Love For Prophet Muhammad [saw]- Right Perspective
Muslims all over the world love Prophet Muhammad [pbuh] dearly. He is respected not only amongst the Muslims but many non-Muslims have also extolled him for his extraordinary qualities and the message he brought. But perhaps many are not aware of the fact that this love for the Prophet [pbuh] is in fact a necessary part of a Muslim's faith without which his very belief would be considered incomplete.
Requirement of Faith
Narrated Anas: The Prophet said "None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind." [Bukhari :: Book 1 :: Volume 2 :: Hadith 14]
Why has this love for Prophet Muhammad [pbuh] been declared a prerequisite of faith? Why must each and every believer love the Prophet [pbuh] more than every other person in the world, even more than his own self? Because this love for the last Prophet [pbuh] was meant to be the driving force for the believer to act upon each and every word and action of his beloved. This love wasn't meant to be the selfish, stagnant, self-gratifying, fairytale emotion portrayed in the media but one that would propel a believer into action and change him from within and without. This love had to be stronger than any other love, strong enough for a Muslim to sacrifice his family, his wealth, his life and his own desires for the sake of his beloved.
This very love would not let the Muslims rest in peace until they had fulfilled the mission and conveyed the message that the Prophet [pbuh] had entrusted to them. Then why is it that we claim to love the Prophet Muhammad [pbuh] yet this love has not brought about the same results in our lives?
Perhaps we need to know what kind of love we are supposed to have for the Prophet [pbuh]? Such an important matter – one that affects one's faith- necessitates that this love should be the kind desired by Allah and his Messenger [pbuh] and not one based on each person's own imagination.
Signs of Love For The Prophet [saw]
We should first ask ourselves what kind of love the Prophet [pbuh] approved of and what expressions of love did he reject? Scholars have stated certain signs of the Prophet [saw]'s love that can be summarized as follows:
1. To have a strong desire to see and to be in the company of the Prophet [pbuh] 2. To be ever-ready to sacrifice one's life and wealth for the Prophet [pbuh] 3. To obey what the Prophet [pbuh] commanded and abstain from what he forbade 4. To support and favour the Prophet's Sunnah and to defend the Shariah that was revealed to him There were certain expressions of love that the Prophet [pbuh] explicitly disapproved of. He [saw] did not like that people should rise for him when he arrived.
Narrated Abu Umamah: The Apostle of Allah [peace_be_upon_him] came out to us leaning on a stick. We stood up to show respect to him. He said: Do not stand up as foreigners do for showing respect to one another. [Dawud :: Book 41 : Hadith 5211]
Similarly he [saw] discouraged poetry that bordered on Shirk [associating partners with Allah] and raised his status to that of Allah or even higher.
Narrated Ar-Rabi': (the daughter of Muawwidh bin Afra) After the consummation of my marriage, the Prophet came and sat on my bed as far from me as you are sitting now, and our little girls started beating the tambourines and reciting elegiac verses mourning my father who had been killed in the battle of Badr. One of them said, "Among us is a Prophet who knows what will happen tomorrow." On that the Prophet said, "Leave this [saying] and keep on saying the verses which you had been saying before." [Bukhari :: Book 7 :: Volume 62 :: Hadith 77]
He [saw] disliked excessive and exaggerated praise.
Narrated 'Umar: I heard the Prophet saying, "Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians praised the son of Mary, for I am only a slave. So, call me the slave of Allah and His Apostle." [Bukhari :: Book 4 :: Volume 55 :: Hadith 654]
