Do you truly love the Messenger of Allah ? A fundamental of our religion, and a tenet of our faith, is to love him.

Allah Says what means: “Say [O Muhammad]: ‘If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, wealth which you have obtained, commerce wherein you fear decline, and dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and Jihaad  in His cause, then wait until Allah executes His command. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.” [Quran 9: 24] 

Al-Fudhayl ibn ‘Iyaadh  said: “This verse is enough of an evidence to prove the obligation of loving the Prophet  because Allah dispraised in it those whose wealth, family or children are dearer to them than the love of Allah and His Messenger  describing them as defiantly disobedient at its conclusion.” 

Love of the Prophet  branches from Allah’s love of him; our love of the Prophet  is due to the fact that Allah loves him, and because Allah sent him to us as His Messenger, as well as the fact that Allah instructs us to make him dearer to our hearts than our own souls. He Almighty Says what means: “The Prophet is more worthy of the believers than themselves…” [Quran 33: 6] 

This means that the believer should love the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam more than he loves his own self. 

This love entails full obedience, submission and acceptance; it also entails favouring the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam over oneself, one’s family and one’s wealth, and to surrender to the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam the controlling direction that one has over himself. 

The influence that the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam should have over us is greater than that which a master has over his slave, or a father has over his child. We should have no control over ourselves except in acting in accordance with the way he  directed us to. 

It is for every Muslim to prove his love for him, which can be determined according to the following narration of the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam: “There are three qualities; whoever has them will taste the sweetness of faith: To love Allah and His Messenger () more than anyone else…" [Al-Bukhari & Muslim] 

One will never taste the sweetness of faith except after achieving this, as he  said in another narration: “I swear by the One in whose Hand my soul is! None of you will truly believe until I become dearer to him than his child, his father and all of mankind." [Al-Bukhari & Muslim] 

This love is not simply an emotion that is confined to the heart, but rather it has implications and effects. This love makes the slave achieve a rank that he would not otherwise achieve by means of his bodily deeds, as in the narration of Ibn Mas`ood, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “A man came to the Messenger of Allah  and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! When will the Hour (i.e., the Day of Resurrection) come?’ He  replied: “What have you prepared for it?” The man said: ‘Only my love of Allah and His Messenger.’ The Messenger of Allah  then said: “You will be with those whom you love.”” [Al-Bukhari & Muslim] 

It is not as important to know when the Hour will occur as it is to prepare for its arrival, and this is the reason why the Prophet  drew this to the attention of the man by asking him that question. 

Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “After being blessed by embracing Islam, we never rejoiced at anything as much as we did about this answer of the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam to that man. I love Allah, His Messenger  Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, and hope to be with them (in the Hereafter) even if I cannot perform the good deeds they did.” [Al-Bukhari & Muslim] 

The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, had great love for the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, to the extent that they would face arrows that were being fired in his direction to shield him. They would risk their lives for him and sacrifice everything for his rescue. ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “There was no one dearer to me or more glorified than the Prophet ; I could never look him directly in the eye due to the extent of my glorification, and if someone were to ask me to describe him, I would not be able to, as I never looked at him for long enough to be able to describe him.” [Muslim] 

When Abu Sufyaan, may Allah be pleased with him, was still a disbeliever, he asked Zayd ibn Thaabit, may Allah be pleased with him, who was taken as a hostage and being brought out by the people of Makkah to execute: “Do you not wish that Muhammad was in your place and that we killed him instead, while you could go to your family and be with them?” He, may Allah be pleased with him, replied: “I swear by Allah! I would rather be here facing this than have him even being pricked by a thorn.” Upon hearing this, Abu Sufyaan, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “I never saw a people who love a man more than the companions of Muhammad love him.” Such incidents greatly affected the disbelievers and caused many of them to embrace Islam. 

A man from the Ansaar, may Allah be pleased with them, came to the Prophet  and said: “You are dearer to me than myself, my child, my family and my wealth, and I feel as if I am dieing when I do not see you.” Then he began to cry. The Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam asked: “Why are you crying?” The man replied: “I remembered that we will die and you will die, then you will take your place in Paradise with the other Messengers and Prophets, while we, if indeed we do enter Paradise, will be lower in rank than you, and thus we will not be able to see you in Paradise.” 

Note how much they loved him; they were worried about not seeing him, despite the fact that they may also be in Paradise. 

The Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam did not comment on his words until Allah revealed the following verses which mean: “And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger – those will be with the ones upon whom Allah has bestowed favour of the prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs and the righteous. And excellent are those as companions. That is the bounty from Allah…” [Quran 4: 69-70] Thereupon the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam summoned him and said: “Glad tidings to you!” [Al-Bayhaqi] 

Once, a female companion was waiting at the approach to Al-Madeenah for the return of the Muslim army from the battle of Uhud. She was informed that her husband, brother and father were killed, but her only reply was: “What happened to the Prophet?” They told her that he  was fine and unharmed, but she insisted to seeing him so that she would be sure that he  was truly safe. When she did see him, she remarked: “Any affliction, after seeing that you are safe, is minor.”


