10 Steps to increase in love with Prophet(SAWW)
The Question is how one can one attain the love of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWW)?
It is in human nature that a man cares and follows the footsteps of those whom he loves. When we love someone, we try to imitate, and act like them. We like to be with them all the time. We love to think, talk and hear about them all the time. Whenever we remember them, we become happy and excited. We start to love whatever they love, and we leave everything they hate. We share our happiness and problems with them. We give value their advice. All these actions give us pleasure and satisfaction and makes our bond of love stronger.
So, imagine falling in love with the one that God is pleased with….
it is such a great blessing and luck for the ordinary and sinful human like us to love the glorious Prophet (SAWW), to choose him as our ideal and to follow his Sunnah.
Loving the Prophet (SAWW) is an act of obedience to Allah and a means of drawing closer to Him. In real, the levels of Iman are directly connected to the love of prophet(SAWW). When one’s Iman increases, his love for the Prophet (SAWW) increases, when his love for the Prophet(SAWW) increases his Iman increases automatically.
Now the question is, how can we miss and remember him when we have never seen him? how can we follow his footsteps, his sunnah when we don’t love him? And how can we love him when we don’t know anything about him?
The answer is very simple, if we already know why it is so important and beneficial to love the glorious Prophet(SAWW) then we will obviously try to find out all available information about him, we will search the ways to learn about him, we will dig up the history to study his life. There are some tips given bellow to start your blessed journey.
1. Study Prophet(SAWW)’s Seerah:
It’s hard to love someone without knowing him. So, to love Prophet(SAWW) we must learn about him, we must read his biography, his life history, we have to research on his Seerah. We must acquire an understanding of his life and personality which enable us to develop a love based on knowledge and appreciation for his noble character. We can read books that are based on the authentic sources and find qualified teachers to explain what we read to confirm our understanding. We can research and listen the lectures online. The more we know about the Prophet, the more easily we love and imitate him. When we will truly love him, we will follow sunnah in words and deed. We will adopt his persona willingly and make him a part of ourselves.
Some Benefits of studying His Seerah
a). We will learn history of Islam through Seerah: The life of the Prophet isn’t just a biography; it’s the history of Islam.
b): We will learn Deen through Seerah: Seerah is so important to learn Deen that’s why Ali bin Hussain ibn Ali bin Abi Talib said: We were taught the Seerah of Rasool Allah(SAWW) like we were taught a surah from the Quran.
c): Study of Seerah will increase the levels of Iman and empowers our Faith: It gives us rays of hope, we gain peace and comfort through the examples of Prophet’s life and emphasizing the methodology of the Prophet (SAWW) strengthen our heart and lift our spirits through difficult times.
d): We will be able to defend the honour of the Prophet: Until unless we don’t have proper knowledge of Seerah, how can we defend our beloved Prophet(SAWW)?
e): Study of Seerah connect you to the Ummah: Studying Seerah is essential to find out our Muslim identity. Now a day we’re suffering from a serious identity crisis. We do our daily prayers, fast in Ramadan, give charity, perform Hajj but we have lost the “essence” of the Islamic teachings. Our practices have become mere rituals with no effect on our hearts. Specially, Muslim youth today stands confuse. Our Islamic history is our umbilical cord, It’s our lifeline. We are an extension of an Ummah. All Muslims in this world are a part of same body. Prophet (SAWW) giving an example of Muslim unity is reported to have said in a Hadith:
"The Believers, in their affection, mercy and compassion, are like one body: if one organ complained, the rest of the body develops a fever." [Bukhari & Muslim]
f): Study of Seerah to worship Allah better: Examples from Prophet(SAWW)’s life makes us understand the reason and conditions of worship more effectively.
g): Study of Seerah to understand Quran. Without the complete knowledge of the Seerah we could not understand the Divine Book of Allah. Seerah sheds light on why the verse was revealed and the context of the revelation.
h): Study the Seerah to love Prophet(SAWW) sincerely: We must love our Prophet(SAWW) by heart, not just only from our lips. Loving the prophet is an act of Ibadaah (worship) and everything we do to develop this love will be a source of reward for us! The more we know him, the more we’ll be impressed with his personality and the more the roots of love will be deep into our heart.
i): Study of Seerah is the best use of time: Seerah is not the study of a person, it is study of the life of the best and the most Nobel human being ever lived on the face of earth.
2: Follow his footsteps:
Upon learning and finding out about Prophet(SAWW), a believer has started to sow the seeds of his love, now to germinate these seeds he need to water them. Acting upon his knowledge about Prophet(SAWW)’s life, which he has already gained through his quest, is like watering the seeds.
