, and that is true about his wives too. The Holy Prophet did use the terms wives, sons and daughters for these relations but his wives never addressed him as husband nor his daughter ever called him as father, because the Quran enjoins:

(The Holy Prophet is no longer the father of any man among you.
 This means that calling him a father is a violation of the divine injunction.
He is nobody's relation but a messenger and the last of the Prophets)

Proof and example:

When a person becomes a minister, his ministerial office has nothing to do with his mother, daughter or wife. In the like manner, the sacred office of prophethood bestowed by Allah upon the Holy Prophet has no relationship with anyone. Therefore anyone who believes in his prophethood will be his follower but not a relation. Thus, Hazrat Abu Bakar, after offering the hand of his daughter in marriage to the Holy Prophet never called him his Son-in-Law. He rather used to address the Holy Prophet as

The Issue of Omnipresence & Omniscience of the Holy Prophet

The Holy Prophet is above the need to go to this place or that place. Rather, the heavens and the earth and all that is between them is right in front of the Holy Prophet. So the Prophet's knowledge encompasses everything.

Quranic Proof

The verse says everything created by God. Here, nothing has been specified, rather everything in both the Worlds, big and small, visible or the invisible is known to the Holy Prophet. Though a common man cannot count the grains in a fistful of sand, the Holy Prophet knows the number of all the particles of the earth. God has enjoined that he has put a count of all these things in the heart of the Holy Prophet. So it follows that the Holy Prophet knows about everything.

Example:

I sit at a high place and put a mirror before myself.  Looking into the mirror I can see things lying at a distance behind me. Thus everything behind me has been brought before me and I am able to see them. In the like manner t he entire universe lies in the heart of the Holy Prophet, right in front of him and he can see it. He is therefore omniscient.

Second Issue Related to the Omnipresence & Omniscience of the Holy Prophet

The Holy Quran enjoins:

(I have granted great expansion to your heart)

The Holy Prophet enquired, “O Lord, how much have you expanded (dilated) my heart”. God enjoined:

God enjoined that

“All the worlds and everything in these Worlds have been counted and their knowledge put in your heart”. His heart is a small thing to see but it has been granted such vast expansion that all the worlds can be seen in the heart of the Holy Prophet as explained in the example of the mirror.

Calling out “Ya Rasool Allah” “O Prophet of God” is Permitted

The word 'Ya' expresses present indefinite tense. It means 'He comes'. It doesn't show when or at what time. 'Ya' is used to express or show someone's arrival, like the companions said that the Prophet came, then the 'Tab-e-een' said that the Prophet came, then the Imams said that the Prophet came, and now in our age we say that the Prophet came. Similarly the generations to come will also say the same. Thus a person who believes the Holy Prophet to be present in all ages may say 'Ya Rasool Allah' or 'O Prophet'. Or he can say "O the Prophet for all ages, may you be blessed with Darood (salutation)".

'Salaam' means a wish for well-being. Only a person stands in need of such a wish who is in pain or apprehends retribution for sins or fears the punishment in Hell. The Holy Prophet is above such sinfulness. He has come to provide us with 'well-being' and not to receive 'well-being' from us. Who are we to provide 'well-being' to our Prophet? We are ourselves guilty of committing sins. We ourselves have no 'well-being'. We rather stand in need of 'well-being' ourselves that is why on Doomsday, as the followers of the Holy Prophet cross 'Pul-e-Sirrat he will wish them a safe passage in these words:

It follows that the followers or ‘Ummati’ stand in need of 'well-being' and the Prophet has come to provide it to them. I therefore translate Salaam like this. "O' the Prophet of God, May I receive well being from you and may you receive Darood (benediction) from God."

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Published by:

A Humble Servant of the lovers of the Messenger of Allah, Makhdoomzada, Syed Mohammad Amir Qasim Shah

Translated from Urdu to English By:

Mr. Abdul Qayum, Chief Interpreter, Mr. Jahanzeb Shah, Interpreter, National Assembly Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan.