Love For The Prophet: Following His Perfect Example

Love for the Prophet ﷺ and the Call to Follow His Sunnah

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Respected audience, dear brothers and sisters, there is nobody here in this congregation at the moment who does not claim that he is a lover of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Each and every single ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ has this deep profound love for the entity of Rasulullah ﷺ. And it's no surprise, as Rasulullah ﷺ himself said, "I am the best of the creation of Allah," and there is no arrogance about it. And there is such perfection in the entity of Rasulullah ﷺ that anyone who hears about the ahwal — about the life story of Rasulullah ﷺ — is immediately attracted towards the personality of Rasulullah ﷺ, and he wants to be a Muhammadi, a follower of Rasulullah ﷺ.

The Example of Anas ibn Malik

Let me give you the example of Anas ibn Malik رضي الله عنه. Mind you, he is a young sahabi — he is not someone who has a developed mind yet. He says:

"I served as a helper for Rasulullah ﷺ for a period of ten years, and he never once scolded me, nor ever said to me: why did you do such and such a thing." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6038; Sahih Muslim, Book 43, Hadith 2309)

During this tenure of ten years, he was a small child. And as we know, young children are not mindful of what they are doing. In this period of ten years, he never scolded me, and never even once did he say to me: why did you do such and such a thing.

He says, once Rasulullah ﷺ deputed me towards a marketplace to get something for his family. And I, being a young child, got distracted. I started playing with the children of the neighborhood, and a long time passed. And he says, all of a sudden, I felt a tug on my ear, and there was an immediate apprehension and fear in my heart — that Rasulullah ﷺ had sent me such a long time ago, and he would be extremely angry with me if it was him right now. He says, I turned around expecting an angry face, and when I looked at his face, I encountered a smiling face. And Rasulullah ﷺ said: "Did I not send you a long time ago towards the market?"

The Story of Wahshi ibn Harb

This is the example of Rasulullah ﷺ — that whenever we hear things about his life, we are drawn in. Take the example of Wahshi ibn Harb. Wahshi was the one who murdered the uncle of Rasulullah ﷺ. Murder is the appropriate term here — it was a murder for hire. Hind, who later accepted Islam, hired Wahshi and said: "If you are successful in killing Hamza, that is your freedom." He was a slave. So Wahshi رضي الله عنه — who also accepted Islam later on — hid behind a mountain pass, and the moment he saw fit, he threw his spear at Hamza رضي الله عنه, and it went through and through.

It was a time of deep grief for Rasulullah ﷺ. People who described the situation said that there were tears streaming down the eyes of Rasulullah ﷺ, and he said:

"Today there are people crying for everyone who has lost a loved one, but there is nobody crying over Hamza." (Referenced in Seerah literature, Ibn Hisham's Sirah al-Nabawiyyah)

And the love was such that whenever 70 sahaba became shaheed on the Day of Uhud and a janazah would be brought forth in front of Rasulullah ﷺ, he would request that the janazah of Hamza also be brought. So the janazah salah for Hamza رضي الله عنه was offered 70 times.

And Wahshi says that when the conquest of Mecca happened — the Fath of Mecca was a great event for the Muslims, because it was the same city from which they were forced into exile. The people of that city did not accept them, did not let them worship Allah in that city, and they were considered outcasts. As the hadith states:

"Islam began as something strange." (Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 270)

The word غَرِيب in the Arabic language means strange — it does not mean a poor person, as we know it in the Urdu language. So the conquest of Mecca was a big event. Wahshi رضي الله عنه states that when he heard of the conquest, he thought to himself: "Nobody can save you on this day. The wrath of Rasulullah ﷺ will descend upon you. You are the murderer of his uncle."

He went to multiple people seeking protection — this was the customary habit of the people of Arabia, that whenever they did something wrong and wanted protection, they would go to a powerful individual. He said nobody wanted to give him protection. They said: "Don't come to us. There is no protection here for you. You are the one that killed the uncle of Rasulullah ﷺ."

