What does it mean for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) to be our master?

I am having trouble with understanding the meaning of the word sayyidina (which has been translated as "master") with respect to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). What does this word mean? Isn’t our master Allah?

[This answer was originally posted as a response to a student question in the course, The Supplications of the Daily Prayer (GNL031)]

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

1. Prophetic Distinction

When we describe the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) as our sayyid, we are following an example that he himself set for us. He told us in a rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith, "I am the sayyid of all the children of Adam on the Day of Judgment, the first to have his grave split open [h: for resurrection], the first to intercede, and the first to be granted intercession." (Muslim)

Commenting on this hadith, Imam Nawawi (Allah have mercy on him) gave two possible meanings for sayyid: (a) someone who surpasses his people in something good, or (b) someone who is sought out in difficult times, when he responds by bearing their difficulties and giving them relief. [1] The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is our master in the first sense because when we reflect on his unsurpassed perfections—he surpassed every human in bravery, generosity, mercy, selflessness, and every other praiseworthy quality—we feel awed before him and we aspire to acquire his sublime traits. He is our master in the second sense because all of us will feel our inferiority to him when we go to him for help on the Day of Judgment, when Allah Most High will grant him the greatest intercession, and many other intercessions thereafter.

Imam Nawawi (Allah have mercy on him) explains further that by informing us that he is our master, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give us peace) was discharging an obligation:

2. General Permission

Both the Quran and the Sunna clearly establish the permissibility of referring to humans as sayyid. Allah Most High calls the Prophet Yahya (upon him be peace) a sayyid (Quran, 3:39). [3] The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said of his grandson, our master Hasan b. Ali Talib (Allah be pleased with him), "This son of mine is a sayyid." (Bukhari) When the great Companion, our master Sa`d b. Mu`adh, entered upon the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), he addressed his Companions and told them, "Stand up for your sayyid." (Bukhari)

3. Contextual Understanding

There is, however, one hadith whose immediately apparent meaning seems to contradict what has been described above. A delegation from the tribe of Banu `Amir said to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), "You are our sayyid," to which he responded, "Allah is the one who is the sayyid." (Abu Dawud)

Scholars explain that the true sayyid (master) is Allah Most High alone, for He alone has control of our affairs, which makes Him the true Master. When this word is applied to a human being—such as the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), the Prophet Yayha (upon him be peace), our master Hasan b. Abi Talib (Allah be pleased with him), or our master Sa`d b. Mu`adh (Allah be pleased with him)—it is used metaphorically to mean someone who has been given a distinction over other humans. [4] The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) redirected the delegation's focus to Allah Most High because he feared that they would not make the appropriate distinction between the literal and metaphorical uses of the word.

When this distinction is made—as is almost always the case when Muslims use the word for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)—it is perfectly permissible, even praiseworthy to use it as a way to respectfully address the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).

Ibn `Abidin summarized all of this in his famous Hashiya,


And Allah Most High knows best.

Hamza.


[1] Yahya b. Sharaf al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim, Commentary on hadith, ana sayyidu waladi adam yawm al-qiyama. (Paraphrased translation.)

[2] Ibid.

[3] The scholars of tafsir have a wide range of opinions regarding the meaning of sayyid in this verse. Some of these possible meanings are "generous", "noble", "of good character", "godfearing", and "the one who surpasses his people in something good". Alusi (Allah have mercy on him) mentions all of these meanings, as well as many others, and then concludes, "All of these qualities befit Yahya because they are all qualities of perfection and no one is more befitting of qualities of perfection than the prophets. The correct opinion, though, is that a sayyid someone who leads his people and has followers, and that it then came to be used everyone who surpasses others in some affair of this world or the next." (Alusi, Ruh al-Ma`ani, Commentary on 3:39)

[4] Munawi, Fayd al-Qadir, Commentary on hadith, al-sayyidu Allah

[5] Ibn `Abidin, Hashiyat Radd al-Muhtar, Muqaddima, Commentary on idh la yasudu sayyidun bi duni wadudin yamdah wa hasudin yaqdah