Thanks be to Allah, the
Lord of the worlds. Peace and prayers be upon the
most honorable of all messengers Mohammad; and all his folks, companions, and
followers to the day they are all summoned together.
In
Surah Al-Fath, Ayah 9 Allah says:
{That ye (mankind) may believe in Allah and His messenger, and may honour Him,
and may revere Him, and may glorify Him at early dawn and at the close of
day.)
He
also says: {Say if you do love Allah then follow me, Allah shall love you. He
will forgive your sins for you}
Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him) said: {Any one of you, shall not be a
believer unless I am more loved by him than his child is, his parent and all
people}
Abullah ben Hesham said: We were with the prophet peace be upon him when he
was holding Omar ben Al-khattab’s hand. Omar said: Messenger of Allah, I have
more love for you than anything, except for my self. The prophet said {No, not
unless I become loved to you more than your self}. Omar said {So it is now. So
it is wa-Allahi, I love you more than my self. The prophet said: {Now Omar.}
Dear brothers. Loving the prophet may peace be upon him is not like loving any
other. Loving the prophet is a great worship to Allah. Through our love to the
prophet we get closer to Allah. It is one of the religion’s foundations and
one of the pillars of belief.
Loving the messenger is not something of a secondary importance. A Muslim has
no choice in loving or not loving the messenger. It is one of the main
prerequisites for belief.
Allah says: {Say to them, if your parents and your children, and your brothers
and spouses, your clan and some money you have gained and a business you fear
going slack and homes you are contented with, are more loved to you than Allah
and his messenger and striving in his way, Well then watch out till Allah will
bring his authority. And Allah does not guide the dissolute crowd.}
The
scholars divided loving the messenger into two categories: The first is a
compulsory: and that is the love necessitating Iman or belief in him as a
prophet and accepting his teachings. The second type of love is a
representative love leads to learning about his life and the follow up of his
Sunnah. Adhering to what he said and did.
The
prophet said: {three characteristics if found in a person, through them he/she
will find the sweetness of Iman: (first) this who Allah and his messenger are
more loved to him than anything or anyone else. (second) When one loves
someone for no reason other than for the sake of Allah, (and the third) when
one hates to go back to being an unbeliever after being saved by Allah as
hating to be thrown into fire}
The
prophet said {Of all my followers, the ones who love me the most are people
who shall come long after I am gone. They would love to exchange their family
and money for to see me}
Why
love the messenger may peace be upon him??
Well,
1)
Because he is loved by Allah. And this who loves Allah, loves all that
Allah loves.
2)
Allah showed us how gentle and merciful the messenger is when Allah
said {A messenger from within you has come to you, who cares for you blights,
concerned about you. With the believers he is gentle and merciful}
3)
A cause for loving him is his great good personal characteristics. So
many great aspects of character all in one person.
A
group from Quraish gathered for the execution of Zaid. When Abu-Sufian asked
him: Would you not love now if instead of you, Mohammed was here with us to
kill, and if you were with your folks? Zaid said: By Allah, I would not love
if Mohammed, where he is now, was hurt by a sting of a thorn and me with my
folks. Abu-Sufian said “I never seen any one loved by his friends than
Muhammed was”.
A3aesha said, once a man came to the prophet (peace be upon him) and said “You
are more loved to me than my self and my children. I would be sitting at home
and when you come to my mind, I can not wait until I come and see you. And
when I remember my death and yours I know you shall be elevated with the
prophets. And if I go to paradise I fear I shall not see you.”. Gebreel came
down with the Ayah that says: “Those who obey Allah and the messenger are with
those who were blessed by Allah, the prophets, the truthful veracious, martyrs
and the good doers. These are the best companions”
A
bedewin once asked the prophet “When is the hour?”, the prophet said {And what
is it that you’ve prepared for it?} the man said “Loving Allah and his
messenger”. The prophet said “You are with whom you loved”. Anas said “This
was a great happiness for us Muslims. We love the prophet. Though we will not
be able to do any work like he did, But we shall be with him in paradise, it
is enough for us”
