THE PROPHET'S STATUS AS A ROLE MODEL AND THE PRACTICES OF THE COMPANIONS

The verses in the Quran that command belief in, obedience to, conformity with and submission to the Holy Prophet are unambiguously clear. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) invited the believers to obey him, to devote themselves to the sunnah and to abstain from incorrect actions. In such conditions, if we want to witness the practices of the Prophet, we must look at the lives of the Companions. There are many clear accounts that provide us with adequate materials on this issue. As the revelations related to faith, obedience and submission were imparted to the Prophet, the Companions did not consider performing any practice without his permission or confirmation. At the same time, if the ruling of the Prophet was on something related to worldly issues, the Companions asked him how and why this was; when a ruling on religious issues was required, they would speak to him about the points revealed by the ruling; when it was a ruling imparted to Muhammad by Allah, they would ask him in order to understand its purpose and try to understand the truth. None of these questionings implies opposition to the Prophet; on the contrary it is known that the Companions adapted and implemented some of the attitudes of the Prophet without asking or knowing the reasons. What these actions do imply is that in Islam to ask questions and to understand the reason why something has been commanded is permitted, and even encouraged.

There were times when the Companions understood the rulings in the Quran and the sunnah in a way that was not intended and practiced them in an incorrect manner; in such cases they were corrected by Prophet Muhammad. Sometimes the Companions performed actions at their own discretion which were later ruled to be incorrect and subsequently they were corrected by the Prophet. All of these are examples of how strictly Prophet Muhammad trained his Companions, who were deemed as the "exemplary generation"

Another important attitude of the Companions is the way in which they dealt with problems when Prophet Muhammad was not available. They would seek the solution to the problem firstly in the Holy Quran, secondly, if they could not find the solution there, they would turn to the sunnah, thirdly, if they found no answer there either, they would practice what they thought was the best action. When they once again encountered the Prophet, they would state the matter and seek his opinion; they would correct their faults if there were any. There is no instance that shows that the Prophet's companions displayed an attitude that was opposed to the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad.

In conclusion:

• The importance of the status of Prophet Muhammad as a role model is defined in the Holy Quran and in the sunnah; this constitutes one of the foremost practices for Muslims.
• There is no disagreement among Muslims as to the fact that Prophet Muhammad constitutes the best example with his morality, actions, words and other features.
• It would not be correct to demote the Prophet's status as role model to a limited number of fields. This status is related to all fields of life.
• Prophet Muhammad's status as role model is important not only from the perspective of the individual, but also from the social perspective. Its binding features and determination of methods must be considered from these two perspectives.
• Prophet Muhammad's status as role model and the validity of the sunnah are not limited to his life or to a certain time period. The Holy Quran and the notions of the sunnah state this issue clearly, and the fact that Muslim community practices his sunnah is proof of this issue.
• Prophet Muhammad's status as role model and the continuity of his sunnah are the most important components that provide a unifying force in the Muslim world.
• It is important to study the lives of the Companions in order to understand and comprehend the status of Prophet Muhammad as a role model.