Introduction
Allah Most High says in the Holy Quran:
“O Prophet, tell them: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your family, the wealth that you have amassed, and business that you fear will be ruined, and dwellings that delight you; if any of these are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, or more precious than striving in the path of Allah – then await the wrath of Allah; verily, Allah does not guide the transgressors.”
Surah at-Tawba: 24
Allah, Exalted be He, is the Uncreated Creator of all things. Of the many things He created, human beings have been given free will and this includes the choice to believe in Him or disbelieve in Him. It is the choices we make and the actions we partake in which determine how beloved we are to the Creator or if we are beloved to Him at all. From the entire creation there is nobody more beloved to Allah than our Master Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). He has been given the title ‘habibullah’ (the beloved of Allah) and the rest of mankind has been commanded to not only follow him but to love him more than anyone else. In fact, our level of love for him ﷺ has been made the measuring stick for the strength of our faith. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ has told us:
“None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his father, his children and all mankind.”
Bukhari
Therefore, the more we love him, the more faith (iman) we have. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ also said:
“If a person finds three things in himself, he has tasted the sweetness of faith:
1. That Allah and His Messenger ﷺ are more beloved to him than anyone else;
2. and that he loves a person purely for the sake of Allah;
3. and that he hates lapsing into disbelief as he would hate to be thrown into fire.”
Bukhari
Islam is the religion of the ‘fitrah’ i.e. the natural disposition of man which each of us are born upon. Love for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is deep inside each of us but the further away we move from the fitrah the more we are in need of being reminded of that love. Hatred for him is pure disbelief and is against the nature of man. Hatred for him has to be learnt since no person with a sound soul could ever have animosity towards him.
To love him is to be in line with the Divine will. We are informed in a famous Hadith that when Allah loves someone, He tells the Angel Jibril and tells him to also love him, so he does. Then Jibril announces it in the heavens and then all those in the heavens love that person. And then the people of earth are also caused to love that person. No person in history has been loved as much or as truly as the final Messenger to mankind, Muhammad ibn Abdullah ﷺ. So, let us look at some of what has been transmitted to us in our literature on this topic in order to appreciate the truth of this statement and in order that we be inspired to increase our love for the one who is most beloved to the Lord of the worlds.
Reasons for love
The great Maliki scholar Qadi Iyad says that a person usually loves something or someone for 3 reasons:
- Loving that which gives pleasure to the senses (such as physical beauty, melodious voices or tasting delicious food)
- Loving that which gives pleasure to the heart and intellect such as the love of pious people, people of good character and good deeds (e.g., showing mercy, sacrificing, kindness etc.)
- Loving another due to the favours and benefits they receive from them
All three apply to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ more than anyone else. If someone is yet to realise this then it is due to them being unaware of the characteristics of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and their lack of knowledge of him. It is therefore essential for every Muslim to study the seerah (biography), shama’il (characteristics) and khasa’is (unique qualities) of the Prophet ﷺ in order that they be made aware of his perfect appearance and qualities and the favours he has done for us, is doing for us and will do for us in the future.
Let us now look at all three of these points and how they apply to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Loving that which gives pleasure to the senses
The physical beauty of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is unmatched. The Sahaba would say the Prophet ﷺ was the most handsome person they ever saw.
Sayiduna Abu Hurayra said:
“I never saw anyone more beautiful than the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. It was as if the sun shone upon his face.”
Tirmidhi
Sayiduna Anas bin Malik said:
“Allah never sent a Prophet except that he had a beautiful face and a beautiful voice, and your Prophet ﷺ was the most beautiful of them in face and voice.”
Tirmidhi
There are many more narrations which mention the perfect beauty of the face and body of the Prophet ﷺ. It is therefore from the perfection of our Iman to believe that he is the most beautiful human being to ever exist. Imam al-Qastalani stated the following:
“Know that it is from the perfection of one’s faith in the Prophet ﷺ to believe that Allah Most High created his noble body in a fashion that has not and will not be matched by any other”.
