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Life of the Prophet (seerah)

To Love the Prophet ﷺ More Than Yourself | Dr. Omar Suleiman

October 3, 2023Dr. Omar Suleiman

When the Prophet ﷺ said that no one perfects faith until they love him more than they love themselves, Omar ibn Al Khattab (ra) had to learn how to reach that level. What practical lessons can we derive from this? How can we quantify our love for the Prophet ﷺ? Dr. Omar Suleiman discusses in this lecture.

Transcript

This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Bismillahir rahmanir rahim. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Biur adwana illa amma al-zalimeen, wa al-aqeebatu lil muttaqeen. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa baraka al abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin. Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. Taseeman katheera. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive Sheikh Atif. Everyone say ameen. May Allah elevate him. Ameen. Everything he said is a reflection of himself. And I request that only the du'as remain, inshallah ta'ala, attached to all of us. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless him. May Allah azawajal bless everyone here at this beautiful center. Subhanallah, there is a sakinah in the center. And clearly, with that tranquility, there is a level of tranquility that descends. I pray because of the mention of the most beloved of Allah's creation to him, Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, for an entire day here. And with that would be the presence, bismillah ta'ala, of the angels and of his rahmah, of his mercy. And I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow this conference to allow us to all go back home, connected to the Messenger, alayhi salatu wa salam. Allahumma ameen. When I was asked what to speak about in this particular context, I wanted to address probably what is the most fundamental element of this. But at the same time, hopefully leave you with some thought, and this will be a little bit different because I actually want to reflect on this from a bit of a personal perspective. A connection to the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, that we're all trying to forge on a consistent basis, can be complicated. And not everyone is going to find the same connection to the Messenger, alayhi salatu wa salam, but there is a level that all of us have to connect with the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, with. In a particular dimension.
And I want to start actually with a story that really brings this discussion to a level of our daily connection with Allah, with the Qur'an. And it's actually a narration from Anas al-Malik radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, where he mentions that the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, used to visit Umm Ayman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, Baraka Umm Ayman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, the woman who held him, alayhi salatu wa salam, from the very beginning and then followed him in his entire pursuit, alayhi salatu wa salam, of Allah azzawajal through his life until the very last moment that he had on this earth, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. The woman that was there for him through every single difficult moment, through every single episode, through every single moment of victory, through every disappointment, who followed him in battle, who watched him, alayhi salatu wa salam, and would look at him with a level of adoration and admiration that is beyond what a mother looks at her child with. A woman who, when the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, would ask her, she would say, I am well so long as Islam is well. Completely committed to his mission, alayhi salatu wa salam. And Anas ibn Malik radiyaAllahu anhu says that in the time of Abu Bakr radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, Abu Bakr used to visit her as was the sunnah of the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and so Abu Bakr, Umar, and myself went to visit Umm Ayman radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum, and I want you to put yourself for a moment in the living room. Think about yourself as the fourth person, Abu Bakr, Umar, Anas, and you going to visit Umm Ayman. And imagine walking into that living room,
and sitting down after the death of the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, in that living room. And as you say to her, assalamu alayki, may peace and blessings be upon you. How are you, Umm Ayman? And she breaks down crying. Imagine being in that situation. If any of you have ever visited someone who has just lost someone near to them, or were visited for just losing someone near to you, it's very obvious what those tears represent. All types of emotions start to flood. And Abu Bakr radiyaAllahu anhu is sitting, and Umar radiyaAllahu anhu is sitting, and Anas radiyaAllahu anhu is sitting, and then Umm Ayman radiyaAllahu anhu just starts to cry. And Abu Bakr radiyaAllahu anhu is a man of extraordinary emotional intelligence. And he's a man of extraordinary wisdom, and he's a man whose heart, subhanAllah, is connected to the truth, to where he recognizes things very quickly. But here, Abu Bakr radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu says to Umm Ayman radiyaAllahu anhu, Don't you know that what is with Allah is better for the Messenger of Allah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam? You know, like a mother with her child wants to know that she sent him off and that he's doing okay. Don't you know that what Allah is giving him right now is far better than what he had when he was with us? The way Allah is loving him right now, the way Allah subhanAllah wa ta'ala, and He always loved him sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, the way that Allah azawajal is taking care of this Messenger alayhi sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, this extraordinary human being, it's far better than the comfort, the love, the embrace that we could have given him on this earth. And she says, That's not why I'm crying. I'm not crying because I have any doubt that what is with Allah is better for the Messenger of Allah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam than what we had for him.
But I'm crying because the revelation of the Qur'an has ceased to come upon us from the heavens. No one loved the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam's smile more than his family. No one loved his shama'il, the beautiful things that we learn about him alayhi sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, his attributes, the way that he would laugh sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, the way that he would connect with you, the way that he would uplift you. No one loved everything about him alayhi sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam more than the people that were with him throughout his entire life. No one loved them like that more than his family. But Umm Ayman radiAllahu ta'ala anha understood that that love of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam was beyond the love that another human being would have for another human being. I could read the shama'il of the Messenger alayhi sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam and subhanAllah, even if there weren't a divine connection, fall in love with him. Just because of how he was as a person alayhi sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. But the thing that I love most about him is that Allah sent him to me. Allah chose him to be the greatest blessing to the rest of his creation. A blessing to each and every single one of us. Rahmatan lil'alameen, a mercy to the world. That means that he's a mercy to you and he's a mercy to me. And the thing that I love most about him is that he is RasulAllah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. He is the Messenger of Allah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. That he is the one that Allah chose to be the vehicle by which he communicated my entire sense of purpose to me. He is the vehicle by which Allah subhanAllah wa ta'ala chose as a demonstration, as a manifestation for everything that makes me beloved to him.
