Indeed, all praises and thanks are due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His Help and and we seek His Forgiveness. And we take refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the bad of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide. And whomever Allah misguides, none can guide. And I testify that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May blessings and peace be upon him, and upon his family and companions.
To proceed:
Allah said:
And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Fellow Muslims, these are powerful statements. Our faith cannot be perfect until we love our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ more than we love our own selves! For it is through him ﷺ that we know lā ilāha illā Allāh. It is through him ﷺ that we were elevated to be from the best of nations ever amongst mankind. It is through him ﷺ that we have a chance at being worthy of jannah. So how can you not love him more than anything else?!
We have the example of Sawād ibn Ghaziyah (radiy Allāhu ‘anhu). While Rasūl Allah ﷺ was lining up the troops for the Battle of Badr, Sawād threw himself towards Rasūl Allah ﷺ and hugged him and kissed his blessed stomach, to which Rasūl Allah ﷺ asked him what made him do so. Sawād replied that because of the high chance of him being killed in battle that day, he wanted to make sure that the last skin contact he made was with the Prophet ﷺ. Allah! Look at that level of love for the Prophet ﷺ!
We have the example of Abū Bakr (radiy Allāhu ‘anhu). During the hijrah, after carrying the Prophet ﷺ up the mountain of Thawr, Abū Bakr enters the cave first. He then tears off pieces of his own clothing to plug all the holes in the cave so that no harmful creature can come out to harm the Prophet ﷺ. However, one hole remained uncovered because he'd ripped off enough of his clothing and didn't have any more to use. So then Rasūl Allah ﷺ enters and lays his head on Abu Bakr's lap and takes a nap. Meanwhile, Abū Bakr plugs the remaining hole with his foot. Then, a snake comes and bites it. Abu Bakr is now in immense pain, but at the same time does not want to disturb the sleep of Rasūl Allah ﷺ. So tears begin to roll down his cheeks, until they fall onto the blessed face of Rasūl Allah ﷺ. Now, look at that level of love: Abū Bakr sacrifices his own clothing, and endures such great pain and hardship to ensure that his beloved ﷺ is not harmed or disturbed.
There are many, many more examples, but these ones give you a tiny glimpse of the love the saḥābah had for the Prophet ﷺ. And how could anyone not love him ﷺ? The man whose kindness came like rain that cares not whom it falls upon. The man whose generosity was like a river that quenches all who come to drink from it. The man who came as a mercy for you and me, for animal and tree.
But more significantly, he was the man who would weep for you and me out of his deep concern for us. He was the man who longed to meet us who have believed in him without even having seen him. He is the man who cared for us more than he did for himself. And most importantly, he is the man who taught us lā ilāha illā Allāh – a statement without which life isn't worth living, a statement without which we'd all be doomed. So what reason is there not to love him more than everyone, including ourselves?
Brothers and sisters! True love is that you dedicate yourself to your beloved. These days, we have all these messed up concepts being thrown around about love. "Love at first sight", "sweet pink roses", "Valentines", etc. All nonsense. If you want to see true love, look to how the saḥābah dedicated themselves to their Beloved ﷺ. They held fast to his sunnah. They took his teachings seriously. They moulded their entire lives around his, their personalities around his, and tried to imitate him in every way possible. That's true love. A love based on love of Allah, for he ﷺ was the one who taught them about Allah, and without him they would've been in darkness and misery. Following and loving him is a means to earning Allah's love. And with that I conclude with Allah's statement:
To proceed:
Allah said:
ٱلنَّبِىُّ أَوْلَىٰ بِٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ
"The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves." (Qur’ān 33:6)
لاَ يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى أَكُونَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ وَالِدِهِ وَوَلَدِهِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ
"None of you will have true faith until I become more beloved to him than his father, his children and all mankind." (Narrated by al-Bukhārī and others)
We have the example of Sawād ibn Ghaziyah (radiy Allāhu ‘anhu). While Rasūl Allah ﷺ was lining up the troops for the Battle of Badr, Sawād threw himself towards Rasūl Allah ﷺ and hugged him and kissed his blessed stomach, to which Rasūl Allah ﷺ asked him what made him do so. Sawād replied that because of the high chance of him being killed in battle that day, he wanted to make sure that the last skin contact he made was with the Prophet ﷺ. Allah! Look at that level of love for the Prophet ﷺ!
We have the example of Abū Bakr (radiy Allāhu ‘anhu). During the hijrah, after carrying the Prophet ﷺ up the mountain of Thawr, Abū Bakr enters the cave first. He then tears off pieces of his own clothing to plug all the holes in the cave so that no harmful creature can come out to harm the Prophet ﷺ. However, one hole remained uncovered because he'd ripped off enough of his clothing and didn't have any more to use. So then Rasūl Allah ﷺ enters and lays his head on Abu Bakr's lap and takes a nap. Meanwhile, Abū Bakr plugs the remaining hole with his foot. Then, a snake comes and bites it. Abu Bakr is now in immense pain, but at the same time does not want to disturb the sleep of Rasūl Allah ﷺ. So tears begin to roll down his cheeks, until they fall onto the blessed face of Rasūl Allah ﷺ. Now, look at that level of love: Abū Bakr sacrifices his own clothing, and endures such great pain and hardship to ensure that his beloved ﷺ is not harmed or disturbed.
There are many, many more examples, but these ones give you a tiny glimpse of the love the saḥābah had for the Prophet ﷺ. And how could anyone not love him ﷺ? The man whose kindness came like rain that cares not whom it falls upon. The man whose generosity was like a river that quenches all who come to drink from it. The man who came as a mercy for you and me, for animal and tree.
But more significantly, he was the man who would weep for you and me out of his deep concern for us. He was the man who longed to meet us who have believed in him without even having seen him. He is the man who cared for us more than he did for himself. And most importantly, he is the man who taught us lā ilāha illā Allāh – a statement without which life isn't worth living, a statement without which we'd all be doomed. So what reason is there not to love him more than everyone, including ourselves?
Brothers and sisters! True love is that you dedicate yourself to your beloved. These days, we have all these messed up concepts being thrown around about love. "Love at first sight", "sweet pink roses", "Valentines", etc. All nonsense. If you want to see true love, look to how the saḥābah dedicated themselves to their Beloved ﷺ. They held fast to his sunnah. They took his teachings seriously. They moulded their entire lives around his, their personalities around his, and tried to imitate him in every way possible. That's true love. A love based on love of Allah, for he ﷺ was the one who taught them about Allah, and without him they would've been in darkness and misery. Following and loving him is a means to earning Allah's love. And with that I conclude with Allah's statement:
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
"Say, [O Muhammad], 'If you should love Allah , then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.'" (Qur’ān 3:31)
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