So he thought, as a last resort: "I'm hopeless anyways, I may be killed at any time. But I had previously heard that whenever someone recites the kalima in the company of Muhammad ﷺ, he never kills them." So he covered his face, went and resorted to the company of Rasulullah ﷺ, stood at the head of the gathering, and in a loud voice began to recite: Lā ilāha illallāh Muḥammadur Rasūlullāh. He was behind Rasulullah ﷺ, expecting to be met with extreme anger — but he says that when their eyes met, he knew that he had been forgiven.

The Mercy of Allah: Wahshi's Question and the Quranic Response

Now sitting in front of Rasulullah ﷺ as a Muslim, Wahshi raises his concern. He says that Allah says in your Book, O Muhammad ﷺ:

"Indeed, Allah does not forgive the sin of shirk, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills." And Wahshi says: I am someone who was born upon shirk. I have committed shirk my entire life. And Allah also states in the Qur'an:

"Whoever kills a soul — it is as though he has killed all of mankind." He said: I don't see any room for forgiveness for me.

And from here we see the sheer mercy of Allah on display. Verses were being revealed in the Qur'an pertaining to his matter. And Allah says:

There is an exclusion here — there is hope for the people who sincerely seek repentance, who do istighfar, who seek the forgiveness of Allah. And then afterwards, do they resort back to their old ways? No. وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا — now they change their actions. They become consistent on doing good deeds. And what is their reward? Allah will transform all of their sins into good deeds. This is the mercy of Allah at display.

The Prophet ﷺ Pulling His Ummah from the Fire

And this shows the sheer love that Rasulullah ﷺ had for each and every single ummati. He gives his own example when he says:

"My example amongst you is like that of a man who kindled a fire... and I am holding you back from the Fire." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6483; Sahih Muslim, Book 43, Hadith 2284)

He is saying: my example among my ummah is that of a person who ignites a fire. As you know, whenever a fire is ignited, or whenever a bulb is illuminated in the hours of darkness, naturally there are certain insects attracted towards it — they continue revolving around the light or the fire until their wings are burnt and they fall into it. He said: this is my example amongst you, amongst my ummatis. Each and every single ummati of mine is headed towards that fire. And my example is that وَأَنَا آخِذٌ بِحُجَزِكُمْ عَنِ النَّارِ — I am pulling you, I am tugging at the back of your cloth, pulling each and every single one of you from the fire of hell.

The Day of Judgment and the Intercession of the Prophet ﷺ

Now imagine the Day of Judgment is in progress. Each and every single one of us is standing in the court of Allah. And there is a pause and delay — as the hadith states, a long time will pass, because there is no comparison between the time of this world and the time of the hereafter. And each and every single person is eagerly waiting for hisaab to start. If we knew how harsh that was, we wouldn't be waiting for hisaab itself to start.

And everyone will be drowning in their sins. It is mentioned that the accumulation of sins that you have — that is the amount of sweat. There will be some people who will have sweat up to their feet. There will be some people who will have sweat up to half of their body. And then there will be some people who will be drowning in their sins.

And each and every single nabi is being asked to approach Allah and intercede on behalf of the ummah, so that the reckoning can start. And each and every single nabi says that he is not prepared to go stand in the court of Allah — until they come to Rasulullah ﷺ. Each and every single nabi from the beginning of times will indicate towards Rasulullah ﷺ, who is the most beloved of Allah.

And when Rasulullah ﷺ heads towards the court of Allah, he will fall down in sujood in front of Allah — this is in front of all of mankind. I think it will be a moment of pride for me and you as the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ. And the call will come:

"O Muhammad, raise your head. Ask, and you will be given. Intercede, and your intercession will be accepted." Respected audience, this is the station of Rasulullah ﷺ in the court of Allah.

Our Deficiency in Fulfilling the Sunnah

The point I am making is that each and every single one of us claims to be a Muhammadi. We claim to be lovers of Allah and lovers of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Yet there are many deficiencies on our part, because when it comes to the fulfillment of the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ, that is where we are lacking.

As a poet says:

"You disobey Allah, yet you claim to be a lover of Allah." You disobey Allah on one side, but on the other hand you say, "I'm a lover of Allah." He finds this to be very strange — because what the tongue is uttering, the actions are not seconding it. The actions are contrary to what the tongue is claiming.

