KHUTAB III - 8. LOVE TOWARDS MUHAMMAD S.A.W.

8. LOVE TOWARDS MUHAMMAD S.A.W.,

THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH

حُبُّ رَسُوْلِ اللهِ ص.م  .

Brothers in Islam,

          Love is as old as history. The Latin proverb says, Amor vincit omnia meaning, “Love conquers all.”  Among English proverbs about love are: “Love makes one fit for any work”, “Love will go through stone walls,” all indicating the power of love. One example is King Edward VIII (1894-1972), the eldest son of King George V and Queen Mary. He succeeded to the throne after his father’s death in January 20, 1936, but abdicated his throne on December 11, of the same year, 1936. Then he left England and settled at Enzesfeld in Austria where he lived and married an American woman whom he loved, Mrs. Wallis Simpson (1895 or 1896-1986) in June 1937.

          In Islamic history we learn that Zayd bin H.ārithah was taken captive in a tribal war before Islam, enslaved and finally became a servant of the Prophet who freed and treated him like a son. When his relative came to take him back to his tribe, he preferred to stay and serve the Prophet. In other words, he loved the Prophet more than his family and relatives.

          ‘Umar r.a. (may Allah be pleased with him), said one day to the Prophet Muhammad s.aw. that he loved the Prophet more than anybody else except himself. To this, the Prophet told him that he should love him (the Prophet) more than himself. Then Umar realised that to be a good Muslim one should love the Prophet more than any other human beings, even oneself. He told the Prophet than he loved him more than himself. The Prophet said, “By Allah in Whose Hand is my life, a servant is not truly and firmly a believer until he loves me more than himself, his parents, his wife, his son and the whole people.”

          Love requires sacrifice. A mother would like to sacrifice her life to save her baby. Even animals become aggressive to protect their young. No wonder if Muslims become offended whenever the Prophet’s name is attacked, abused, vilified, or ridiculed. Such behaviour is taboo for Muslims, worse than attacking them and their families. No wonder that many Muslims retaliate spontaneously, and sometimes irrationally.

          The Arab prover says, مَنْ أَحَبَّ شَيْئاً أَكْثَرَ مِنْ ذِكْرِهِ meaning, “Whoever loves something, he frequently remembers (mentions) it” People like to talk about their loved ones, their children, their spouses, their parents,  and their pets for those who have pets. If someone loves himself too much, he might keep talking about himself. Many Muslims name their babies “Muhammad” or “Ahmad”, even they themselves are called “Muhammad” or “Ahmad”. So, they are the “Muhammad the Senior” or “Ahmad the Senior” and their sons are “Muhammad the Junior” or “Ahmad the Junior.”

There are many different spellings of the name Muhammad in Latin script, among which are: Mohammed, Mohammad, Mohamed, and Mehmed (among the Turks). Mahomet, although misspelled, was used in the past.[1]

          After performing the hajj pilgrimage, the first President of the Republic of Indonesia, Sukarno’s name became “Ahmad Sukarno” with the addition of “Ahmad.” The same with the second President Suharto, his name became “Muhammad Suharto” This addition is said to be given by Muslim rulers in the Middle-East. The present Vice President of Indonesia, Yusuf Kalla has his first name “Muhammad”.  Many Turkish people also call their sons “Mehmed” for “Muhammad”, because they say that there is only one real “Muhammad”, namely, the Messenger of Allah, s.a.w.

          The name “Muhammad” is probably the most frequently mentioned name. The Muslims mention the Prophet’s name, at least 33 times in 24 hours in their five-obligatory prayers, apart from the recommended prayers, dhikr and s.alawāt to the Prophet. 

            Several stories show how the s.ah.ābah (the companions) of the Prophet loved him. Abū Bakr r.a., said that while on their hijrah migration from Makkah to Medinah, he was very thirsty. He brought milk mixed with water, but instead of drinking it, he offered it to the Prophet. He said, “Drink it, O Messenger of Allah!” Abū Bakr said further, “So, he drank it until I became satisfied” (فَشَرِبَ حَتَّى رَضِيتُ) .  After the conquest of Makkah, Abū Bakr brought his old and blind father, Abū Quh.āfah, to the Prophet to proclaim his conversion to Islam. The Prophet told Abū Bakr that he should have left the old man at home, and let the Prophet come to him. Abū Bakr told him that people should come to him (the Prophet) rather than the Prophet come to them. There was a story that when Abū Quh.āfah became Muslim, Abū Bakr wept. People told him:

هَذَا يَوْمُ فَرْحَةٍ, فَأَبُوْكَ أَسْلَمِ وَ نَجَا مِنَ النَّارِ فَمَا الَّذِىْ يُبْكِيْكَ؟

This is a happy day, your father has become Muslim and

 becomes safe from Hellfire; what, then, makes you weep?