What Prophet(SAWW) liked and what he disliked, what did and how did he do it, what he approved and what he disapproved, what made him angry and what he was pleased with, once a believer knows all this he should immediately put this knowledge into his own actions, he should start to change his habits and behaviour according to sunnah.
Once your persona, your manners, lifestyle and daily routine will be changed, your actions will start to speak louder than words. Not only this but in your garden, there will bloom the majestic and spectacular flowers of Iman(faith), Taqwa (God-consciousness) and Hub-e-Elaahi(God’s love). But remember young plants certainly need more care. The more sincerity, affection and time you will spend on your garden, the more it will flourish.
The more you read about Prophet(SAWW)’s life and try to cope and apply all the aspects in your life, the more your thoughts, actions, appearance, dealing and behaviour will imitate him. The more you will imitate him, the more you will love him.
3: Read Quran regularly and Understand the meaning:
Quran and Seerah are essential to understand each other. It’s like a two-way traffic - How?
· The Seerah is the life story of Prophet Muhammad(SAWW) before and after the revelation. So, the Study and guidance of Quran is must to understand the Sunnah and the Seerah. The Final book, Qur’an is closely associated with Prophet (SAWW)’s life and the difficulties that he faced and solve according to the revelation.
· The Qur’an in some ways depends on the Seerah for its full explanation or meaning. To grasp the full understanding of the Qur’an we need to get a full understanding of the Seerah.
There are two reasons for that:
A): The backdrop of revelation: Prophet’s life served as the backdrop for the revelation of most of the Quran’s verses. And studying the Quran makes us go through all those events.
B): Explanation of revelation: Sunnah is divine explanation of Nobel Qur’an. The Qur’an commands us to worship Allah through prayer, fasting, charity etc., but it does not inform us of how to perform these duties practically. It is through his infinite Wisdom, that Allah has sent us a practical example in the form of His Messenger and his teachings. Certain commands in the Quran are further applied in Prophet(SAWW)’s life, for us to find out how to practice them.
If the Quran had been given us directly on its own without any messenger, then most of us would have gone astray through our own interpretations of this divine book. That’s why, Allah the merciful, sent a noble Messenger(SAWW) who explain the Qur'an through his words and actions, so that the people of the earth may understand their Creator better:
“We have revealed the reminder (Qur’an) to you (O’ Muhammad) in order that you explain to the people what has been revealed to them, that perhaps they may reflect” (An-Nahl 16:44).
Through his Sunnah, Prophet(SAWW) gives us the best example of how this book is to be understood and practiced in daily life. Allah says:
“Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have the most beautiful pattern of conduct” (Al-Ahzab 33:21).
The Prophet(SAWW)’s teaching and practice of the Qur’an was so exemplary. Once someone asked His wife, Aisha about his character, she said:
Don’t you read the Quran, his character was that of the Qur’an (Al Muslim)
4: Send salah/ blessings upon Prophet(SAWW):
When we send blessings upon prophet(SAWW) we respond to Allah’s act and follow Allah’s order. Sending blessings upon him is one of the main requirements of loving, venerating and respecting the Prophet (SAWW).
We send salutation upon him during our every prayer. We say Darood wa Salah in the second part of the Tashahud. But we should make it a habit to send blessings upon Prophet(SAWW) out of the prayer as well. To add this blessed action into daily routine,
· one can select a specific time which suits him/her best, like: after every prayer, Fajr or Magrib time, after Tahajud and specially Friday.
· But one can send blessings upon Prophet(SAWW) at any time, while walking, driving, traveling, waiting in a queue, taking care of kids, during household work etc.
When we send blessing upon our Prophet(SAWW), we show our love to him and please Allah and earn reward at same time. The essence behind this beautiful prayer is to build a loving and an unbreakable bond between us and our Prophet(SAWW).
5: submission in Love:
Loving Prophet is to love Allah, as Allah says in the Holy Quran:
“If you should love Allah, then follow me, (so) Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” (Al Imran- 3:31)
But this love requires total submission. Surrendering yourself in love, is the highest form of true love. Upon reaching that level one stops arguing and asking the questions like, why shall I do that? It’s hard, how can I do that?
So, we must obey his mercy, follow his Seerah and try to adopt it without any hesitation because this will eventually make us a perfect believer in the end.
6: Pass it on to other:
It was narrated from ‘Abdu-Allah ibn ‘Amr that the Prophet (SAWW) said:
“Convey from me even if it is one verse…” al-Bukhaari (3461)
There is another saying of Prophet(SAWW) that:
“The scholars are the heirs of the Prophets.” Abu Dawood (3641)
But one doesn’t require to be a scholar to convey what they know of the religion of Allah to others like any hadith or Quranic verse. So, we should not keep the valuable information regarding the Sunnah of Prophet(SAWW) and teaching of Quran to ourselves only but also pass it on to others like our family and friends. And specially we should inherit our knowledge of Deen and Sunnah to our next generations as we inherit our property and wealth. Once we will start imitating ourselves with Prophet(SAWW), wherever we will go we will leave our fragrance behind us. Insha Allah.
