01-25-2004, 12:49 PM
Assalaamu aleikom wa Rahmat Allah wa barakaatuh!
I received this on email ---> so beautiful that u can't stop reading it again and again and again...
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Chapter II On the necessity to love the Prophet,
salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam
Section I: Concerning the necessity of loving him,
salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam
-Allah ta`ala says, "Say: if your fathers, your sons, your brothers,
your wives, your tribe and you possessions you have earned, commerce
you fear may slacken, dwellings you love - if these are dearer to you
than Allah and His Messenger and to struggle in His way, then wait
until Allah brings His command." (9:25)
This enough encouragement, advice, proof, and indication of the
necessity of loving him and is sufficient to show that this duty is an
immensely important obligation which is the Prophet's right. Allah
ta`ala censures those whose property, famillies and children are
dearer to them than Allah ta`ala and His Messenger salla-Allahu
`aleyhi wa sallam. He threatens them by adding, "Wait until Allah
brings His command." At the end of the ayat He considers such people
as having done wrong and informs them they are among those who are
astray and not guided by Allah ta`ala.
Anas reported that the Prophet, salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam, said,
"None of you will believe until I am more beloved to him than his
children, his father and all people. There is something similar from
Abu Hurayra.
Anas reported that the Prophet, salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam, said,
"There are three things which cause anyone who takes refuge in them to
experience the sweetness of belief - that Allah and His Messenger are
more beloved to him than anything else; that he loves a man only for
Allah; and that he dislikes the thought of reverting to disbelief as
much as he would dislike being cast into Fire."-
Section II: On the reward for loving the Prophet,
salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam
It is related that a man came to the Prophet, salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa
sallam, and said, "Messenger of Allah, I love you more than my familly
and my possessions. I remember you and I cannot wait until I can come
and look at you. I remember that I will die and you will die and I
know that when you enter the Garden, you will be raised up with
Prophets. When I enter it, I will not see you." Allah ta`ala then
revealed, "Whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger, those are with those
whom Allah has blessed among the Prophets, the true ones, the martyrs
and the rightdoers. They are the best on Companions." (4:68) The
Prophet, salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam, called the man and recited
the verses to him.
In another hadith we find, "A man was with the Prophet, looking at him
without turning away. The Prophet asked, "What is wrong with you?" He
replied, "My father and mother be your ransom! I enjoy looking at you.
On the Day of Rising, Allah will raise you up because of His high
estimation of you!" Allah ta`ala then sent down the ayat mentioned above.
In the hadith of Anas, the Prophet, salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam,
said, "Whoever loves me will be with me in the Garden."
Section III On what is related from the Salaf and the Imams about
their love for the Prophet and their yearning for him,
salla-Alalhu `aleyhi wa sallam
The hadith of `Umar, " I love you more than myself " has been cited.
There are similar things from other Companions.
`Amr ibn al-`As said, "There is no one I love better than the
Messenger of Allah"
'Abda bint Khalid ibn Ma'dan said, "Khalid never went to bed without
remembering how he yearned for the Messenger of Allah, salla-Allahu
`aleyhi wa sallam, and his Companions among the Muhajirun and Ansar,
and he would name them. He said, '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!'"
Zayd ibn Aslam said, 'Umar went out at night to observe the people and
saw a lamp in a house where an old woman was teasing some wool, saying:
"The prayer of the good be upon Muhammad, may the blessed bless him!
I was stabding in tears before dawn.
If only I knew, when death gives us different forms,
Whether the Abode will join me to my beloved!"
she meant the Prophet. `Umar sat down in tears.
It is related that a woman said to `A´isha, "Show me the grave of the
Messenger of Allah" She showed it to her and the woman wept until she
died.
Concerning the rights which people owe the Profet
salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam
Chapter II On the necessity to love the Prophet,
salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam
Section II The signs of love of the Prophet,
salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam:
Know that someone who loves a person prefers them and prefers what
they like. Otherwise, he is a pretender, insincere in his love.
Someone who has true love of the Prophet, salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa
sallam, will manifest the following signs.
1) The first sign is that he will emulate him, apply his Sunna, follow
his words and deeds, obey his commands and avoid his prohibitions and
take on his adab in ease and hardship, joy and despair. Allah
testifies to that, "Say: if you love Allah, then follow me and Allah
will love you." (3:31)
2) He will prefer what the Prophet, salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam,
has laid down as law and encouraged, over his own passions and
appetites. Allah ta`ala said, "Those who were already settled in the
abode, and in belief, before they came, love those who have emigrated
to them and do not find in their breasts any need for what they have
been given and prefer them to themselves even if they themselves are
in want." (59:9)
3) His anger against people will only be for the sake of the pleasure
of Allah ta`ala. Anas ibn Malik said, "The Messenger of Allah said to
me, 'My son, if you can be without any grudge in your heart against
anyone in the morning and evening, be like that.' Then he added, 'My
son, that is part of my Sunna. Whoever gives life to my sunna has
loved me and whoever loves me is with me in the Garden.'" (at-Tirmidhi)
4) Another of the signs of love for the Prophet, salla-Allahu `aleyhi
wa sallam, is to mention him often. Whoever loves something mentions
it a lot.
5) Another is great yearning to meet him, salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa
sallam. Every lover yearns for their beloved.