So each and every single one of us does claim to be a lover of Allah, a lover of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. But when the time for action comes, we usually fall short. And Allah mentions that if you want to attain the love of Allah, the only way of attaining it is through fulfillment of the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. That is why in multiple places in the Qur'an you find:

"Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger."

And as the hadith Qudsi states:

"If the ummah were to seek Me through every door, they would not be able to attain My closeness until and unless the connection with Rasulullah ﷺ is established."

The Hadith of Umar ibn al-Khattab

We know the incident of Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه, when he came to Rasulullah ﷺ and said: "O Rasulullah, you are more beloved and dear to me than anything else — except there are a few things that are more dear to me." Rasulullah ﷺ said: "The iman has not yet been fulfilled and completed." Because the indication of the completion of iman is unconditional love for Rasulullah ﷺ. And that is something the sahaba رضي الله عنهم أجمعين had completed and fulfilled. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6632)

Ways to Strengthen Our Connection with the Prophet ﷺ

The point here today: we need to develop the necessary connection with the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ, and from there we develop our connection with Allah. That is the means of strengthening our bond with Allah. And one of the easiest ways to do that is through sending salawat — peace and blessings and salutations — upon Rasulullah ﷺ. As the hadith states:

"Send abundant salutations upon me." (Sahih Muslim, Book 4, Hadith 1533; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 484)

And when we send blessings upon Rasulullah ﷺ, we say:

Secondly, we should frequent gatherings where there is a mention of Rasulullah ﷺ. Nowadays, as Muslims, we claim to be ummatis of Rasulullah ﷺ, yet we don't know the details of his life. It is very, very crucial and essential that we frequent gatherings in which there is a mention of the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ and the sacrifices of Rasulullah ﷺ.

As the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ states: if you were to gather the sacrifices of all of the prophets and place my sacrifices on one side, my sacrifices would far outweigh them. Who was that sacrifice given for? It was given for me and you.

The Prophet ﷺ's Promise to Fatimah

And the hadith states that when Fatimah رضي الله عنها was crying with tears of sorrow, saying: "Why do you sacrifice so much?" —

"Your clothes have become tattered, the color of your face has changed, and your hair has become disheveled — there is so much sacrifice on your part."

So Rasulullah ﷺ replied:

"By Allah, the religion of your father will reach every house made of mud or brick." (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 16957)

Every house — har kache aur pakke makan ke andar — your father's deen will enter. And nowadays, each and every single household in this world will have some mention of Islam, even if they are not Muslims.

So:

"This day I have perfected for you your religion, and completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion." The completion of deen happened at the end of the lifetime of Rasulullah ﷺ — and we are meant to obey and follow each and every single sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Closing Du'a

I conclude here and ask Allah to give us all the tawfiq to be true ummatis of Rasulullah ﷺ — qawlan wa fi'lan, from what we utter from our tongues and in what our actions commit.

Reminders & Announcements

The hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ states:

"Charity wards off calamities." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 664)

The annual Seerah Conference starts tonight after Isha at 7:45 PM and continues tomorrow after Zuhr. Help us reach our goal of 25 million salawat by the start of the program. This is our way — a means of compensation for the sacrifices that were made by Rasulullah ﷺ on our behalf. So we should try to do it as much as possible, with the intention that Allah will send peace and blessings upon Rasulullah ﷺ.

Registration for the Winter Intensive is now open. Tickets are available at a reduced price for a limited time. Get you and your families registered now.

The Saturday Team Fajr program will continue tomorrow. Fajr iqamah is at 6:00 AM.

Bukhari Ders continues on Mondays after Isha with Musleh al-Hajuddin. All brothers and sisters are encouraged to join and should also invite their friends and family.

Tuesday's Tafsir Program after Isha with Mufti Azimuddin — this Tuesday we will be continuing with the Tafsir of Surah al-Anbiya. All brothers are humbly requested to join.

The weekly Salawat gathering continues on Thursdays after Isha.

There is a request of du'a for Brother Khalid Noman's wife, who will be having surgery on the 15th. May Allah make it easy for her, grant her complete shifa, and heal all our sick and the sick of the Muslims. Ameen.