Loving Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) is one of the surest rights and obligations due to him (peace be upon him) from his nation. Anyone who does not love the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is not a believer, even if he bears a Muslim name and lives among them. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, [related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim] The greatest form of love for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is for a believer to love the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) more than himself, his child, his parents and all the people. Allah (Glorified is He) says, {The Prophet has a high claim on the believers than they have on their own selves} [Surah Al-Ahzab: 6] Umar ibn Al-Khattab said to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), <‘Oh Messenger of Allah, you are more beloved to me than anyone but myself.’ The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, ‘No [this is not correct], by Him in Whose hands is my life, not until I am more beloved to you than yourself.’ So Umar said, ‘Truly now, by Allah, you are more beloved to me than myself.’ The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) replied, ‘Now, Oh Umar [this is correct]’> [related by Al-Bukhari] We can see how much his Companions and his followers loved him more than they loved themselves. Concerning this, we can recall the hadith (a saying of the Messenger of Allah) of how an even inanimate object longed for him. [related by Al-Bukhari] ] Whenever Hasan Al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned the hadith of how the tree trunk yearned for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), he used to say, “Oh Muslims, some wood yearned for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), longing to meet him! There is more reason for you to long to meet him!”
Following the ways o...
