Love the Prophet – Follow Him

By: Aisha Aijaz

Love is a beautiful emotion. It encompasses all the most beautiful things in the world. Every relation and connection gets stronger and durable when there is an element of affiliation and love added to it.  Beginning from our first love as a child for our mother to choosing someone to spend our whole life with, love is what makes life worth living. And like all precious things in the world, this priceless treasure demands guarantees to keep flourishing.

When you love somebody, they greatly influence your mind and become the driving force for your direction in life. In love, you follow them, obey them, do whatever you can to please them and try your best to avoid whatever displeases them. You share with them your problems and consult them for their best advice. Their name soothes you and their company is the most precious time of your day. Never does their message go ignored.  The world sees you change when this beautiful feeling overpowers you, may this love be for a human, a mission, a career or simply a car or a gadget. Love changes your priorities and the colors of this feeling will be evident on your face, feelings, words and actions.

Mercy for Mankind

We all love Prophet Muhammad , the personality whose greatness is acknowledged by both Muslim and Non-Muslim thinkers and scholars. A warm friend and a guide for his companions, a devoted and loving husband for his wives, a shady tree for his daughters, a just leader of the Ummah, an exemplary politician and a reformist who transformed the most uncultured Bedouin into the most disciplined force of people known to the history.

His message which begins with the Oneness of Allāh gives answers to the problems in any aspect of life in all times. But how many of us have actually explored the message he brought? Do we really know the message? The Qurʾānic code of life sent to us though our beloved messenger of Allāh still remains untouched only to be “recited” when we are in trouble or a calamity afflicts us or becomes a part of the deluxe package that goes with the bride. How many of us consult his way in our practical lives when it’s a matter of celebration or woe?

Prophet never told a lie, deceived a human or even an animal, broke a pact or a promise. He used to forgive and pray for the humiliating tribal chiefs of Taif and the people who throw stones at him. He rejected social inequality and all sorts of racial supremacy and laid down in his final sermon, the basic charter of human rights.

‘‘An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action.’’

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He sets best examples of justice and warns that the previous nations were destroyed because they only punished their weak and poor for crimes. He teaches us to have best of our behaviours and akhlāq (character) with our neighbors (Muslim and Non-Muslims) so much so that he once thought that they might get a share in inheritance (because of the stress Allāh has put on their rights). He cries for Allāh’s forgiveness for us and stresses us to remain united and not be divided due to language, castes, sects or nation.

‘‘Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves.’’

Non-Muslim minorities are at peace under his rule. Justice is served irrespective of faith, status or personal affiliation. He lifts the status of a woman from the one who was buried alive at birth to as high as a guarantee to get best rewards, may it be through serving and obeying one’s mother, taking care of a wife or raising a daughter with love. He brings a message that puts rewards in charity and spending from what we love most, giving an orphan a home and helping a widow to survive.

No one has the right to question anybody’s sincerity of the claim of ‘love for the Prophet’ but we all need some serious self-evaluation. When we claim to be his followers, it automatically makes us his ambassadors and representatives in whatever role and responsibilities we take. Do we consult the Prophet in different matters of our lives?

Let’s follow the Prophet to prove that we love him. Let’s celebrate him every day. Let’s engrave those beautiful stories of his life, which we memorize and narrate, on our actions. Let’s check if our deeds are compatible with our claims of love towards him. In following him, lies the secret of Allāh’s love, mercy and forgiveness for us.

Say, [O Muhammad], ‘‘If you should love Allāh, then follow me, [so] Allāh will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.’’ [Al-Qur’ān 3:31]