Sincere love towards Prophet Muhammad
Sincere love towards Prophet Muhammad
As Muslims we know that our faith will be incomplete without sincere love towards our beloved Prophet Muhammad. How can we understand if our love is sincere or not?
Our beloved Prophet told us about the signs of true love for him. One of them is to love the Prophet more than ourselves.
He said, “You will not have complete faith till I am dearer to you than your own self.”
Here please note what our Prophet emphasized, “You will not have complete faith…”: he did not say “you will not be a believer.”
We should know that sincere love towards our Prophet is a fundamental constituent of our faith. It is an integral element without which our faith will be incomplete.
And what is the main sign of sincere love for our beloved Prophet ?
Our Prophet said, “None of you will have complete faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind.”
The second caliph, Umar ibn al Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) told the Prophet, “I love you more than anything except my own soul.” To this the Prophet responded, “None of you will have complete faith till I am dearer to him than his own soul.” Umar then said, “By the One who sent down the Book to you, I love you more than my own soul.” The Prophet said, “Umar, now you have it!” (Hadith narrated by Al Bukhari).
We should correctly understand that each and every one who has said the words of monotheism (Shahada) are Muslims. However, our faith will be not complete till we love our Prophet more than ourselves. He said, “Now you have it.” What does this mean? The Prophet implied the sincere, clear love towards him that Caliph Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had reached.
In order to increase our faith and to make it deeper and stronger, we should purify our hearts and fill them with clear, sincere love for our Prophet . When we do this, we will reach the highest level of ihsan.
Thus, our beloved Prophet said, “None of you will have complete faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind.” This means that “you will not reach sincerity, if I am not dearer to you than anyone else.”
Sincere love towards the Prophet implies yearning for him, his family and his companions. It is impossible to love the Prophet without loving his family members. True Muslims are those who love Ahlul Bayt (the family of the Prophet and the companions because our Prophet loved them. It is impossible to love the Prophet and be among the muhsinin while at the same time disliking the members of his family or his companions.
Allah’s Messenger said, “Be fearful of Allah regarding my companions. Be fearful of Allah and do not make them a point of criticism of me. Just as whoever loved them, did so because of me, whoever hated them also did so because of me. And whoever hurt them, hurt me, and whoever hurt me, hurt Allah and whoever hurt Allah, Allah will soon punish.” (Hadith narrated by At Tirmidhi, Ahmad bin Hanbal and Baihaqi).
It is also inconceivable to be in love with the Prophet and not love our masters Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman, Ali Khalid ibn Walid and all the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them).
Indeed, ihsan is the quality of muhsinin (doers of good deeds)!
Some of us ask, where did we get such a definition of ihsan? We can reply with this saying of our Prophet , “Verily the Almighty has ordained goodness (ihsan) in everything”. Therefore, ihsan should be present in all our deeds: in sales, walking, clothing, etc. Yes, it is indeed advisable to show kindness in relation to clothes. It means to hang your clothes on a hanger or lay them in a specific place, pronouncing the name of Allah, because He has granted us such an opportunity to cover our bodies (awrah).
Goodness (ihsan) means to be merciful to all creations. For instance, when you see a beautiful flower by the road, do not step on it; do not harm the natural environment and express your good attitude towards all living beings.
Prophet Muhammad also called on us not to harass animals by goading them to hurt them or so that they cause harm to each other.
Someone took two chicks from a nest, causing the parent bird to fly in panic searching for them. Prophet Muhammad then asked, “Who has distressed it by taking its chicks?” He then asked the man to return the chicks.
Some people claim that they are the followers of the Prophet and kill Muslims, saying that they are unbelievers. How dare they raise a hand against Muslims, claiming that they are the followers of the way of the Messenger of Allah , whereas our Prophet was indignant at someone even disturbing a bird.
This is one of the numerous occasions which demonstrate the excellent relationship and benevolent (ihsan) attitude of the Prophet towards animals. He said, “Fear Allah with regard to livestock. Ride them in a fitting way and feed and water them on time.”
He once entered the garden of a man from among the Ansar (Muslims of Medina) where there was a camel. When the Prophet saw the camel it froze and its eyes started watering. Then the Prophet of Allah went to it and rubbed its ears so it calmed down.
Then the Prophet said, “Who is the owner of this camel? Whose camel is this?” A young man from the Ansar said, “O Messenger of Allah , it belongs to me.” Then he e told him, “Do you not fear Allah with regard to this beast which Allah has let you own? It complained to me that you starve it and tire it by overworking it and using it beyond its capacity.”
Such a good attitude towards all living beings is ihsan and the command of our Prophet .
Transcript of sermon of Dr. Muhammad Hassan Kassam
