Obeying God — or Obeying Power?
How “The Messenger” Became the Ultimate Authority Figure in Islam
If you ask a Muslim what Islam is all about, they’ll often say:
“It’s about submitting to God.”
Fair enough. But when you look at the Qur’an more closely, something else stands out — something even more central than God, at least in terms of daily guidance.
“Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah.” — Qur’an 4:80
“It is not for a believer to have any choice... if Allah and His Messenger have decided.” — Qur’an 33:36
Obeying the Messenger isn’t a side note — it’s a core command.
But here’s the question:
What happens when that “Messenger” becomes the gateway to divine will… and the mouthpiece for rulers, judges, and clerics?
Suddenly, the line between spiritual obedience and political control disappears.
Let’s explore how this happened — and why it matters.
1. “Obey the Messenger” — But What Does That Actually Mean?
The Qur’an never clearly defines the scope of this command. There’s no answer to:
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Which instructions were universal?
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Which were situational?
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What happens after the Messenger is gone?
Muslim scholars stepped in to fill the gap. Their answer? The hadith: thousands of narrations, passed down orally, then written down centuries later.
Through these, “obeying the Messenger” came to mean obeying:
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Ancient reports of what he allegedly said or did
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The legal systems built on those reports
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The scholars and rulers enforcing them
The result?
A once-simple command turned into a vast system of religious law and political control — all tied to a man who wasn’t even alive to verify what he supposedly taught.
2. Muhammad: From Message-Bearer to Lawmaker-in-Chief
In the Qur’an, Muhammad’s role is surprisingly limited:
“Say: I am only a human being like you, to whom revelation is made...” — Qur’an 18:110
“Your duty is only to deliver the message.” — Qur’an 5:99
That’s it. A messenger, not a lawgiver. Not a micromanager.
But over time, that changed. Drastically.
Rulings about:
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Music bans
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Stoning for adultery (even though the Qur’an prescribes lashes)
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Execution for apostasy
…were all pinned to the Prophet through hadith.
He became the blueprint for everything — not just belief, but behavior, law, and governance.
The man who once said he was just a messenger…
Became the ultimate authority in every part of life.
3. The Messenger as a Shield for Power
Once obedience to the Prophet became unquestionable, something else happened:
Obeying rulers, clerics, and judges — those claiming to speak in his name — became spiritually mandatory too.
And that meant:
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Criticizing religious leaders = insulting the Prophet
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Resisting legal rulings = rebelling against God
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Questioning tradition = inviting apostasy charges
Dissent wasn’t just disagreement anymore — it was blasphemy.
That’s a powerful tool. And it was used well.
4. The Posthumous Prophet: A Blank Check for Authority
No other major religion builds this much doctrine on the alleged sayings of a prophet long after his death.
But here’s the advantage of that setup:
A dead prophet can’t correct you.
So if a caliph, scholar, or judge wants to:
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Wage war → say the Prophet endorsed it
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Silence critics → say he ordered their execution
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Control women → say he called them deficient in intellect
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Ban reform → say any deviation is “against the Sunnah”
All they need is a hadith — and people fall in line.
5. From God’s Mouthpiece to the State’s Megaphone
It’s a clever pipeline:
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Muhammad speaks for God.
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Hadith speaks for Muhammad.
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Scholars interpret the hadith.
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Rulers enforce their interpretations.
At every step, obedience is demanded.
And disobedience is dressed up as disloyalty to God Himself.
What started as faith becomes theocratic obedience — backed by fear, law, and divine threat.
6. Can Islam Survive Without the Messenger Cult?
Today, some Muslims want to modernize Islam by focusing on the Qur’an alone.
It’s a noble effort. But here’s the problem:
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The Qur’an tells them to obey Muhammad
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Islamic law (Sharia) is built on hadith
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Daily rituals (prayer, fasting, dress) are modeled on his behavior
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Morality is judged through stories about him
But… we don’t actually have Muhammad.
We have centuries-late reports, passed down through oral chains, compiled by political insiders, and full of contradictions.
So modern Muslims are left with two choices:
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Trust that this mountain of shaky tradition accurately reflects divine will
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Or question it — and risk undermining the entire structure
Islam cannot separate the message from the Messenger.
And the Messenger — as we know him — was written by others.
🧠 Final Thought: Obedience by Design
The “Messenger” concept in Islam didn’t just evolve. It was engineered — layer by layer — to secure obedience, not just to God, but to those who claimed to represent Him.
At some point, it stopped being about truth.
Instead, it became:
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A thought stopper
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A legal weapon
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A religious firewall against criticism, reform, or dissent
Muhammad may have started as a sincere preacher.
But in the hands of empires, clerics, and courts, he became a symbol of submission — used to demand silence, not insight.
And in the end, he no longer speaks for God…
He speaks for those who wrote his lines.
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