Is it permissible to praise the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alyhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

There are two types of praise for the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam:

1-      Permissible and recommended praise. This comes from loving the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and which aims to mention his virtues, merits, characteristics, miracles and noble manners without exaggeration. For this type of praise to be permissible, no exaggerated description should be ascribed to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, especially attributes that are specific to Allaah The Exalted. This is supported by the fact that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was praised during his lifetime. Consequently, it is permissible to praise the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, by ascribing to him the qualities that Allaah The Exalted praised him for. The following are examples of such permissible praise:

- It was reported that some people praised the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, saying that he was the best of them, the son of the best of them, their master and the son of their master. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, ordered them to stop and told them that he was the slave of Allaah and His Messenger. Furthermore, he warned against exalting his person beyond the qualities that Allaah provided him with. [Ahmad and An-Nasaa’i] The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, stopped them from saying such things although, as was mentioned in the Hadeeth, he is indeed the master of the offspring of Aadam (Adam) . [Al-Bayhaqi, Ibn Maajah, At-Tabaraani, and Al-Haakim]

- It was also reported that some of his Companions praised him saying, "You are our master." He ordered them to stop and stated that: "The Master is Allaah." [Abu Daawood(Abu Daawood: Saheeh (Authentic))] The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, stopped them because he was humble. Indeed, scholars have mentioned that acting politely towards the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is better than obeying him in this respect. That is, that Muslims should continue to believe that he is the best of all the prophets, even though he commanded Muslims not to consider him better than Yoonus ibn Matta (Jonah) . [Muslim] Muslims believe that he was the best of all the prophets because Allaah The Exalted described him as such. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said this because he was humble.

2-      Innovated and prohibited praise. This is exaggerated praise, such as when the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is described beyond his actual characteristics, like ascribing some of the Attributes of Allaah to him. It was reported that during the lifetime of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, a woman praised him and said, “And we have a prophet who knows what will happen in the future." Immediately, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, forbade her from saying this as knowing the Unseen is one the Characteristics and Attributes of Allaah The Exalted. On the other hand, Allaah The Exalted commanded his Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, to say according to the verse in which He Says (what means): {And if I knew the Unseen, I could have acquired much wealth.} [Quran 7: 188] This verse indicates that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, only knew the matters of the Unseen that Allaah The Exalted permitted him to know.

This type of prohibited praise also includes seeking refuge with the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, supplicating to him instead of Allaah The Exalted, or ascribing a false quality to him, like when some claimed that the moon split and came down to greet him. It is prohibited to praise the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, when this praise is coupled with an impermissible act. Referring to this, it was reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, commanded Muslims not to exaggerate when praising him, nor to praise him by ascribing to him false qualities, as Christians did with 'Eesa (Jesus) the son of Maryam (Mary), may Allaah exalt her mention. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, commanded Muslims to say that he is (merely) the Slave of Allaah The Exalted and His Messenger. [Al-Bukhari]

Allaah Knows best.