Barelwi Denies Humanity of the Prophet عليه السلام

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام على خاتم النبيين

The most holy Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم said:

لاَ تُطْرُونِي كَمَا أَطْرَتِ النَّصَارَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ فَإِنَّمَا أَنَا عَبْدُهُ فَقُولُوا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولُهُ

Do not exaggerate about me as the Christians exaggerated about the Son of Mary. For verily I am His [Allah’s] slave, so say ‘Slave of Allah and His Apostle’

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم delivered this critical statement and warning with the revealed foreknowledge that a section of his Ummah would trespass the boundaries of monotheism and manufacture doctrines concerning his person that are similar to what the Christians said concerning Christ Jesus. In their Christology, Jesus is both God and human, with these two apparently contradictory and mutually exclusive natures being united in a hypostasis. Islam, however, based on the teachings of the holy Quran and the holy Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم says that Jesus was a mortal human, not divine, and that he was simply an Apostle of God like the many Prophets and Apostles God sent before him. Now the most holy Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم predicted that his Ummah would follow in some of the same errors as those that preceded them, namely, the Jews and Christians. The astray and polytheistic Barelwi sect believe that the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is literally Nûr (Light), like the Angels, but also Bashar (mortal human). However, like the Christian doctrine of Jesus having two natures, human and divine, the Barelwi belief that the Prophet عليه السلام is both a being of light and mortal is contradictory, an oxymoron. In fact, according to the Barelwi scholar, Ahmad Yar Khan Na’imi, the humanity of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is illusory. He writes:

اس ايت میں کفار سے خطاب ہے چونکہ ہر چیز اپنی غیر جنس سے نفرت کرتی ہےلہذا فرمایا گیا کہ اے کفار تم مجھ سے نہ گھبراؤ میں تمہاری جنس میں سے ہوں۔ یعنی بشر ہوں۔ شکاری جنوروں کی سے آوازیں نکال کر شکار کرتا ہے اس سے کفار کو اپنی طرف مائل کرنا مقصود ہے اور دیوبندی بھی کفار میں سے ہیں تو ان سے بھی یہ خطاب ہوسکتا ہے

“In this Ayah the Kuffar [unbelievers] are addressed, because everything hates that which is another species, so it was said ‘O unbelievers, do not be fearful of me, I am of your species i.e. I am human’. A predator mimicks the sounds of animals for hunting. The purpose is to incline the unbelievers to oneself, and Deobandis are also from among the Kuffar [unbelievers], so they may also be addressed [in this Ayah].” (Jâ’ al-Haq, p.162):

In this statement not only has the Barelwi made mass-Takfîr of the Deobandis, he has clearly denied the humanity of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and he has also indirectly disrespected the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم by comparing him to predators that seek to deceive their prey by mimicking their sounds for the purpose of hunting. In other words, the Barelwi mulla is implying that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم only stated that he is a bashar [human] to incline the unbelievers toward him when in reality he is not human but a being of Light.