EPIC Masjid, Br. Ikram Haq, True love for the Prophet Mohammed peace be upon him

True Love for the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

Brothers and sisters, many of us do not realize how closely our lives are attached to the life of Rasulullah ﷺ. In a ritualistic way, we do many things to support that view. However, we do not reflect the connection that we have with Rasulullah ﷺ. This connection is literally from the cradle, from the time that we are born, to the grave. And not only that, beyond our grave. But we cannot understand this truly until we understand three things:

The status of Muhammad ﷺ, his connection with us, and his concern for us — for his ummah. And in this brief khutbah, inshallah, we will try to revisit those aspects.

Part One: The Status of the Prophet ﷺ

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has praised Rasulullah ﷺ. He said: your character is on an exalted standard, far excellent. And He said: in the messenger of Allah is the best example for you to follow. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said He has elevated the dhikr of Rasulullah ﷺ, which could mean many things — sending salam on the Prophet ﷺ, following him, obeying him.

Imagine that his name is mentioned and the prayers and blessings are said on him more than a billion — many billions of times — every day.

And Rasulullah ﷺ's status is such that when he went for Mi'raj, Jibreel ﷺ had to stay back because he could not go to Sidratul Muntaha. Even though Jibreel ﷺ is the archangel — he is the chief of the angels.

And the Prophet ﷺ himself said, one morning toward the end of his life, after Salatul Fajr, he faced the Sahaba and he said that Allah has taken him as His Khalil. Khalil is an intimate friend — not just any friend, but a deeply intimate friend. So Rasulullah ﷺ said: Allah has taken me as His Khalil. And if I were to take a friend from this dunya, I would have taken Abu Bakr as my Khalil.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 44, Hadith 532)

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said: if you claim that you love Allah, then the path to that love goes through Muhammad ﷺ. So if someone says that he loves Allah and His Messenger, then the litmus test of that love is how much this person loves Rasulullah ﷺ and, in action, how much he follows him, how much he revives the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. Otherwise, a person's claim can be baseless.

The Prophet ﷺ said that on the Day of Judgment he will be the chief of all the people, and we know that Allah has granted him al-kawthar, maqam al-mahmood, and al-fadila — all from authentic narrations.

Part Two: Our Connection with the Prophet ﷺ — From Cradle to Grave and Beyond

Now, our attachment to Rasulullah ﷺ — this is the main crux of this khutbah. Because inshallah, soon our EPIC will start a seerah class for young brothers. And we want the young brothers and the parents and everyone to understand how closely we are attached to Muhammad ﷺ.

When we are born, among the first things that we hear is the adhan in our ears. And part of the adhan is:

These words are there to make us understand — to engrave this into our subconsciousness — that there is someone, Muhammad, who is the Rasul of Allah. So along with أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ — there is no one worthy of worship except Allah — the second statement of faith is that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.

And when we are a little bit older and we learn to read the Quran, we read that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said: Allah and the mala'ika send praise and blessings — Allah sends the blessings and the mala'ika send the praise of Muhammad ﷺ — and Allah instructs the believers to say salam on the Prophet ﷺ.

And Rasulullah ﷺ said that he is a miser who, when my name is mentioned, does not say salam on me.

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Book 46, Hadith 3546)

And imagine that the relationship of Allah with Muhammad ﷺ is that of the Master and slave. When was the last time a master praised his slave? But this is a special relationship.

Also, when we get up for prayer, the prayer does not begin until we hear again أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ in the adhan and in the iqamah. And the prayer itself is not complete once we have entered it — it is not complete until we say the salatul Ibrahimiyyah:

Now, this is the special distinction that Allah has mentioned Muhammad ﷺ separately, just to show his level — even though he was already covered by the mention of the family of Ibrahim. He is from the Aali Ibrahimiyyah. But for a special honour, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned him separately.

And we also know that our worship is not complete until it is in accordance with the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. In matters of ibadah, we cannot come up with our own way of worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Rasulullah ﷺ was the greatest of Allah's worshipping slaves. And he taught us how to worship Him, how to get close to Him. If somebody tries to invent a way to get closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that is not in accordance with the way of Rasulullah ﷺ, then it is not accepted.

So there are two conditions for an action to be accepted by Allah: the first condition is that it be performed only for the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala; the second condition is that that action must be committed in accordance with the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also said: the Prophet ﷺ is closer and preferable to the believers than they themselves.

In a famous hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ, he said: you cannot have the sweetness of Iman — true Iman — until I am more beloved to you than everything else.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 15; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 69)

The Connection at the Time of Death and in the Grave

And then when we die — think about this — we are talking about our relationship and connection with the Prophet ﷺ from cradle to the grave and beyond. So when we die, the people who bury us say: in the name of Allah and upon the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ — or upon the religion of Rasulullah ﷺ. So the last words that we hear, or among the last words that we hear as we are lowered into our graves, is that our burial is taking place according to the way of Rasulullah ﷺ.

