Class 5 – Love The Prophet
LOVE THE PROPHET ﷺ
His Love for the Ummah
The noble Messenger Muhammad ﷺ was the most merciful and kindest of people, who loved good for the Ummah and was keen for them to be happy and prosper. We will never find anything more true than the words of Allaah which speak of that (interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily, there has come unto you a Messenger (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty. He (Muhammad ﷺ) is anxious over you; for the believers (he صلى الله عليه وسلم is) full of pity, kind, and merciful” [9:128]
He loved his ummah a great deal, and was very concerned about their salvation on the Day of Resurrection, hoping that Allaah would honour them with His Paradise. He would weep because of the depth of his fear for them and his compassion towards them.
It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet ﷺ recited the verse about Ibraaheem (peace be upon him), “O my Lord! They have indeed led astray many among mankind. But whoso follows me, he verily, is of me” [Ibraaheem 14:36], and the verse in which ‘Eesa said, “If You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, verily, You, only You, are the All‑Mighty, the All‑Wise” [al-Maa’idah 5:118]. Then he raised his hands and said: “O Allaah, my ummah, my ummah.” Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, said: “O Jibreel, go to Muhammad, although your Lord knows best, and ask him why he is weeping.” So Jibreel (peace be upon him) went to him and asked him, and the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ told him what he said, although He knows best. Allaah said: “O Jibreel, go to Muhammad and say: “I will make you pleased concerning your ummah and not displeased.” [Narrated by Muslim].
This hadeeth includes a number of things that we learn from it, such as: the Prophet’s complete compassion towards his ummah; his concern about their interests and his care for them; the great glad tidings for this ummah – may Allaah increase it in honour – of what Allaah has promised it, as He said: “I will make you pleased concerning your ummah and not displeased.” This hadeeth represents one of the greatest hopes for this ummah.
Whoever wants to attain this virtue must adhere to the guidance of the Prophet ﷺ and adhere to his Sunnah, so that he may win his companionship in Paradise.
OBLIGATION OF LOVING THE PROPHET ﷺ
Allaah says that which translates as:
“Say [O Muhammad], if your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, wealth which you have obtained, commerce wherein you fear decline, and dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allaah and His Messenger and i.e., fighting in His cause, then wait until Allaah executes His command. And Allaah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.” (At-Tawbah: 24).
Al-Qurtubi, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said commenting upon this verse: “This verse is evidence that loving Allaah and His Messenger is compulsory, and that this love must take precedence over everything else. This is a ruling on which there is no difference among the scholars“.
Ibn Qudaamah Al-Maqdisi, may Allaah have mercy upon him said: “It is the consensus of the Muslim scholars that loving Allaah and His Messenger is mandatory for every Muslim.”
Shaykh Al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said: “Loving Allaah and His Messenger is the greatest action that faith obligates, it is the greatest tenet of faith itself and the most glorified fundamental of it. Indeed loving Allaah and his Messenger is the foundation for all deeds”.
The strength of love for the Messenger ﷺ is connected to the Muslim’s faith. When his faith increases, his love for the Prophet ﷺ increases. Loving the Prophet ﷺ is an act of obedience to Allaah and a means of drawing closer to Him. Loving the Prophet ﷺ is one of the obligatory duties in Islam.
It was narrated that Anas said: The Prophet ﷺ said: “None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his father, his child and all the people.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 15; Muslim, 44)
It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Hishaam said: We were with the Prophet ﷺ 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 ﷺ 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 ﷺ said: “Now (you are a true believer), O ‘Umar.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6257.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The reason why it is obligatory to love the Prophet ﷺ 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 ﷺ, 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, 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.
One of the scholars said: If a person thinks of the benefits that he has been given through the Prophet ﷺ, through whom Allaah brought him forth from the darkness of kufr into the light of faith, he will realize that he is the cause of his soul remaining forever in eternal bliss, and he will understand that this benefit is greater than all others. So he (the Prophet ﷺ) 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 ﷺ 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, like those who are absorbed in their own whims and desires most of the time. But when mention of the Prophet ﷺ is made, most of them long to see him, and prefers that 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. See Fath al-Baari, 1/59
Allaah says that which translates as: “The Prophet is more worthy of the believers than themselves.” (Al-Ahzaab: 6).
Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: [Allaah] knew how compassionate His Messenger ﷺ 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.
INSTILLING HIS LOVE IN CHILDREN
Seerah
They should teach the children – according to her level of understanding – about the life of the Prophet ﷺ and his campaigns, and the lives of the Sahaabah, both men and women – may Allaah be pleased with them, so that they will grow up loving these noble people, and be influenced by their behaviour, and will be keen to strive and sincere in correcting themselves and supporting their religion.
