One of the joys that Allah grants His servant is to love His beloved Noble Prophet  and how can it be otherwise, when to love the Prophet  is one of the conditions of faith?

Imam Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy upon hin, related from Abu Hurayrah  that the Messenger of Allah  said: "I swear by Him in Whose Hands my soul lies, none of you will truly believe until I am more beloved to him than his father and son."

Imaam Muslim  related from Anas  that he said: The Messenger of Allah  said: "None of you will truly believe until I am more beloved to him than his family, wealth and all the people."

In the same way that love of the Prophet  is a reason for attaining the good of this world and the Hereafter, then loving him is also a reason for achieving the sweetness of Eeman (faith).

Al-Bukhari and Muslim both related from Anas  that the Prophet  said: "Whoever possesses the following three qualities will taste the sweetness (delight) of Eeman: One to whom Allah and His Messenger  are dearer than anything else; whoever loves his brother solely for Allah's sake; and whoever hates to convert to disbelief just as he hates to be thrown into the Fire."

The meaning of "sweetness of Eeman", as the scholars have stated is: "Deriving pleasure from obedience and enduring hardship in religion and preferring this over worldly things." (Sharh An-Nawawee and Fat- Hul-Baree)

Loving the Prophet  will also be a means of taking one to the place of felicity.

It has been related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim from 'Abdullah Ibn Mas'ood  that he said: [A man came to the Messenger of Allah  and said: 'O Messenger of Allah! What do you say of a man who loves a people and never joins them?' The Messenger of Allah  said: The person will be with those whom he loves (i.e. in the Hereafter)."]  (Al-Bukhari & Muslim)

We all claim that we love the Noble Prophet  and that he  is more beloved to us than our fathers, sons and all the people. However, are we really truthful in this claim? Does our claim have any value in the Sight of Allah?

The scholars have mentioned signs and criterion by which the love of the Prophet  can be judged i.e. whether it is in a person's heart or not. Some of the most apparent signs are the following:

1) being eager to see and keep company with him . Thus, the loss of these two wishes would be worse than the loss of anything in the world.

2) Having total willingness to sacrifice oneself and one's wealth for him.

3) Following his orders and refraining from what he prohibited.

4) Making his Sunnah (Prophetic traditions) victorious and protecting the Sharee`ah (Islamic law).

If one finds these signs in himself, then he should praise Allah, The Most Mighty and The Most Majestic, that he possesses in his heart the true love for the beloved, the Noble [Prophet] . He should ask Allah for steadfastness upon this.

Whoever lacks some or all of these signs, should hold himself to account before he is held to account, on a Day which will turn the hair of children gray (i.e. the Day of Resurrection). Nothing will be hidden from Allah and he (the slave) will not consider or attempt to deceive Allah and the believers; because one who attempts to deceive Allah will only deceive himself as Allah says:

"They (think to) deceive Allah and those who believe, while they deceive not except themselves, and perceive (it) not." [Quran, 2: 9]

'Umar Ibn Al-Khattab  said to Allah's Messenger  "O Messenger of Allah, you are more beloved to me than anything except my own self." Allah's Messenger  then told him, "No, by the One in Whose Hand is my soul, not until I am more beloved to you than your own soul." 'Umar then told him, "By Allah, now you are more beloved to me than my own soul (i.e. you will not truly believe)." Allah's Messenger  then told him that now he had true and correct faith." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Ibn Rajab  says about love of the Messenger :

Love for the Messenger  is at two levels.

The first level is obligatory. This is the love that requires one to accept whatever the Messenger  brought from Allah and to receive it with love, pleasure, esteem and submission, without seeking guidance from any other source whatsoever. This is then followed by excellent following of him in whatever he conveyed from his Lord and to affirm whatever he has reported of obligations, to remain away from anything he has prohibited of forbidden acts, to give support for his religion and to strive against those who oppose him according to one's ability. All of these are necessary components that one must possess and a person's Faith is not complete without them.

The second level is superior [and not an absolutely necessary component of Faith]. This type of love requires following his example in an excellent way and fulfilling the following of his Sunnah (tradition) with respect to his behavior, manners, voluntary deeds, supererogatory actions, eating, drinking, dressing, excellent behavior with his wives and other aspects of his perfect manners and pure behavior. It also includes learning about the details of his life and practices. It also includes the heart trembling when mentioning him, exalting his mention often, out of what resides in the heart of love for him, esteem for him and respect for him. It also includes loving to listen to his words and preferring them over the words of others of the creation. And one of the greatest aspects of this love is to follow him in his abstinence of this world, his being sufficed with little of this world and his turning to and desiring of the everlasting Hereafter.

 Specialization: If a Muslim wants to specialize in one science, he should choose the most honorable branch of science and the most beneficent one that suits his abilities. It was said, “If you want to be a scholar, you should know everything about one thing, but if you want to be cultured, then know something about everything.”

