Muhammad: The Man Who Replaced God in Islamic Consciousness

In Islamic practical theology, Muhammad does not merely represent a prophet, he overshadows Allah himself. While Muslims claim to worship one God, the emotional, psychological, and even liturgical weight falls overwhelmingly on the figure of Muhammad. This dynamic was forged through centuries of hadith literature, battlefield mythology, and devotional excess that bordered on deification.

The “prophet” Muslims defend so violently is their model for what it means to be human, and more dangerously, what it means to be sacred. Every time Muhammad was mocked, insulted, or criticized, his companions rose to kill. Dissidents were executed. Poets who mocked him were assassinated. And each time, the killers returned not in shame, but with pride, bringing severed heads to their prophet, who would smile and bless them.

Even Muhammad’s bodily functions were treated as sacred. His companions worshiped him. When he spat, they scrambled to catch it and smeared it on their faces, believing it brought blessing. One woman famously drank his urine, and he responded with a smile, promising her that “hellfire would never touch her intestines.”

In Islamic tradition, consuming Muhammad’s waste was a path to eternal salvation. This is a theological Stockholm Syndrome.

This mythology created a religious culture where questioning Muhammad is unthinkable. Where criticism isn’t just heresy, it’s a death sentence. Where entire societies are trained to defend the prophet more fiercely than they defend their lives. That’s why, to this day, the most violent Islamic reactions across the world, beheadings, riots, assassinations, are not provoked by attacks on Allah, but by cartoons or comments about Muhammad. It’s why mob burn embassies over perceived insults to their prophet. Because in their minds, Muhammad is not just the messenger, he is the message.

The clearest proof that Muhammad has replaced Allah in Islamic practical theology lies in Islam’s own soteriology, its doctrine of salvation. Ask this:

Why are Jews and Christians, both of whom worship the God of Abraham, classified as kuffar, infidels, under Islamic law? Theologically, this makes no sense. Jews affirm the oneness of God, reject idolatry, and follow a divine moral code. So why are they damned in the Qur’an? Why are they cursed in the hadiths? Why are they to be fought, humiliated, and subdued?

The answer is brutally simple: because they rejected Muhammad. Not because they worshipped a false god. Not because they invented idols. But because they refused to recognize him.

This reveals the heart of Islamic soteriology: salvation is not ultimately about Allah, it is about allegiance to Muhammad. As I said in the previous post, Muhammad is not merely the messenger. He is the message. Islam claims to be a monotheistic religion centered on submission to one transcendent deity. But in practice, the deity is silent, terrifying, and unknowable.

Muhammad, on the other hand, is intimate, imitated, and ever-present. He is the lens through which Allah is understood, the filter through which every verse is interpreted, the moral and legal template for the entire ummah. He becomes the functional center of Islam’s religious universe. Rejecting Allah is almost abstract. But rejecting Muhammad is what actually makes someone an enemy, a target, an apostate, or an infidel. His person becomes the dividing line between salvation and damnation.

This is why Muslims believe even the most devout Jew or morally upright Christian is destined for hell. Because in Islam, moral clarity, monotheism, or good works, none of it counts unless you submit to Muhammad. His name must be on your lips. His example must be your law. His honor must be defended with your blood. This is theological imperialism centered around a man.

The shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith, exposes this plainly. It doesn’t just say “There is no god but Allah.” That would be purely monotheistic. It must include: “and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” Without that second part, you’re not a Muslim. You’re not saved. You’re condemned. No biblical prophet ever demanded this. Moses never said, “Believe in me or be damned.” Isaiah never taught that rejecting him personally would lead to eternal fire. John the Baptist pointed away from himself. Even Jesus said, “I do not seek my own glory.” But Muhammad inserts himself at the center of cosmic judgment. In that way, Islam is not just submission to God, it is submission to a man.

now ask yourself: What is the difference between Islam and the Italian mafia, if submission is ultimately to a man and God is just an abstract figurehead?

The answer? Very little.

In both systems, loyalty is demanded not primarily to principle or to God, but to the man at the top. Disobedience is betrayal. Honor is personal. Dissent is criminal. And violence is justified to protect the reputation and authority of the “boss.”

In Islam, the figure of Muhammad functions exactly like a mafia don. You don’t just respect him, you fear crossing him. If someone insults him, the order is simple: silence them. If someone refuses allegiance, they’re marked for death, not because they rejected God, but because they rejected him. The enforcement is tribal, the consequences are brutal, and the religious system is the cover.

Allah, like the mafia’s “code of honor,” is invoked, but only to legitimize the authority of the leader. He’s the backdrop, not the focus. What do you call a system where loyalty to a man determines your safety, where questioning him gets you killed, where the highest virtue is blind obedience, and where fear, not love, keeps people in line? You don’t call it worship. You call it organized control. You call it mafia theology.