Loving the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him)

As Muslims we can sometimes find it difficult to maintain our relationship with our 'beloved'. Our day to to day routines causes us to forget about him and even our Salawaats (prayers upon the prophet pbuh) becomes at times repetitive and for those of us to whom Arabic is not a native language, it becomes all the more difficult. And so I begin to contemplate on how to resolve this issue.

One thing that becomes quite clear is that our beloved is our beloved only in namesake i.e. it has become a lip-service to many of us and often I find it in myself that I don't have the signs to suggest that I truly love my prophet (pbuh). What I mean by this is based on what the scholars have agreed on 'the reality of loving the Prophet (pbuh) ... in making all that which one loves and favours correspond to everything that he (pbuh) loved and favoured, that is:

• Following him
• Supporting him, protecting his Sunnah, imitating him and being fearful of contradicting his Sunnah.
• Continuously mentioning and remembering him.
• Favouring him over ones self.
• Missing him and longing to meet him.

When I think of these general guidelines for a lover of the beloved what springs to mind is first and foremost how deficient I am in all the points mentioned, but another interesting thought that develops stems from a  recent friendship that I've found.

When I think of my friend I miss him even though I know he's close by, when I am in his company I am fearful of his disapproval and when I am with others I am constantly mentioning his name in praise. This seems to be the kind of relationship that I want to have with my beloved, only much more.

On closer inspection I realise that I can't meet up with the prophet (pbuh) like I can with my friend; neither can I have a conversation like I can with my friend. But when I look at how our friendship formed, because in all friendship there is always a beginning, a middle and unfortunately an end, I see that perhaps parallels can be drawn. The beginning is a period of exploration and a period of interest. With my friend we shared many stories, sometimes personal intimate stories and at other times for the sake of a good laugh. Whilst, the middle period of friendship is like the nectar of every fragrant flower: you begin to long for the person and you can't wait to be in their company. If some illness was to befall them it would stricken you a great deal.

Likewise the beginning of the love for our beloved must be a period of finding out all we can. Every small detail. The more we know the more we can love. One of the greatest facets of the prophet's (pbuh) life was that he was the most balanced individual to ever walk the face of this earth, so if I was to go out and find out about him - rest assured that I could find at least one thing that I could relate to. In a practical sense exploring  Hadiths (sayings of the prophet (pbuh)) is one way of find our more about our beloved. Sometimes it can even take just one Hadith to instill that love in us especially if that particular one was relevant and relate-able. To clinch the deal, one has to try their utmost to find out every particular peculiar to that individual. Fortunately no person in history has anything as comparable as the Seerah (biography) of the prophet (pbuh). If one was to embark on such a journey of knowledge one would find the prophet's (pbuh) life as a consolation for our difficult times, a beacon of hope when times are desperate and an inspiration for love of all things good. 

I believe that I'm still at the beginning of the road to loving my beloved. At least my intention is there and inshAllah (God willing) I will be able to tread this path successfully to fully act on the five points that I've mentioned earlier on. The end result is quite simply this:

Anas bin Maalik, may Allaah be pleased with him, said that a man asked the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam: "When will the (last) hour come?" He sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam replied: “What have you done to prepare for it?” The man replied: "Nothing, except the love I have for Allaah and His Messenger." The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam replied: “You will be (on the Day of Judgment) with those whom you love.” Anas bin Maalik, may Allaah be pleased with him, said: "We (his companions) never rejoiced at anything more than his words, when he said “You will be (on the Day of Judgment) with those whom you love.”’ Anas, may Allaah be pleased with him, continued: "I love the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, may Allaah be pleased with them both, and I hope to be with them (in the Hereafter) due to my love for them, even if I cannot do (the same amount of righteous deeds) as they do." (Bukhaari, Muslim and others)

My personal favourite Hadith is this one:

The Messenger Muhammad (saw) said: "Some peoples will come on the Day of Judgement and their Imaan will be outstanding, it's light will shine from their chests and from their right hands. So it will be said to them, 'glad tidings for you today, Assalaamu alaykum and goodness for you, enter into it (Jannah) forever!’ So the angels and the Prophets will be jealous of the love of Allah for them". So the Sahabah asked, ' who are they O Messenger of Allah?' He (saw) replied, "They are not from us and they are not from you. You are my companions but they are my beloved. They will come after you and will find the book (the Qur'an) made redundant by the people, and a Sunnah which has been killed by them. So they will grab hold of the book and the Sunnah and revive them. So they will read them and teach them (the Qur'an and the Sunnah) to the people and they will experience in that path a punishment more severe and more ugly than what you (O Sahabah) have experienced. Indeed, the Imaan of one of them is equivalent to the Imaan of forty of you. The Shaheed of one of them is equivalent to forty of your Shuhadaa'. Because you found a helper towards the truth (the Prophet [saw]) and they will find no helper towards the truth. So they will be surrounded by tyrant rulers in every place, and they will be in the surroundings of Bayt ul-Maqdis (al-Quds). The Nussrah (victorious material support) of Allah will come to them, and they will have the honour of it on their hands". Then he (saw) said "O Allah give them the Nussrah and make them my close friends in Jannah" (Musnad of Imam Ahmed). 

On reflection: Refining, Focusing and Sustaining

It's a couple of hours after sunrise and I feel a sudden urgency to write. The thought has indeed been lingering on my mind for quite some time now but I've waiting for the right moment, for my writing was never quite going to be the same after my recent experiences. I no longer want to write for the sake of writing a well-written post (although it helps) but rather I want to focus more on the meanings and messages that I want to convey. You'll have to excuse me as I've gone in the deep end quite abruptly but everything should soon become clear.

 It's been over a week since I returned from Makkah, but while the physical journey has ended the spiritual path progresses. While I draw upon the lessons of my travel for spiritual enlightenment, reflection, perspective and purpose of life, certain facets of my life become crystal clear while others become irrelevant. As a result, the first few days of my return can be summed up by refining. Refining in the sense of cutting out the unnecessary and focusing on the more pertinent. I drew my own conclusions on my ultimate purpose of life, and I think it's important that everyone does so in their own time but I'm glad that I've been able to grasp it earlier on. With a realisation of what it is exactly that one wants out of life one begins the tedious task of setting oneself measurable goals and then a plan of how to execute them whether a daily, weekly or a monthly plan depends upon the nature of the goals. 

Travelling as my fellow travellers will agree with me here is a change in comfort zone, it is a change of scenery and it is a change generally from our hustle and bustle of everyday life. As such, a physical change always brings about an intellectual and spiritual change.  Whilst being a traveller one unloads an immense amount of responsibilities that burdens the intellect and as such this freeing up of the mind allows one to really think about higher things which really is a luxury for everyday life unless one has a specific retreat for reflection. And so I embarked one month ago in the blessed lands of Saudi Arabia on an insightful adventure that took me to truthful realisations and periods of introspective reflections. 

One of the key learning points of my trip was my need to focus. Living in London everything grabs your attention, one day you want to be a still-life photographer, the next day you want to try your hand at calligraphy and the day after that perhaps in introductory 101 (beginner's guide) into Photoshop. The point is I started to dabble in a bit of this and a bit of that but I realise now that in each field I got nowhere! The problem was everything was marketed to be able to accomplish so easily but it wasn't true. So I needed to focus on perfecting one or two things see it through and then move on. This is exactly the perspective that I needed in order to move forward.

There's little point in travelling if all you bring back is souvenirs;  a traveller brings back a wealth of learning experience and the best ones are the ones that have an immediate effect on your life. Over the last week and a half since my return, I feel like I'm finally in control of my life. My emotional and mental state has remained sustained. And what is this state? This is my resolve to live life to the fullest, my determination to fulfil my life goals, seeing blessings in the smallest of things, being happy for whatever little that I have - and this mentality has remained with me everyday since I've been back. The effects on my life have already been changed for the better: my productivity has dramatically become efficient because I don't have 'I can't be asked' episodes that last for days, my general well being is happy because everyday is progressive for me - I set myself daily goals with flexibility and I manage to accomplish them and this gives me a satisfaction that I'm doing something with my life and moving forward.

So what has kept me consistent, determined and motivated for the last week and half? Personally, I realised and understood that my source of motivation, striving and living emanated from my relationship with God and once this was clear to me I began to do actions that enhanced my relationship with God so I would seek reliance from Him in all my matters no matter how trivial. I would remember Him constantly throughout my day. The days in which I was the most ardent and the most passionate in seeking closeness to God  those days were the richest and most meaningful days for me. The challenge now remains as to how long I can keep this up for. I am confident that this is a new new beginning, a fresh start, a new me.