Tell stories of the Sahaba
The parents can tell them the stories that have been narrated of the children of the Sahaabah at the time of the Prophet ﷺ, how they defended him from those who tried to harm him, how quickly they responded to his call and obeyed his commands, and how they loved that which he loved, and how they memorized the hadeeth of the Prophet ﷺ.
Make them memorize Hadeeth
The parents should help them to memorize as much hadeeth as they can, and reward them for that.
Teach Quran along with Seerah
The Sahaabah and the early generations were keen to teach their children about the life of the Prophet ﷺ, and they would teach it alongside teaching the Qur’aan, because his seerah is the interpretation of the the meanings of the Qur’aan, as well as stirring up emotions and demonstrating true Islam and having a wondrous effect on the soul.
When telling about the life of the Prophet ﷺ and the lives of the male and female Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them), the father and mother must tell them about things that they can relate to, such as the childhood of the Prophet ﷺ, some stories about his life with (his wet-nurse) Haleemah al-Sa’diyyah, and how Allaah bestowed goodness and blessings upon Haleemah and her family because of him ﷺ, the night of the Hijrah and how Allaah covered the eyes of the mushrikeen, and other stories which demonstrate how Allaah helped him. Thus the child’s heart will be filled with love for Allaah and love for His Messenger ﷺ.
Examples of the Sahaba’s & the early generation’s love of the Prophet:
- A woman from the tribe of Banu Deenaar lost her husband, father and brother in the battle of Uhud. When she was informed of this, she, may Allaah be pleased with her, asked “Butwhat happened to the Prophet?” The people replied: “All praise is due to Allaah, he is as safe as you would wish him to be.” She, may Allaah be pleased with her, replied: “Show him to me so that I can see for myself” so the people pointed him out. When she saw him, she said: “Any disaster besides that of losing you is insignificant.”
- ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allaah be pleased with him, said to Al-‘Abbaas (the Prophet’s uncle): “Embrace Islaam! I swear by Allaah that it would be more beloved to me if you embraced Islaam than if Al-Khattaab (his own father) did so.” This was because Al-‘Abbaas was dearer to the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam than Al-Khattaab.
- Al-Qaadhi ‘Iyaadh, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said: “Whoever loves someone will love all that his beloved loves. This is confirmed in the history of the companions of the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. They would practice this to the extent that they would forego things that were permissible for them to keep, or adopt things that were not compulsory or even recommended for them to do so. Anas bin Maalik, may Allaah be pleased with him, said that when he saw that the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam liked squash and looked for it on his plate, he liked squash ever since.”
DO NOT EXAGGERATE IN LOVE
Loving the Prophet ﷺ and mentioning his good attributes, both in his physical appearance and in his character, is part of faith. But people start going overboard citing their Love as the reason for it. Exaggerating in praising him is something that he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) forbade. Al-Bukhaari (3445) narrated from ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I heard the Prophet ﷺ say: “Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in praising the son of Maryam, for I am but a slave, so say: the slave of Allah and His Messenger.”
What is meant by exaggeration is going to extremes in praising and overstepping the mark.
Imam Ahmad (12551) narrated from Anas ibn Maalik that a man said: O Muhammad, O our master (sayyid) and the son of our master, the best of us and the son of the best of us. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “O people, you should fear Allah and do not let the Shaytaan make you get carried away. I am Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah, the slave of Allah and His Messenger. By Allah, I do not like for you to raise me above my station to which Allah appointed me.” (Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in as-Saheehah) And there are many similar hadiths.
People use fabricated or very weak ahadeeth as evidence to their exagerrations. One such example is where it is quoted as Anas bin Maalik, may Allaah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Everything has a foundation, and the foundation of Islaam is to love the Messenger and his household” (Ibn An-Najjaar) – This is a fabricated Hadeeth.
Sufyaan Ath-Thawri, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said: “To love him (i.e., the Messenger ﷺ) is to follow him.”
You disobey your Lord and present your love
If your love was truthful you would have obeyed Him
Indeed the one who loves is obedient to the one whom he loves
We ask Allaah to help us to love His Messenger ﷺ and to make him dearer to us than our children, parents, families and our own selves.
ASSIGNMENT
Please do this assignment before taking the test, there will be a question asked about the Assignment worth 10 marks in the test: –
- Choose any three topics from the five classes and talk to three people (friends or family) about it. (Choose what you feel is needed in your community) – (10 Marks)
- Make Dua for the Muslims that are being oppressed around the world and also for those who are not, to get their acts right and start helping the Ummah. (2 Marks)
Please take this assignment as a motivation to start talking about Islam and make it part of your regular day(even if you do not know too much, spread the little that you know, as the Prophet ﷺsaid “Convey from me, even if it is one verse”), most of us are too shy to talk about Islam but are ok to talk about anything under the sky.
May Allah make us all amongst those who call others to good by spreading the Deen of Allah and help us in this noble path.