Khutbah: Loving the Prophet ﷺ More Than Everything Else (besides Allah)

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:

ٱلنَّبِىُّ أَوْلَىٰ بِٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ

"The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves." (Qur’ān 33:6)

And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

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)

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:

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)

Respect in Referring to the Rasul ﷺ

Bismi llāh, wa l-ḥamdu lillāh, wa ṣ-ṣalātu wa s-salāmu ‘alā rasūli llāh, wa ‘alā ālihī wa ṣaḥbihī wa man wālāh

Whenever Allah mentions Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in the Qur’ān, He always addresses him with a title. E.g. al-Nabiyy, al-Rasūl.  He only refers to him using his name when necessary to do so (e.g. "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah"). Such is how Allah respected and honoured the Prophet ﷺ. So did the Saḥābah and those who followed in their footsteps (Allah be pleased with them).

So when we speak about the Prophet ﷺ, we shouldn't refer to him as simply "Muhammad". Refer to him as "Rasūl Allāh", "al-Nabiyy", "Prophet Muhammad", etc. Yes, he was just a man. But he wasn't any ordinary man. He was the best man to be brought into existence. He was the best of all creation. And he is the one most beloved to the Lord of all Creation. And we ought to respect him as such.

May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him for as long as the winds continue to blow and the rivers continue to flow.

In sha’ Allah…

Bismi llāh, wa l-ḥamdu lillāh, wa ṣ-ṣalātu wa s-salāmu ‘alā rasūli llāh, wa ‘alā ālihī wa ṣaḥbihī wa man wālāh

In shā’ Allāh. Perhaps the most abused Islamic phrase in use. Saying "yes, in shā’ Allāh" should not be a cover for "no, I probably won't do it." Rather, when you affirm you'll do something and then say "in shā’ Allāh", what you should have in mind is "yes, I will definitely do it unless Allah wills for a genuine reason to arise such that I really can't do it (e.g. death, accident)".

Beware of misusing the phrases of Islam.

And Allah knows best.

Salams

Bismi llāh, wa l-ḥamdu lillāh, wa ṣ-ṣalātu wa s-salāmu ‘alā rasūli llāh, wa ‘alā ālihī wa ṣaḥbihī wa man wālāh

Merely typing "salam" does not fulfill the sunnah of giving the Islamic greetings of peace. When you type "salam", all you're saying is "peace". It wouldn't really make sense if someone came up to you and just said, "Peace," would it?

So when greeting others, type in the full "al-Salamu ‘alaykum". (You can use your phone's text expansion settings to ensure you don't have to type the whole thing every time.)

Khutbah: Tears of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for His Ummah

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:

It was narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recited the statement of Prophet Ibrāhīm:

فَمَنْ تَبِعَنِي فَإِنَّهُ مِنِّي وَمَنْ عَصَانِي فَإِنَّكَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ

"So whoever follows me - then he is of me; and whoever disobeys me - indeed, You are [yet] Forgiving and Merciful." (Qur’ān 14:36)

and the statement of Prophet ‘Īsā:

إِنْ تُعَذِّبْهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ عِبَادُكَ وَإِنْ تَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ فَإِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

"If You should punish them - indeed they are Your servants; but if You forgive them - indeed it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise." (Qur’ān 5:118)

Then he (ﷺ) raised up his hands and said, "O Allah! My ummah, my ummah!" and wept. So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: "O Jibrīl! Go to Muḥammad – though your Lord knows fully well – and ask him: 'What makes you weep?'"

Dear brother. Dear sister. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cried for you and me. He cried for you and me fearing for us the punishment of the Fire. This man who was a mercy to all of creation, a man who was already guaranteed forgiveness by Allah – his tears would roll down his blessed cheeks and wet his beard for you and me. He cried for his ummah – the vast majority of whom were people he'd never even met, like you and me. He cried for us. He (ﷺ) was more merciful to us than we are to ourselves! He cried due to the mercy he had for us and his fear for us. Thus, going back to the incident, Jibrīl went to the Prophet (ﷺ) and asked him what made him cry, and so he replied that he was crying about his ummah. So Allah Most Exalted said: "O Jibrīl, go to Muḥammad (ﷺ) and say: 'Verily, We will please you with regard to your ummah and will not displease you.'"

Dear Muslims! Here we have the best of mankind crying for his ummah out of compassion for them and fearing for them the punishment of Allah. He (ﷺ) cried out of concern for us while we don't even cry for ourselves. He (ﷺ) cried fearing for us the punishment of Allah while we lack that fear for themselves. He (ﷺ) cried for our sins while we don't even cry about our own. Here, we have a man who would cry the nights for his ummah yet the ummah is in a deep sleep. Heedless. Heedless of obedience, falling into sins. They have become busy with this worldly life, obeying their desires and lusts. They do not remember the intensity of the heat on the Day of Judgement. They do not remember the intense heat of the Hellfire. They do not remember standing for judgement by Allah on that tough day.

I want to leave you with three things:

1) Remember that our Beloved (ﷺ) would cry the nights for us. He would fear for us the punishment of Allah. He was concerned for us until his final breaths. So it is more appropriate that we cry for ourselves. The righteous ones before us would soak their clothes with tears. Remember the punishment of Allah and the magnitude of your sins, and cry. But at the same time, don't lose hope in His mercy. Strive for what He has prepared for His righteous slaves. Cry that you haven't done enough to deserve that. And on a side note, crying isn't an expression of weakness. People whom Allah has soften their hearts are easily touched and moved to the extent that tears fall from their eyes.

2) Uphold the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He underwent much struggle and sacrifice to ensure his message reached us. His noble body was hurled rocks at. He was verbally hurt by his own relatives. He once bled so much that the blood glued his feet to his sandals. All that so the message of Islam could spread and reach us. Now you have people who just want to scrunch it up and throw it away. But no. Stick to his teachings. Stay firm upon his sunnah.

3) Don't delay anything. Don't delay your prayers, your seeking forgiveness of Allah, your tawbah, your quitting a bad habit, your acts of worship. You never know when you will die. Recently we heard the news of the cricketer Phil Hughes who died at at age of just 25. So young. Before that day, death would have been one of the last things on his mind. Yet, when his time came, his time came, and no one could prevent it. So don't feel so secure about yourself that death will meet you when you're 70 or 80. Prepare now, and don't delay.