Loving Allaah and His messenger (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam) is a duty upon every Muslim. Loving the Prophet of Allaah (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam) should be manifested in both our speech and actions. It is not sufficient to simply claim to love the Prophet Muhammad yet continue to disobey Allaah and His Messenger. Loving the Prophet Muhammad (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam) means following his Sunnah and avoiding bid’ah.
As Muslims, we should love the Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam) more than we love ourselves and our family. It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Hishaam said: We were with the Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam) when he was holding the hand of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab. ‘Umar said to him: “O Messenger of Allaah, you are dearer to me than everything except my own self.” The Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam) said: “No, by the One in Whose hand is my soul, not until I am dearer to you than your own self.” ‘Umar said to him: “Now, by Allaah, you are dearer to me than my own self.” The Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam) said: “Now (you are a true believer), O ‘Umar.” [al-Bukhaari, 6257]
Love of the messenger of Allaah (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam) can be shown in various ways. A sign of love for him is to obey him (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam). Allaah has commanded us to obey the Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam). Allaah says: “And obey Allaah and the Messenger (Muhammad)..” [al-Maa’idah 5:92]. When you love someone, you follow them, imitate them and do what you can to please them. Allaah has told us that obedience to the Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam) is obedience to Allaah. Allaah says: “He who obeys the Messenger (Muhammad), has indeed obeyed Allaah, but he who turns away, then we have not sent you (O Muhammad) as a watcher over them” [al-Nisa’ 4:80]
By refusing to obey the messenger of Allaah (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam) we are, in reality, refusing to enter jannah. “All of my ummah will enter Paradise except those who refuse.” They said: “O Messenger of Allaah, who would refuse?” He said: “Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise and whoever disobeys me has refused.” Everything that the Prophet (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam) said and did leads to paradise and eternal salvation, whereas everything he stayed away from and warned against leads to hellfire and eternal condemnation.
Our Lord, Allaah, has given us a man as a mercy not only to humans but the whole of creation. It is our duty to honour him and defend him when others attack him, even after his death. Allaah says: “Verily, We have sent you (O Muhammad) as a witness, as a bearer of glad tidings, and as a warner. In order that you (O mankind) may believe in Allaah and His Messenger, and that you assist and honour him, and (that you) glorify (Allaah’s) praises morning and afternoon” [al-Fath 48:8-9]. The Muslim’s faith cannot be complete unless he loves the Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam), and until the Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam) is dearer to him than his father, his son, his own self and all the people. It was narrated that Anas said: The Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam) said: “No one of you truly believes until I am dearer to him than his father, his son, his own self and all the people.” (al-Bukhaari, 15)
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The reason why it is obligatory to love the Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam) and venerate him more than any other person is that we cannot attain the greatest good in this world or in the Hereafter except at the hands of the Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam), by believing in him and following him. That is because no one can be saved from the punishment of Allaah, and the mercy of Allaah cannot reach him except by means of the Prophet (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam), by believing in him, loving him, being loyal to him and following him. This is the means by which Allaah will save him from punishment in this world and in the Hereafter. This is the means by which he will attain what is good in this world and in the Hereafter. The greatest blessing is the blessing of faith, which can only be attained through him, and which is more beneficial than his own self and his wealth. He is the one by means of whom Allaah brings people forth from darkness into light, and there is no other way to Allaah. As for a person’s self and family, they will not avail him anything before Allaah. Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 27/246.
If we were to think about the benefits the Prophet (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam) bought to us we would be grateful to Allaah for this huge blessing. The Prophet (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam) taught us how to live our life to the minutest detail. He (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam) taught us how to be the best leader, teacher, student, companion, parent, preacher, husband, and more importantly, the best slave of Allaah. He taught us how to gain Allaah’s pleasure and what will take us from out of the darkness into the light. So he (the Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam)) deserves that his share of a person’s love should be greater than anyone else’s. But people vary with regard to that, depending on the extent to which they bear that in mind or neglect it. Everyone who truly believes in the Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam) will inevitably have a strong love for him, but they differ in the extent and depth of their love for him. Some of them have a great deal of love for him and some have only a little.
Allaah (aza wajal) says: “The Prophet is closer to the believers than their ownselves” [al-Ahzaab 33:6]. Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: [Allaah] knew how compassionate His Messenger (salAllaahu alahi wa salam) was towards his ummah, and how sincere he was towards them, so He made him closer to them than their own selves, and decreed that his judgement among them should take precedence over their own preferences. (6/380).
Shaykh Ibn Sa’di (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “Allaah tells the believers something by which they may understand the position and status of the Messenger (salAllaahu alahi wa salam, so that they might interact with him appropriately. So when He said: “The Prophet (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam) is closer to the believers”, it made most of them long to see him, and that he prefers him to their own family, sons, wealth and fathers. But that feeling quickly fades because of other distractions. And Allaah is the One Whose help we seek. “
So the Messenger (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam) is closer to a person than his own self, because he (salAllaahu alahi wa salam) was so kind and sincere and compassionate towards them. He was the kindest and most merciful of mankind. The Messenger of Allaah did the greatest of favours to all of mankind. Not the slightest good came to them and not the slightest harm was warded off from them except through him. Hence if there is a conflict between what a person himself wants or what other people want, and what the Messenger wants, then what the Messenger wants must take precedence. What the Messenger says cannot be overridden by what any person says, no matter who he is. They should sacrifice their selves, their wealth and their children, and put love for him before their love for all others.
What the scholars have said may be summed up by noting that the wrath of Allaah and the Fire of Hell are the things that we fear the most, and we cannot be saved from them except at the hands of the Messenger (salAllaahu alahi wa salam). The pleasure of Allaah and the garden of Paradise are the things that we want the most, but we cannot attain them except at the hands of the Messenger (salAllaahu alahi wa salam). The Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam) referred to the former when he said: “The likeness of me and you is that of a man who lit a fire and grasshoppers and moths started falling into it, and he tried to push them away. I am seizing your waistbands and trying to pull you away from the Fire but you are trying to get away from me.” (Muslim, 2285,)
What is meant by this hadeeth is that the Prophet (salAllaahu alahi wa salam) likened the way in which the ignorant and disobedient rush to fall into the Fire of the Hereafter by means of their sins and whims and desires to the Fire, and their keenness to fall into that Fire, even though he is trying hard to prevent them from doing so to the way in which moths and other insects are fatally attracted to the fire. The Prophet (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam) clearly had love for us and his ummah and it is only befitting for this love to be mutual. After the demise of Muhammad (salAllaahu alayhi wa salam), his close companion, Abu Hurayrah used to remove the branches that the Prophet used to remove during his lifetime, even after they were no longer there…now thats true love.
The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said,
“When Allah wishes good for someone, He bestows upon him the understanding of the Deen.” [Bukhari]
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