Why is the love of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) necessary?

�

Why is the love of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) necessary?

�

On the Day of Judgment, the rights of fellow human beings will be dealt with in such a way that every person will be thinking about their own deliverance.� In the anxiety of getting their sins reduced, every person will demand whatever rights are due to him/her no matter how small it is and will demand that if that person doesn’t have enough virtues then their sins should be laden on that person and that person will be running away from this as Almighty Allah says:

�

On the day when a man fleeth from his brother (34) And his mother and his father (35) And his wife and his children, (36) Every man that day will have concern enough to make him heedless (of others).� Surah Abasa (80:35-37)

�

These are those persons who will have been doing this person favors in his/her earthly life

�

From this alone we can understand the innumerable incidents that will occur on that day.� Each of them will be crippling and calamitous.� On one hand, these difficulties, on the other hand, hell is before them and is clamoring for more men.� Think about it.� In such a case, will one’s life be considered of any worth?� Absolutely not.� Death would be infinitely peaceful than such a life.� For this reason, the disbelievers will wish:

�

O! We warn you of a doom at hand, a day whereon a man will look on that which his own hands have sent before, and the disbeliever will cry: "Would that I were dust!"� Surah Naba (78:40)

�

Consider all these things and think that when the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) would present Himself before the Lord Almighty and intercede specially for those who love Him and with the command of Almighty Allah, deliver them from all tribulations and enter them into paradise, then which life should be dearer, the one losing which would seem better or the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) who will save that life from eternal punishment and enter it into eternal delights?

�

However, it must be remembered that love more than one’s life can only be when one’s faith is perfect, as mentioned previously.� The intent of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) with this Hadith is to indicate what is perfect faith.� If love for Him is more than love for one’s own life, then ones faith is perfect.� If it is not, then one should worry about perfecting it.

�

Even after this, if someone doesn’t love the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has nothing to lose, that person is putting himself/herself at a loss.

�

The second reason for the necessity of love is that it is human nature that whoever one loves, he/she obeys their wishes and follows the words of the beloved about what is to be done and what is not to be done…That’s why everyone is certain and prides himself (or herself) that one’s friends will do whatever we ask them to do and one can intuitively gauge the love of a friend as to who is a true friend and who is a mere showoff and selfish one.

�

Thus, no one just cannot oppose the one for whom they have absolute love, as opposition is a result of enmity.� If one has extreme love for someone, then even giving up one’s life on the word of the beloved becomes easy.� It is frequently seen that when a man loves his wife too much, he will not care for the wishes of his parents against the commands of the wife.� That man becomes their enemy although their rights and favors on him are not of a kind that they can be denied, but the effect of the love of that beloved is such that he becomes blind, deaf and dumb to the faults of the beloved.� Although human nature is such that one cannot be vindictive or opposed to one’s parents, but the love of that woman makes it easy.

�

Now think.� If a believer loves somebody to this extent that he (or she) doesn’t accept the command of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) then how can one say that his faith is perfect?� Similarly, if one’s base self (Nafs) commands one to do something and the command of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is against it, then what is the duty of a believer?� No Muslim can say that one shouldn’t accept the command of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).� However, if the love of one’s Self is more than the love of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam),then often the commands of the Self will be heeded, which will make opposition to the Holy Prophet(Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) frequent.� For this reason, the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has said that it is necessary for every believer to love Him should be more than they love their parents, their children and everything else and more than their own lives so that nobody else’s orders stand before the commands of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), as whatever they order you to do will have some personal benefit in that.� Similarly the Self will also persuade us to do things which have only worldly pleasure in them.

�

��������� On the other hand, the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has no personal benefit in His commands and decrees.� In fact, those things which the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) orders us to do have great benefits, of this life and the next, for us.� Those things, which the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) orders us to desist from, they are harmful for us in this life and the next.� The intent of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) with these commands and prohibitions is that we achieve eternal felicity and success in both worlds.� As Almighty Allah says in the Holy Quran:

�

There hath come unto you a messenger, (one) of yourselves, unto whom aught that ye are overburdened is grievous, full of concern for you, for the believers full of pity, merciful.� Surah Tauba (9:128)

 

[Excerpted from Maqasid Ul Islam, Vol. 1]