Some Muslims express concern that excessive praise for the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) could lead to his deification. They often cite the hadith, “Do not praise me as the Christians praised the son of Mary, for I am only His servant. So, call me the servant of Allah and His Messenger,” to support this view. However, this concern is based on a misunderstanding of both this hadith and the historical context. The deification of Jesus was not the result of excessive love or praise. Instead, it was due to the distortion of his teachings by Paul, a figure who never met him, and was made possible by the loss of Jesus’ authentic message over time. The historical circumstances of Muhammad’s (PBUH) mission are fundamentally different. The preservation of the Qur’an ensured that the tenets of his message remained intact. This is why his followers have never treated him as divine.