7: study the life of his companions (Sahaba) and Umha tul mo’mineen (mothers of believers):
Each of Prophet(SAWW)’s wife holds a Nobel position in Islamic history and played a remarkable role in the dissemination of Islam. Their exemplary behaviour in various situations teaches us many lessons for our daily life. They define the modest and unique status of women in Islam.
Similarly, we should follow the example of Prophet(SAWW)’s companions who loved him deeply. They loved him more than their wealth and sons, and more than their own selves.
There follow some examples of that:
It was narrated that Anas said: “I saw the Messenger of Allah (SAWW) when the barber was cutting his hair and his companions were going around him wanting to ensure that his hair would fall only into someone’s hand.” (Muslim, 2325)
One can be surprised that Why Do Prophet(SAWW)’s companions love him like that?
But How can someone finds out the answer of this question without studying their lives?
8: love whatever he loves and whoever he loves:
One of the highest level of affection is, to love everything and everyone what our beloved one has loved once.
So, we should Love and give respect to Prophet(SAWW)’s family, friends and companions, Study of Prophet(SAWW)’s life can give us all information about his likes and dislikes, what he loved and what he hated.
9: Make the Sunnah a habit:
Our need to follow the Sunnah is so great, that without it our religion would be incomplete. To apply any Sunnah into your daily routine, you need to think actively and make plan to act upon it.
A): Make it a routine :This involves 3 steps:
• identify the sunnah: i.e. the action itself
• finding out the reward or benefit of that sunnah
• finding an effective trigger or reminder that will keep you on track
For example: you want to implement the sunnah of reciting Aayah al Kursee (Al-Baqarah 2:255) before sleeping every night. The steps could be like this:
l Action: Reciting Aayah al Kursee before sleeping each night.
l Identify the reward: According to the Hadith:
For whoever reads it, there would remain a protection over him from Allah and Shaytan would never come close to him. (Al-Bukhari, 5010)
Forgiveness will be sought for you by an angel (wow!)
l Trigger: Identify the last thing you do after getting into bed – for example, you switch off your bedside lamp after getting into the bed, so as soon as you switch of your lights and it gets dark, start reciting Aayah al Kursee.
B): Set up visual reminders: Another way to follow a sunnah is to stick up visual reminders of the sunnah you want to follow. For example, If you want to follow the sunnah of reciting the supplications of before and after eating, print out or wright down the supplications and stick it on your refrigerator or at any wall where it is clearly visible from your dining table.
You can use post-it notes, prints,charts, stickers or download info graphics, to remind you and help you make that sunnah a daily habit.
C): Make friends who follow sunnah: Always seek good and righteous friends. Pious company is very important to keep you tied to faith-based social events and Islamic circles. strive to hang out with practicing Muslims and their families.
· Our Prophet(SAWW) taught us that your company contributes tremendously to the very course your life will take, he said:
“Man is on the religion of his friend, so let every one of you examine whom he befriends.” (Tirmidhi)
· Try to surround yourself with good people who actively practice the sunnah themselves so they will not only remind you of the sunnah verbally but practically as well. This will automatically keep you on track.
· There is another saying of Prophet(SAWW) that:
“You will be with those whom you love.” [Bukhari]
It means that in the heaven Muslims will be with those whom they love. So, we must decide now, whom we want to be resurrect on the day of judgement and in the heaven?
Another good news is, If, we imitate and love Prophet(SAWW) sincerely, we will resurrect with Prophet(SAWW) in Aakirah Insha Allah.
D): Be of the Al-Sabiqun Al-Awwalun: These are those who race or excel towards committing righteous deeds and they always looking for a way to do a good, meaning they do it with love, sincerity and are steadfast on it. They not only performs the obligatory and avoids the prohibitions, but he also performs the recommended and avoids the disliked, means they love to follow the sunnah.
To motivate yourself, Make a group with your family/friends, set a goal to follow the sunnah and work hard to become Al- Sabiqun in that competition.
Note: Remember you have to be very careful; To follow the sunnah, you first need to know what it’s all about. This involves gaining knowledge – but make sure that the information you’re getting is authentic; there is no fabrication, cultural or non-authentic religious practices involved in it.
10: Carry out the Religious Obligations:
No matter how tough it might be, never stop following the obligations of Islam primarily. Such as the five daily prayers, Zakat, fasting in Ramadan etc. These obligatory acts keep a believer grounded in faith and prove to be stepping-stones for further spirituality.
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