Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم – The Most Beloved
Allamah Ayni, the well-known commentator of Sahih al-Bukhari, states that there can be three reasons for loving and admiring a person or thing: beauty; virtue/excellence; or because of some favour conferred by the beloved. If we carefully look at the people or things we admire and love and ask ourselves why the answer will inevitably be one of the three reasons mentioned above.
Throughout the centuries, Muslims all over the world have loved and admired Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم the Messenger of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى more than anyone or anything else. To a Muslim, Rasulullah is more beloved than anything, even his own life. The books of history are filled with episodes which bear testimony to this fact.
Mufti Muhammad Taqi Uthmani Hafizaullah describes the extent of the love first generation of Muslims of Sahabah had for the Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. He writes that if Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى were to have promised to increase the life of the Messenger by just one second, provided that all the companions (numbering over a hundred thousand) gave their lives in return, they would all have willingly given their lives to increase the life of their beloved by one second.
The question is; why do the Muslims have so much love and admiration for Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم?
The answer is simple; their beloved was simply the best. He was not only handsome but the most attractive; he did not possess only one or a few excellences, he was the embodiment of excellence, and his countless favours were not confined only to learn them but rather the whole of humanity is indebted to him for he bought them light throughout which they escaped from the darkness of ignorance.
Only one needs to study the speech of Ja’far, which he delivered in the court of negus (Abyssinian King) to understand this fact. Ja’far said:
“O King, we were people in a state of ignorance, worshipping idols, eating the flesh of dead animals, committing all sorts of abomination and shameful deeds, breaking the ties of kinship, treating guests poorly and the strong among us exploited the weak. We remained in the state until Allah sent us a Muhammad from amongst us, whose lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness, and integrity were well-known to us. He called us to worship Allah alone and to renounce the stones and the idols which our ancestors and we used to worship beside him. He commanded us to speak the truth to fulfill our promises, to bond out tires intact with family relations, to be helpful with neighbours, to cease all forbidden acts, to abstain from unlawful things and bloodshed, to avoid obscenities and false witness, not to usurp an orphan’s property and not to slander chaste women. He ordered us to worship Allah alone and not to associate anything with him, to uphold Salah, to give Zakah and fast in the month of Ramadhan”.
Moreover, the source of all the progress that we see today is the science developed by people from the Quran and Sunnah.
His experiences were such that even non-muslims have praised him. When Hercules the Emperor of Byzantine received the letter from the Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم inviting him to Islam, he summoned Abu Sufyan, then an ardent enemy of Islam, and asked him about the man Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم.
Despite his enmity for the Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, Abu Sufyan could only find praiseworthy words about him. The Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم’s staunchest archenemy declared that Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم belonged to the noblest family amongst the Arabs, and he also admitted that the proper was never accused of telling lies and never had he broken his promises.
Upon hearing this Heraculis observed, “If what you have said is true, he will very soon occupy this place underneath my feet. I knew (from the scriptures) that he was going to appear, but I did not know that he would be from you. If I were sure that I would reach him, I would have undertaken difficulties to meet him, and if I were by him, I would certainly have washed his feet (an indication that he would have presented himself to the court of Rasulullah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى as a khadim. (Bukhari)
Bosworth-Smith remarked:
“By a fortune, absolutely unique in history, Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is a threefold founder of a nation, of an empire, and of religion.”
After studying the Sirah and life of Rasulullah, George Bernard Shaw wrote:
“I have studies him-the wonderful man, and in my opinion, far from being an anti-christ, he must be called the Saviour of Humanity.”
Pandit Gyanandra Dev Sharma Shastri, at a meeting in Gurakhpur India (1928) said:
“They (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم’s critics) see fire instead of light, ugliness instead if god. They distort and present every good quality as a vice. It reflects their own depravity… the critics are blind. They cannot see that the only “sword” Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم wielded was the sword of Mercy, Compassion, Friendship, and Forgiveness- the sword that can conquer enemies and purifies their hearts, His sword was sharper than the sword of steel.”
Lamartine said:
“Philosophers, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, the restorer of rational doctrines, of religion without images; the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire that is Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?”
No, definitely not, for Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى has not created anyone greater than he. Jibra’il once said, “I have turned upside down the easts, and the west of the world (i.e., the whole world), and I have not seen anyone greater than Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم.” If this is the case, then why should such a personality (who possessed all the three elements of love to their highest degree) not be the most beloved to his admirers? Finding out about the sublime characteristics of the beloved Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى and understanding the love and admiration, they inspire in his followers is sufficient, to realise why Muslims the world over have been so enraged by recent events.
May Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى grant us all the tawfeeq to follow His commands in the way shown by our beloved Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم.
