Allah states that whoever obeys His servant and Messenger, Muhammad , obeys Allah;
and whoever disobeys him, disobeys Allah. Verily, whatever the Messenger utters
is not of his own desire, but a revelation inspired to him. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded
that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,
«مَنْ أَطَاعَنِي فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللهَ،
وَمَنْ عَصَانِي فَقَدْ عَصَى اللهَ، وَمَنْ أَطَاعَ الْأَمِيرَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَنِي،
وَمَنْ عَصَى الْأَمِيرَ فَقَدْ عَصَانِي»
(Whoever obeys me, obeys Allah; and whoever disobeys me, disobeys Allah. Whoever
obeys the Amir (leader, ruler), obeys me; and whoever disobeys the Amir, disobeys
me.) This Hadith was recorded in the Two Sahihs. Allah's statement,
﴿وَمَن تَوَلَّى فَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَـكَ
عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظاً﴾
(But he who turns away, then We have not sent you as a watcher over them.) means,
do not worry about him. Your job is only to convey, and whoever obeys you, he will
acquire happiness and success and you will gain a similar reward to that he earns.
As for the one who turns away from you, he will gain failure and loss and you will
not carry a burden because of what he does. A Hadith states,
«مَنْ يُطِعِ اللهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ
رَشَدَ، وَمَنْ يَعْصِ اللهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَضُرُّ إِلَّا نَفْسَه»
(Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, will acquire guidance; and whoever disobeys
Allah and His Messenger, will only harm himself.)