My Love is Your Love

MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE


What would you say to the Prophet (SAW) if you were to meet him tomorrow? Would you hug and kiss him and tell him how much missed and loved him? I think it is fair to say that for every Muslim, the answers to these questions would be a resounding YES! But if the day we meet the Prophet (SAW) was the Day of Judgement, the day when no tongues will be able to lie, would the answer be the same or would our true colours come out? Unfortunately, for many of us, our tongues express the love we presumably have in our hearts for the Prophet (SAW) but our actions bear witness of how artificial this love really is. When a person loves someone he/she would be willing to do everything for that particular person and love everything associated with him/her.

Describing a person affected by this, a poet once wrote “for the sake of a Sudanese girl, he loved Sudan to the point that he loved the black dogs due to his love for her!” Thus, if we really and truly loved the Prophet (SAW), we would love and honour everything he (SAW) loved and honoured. So, let us then ask what did he (SAW) stand for and love?

Firstly, we know he (SAW) stood for mercy and compassion because ALLAH had said in His glorious Qur’an that the Prophet (SAW) was not sent “except as a mercy to all the worlds” (Qur’an 21:107). Reading the Seerah (the biography of the Prophet, SAW) we would indeed see how well he fulfilled this role. Now, does this reflect on us who claim to follow and love the Prophet (SAW)? Are we for instance merciful towards our fellow human beings or our environment? Do people describe us Muslims as people of mercy, compassion and love? Well, I leave to answer that…

Another thing the Prophet (SAW) cherished was the unique brotherhood that Islam brings amongst its followers. This was not only a characteristic of the Prophet (SAW) but all other Prophets (AS). Take Harun (AS) for instance. When Musa (AS) left him in charge of the Bani Israel, one of them, referred to in the Qur’an as Samiri, mislead them by arguing the golden calf was their lord. Harun (AS) knew this was clear falsehood and warned his people. He said to them: “Oh my people! You are being tested by this, for verily your Lord is Most Gracious so follow me and obey my command”! (Qur’an 20: 90). His people disobeyed him and said “We will not abandon this cult, but we will devote ourselves to it until Moses returns to us” (Qur’an 20:91). Of course, God informed Musa about the situation and he returned to his people and confronted Harun (AS) asking him why he didn’t prevent the people from deviating and demanded to know why Harun (AS) had disobeyed his command. Harun (AS) replied “Oh son of my mother! Seize (me) not by (the hair of) my head! Truly I feared lest you should say ‘You have caused a division among the Children of Israel and you did not respect my word’!

Now, let us reflect upon this for a minute. Here we have a man whom God had given the ability and authority to put forward a fatwa and declare whomsoever worshipped the calf and followed Samiri would have deviated from the Right Guidance and thus, essentially, become a kafir (disbeliever). He could have easily, and rightly, separate himself and those who followed him and form their own group. Yet, despite this he refused. Why?

Because he did not want to cause a division within the group and because he knew there was one person who had more knowledge and authority than him, i.e. Musa (AS), to deal with the issue at hand. Compare that to us Muslims today who are willing to declare someone a disbeliever because of trivial reasons like for using prayer beads, not letting the beard grow or for not wearing the right type of hijab! If we truly loved the Prophet (SAW), wouldn’t we cherish our unity and do whatever it takes to keep it?

Do you know one of the last things that caused the Prophet (SAW) to smile? It was seeing the Muslims all praying shoulder to shoulder, united behind their leader to be Abu Bakr Siddique (RA). He (SAW) cherished unity and brotherhood so much so that he (SAW) would smile despite suffering great pains due to an approaching death! Does the unity of the Muslims concern you half as much as the Prophet (SAW)? Do you worry or feel saddened by the fact that so many of your brothers and sisters have abandoned their religion and become disillusioned by the transient life of this world? And if it does concern you, do you do something about it? Do you involve yourself with the spreading of the religion the Prophet (SAW) was sent to complete and perfect? Do you at the least greet your fellow Muslims with a cheerful smile, just like the Prophet (SAW) did? If we all ask ourselves these questions we can judge the truthfulness of our love for he Prophet (SAW). If we truly loved him (SAW), our answers would be strong and clear.

Shortly before the Prophet (SAW) died, he cried. Do you know why he cried? Because he missed you and me. His (SAW) love for us was so great it made his heart ache and his eyes cry. When the companions asked him (SAW) why he was crying, he (SAW) said: “I miss my brothers”. When the companions told him (SAW) he said he was not referring to them but to those who would come later on and defend Islam and uphold his Sunnah although they had not seen or met him (SAW).

Now let us ask ourselves, are we amongst those who caused the Prophet (SAW) cry out of his love for us or amongst those who will case him to cry out of sorrow on the Day of Judgement because we failed to save our families, our ummah and ourselves from the Hell-Fire? Will we be amongst those who tongues claimed the love of he Prophet (SAW) but whose actions belied their words? My fellow Muslim, do not get me wrong, I’m not trying to make you depressed. I just wish that Muslims start asking themselves some serious questions and make a promise to make their words and actions collectively say “Oh, Prophet! My Love is Your Love!”