Who is in violation of the Sunnah: Is it he who praises the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or he who forbids that?

Praising the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, is of two types:

1. Legitimate and Recommended Praise: This is the praise that stems from love for him and from highlighting his virtues, characteristics, miracles, and manners, without exaggeration or describing him with what is not true of him, and without raising him above the station Allah has given him. The Companions praised him during his lifetime with what was true of him.

2. Innovated and Forbidden Praise: This is exaggeration and excessive flattery in praising him, by raising him to the status of divinity, or attributing to him some of Allah's exclusive attributes, such as knowledge of the unseen, or seeking aid from him, or praising him with lies, or associating his praise with something forbidden. The Messenger prohibited praising him excessively as the Christians praised the son of Mary, and commanded that he be described as "the slave of Allah and His Messenger."