Imam al-Qastalani
Loving that which gives pleasure to the heart and intellect
Allah Most High says in the Holy Quran:
وَاِنّكَ لَعَلَى خُلُقٍ عَظِيْمٍ
“And indeed you (O Muhammad) are of exalted character”
Surah al-Qalam: 4
The Lord Most High has vouched for the perfect character of his beloved ﷺ. His flawless character was a miracle in and of itself. His perfect qualities and characteristics were so immense that even his enemies could not deny it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was unmatched in his forbearance, patience, cheerfulness, affability, generosity, honesty and concern for others.
Loving another due to the favours and benefits they receive from them
Nobody has made more sacrifices for us or done more for us more than the Prophet ﷺ. This includes our parents, teachers and all humans who have ever done good to us, combined. Below are just a few of the countless favours the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has done, is doing, and will do for us.
- He sacrificed his entire life to ensure the religion of Islam reached us
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ endured hardships and tribulations like no other person in history. In a Hadith we are told that the Prophets receive the greatest calamities and nobody has faced calamities greater than the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ himself. His father passed away before he was born, he witnessed his mother pass away as a young child and soon after lost his grandfather who was his guardian. In his mission to convey the religion of Islam to the world he faced mockery, persecution and abuse from his own people. He was boycotted, attacked and driven out of his own home. His family and followers were murdered and tortured in front of him and his enemies attempted to assassinate him on several occasions. He buried all of his children except one and he was informed about the atrocity that would one day afflict his beloved grandson at Karbala. These are just some of the hardships faced by the beloved Prophet ﷺ yet none of this deterred him from carrying out his divinely sanctioned mission of ensuring Islam reached the likes of you and I.
- Nobody has more concern for our wellbeing then him ﷺ
Allah Most High has said in the Quran about his Beloved Messenger ﷺ:
لَقَدْ جَآءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ
“There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Your falling into hardship aggrieves him; [he is] concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful”
Surah at-Tawbah: 128
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would weep whilst raising his hands to Allah whilst crying out ‘My Ummah! My Ummah!’ (Sahih Muslim). The Ulema say that if we were to combine the concern of all mothers for their children, the concern of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for just one member of his Ummah is greater!
- He is the greatest of all Prophets and his Ummah (nation) is therefore the greatest Ummah
Allah Most High says:
كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ
You are the best among all the nations that were raised among mankind
Surah Ali-Imran: 110
We did nothing to earn this yet look how we are honoured just by being from the Ummah of al-Mustafa!
- Most of the people of Jannah (Paradise) will be from his Ummah
In addition to this, the people of his ﷺ Ummah will enter Jannah first.
- He will intercede for us on the day of judgement and save us from the hellfire
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Every prophet has a supplication that is answered. I intend to delay my supplication as an intercession for my nation in the Hereafter.”
Bukhari and Muslim
- He prayed for us during his life and he still prays for us now from his noble grave
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said
“My life is an immense good for you: you bring up new matters and new matters are brought up for you. My death, also, is an immense good for you: your actions will be shown to me; if I see goodness, I shall praise Allah and if I see evil I shall ask forgiveness of Him for you.”
al-Bazzar
- Following his example is the key to happiness in this life and the next
مَّن يُطِعِ ٱلرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ ٱللَّهَ وَمَن تَوَلَّىٰ فَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَٰكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظًا
“Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah. As for those who turn away – We have not sent you over them as a guardian.”
Surah an-Nisa: 80
Allah Most High has also said:
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى يُحْبِبْكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Tell them, (O Mohammed ﷺ), “If you love Allah, follow me – Allah will love you and forgive you your sins”; and Allah is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Surah Ali-Imran: 31
The Lord Almighty has also said:
لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلْيَوْمَ ٱلْءَاخِرَ وَذَكَرَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًا
The Messenger of Allah is certainly an excellent example for those of you who have hope in Allah and in the Day of Judgment and who remember Allah very often.
Surah al-Ahzab: 21
Success in this life and the next is therefore summed up in the following:
Obey Muhammadﷺ. Follow Muhammadﷺ. Be like Muhammadﷺ.
If Allah wills, in the next part we will look at the love of Allah Most High for his Prophet ﷺ.
Orthodox Muslim 