يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَقُولُوا رَاعِنَا وَقُولُوا انظُرْنَا وَاسْمَعُوا ۗ وَلِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

‘O you who believe do not say, “Rā’ina” (to the Prophet) but say, “Unzurna” and listen. And for the disbelievers is a painful punishment.’[2:104]

The meaning of Rā’ina and Unzurna is ‘give us a moment’. But Rā’ina also mean ‘our shepherd’.

The background of the revelation is that the Jews and hypocrites in Madinah preferred to say Rā’ina rather than Unzurna when addressing the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. On the outset, it would seem they are saying ‘we did not understand so please can you slow down and explain’ but there was a subtext in their choice of words. They were insulting the Prophet ﷺ by calling him ‘our shepherd’.

This was in purpose. There are other incidents where they did the same. Imam Bukhari RA in his Saheeh, narrates an incident. A group of Jews came to the Prophet ﷺ and deliberately greeted him with the words, ‘As-sāmu alaikum’ rather than ‘As-salāmu alaikum’. The meaning of sām is ‘death be upon you’ whilst the meaning of salām is peace be upon you. The Prophet ﷺ responded by saying wa ‘alaykum (and upon you also). Aisha RA recognised their intent and angered she responded to them, wa’alaykum as-sām wal la’nat (upon you be death and curse). The Prophet ﷺ told Aisha RA to be calm and said: ‘Did you not hear my response.’

Some believers, without realising imitated the Jews and the hypocrites. They also said, Rā’inā. Allah Ta’ala warned the believers that they should not be misled. Rather than saying Rā’inā which has a double meaning, request the Prophet ﷺ by saying Unzurna which has a singular clean meaning.

In the Quran, the first direct address of Allah Ta’ala where He calls on the believers by saying ‘O believers’ is this ayah. He, in effect is telling the believers to respect the Prophet ﷺ as in, do not disrespect the Prophet ﷺ knowingly or unknowingly. The believers are told to listen attentively on this matter and not to be misled by the disbelievers.

To mock the Prophet ﷺ knowingly is kufr. Allah Ta’ala concisely outlines the consequences of those who do kufr in the same ayah. He states, ‘For the disbelievers there is painful punishment.’ Allamah Ibn Taymiyyah highlights in detail the dire consequences of those who insult the Prophet ﷺ in his work Al-Sa`arim al-Maslūl ‘alā Shātīm al-Rasūl.

There are four fundamental rights of the Prophet ﷺ:

  • Aqeedah: We believe the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to be the final Messenger of Allah Ta’ala. There is no room for doubt in this matter.
  • Azmat: We recognise the lofty rank of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ.
  • Muhabbat: We have immense love for the Prophet ﷺ.
  • Ittiba’: We follow the Prophet ﷺ in every way especially in the message that he brought.

Do not be swayed by people. Beware of what you say especially regarding the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. To develop love and respect for the Prophet ﷺ, read his seerah and emulate him.

Edited summary of Jumuah bayan delivered by Shaykh Muhammad Saleem Nawab on 08-10-21. Part 1 of ‘O Believers!’ series. For the full audio click here (audio no. 128)