Love for Muhammad SAW (PBUH)

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TRUE LOVE OF THE PROPHET (SAAW) ACCORDING TO THE BOOK AND THE SUNNAH.

 We praise Him, seek His Aid, and beg for His Forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil in ourselves and from the evil outcomes of our deeds. Whomsoever, Allah, Ta ‘Ala, guides, no one and nothing can take that person astray. Whomsoever, Allah, Ta ‘Ala, takes astray, no one or nothing can guide that person. I bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah who is alone without any associates. I bear witness that Muhammad ibnu ‘Abd Allah (SAAW) is Allah’s ‘Abd (slave) and Messenger. To proceed:

Allah has commanded in the Qur’an (what means): “O you who believe! Have Taqwah (true fear of Allah) according to His right and die not except that you are a Muslim. O Mankind! Have Taqwah of your Lord. The One Who created you from a single soul and from him He created his mate and from them both He created many men and women and fear Allah through Whom you demand your mutual rights and do not cut off the ties of kinship; surely Allah is ever a Raqeeb (All-Watcher) over you. O you who believe! Have Taqwah of Allah and always speak the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger (SAAW) he has indeed achieved a great achievement.”

Verily, the best speech is the Book of Allah and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ibnu ‘Abd Allah (SAAW). The worst of all affairs in this Diyn are innovations. Every innovation is a Bid’ah and every Bid’ah is a going astray and every going astray is in the Hell Fire.

DEVELOPING TRUE LOVE FOR ALLAH’S MESSENGER (SAAW):

Having the proper love for Allah’s Messenger (SAAW) is a must for any Muslim who is striving to please his/her Lord and who seeks his/her Lord’s Forgiveness. Learning how to properly apply this love for the last Nabee (SAAW) is to properly implement the testimony: wa ash hadu ana Muhammadan rusulu Allah (SAAW). Indeed, one cannot just say he/she loves the Prophet (SAAW) while his/her actions and ‘Aqeedah are fundamentaly against what the Prophet (SAAW) brought (i.e. the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah). Hence, the first step in the process of developing this love is to acknowledge that the Prophet (SAAW) has a claim over the believers.

Allah has said in the Qur’an (what means): “The Prophet (SAAW) is closer to the believers than their ownselves…” [Al-Ahzab: 6].

 This Ayah means the Prophet (SAAW) has a “higher claim” on the believers than they have on themselves. This claim involves two important matters:

1. WE CONSIDER ALLAH’S MESSENGER (SAAW) TO BE DEARER THAN ONE’S OWN SELF.

 This is so because this claim is based on love. One has the most claim to oneself for one loves oneself more than anything. Thus, a person knows what types of foods, clothing, etc. he/she likes to eat, drink, etc. more than all others. However, when it comes to Islam, we know that Allah knows us better than we know ourselves; thus, we submit to Him and His Orders. We it comes to the Prophet (SAAW), we are to love him more than our own selves; thus, we too put his commandments above our own opinions, logic, etc.

Once this true love is established, compliance, obedience, satisfication with his (SAAW) jugdements, and other matters related to true love will follow. This is confirmed in the following authentic Haadith found in Sahih Al-Bukhari: Narrated ‘Abd Allah bin Hisham: ‘We were with the Prophet (SAAW) and he was holding the hand of ‘Umar ibnu Al-Khattab (RAA). ‘Umar said to him, “O Allah’s Messenger (SAAW)! You are dearer to me than everything except my ownself.” Allah’s Messenger (SAAW) said: “No, by Him in Whose Hand my soul is, (you will not have complete Faith) untill I am dearer to you than your ownself.” Then ‘Umar (RAA) said: “However, now, by Allah, you are dearer to me than my ownself.” He (SAAW) then said: “Now, O ‘Umar, (now you are a believer).”

LESSONS FROM THIS HAADITH:

A. The Negation and Affirmation: The Prophet (SAAW) negates (i.e. rejects, denies) that a person can have complete Imaan with his statement, “No, by Him in Whose Hand my soul is…”. Thus, the affirmation, or condition of having complete Imaan, follows: “…until I am dearer to you than your ownself…”. Therefore, the Muslim will never attain true Imaan unless he/she considers the Prophet (SAAW) to be dearer to him/her than everything including one’s ownself.

B. Character of the Sahabah: Upon hearing that true Imaan can only be achieved through loving the Messenger (SAAW) more than everything, including one’s self, ‘Umar (RAA) quickly complied with the commandment of the Prophet (SAAW). The Sahabah wasted no time in doing those acts which were pleasing to Allah and His Messeger (SAAW).

2. SECOND IMPORTANT MATTER: The Messenger (SAAW) has more rule over an individual than that individual has over his/herself. This means that a person only does those actions which are in accordance with the Book of Allah and the authentic Sunnah of His Messenger (SAAW).

Therefore, three critical conditions must be fulfilled in order for a deed to be accepted:

a. One must confess his/her belief in Islam (i.e. one must be a Muslim).

b. One must have Ikhlaas of the Niyah (i.e. purity of the intention).

c. One must do that deed in accordance with the Book of Allah and the authentic Sunnah of His Messenger (SAAW). If one of these conditions are not meet, that person’s deed will not benefit him/her in the least. Of course, absence of knowledge is always an exception (eg. a person may make Wudhu but does not know the specific parts of the body that are to be washed; thus, he/she washes those parts which he/she thinks to be significant. His/her Wudhu was not done in accordance with the Book and the Sunnah; however, he/she did not know the way to make Wudhu according to the Book and the Sunnah; hence, their Wudhu would be accepted for a and b were fulfilled, wa Allahu ‘alam). These are the conditions which the Salaaf As-Salih (Pious Predecessors) understood with regards to the acceptance and rejection of a deed. Another implications of the testimony: Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah (SAAW).

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