6) One of its signs is that as well as mentioning him often, someone
who loves him will exalt and respect him when he mentions him and
display humility and abasement when he hears his name. Ishaq at-Tujibi
said, "Whenever the Companions of the Prophet , salla-Allahu `aleyhi
wa sallam, heard his name after he died, they were humble, their skins
trembled and they wept. It was the same with many of the Followers.
Some of them act like that out of love and yearning for him, others
out of respect and esteem."
7) Another sign is love for those who love the Prophet, salla-Allahu
`aleyhi wa sallam, and the people of his house and his Companions,
both of the Muhajirun and Ansar, for his sake. Such a person will also
be hostile to those who hate them and curse them. Whoever loves
anyone, loves those he loves.
The Prophet, salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam, said about al-Hasan and
al-Husayn, "O Allah, I love them, so love them." In al-Hasan's
variant, "O Allah, I love him, so love the one who loves him." He also
said, "Whoever loves them loves me. Whoever loves me loves Allah.
Whoever hates them hates me. Whoever hates me hates Allah." (al-Bukhari)
8) Another sign is hatred for anyone who hates Allah ta`ala and His
Messenger, salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam, having enmity towards all
who have enmity towards him, avoidance of all those who oppose his
Sunna and introduce innovations into his Deen, and finding every
matter contrary to his Shari'a burdensome. Allah ta`ala says, "You
will not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day who
having love for anyone who opposes Allah and His Messenger." (58:22)
9) Another sign of it is love for the Qur'an which the Prophet,
salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam, brought, by which he guided and was
guided, and whose character he took on so that 'A'isha said, "His
character was the Qur'an." Part of love for the Qur'an is its
recitation and acting by it and understanding it, and loving his sunna
and keeping within its limits.
Sahl ibn 'Abdullah said, "The sign of the love of Allah is love of the
Qur'an. The sign of love of the Qur'an is love of the Prophet. The
sign of love of the Prophet is love of the Sunna. The sign of love of
the Sunna is love of the Next World. The sign of love of the Next
World is hatred for this world. The sign of hatred for this world is
that you do not store up any of it except for provision and what you
need to arrive safely in the Next World."
11) One of the signs of perfect love is that the one who aspires to it
does without in this world and prefers poverty.
The Prophet, salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam, said to Abu Sa'id
al-Khudri, "Poverty for those among you who love me comes quicker than
a flood from the top of the mountain to the bottom." (at-Tirmidhi)
In a hadith from 'Abdullah b. Mughaffal, a man said to the Prophet,
salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam, "O Messenger of Allah, I love you." He
said, "Take care what you say!" He said, "By Allah, I love you" three
times. He said, "If you love me, then prepare for poverty quickly."
There is a similar hadith from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri.
Section III On the meaning and reality of love for the Prophet,
salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam:
The reality of love is to incline to what one finds agreeable and
harmonious, either:
(1) by the pleasure in its perfection � like love of beautiful forms=
,
melodious sounds, delicious foods and drink to which one naturally
inclines because they are agreeable;
(2) or by pleasure in the perfection of its noble inner qualities
which is sensed by the intellect and heart�- like love for the
righteous, scholars and people of correct behaviour whose marvellous
lives and good actions have been related. Man's nature inclines to
intense love for these sorts of things to the point of fanaticism.
Such partisanship of one group against another and sectarianism within
a nation can result in homelands being abandoned, inviolable things
being dishonoured, and lives lost;
(3) or someone can love something because he finds it agreeable by
reason of gaining benefit and blessing from it. The self is naturally
disposed to love that which is good to it.
When you have understood this well, then examine these three causes of
love in respect of the Prophet and you will find that all three things
which inspire love apply to him.
As regards the benefit and blessing his community gain from him, we
have already mentioned the qualities of Allah ta`ala he possessed �
his compassion for them, his mercy for them, his guiding them, his
tenderness for them and his striving to save them from the Fire. He
is, "merciful, compassionate to the believers," (9:128) and "a mercy
to the worlds," (21:107) and, "a bringer of good news, a warner and a
caller to Allah by His permission." (33:45-46) "He recites its signs
to them and purifies them and teaches them the Book and the Wisdom,"
(62:2) and "guides them to a straight path." (5:16)
What goodness could be worthier or of greater importance than his
goodness to all the believers! What favour could be more universally
beneficial and of greater use than his blessing to all the Muslims
since he is their means to guidance, the one who rescues them from
blind error, and the one who summons them to success and honour? He is
their means to their Lord and their intercessor. He speaks up on their
behalf and bears witness for them and brings them to eternal life and
everlasting bliss.
So it should be clear to you that love of the Prophet, salla-Allahu
`aleyhi wa sallam, must be an obligation in the Shari'a because of the
sound traditions we have related and the nature of his overflowing
goodness and universal beauty we have just mentioned.
If a man can love someone who is generous to him just once or twice in
this world, as is well known to be the case, or someone who saves him
from destruction or harm even once, when that damage and harm are only
of a temporary nature, then the one who gives him undying bliss and
protects him from the eternal punishment of Hellfire should be loved
more. A king is loved when his behaviour is good and a ruler is loved
for his upright conduct. Someone who lives far away is loved for their
knowledge or noble character. Whoever possesses all these qualities in
total perfection is more entitled to be loved and more deserving of
attachment.
Ali, describing the Prophet, salla-Allahu `aleyhi wa sallam, said,
"Whoever saw him suddenly was in awe of him. Whoever mixed with him
loved him." We mentioned that one of the Companions could not turn his
eyes away because of his love for him.
Wa salaam
Soona