The worst disaster to ever strike this nation was the death of the Prophet  who instructed us to remember the affliction of his death whenever we are trialled by any hardship, so that we may thereby condole ourselves and ease the impact of that hardship, which would be insignificant in comparison.

Signs that prove one’s love for the Prophet : 

1. Mentioning him frequently and exalting his mention. Allah Says what means: {Indeed, Allah exalts the mention of the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed! Ask [Allah to] exalt his mention.} [Quran 33: 56] 

There are many times and occasions when this is legislated to be done, such as during supplication. Ubay ibn Ka`b  reported: “I (once) said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! I frequently invoke Allah to exalt your rank; how much of my supplication should I devote to you?' He  said: "You may devote as much as you wish.” When I suggested a quarter, he  said: "Do whatever you wish, but it would be better for you if you were to increase upon that.'' I suggested half, and he  said: "Do whatever you wish, but it would be better for you if you were to increase upon that.” I suggested two-thirds, and he  said: “Do whatever you wish, but it would be better for you if you were to increase upon that.” I (finally) said: ‘Shall I devote all of my supplication to invoke Allah to exalt your rank?’ He  said: "You would then be freed from your worries, and your sins would be forgiven.''” [Ahmad & At-Tirmithi] 

2. Longing to see him: The Prophet  said: “I swear by the One in whose Hand the soul of Muhammad is! A day will come when not one of you will be able to see me (i.e., after my death) and seeing me then would be dearer to a person’s heart than his family and wealth.” [Ahmad & At-Tirmithi] 

Losing ones family and wealth is a minor issue in comparison to the great bounty of being a companion, whose sins are forgiven, of the Prophet . 

3. Being sincere to the Prophet : Imam Al-Maroozi  said: “This was done during his lifetime by exerting all efforts to obey him, supporting him, helping him, sacrificing one’s wealth for his sake if he were to demand it, and hastening to attain his love. After his death, it is expressed by learning his Sunnah, his manners and etiquettes, glorifying his commands and adhering to them, becoming angry at those who live according to anything other than his way, and loving those who adhere to it, as well as loving those who are from his descendents, those who migrated with him and those who supported him, and indeed anyone who was in his company even for as brief a period as an hour. 

Additionally, it entails imitating him in the way he dressed.” Imam Al-Qurtubi  added: “It is to believe in his prophethood, to love those who supported him, to hate those who hate him, to glorify his Sunnah and revive, defend and spread it, as well as calling people to it and imitating him in his morals and conduct.” 

4. Loving those whom he  loved: If he  loved Al-Hasan, Al-Husayn, ‘Ali and Fatimah  then we also love them, and Allah is our witness to this love. Likewise, we love those who follow his Sunnah and his household, and they are, as Zayd  said when clarifying the narration of the Prophet : “My household; I remind you to fear Allah with regards to my household; I remind you to fear Allah with regards to my household; I remind you to fear Allah with regards to my household.” Zayd  was asked: “Who are his household? Are his wives included in it?” He replied: “Yes (i.e., his wives are included), as are all those who are forbidden from taking Zakah after his death, namely: the family of ‘Ali, the family of ‘Aqeel, the family of Ja’far and the family of Al-‘Abbas.” [Muslim]

We pray for all of them during our daily prayers; thus if somebody’s lineage is known to originate from the Prophet  and they are a pious person with sound creed, and not a Soofee, a deviant or an innovator, then they should be loved for two reasons: One being their piety and the other being their relationship to the Prophet . 

Loving his wives is also part of this, as Allah Says what means: {The Prophet is more worthy of the believers than themselves, and his wives are [in the position of] their mothers...} [Quran 33: 6] 

His wives were: Khadeejah bint Khuwaylid, ‘A’ishah bint Abu Bakr, Hafsah bint ‘Umar, Umm Habeebah bint Abu Sufyaan, Umm Salamah, Zaynab bint Jahsh, Zaynab bint Khuzaymah Al-Hilaaliyyah, Juwayriyyah bint Al-Haarith, Safiyyah bint Huyay and Maymoonah bint Al-Haarith Al-Hilaaliyyah  all. 

A sign of loving the Prophet  is to love his wives, who are the mothers of the believers, and not to harm or slander them in any way. 

Loving his companions  accepting the guidance they conveyed to us, and emulating them. 

Many are those who claim to love the Prophet  even from amongst the innovators, but the ‘proof’ of their love for him is that they worship him alongside Allah, and supplicate to him instead of Allah, and seek forgiveness from him; these people exclude and forget Allah. Is this love, or is it association with Allah, which he  hated more than anything else? He  alluded to this when he  said: “Do not praise me as the Christians praised the son of Maryam.” [Al-Bukhari]

By this statement, he  did not forbid all types of praise for him, but rather only the type that the Christians did (and do) for Jesus ,‘Eesa  which is where they raise his rank to one above that which Allah granted him, which is that of a slave and a messenger, and they worship him instead of Allah. This is similar to what the deviant Soofees and other sects did and do.

On the other hand, Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jama’ah prove their love for the Prophet  by obeying his commands, following his Sunnah and adhering to his guidance; this is how one follows his way, as Allah Says what means: {Say [O Muhammad]: If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins…} [Quran 3: 31] This is real love!