As the days pass, I discover that many of the beliefs I once considered self-evident and unquestionable are among the most profound ideas requiring constant reconsideration and reflection. Among these matters, one of the most significant is the extent of a Muslim’s love for our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
If you were to ask any Muslim directly, “Do you love the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)?” you might immediately doubt your own intellect or the soundness of your faith. You’d likely hear, with a tone tinged with disdain for your question and the weakness of your faith, “Is there any doubt? Who among us doesn’t love our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)?” However, if you were to wait a moment and ask the same person, “What do you know about him (peace be upon him)?” you’d often find that the same haste to doubt your faith isn’t met with the same eagerness to answer your question, if answered at all.
Here, I’m not overstating anyone’s love for our noble Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). It should be enough for each of us to know that Allah has made our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) a means for saving our souls from the Hellfire, so we should love him. However, I’m talking about the driving love, the love that propels the Ummah forward. I’m speaking to you, my friend, about the true meaning of loving the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
To understand one aspect of this love that every Muslim should bear for the Prophet (peace be upon him), we must listen to what he said in a hadith narrated by Abdullah bin Hisham (may Allah be pleased with him). He said, “We were with the Prophet (peace be upon him) while he held the hand of Umar bin Al-Khattab. Umar said to him, ‘O Messenger of Allah, you are dearer to me than everything except my own self!’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘No, by Him in Whose Hand my soul is, (you will not have complete faith) until I am dearer to you than your own self.’ Then Umar said to him, ‘Now, by Allah, you are dearer to me than my own self.’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘Now, O Umar (your faith) is acceptable.’ (Narrated by Bukhari)”
This hadith is very important because each of us, when confronted with it, will find that we are facing a real tragedy that requires us to stand with ourselves for introspection. We need to make a list of the things we love in this life, reorder the priorities of this love, and beware that this reordering won’t change simply by speaking. If it were so, there wouldn’t be a specific hadith from the Prophet emphasizing the importance of this love in a believer’s creed.
But what is the path to this love that we should cultivate for our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)? Here, I see that the first and fundamental way to reach our goal is the true knowledge of him (peace be upon him). How can one claim love for someone they know nothing about other than their name? And how can one claim love while not following his ways or emulating him?
If a person doesn’t make the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) their ultimate role model in this world, it indicates a weakness in their love and loyalty to him. The Prophet should be the highest example in his behavior, ethics, and decisions, and one should emulate him in every aspect of their life.
Furthermore, the words of the Prophet should surpass all other words after the words of Allah, accepted with an open heart, believed to be conveyed from Allah for the guidance of humanity. The heart that loves the Prophet sincerely and purely does not entertain doubts about his commands or argue about the validity of his words.
As for the complete certainty in the complete infallibility granted to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) by Allah, it is essential for anyone claiming to love him. One must believe that the Prophet is infallible, and that everything he said and did came from Allah according to revelation and a pure life. A person must uphold their creed and defend their Prophet with arguments and evidence that prove he is the seal of the prophets and messengers, the unmatched leader in the history of humanity.
I assure you that the more you delve into trying to know him (peace be upon him), the more his love will multiply within you in a strange way. Why did I say strange? Doesn’t the soul incline towards the love of all that is beautiful and great? And this beauty and greatness are manifested in his character. Experiencing reading his biography, diving deep into the love of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), will take you to a degree of his love that you didn’t know existed within yourself before. You’ll find yourself crying many times out of the intensity of your love for him, your longing for him, your admiration for his mercy and sacrifice. Only then will you have begun to love him through knowledge, and this is the required love, the driving love.
This driving love forward, which, if every Muslim were to carry it for their Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), would change the face of the earth, the Muslim is commanded to emulate his great Prophet and take him as the highest example in all matters of life. If we reached this level of love, we would emulate our beloved in his love for his Lord, his courage, his generosity, and countless other qualities.
Finally, the means that bring us closer to the love of our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) are numerous and unlimited. Among them, for example, is reading his biography, and here I recommend the book “Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum” by Safi-ur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri, for its comprehensiveness and compactness. Another means may be celebrating his birth, teaching his biography to our children to endear them to his noble character. The more we excel in these means, the closer we get to our goal, which is following the example of our Prophet, an endeavor that ultimately lifts us from the state of oppression that has befallen us.