• Memorizing with understanding and reflection: The Prophet  said: “May Allah Brighten the face of the person who hears something from us and memorizes it until he transmits it to others. Perhaps the one whom it reaches comprehends it better than the one who heard it. Or perhaps the one who heard it never comprehended it” [At-Tirmidhi] This indicates the importance of memorization.

• Documenting: It was said, “Write down knowledge.” It was also said, “Knowledge is like game that is hunted and writing catches it.” Hence, we should write down knowledge in order not to forget it and carefully choose what we write. It was said, “There are three categories of people who listen to the scholar; the first one writes down all that he hears; the second does not write but only hears, while the third selects and he is the best among the three”.

• Studying and reviewing: Mu’ath ibn Jabal  said: “Seek knowledge as seeking it for the Sake of Allah leads to fearing Him, and seeking it is an act of worship, studying it is Tasbeeh (glorification of Allah), searching for it is Jihaad (a difficult struggle), teaching it is charity to those who do not have it, and conveying it to those who deserve to learn it is a good deed.”

• Arranging learning hours: A Muslim should always be well organized in all his affairs and should be keen on organizing his time and spend it in gaining knowledge and know-how.

• Avoiding shyness in seeking knowledge: Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {So ask the people of the message if you do not know.} [Quran 16:43] ‘Aa’ishah  said: “The best women are the women of the Ansaar, shyness did not prevent them from comprehending their religion.” So the Muslim should ask about that which he desires to know more of and shyness should not prevent him from asking. For knowledge is a treasure kept in chests and the keys are questions.

• Traveling to seek knowledge. Jabir ibn ‘Abdullaah  said, “It reached me that a man heard a Hadeeth from the Messenger of Allah  so I purchased a camel and rode it for a month until I reached Ash-Shaam. I knew that this man was ‘Abdullaah ibn Unays. I told his gate keeper to say to him, ‘Jabir is at the door.’ The gate keeper said, ‘Jabir ibn ‘Abdullaah?’ ‘Yes,’ I replied. So ‘Abdullaah rushed out and embraced me and I embraced him. I said, ‘It reached me that you heard a Hadeeth from the Messenger of Allah  concerning Qisaas (retribution) and I feared that one of us might die before I get it. So Abdullaah ibn Unays mentioned to him the Hadeeth.” [Ahmad and At-Tabarani]

‘Ubaydullaah ibn ‘Adiyy  said: “I knew about a Hadeeth that was heard by ‘Ali  and I feared that I might not find it with anyone else if he died, so I travelled to him and found him in Iraq.” [Al-Khateeb]

Ibn Mas‘ood  said: “If I knew of someone who I can reach by riding my camel and who is more knowledgeable than me with what was revealed to the Prophet  I would go to him to increase my knowledge.” [Ibn ‘Asaakir]

Ash-Sha‘bi  said, “A man travelled from the furthest reaches of Ash-Sham to the furthest reaches of Yemen to listen to words of wisdom. I do not perceive this travel as a loss.”

• Applying what one learned; Allah The Almighty Disapproved of those who do not apply what they know and likened them to donkeys that carry (heavy loads of) books, but do not understand what they carry. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {The example of those who were entrusted with the Torah and then did not take it on is like that of a donkey who carries volumes [of books].} [Quran 62:5]

Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Do you order righteousness of the people and forget yourselves while you recite the Scripture? Then will you not reason?} [Quran 2:44] So a Muslim should know with certainty that he will be asked about what he put forth for himself during his life. The Prophet  said: “The slave will not step forward on the Day of Resurrection until he is asked about his age and how he spent it, his knowledge and what he did with it, his wealth and how he acquired it and spent it, and about his body and how he used it.” [At-Tirmithi]

• Respecting the teacher: a teacher has a great virtue upon his students.

• Listening attentively: Al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali  said to his son: “O son, when you sit with scholars, be more diligent to listen than to speak and learn to listen attentively just as you learn to be quiet. When you ask, your questions should be for the purpose of understanding and realizing, not for arguing or showing deficiency.”

• Observing etiquettes during learning sessions: A Muslim should sit with his teacher politely and calmly. He should not keep turning his head, pointing or laughing. He should present himself in a pleasant manner, be clean and avoid speaking or asking questions until taking permission. One should not belittle his colleagues or mock them, rather he should know that they are his brothers in knowledge so they should be shown mercy and respect.

Among the reasons that help in gaining knowledge and studying is to study in a location that has adequate light, quiet and freedom from distracting noises. One should avoid studying in bed as this makes one feel sleepy. Moreover, books should be arranged well and organized. And one should give his body its right by resting occasionally. He should choose the right time for studying and divide this time appropriately to study all branches of science.