And not only that — once we are buried, among the three questions in the grave, there is one question that concerns the Prophet ﷺ and whether or not we know him. This is the incredulity of this connection — that we are asked: who is your Prophet? And the scholars have explained that the answer is not something that we can memorize through rote learning and simply dish out in the grave. This is a matter of the heart. If the heart believed in the message that Rasulullah ﷺ came with, and we followed him and obeyed him, then the tongue will manifest the answer.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has said: Allah will give strength to the believers in this dunya — meaning that Allah will help them practice and follow the deen of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in letter and spirit. And in the akhira, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will help us answer those questions.

And in another ayah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions that angels will be with the believers and will comfort them. And some scholars have said that they will also be their companions in the grave so that they are not lonely.

The Connection in the Hereafter

Once we are raised in the hereafter, we find out that Rasulullah ﷺ has been given some of the greatest bounties that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has not given to anyone — he has al-kawthar, he has maqam al-mahmood, and he has al-fadila. And he is the only one who will be able to intercede on behalf of people with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — this is a maqam that has not been given to anyone.

We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us the shafa'ah of Muhammad ﷺ, to let us have a drink from al-kawthar from the blessed hands of Rasulullah ﷺ, and also to grant us everlasting companionship with Muhammad ﷺ in Jannah.

Inshallah, before I resume my khutbah — if you would please move forward and fill all the blank spaces. There are brothers, your brothers, who are standing in the back. Please give them a chance to come inside.

Part Three: The Concern of the Prophet ﷺ for His Ummah

We have talked about two elements in order to understand our connection with Muhammad ﷺ: one was his status with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala; second was his connection with us — the ways in which our lives are intertwined with him. The third is his concern for us.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said:

Verily there has come unto you a messenger from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty. He is anxious over you and is full of pity, kind and merciful toward the believers.

And if we look at the seerah and the life of Rasulullah ﷺ, we find that in everyday life, Rasulullah ﷺ is always concerned about us. He is always concerned about the ummah. And not just the ummah — he is concerned about the entire humanity. So we see that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala consoles him:

It seems like you will kill yourself worrying about these people. Imagine — this was his concern for the entire mankind because he was rahmatullil 'alameen. But his concern for us was a special concern.

And one day he told his Sahaba: I wish I could meet my brothers. So the Sahaba said: Ya Rasulullah, are we not your brothers? He said: No. You are my companions. My brothers are those who are yet to come — who will come after me — and who will believe in me without having seen me.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 2, Hadith 482; also narrated in Musnad Ahmad)

This gives us joy — that Rasulullah ﷺ cared so deeply about us, about meeting with us. And then, 1400 years ago, when we were not around, he was crying out to Allah for the forgiveness of people who had not yet come into being on this earth. This is the concern of Rasulullah ﷺ.

On the Day of Judgment, and before that — while he was breathing his last on this earth — some of his last words were ummati — his ummah. He was concerned about giving advice to his wives, among them to take care of the women, and other things. And he was concerned about his ummah.

And on the Day of Judgment, while everyone — including the prophets and messengers — is saying nafsi, nafsi — myself, myself — Rasulullah ﷺ is saying ummati, ummati.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4712; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 462)

Returning the Love: Action and the Seerah

So, based on all of this, the question I would like to ask ourselves is: should we not return the love of Rasulullah ﷺ with love? Should we not follow him? Should we not obey him? Should we not celebrate his life through action?

And in that regard, EPIC is going to start — inshallah, from next Saturday, not tomorrow but the following Saturday — a seerah class for our young brothers, 14 and up. Because it used to be that parents would teach their children the seerah of Muhammad ﷺ like they used to teach them the Quran. We have lost that touch. Some of our children know more about Hollywood actors and players than they know about the most important person that they cannot live without — because, as I said, our lives are so intertwined and interconnected.

Seerah, as we know, is the gateway to understanding the Quran and our deen and our own origins. We have covered some of the topics of how we originate and how we end our lives — and throughout all of these stages of life, the Prophet ﷺ's role is central. Even our salvation is central to the following of the Prophet ﷺ.

Some may ask: why does the class start at age 14, and not 13 or 12? We think that at 14, our sons are getting ready to enter adulthood and the life of responsibility. And it is important that at this stage they be grounded in the seerah of Rasulullah ﷺ. Because once they understand and internalize the seerah of Rasulullah ﷺ — and they obey him, follow him, and love him — then they will become illustrious, remarkable, fearless citizens of the world and of the Muslim ummah.

Closing Du'a

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Our Lord, accept from us, for You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. And accept from us, for You are the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.