Ruling on writing the Exalted Name 'Allah' and 'Muhammad' (peace be upon him) parallel on a paper, portraits, wall or the like


Question:

As it is clear for you, may Allah protect you, many plots are being made nowadays against this religion to undermine the ‘Aqidah (creed) and spread acts of Bid’ah (innovation in religion) all over Islamic Ummah (nation) by the enemies of Allah (Exalted be He) and religion. However, people may neglect small things that grow to become serious problems that become hard to stand up to, as happened with the people of Nuh and their statues. Please find attached herewith some of the patterns that grew to become very serious to the extent of holding comparisons between Allah (Glorified be He) on one hand and the Prophet, (peace be upon him) on the other. I do not know what worse could happen than this. The fellows at the Committee of Observing the Abominable Acts in ‘Aqidah have written this small leaflet that I hope you will read and provide us with your comments. Perhaps this may help to remove such evil. May Allah guide you and benefit His Servants by you, and enjoy your life in worshipping Him, Amen.

Answer:

It is not permissible to write the Exalted Name “Allah” and “Muhammad” (peace be upon him) parallel to each other on a paper, portrait or a wall. This act includes excessive reverence to the Messenger (peace be upon him); it also includes equality to Allah (Exalted be He), leading to a means of Shirk (associating others with Allah in His Divinity or worship). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Do not over praise me as the Christians did with the son of Maryam (Mary), for I am only a servant (of Allah). Therefore you should say (about me) “the Servant and Messenger of Allah.” 1

Therefore, such portraits or papers should not be hung. Any similar writings on a wall should also be wiped out, to protect the ‘Aqidah (creed) and act in accordance with the recommendation of the Messenger (peace be upon him).

  1. Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on, Fara’id, no. 6830; and Ahmad, Musnad, vol. 1, p. 56. ↩