Abū Bakr answered,

لِأَنَّيْ كُنْتُ أَحَبُّ أَنَّ الَّذِىْ بَايَعَ النَّبِيَّ اْلآنَ لَيْسَ أَبِيٍ

وَ لَكِنَّ أَبِا طَالِبٍ, لِأَنَّ ذَلِك َسَيُسْعِدُ  النَّبِيَّ أّكْثَرُ

Because I wished that the one who has paid allegiance to

 the Prophet now were not my father, but Abū T.ālib  [the Prophet’s

 uncle], because this would make the Prophet happier.

In other words, Abū Bakr who loved the Prophet wished that the Prophet would be happier that day with the conversion of his uncle Abū T.ālib rather than his own father Abū Quh.āfah.

Sawād ibn ‘Uzayyah was one of the s.ah.ābah who joined the battle of Uh.ud in 4/625. He was standing in the midst of the Muslim army. When the Prophet gave the order to straighten up and be straight in line, he saw Sawād did not comply with the order. So, the Prophet told Sawād to straighten up, and Sawād said “Yes,” but still did not straighten up. The Prophet came to him and pricked his stomach with his سِوَاك (siwāk, a small stick used to cleaning and polishing the teeth), and said, “Straighten up, O Sawād!”  But Sawād said, “You are hurting me, O Messenger of Allah” and wanted some kind of retaliation. When the Prophet disclosed his stomach, Sawād bent down and kissed it. He then said to him, “O Messenger of Allah, as I think that today will be the day of (my) martyrdom I would like that the last contact with you be, that my skin touches your skin.”

          There are many other stories indicating how the companions of the Prophet loved him very much. Some of them felt lonely and grieved with his absence. One of them was the Prophet’s own mawlá (client, freed slave) Thawbān. The Prophet’s absence the whole day made him distressed. When the Prophet came, Thawbān said to him, “You are making me lonely and I grieve with your absence O Messenger of Allah,” and started weeping. The Prophet asked him whether his absence made him weep. Thawbān said he thought that in the Hereafter he would not see the Prophet again, as the Prophet would be in the high level of Paradise and he would not be in the same place in Paradise. To this, Allah revealed,

وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَأُولَئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ

مِنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ وَالصَّالِحِينَ وَحَسُنَ أُولَئِكَ رَفِيقًا.

ذَلِكَ الْفَضْلُ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ عَلِيمًا (النساء  :٦٩-٧٠)

 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. (Q. 4:69-70)

It means that despite of different places in Paradise, they still can see and visit each other, so that the companions should not worry that they would not see the Prophet again in Paradise.

Conclusion:

A good and true Muslim loves Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah who guided him and brought him from darkness into light, more than any other human being.  (5 January, 07).
______

[1] It has been recently reported by one of the Australian newspapers in its brief article entitled Baby Names: Mohammed on the Rise that by the end of this year (2007) the name Muhammad and its different spellings - disregarding his other name Ahmad (Ahmed) and nicknames Amin (Ameen), Mahmud (Mahmoud), and Mustafa (Mostafa) - will become the most popular names for baby boys in Britain, as follows:

London: Mohammed is likely to become the most popular name for baby boys in Britain by the end of the year, The Thames has reported, citing government data.

       Although records from the Office for National Statistics list Mohammed 23^rd in its yearly analysis of names given to children, when all the different spellings of the name are taken into account it ranks second, behind Jack. There are various spellings of the name because when it is transliterated into English from Arabic, families spell it as closely to their own pronunciations as possible.

       In total, 5991 boys were given some version of the name Mohammed; 6928 boys were named Jack.

       Thomas was third, with 5921, and Joshua and Oliver rounded out the top five.

       If the growth in the use of Mohammed continues—it rose by 12 per cent last year—the name will take the top spot by the end of this year.—AFP

                 (The Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday, June 7, 2007, p. 9)