The love of the Early Muslims for the Prophet ﷺ
The Early Muslims (Salaf) consist of the first three generations in Islam. They are the Sahaba (companions), Tabi’een (followers) and the Tabi ul-Tabieen (followers of the followers). The Tabi’een are the generation of Muslims after the Sahaba (companions). Unlike the Sahaba, they did not meet the Prophet ﷺ. They were however blessed to meet his ﷺ companions. Many of the famous Imams of Islam are from this era, such as Sayiduna Hasan al-Basri, Nafi and Imam Abu Hanifa. The Tabi al-Tabi’een met the Tabi’een but not the Sahaba. They include the likes of Imam Malik and Imam al-Shafi. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ has told us that these first three generations are the best of the Ummah:
The best people are those of my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them.
Bukhari and Muslim
Below are just a few narrations showing the love of the early Muslims for the Prophet ﷺ 1.
It was said that whenever the Prophet ﷺ was mentioned to Amir b. ‘Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr, he would weep incessantly, till he had no more tears left!
Imam Malik was asked about his teacher Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani and said:
“I haven’t narrated from anyone better than him. I went with him on Pilgrimage twice and I never heard the Prophet ﷺ being mentioned without him weeping, until we took pity on him.”
Imam Malik would do wudu, put on scent, wear new clothes and a turban before narrating Hadith (out of respect for the words of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ).
Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak said he was once listening to Imam Malik teaching Hadith and whilst doing so he (Imam Malik) was stung by a scorpion sixteen times! He grew pale and changed colour but still did not interrupt the Hadith lesson. After the lesson he was asked about this and he said:
I endured it out of respect for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ
Imam Jafar as-Sadiq was known to joke and laugh a lot but when the Prophet ﷺ was mentioned he would grow pale. He never narrated Hadith without wudu.
Thabit al-Bunani would kiss the hands of Sayiduna Anas because his hands had touched the Prophet ﷺ.
It is narrated that Khalid ibn Ma’dan would not go to sleep without remembering how much he yearned for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions and he would name them. And he would say:
They are my root and branch, and my heart longs for them. I have yearned for them a long time. My Lord, hasten my being taken to You!
It is related that a woman asked Sayida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) to show her the grave of the Prophet ﷺ. She showed it to her and the women wept until she died!
This is a tiny portion of the narrations concerning the love of the early Muslims for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. If Allah Most High wills, in the next part we will show how the love for the Prophet ﷺ is not limited to humans but extends to animals, trees, and even inanimate objects.
1) Refer to -ash-Shifa’ of Qadi al-Iyad for more narrations like these.
Orthodox Muslim 