He is that connection alayhi sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam to our Lord at the deepest level. Yes, we don't make du'a through the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, but who taught us to make du'a? The Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. Yes, we don't have the type of spiritual hierarchy that other faiths and traditions might have where you have to go through, but he taught us everything that we know about how to connect to Allah subhanAllahu wa ta'ala. And that is the thing that I love most about him sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. That he is the greatest abd of Allah, the greatest slave, the greatest servant of Allah. And so if I want to aspire to be a greater abd of Allah, he is the greatest example alayhi sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam in that regard. When you think about what about his sunnah, what about his person do I want to connect with most? And everything about his sunnah is blessed. There is nothing from the sunnah of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam that should be minimized or diminished. But the worship of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, the connection that he had to Allah subhanAllahu wa ta'ala, that's what I want to inculcate most into my life from him sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. As for his character, innama bu'ithtu li utammima makarima akhlaq. I have only been sent to perfect character. There is not a single element or dimension of character or a single dimension of your life, personal, family, social, that you can't look at the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam and see wa innaka la'ala khuluqin azeem, that you're on an exalted standard of character, that he sets the standard sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. He sets the standard of what it's like to be anything in society. Now when someone talks about this idea of loving the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam,
there are a few things that I want to approach this inshaAllah ta'ala with. Number one, and I'm going to put this out there as just an equation, that I hope inshaAllah ta'ala everyone will be able to ponder upon to some extent. When we think about the questions that come about faith, the questions that arise about how we're supposed to connect to Allah subhanAllahu wa ta'ala, why is this happening, why is that happening, can you explain this, can you explain that? If you want your heart to be at peace, connect to the names and attributes of Allah subhanAllahu wa ta'ala. And then all the questions about why this and why that, and all the questions about different things that happen in life and different things that happen in the world, all the dilemmas that are posed about mercy and justice and cruelty and why this and why that, will melt away in knowing who Allah is because you trust Allah subhanAllahu wa ta'ala. It all goes away, it all disappears. And so the shaitan will not have a means by which he can enter into your heart and poison it in regards to the affairs of your Lord if you know who your Lord is. It's the names and attributes of Allah. Connecting to Allah's names and attributes shuts all of those doors. And if you start to come across certain texts, certain episodes from the seerah, certain misinterpretations, certain things in isolation about the messenger of Allah subhanAllahu wa ta'ala, or about the shari'ah that the Prophet subhanAllahu wa ta'ala brought, knowing the Prophet subhanAllahu wa ta'ala and connecting with him at the level of shama'il and dala'il, his miracles subhanAllahu wa ta'ala and his characteristics, his attributes, makes all of that go away. It shuts that second layer of doubt completely out of your life when you can connect with the Prophet subhanAllahu wa ta'ala at that level. Knowing Allah makes questions about Allah irrelevant.
Knowing Rasulullah subhanAllahu wa ta'ala makes questions about the messenger of Allah subhanAllahu wa ta'ala irrelevant. You have to know him alayhi salatu wasalam. You've got to connect with him at all of those different levels. But there is a sequence that we start to find developing in the Qur'an and the sunnah about how to start to develop that relationship with him alayhi salatu wasalam. And believe it or not, it starts with surah al-Baqarah. Allah azawajal praises those that believe in the unseen. Now let me ask you a question. Who is greater? Us or the companions of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam? It's okay, you can answer this question. The companions. Companions are greater than us. Those that live with the messenger sallAllahu alayhi wasalam are greater than us. But what is a greater act? Believing in the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam while you can see him or believing in the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam and you've never seen him? It's a greater act to believe in the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam and you've never even seen him. And Abdullah bin Masroor radiAllahu ta'ala anhu has a powerful reflection on the very beginning of surah al-Baqarah here. When Allah says that the believers are those who believe in the unseen. For the companions of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam, the unseen literally means that which is missing from you, that which you have not encountered, that which you have not seen. To them the unseen is Allah. To them the unseen are the angels. To them the unseen are Jannah and Nahr, Paradise and Hellfire. To them the unseen are all of those things that are unseen to us as well. But there's a difference between us and them in one regard here
that Rasulullah sallAllahu alayhi wasalam is not included in their ghayb but he's included in ours. To them, they saw him sallAllahu alayhi wasalam. And if you're reading through the seerah and you're seeing people that were captivated by him alayhi salatu wasalam in an instant, that's because if you saw him sallAllahu alayhi wasalam, you would say, I've never seen anything or anyone like that before him or after him alayhi salatu wasalam. You would see him and you would know this is a special man. Before he even said anything sallAllahu alayhi wasalam, and then when he spoke alayhi salatu wasalam, and then the miracles started to come and the proofs started to come and then his character started to shine, then the evidences only became more stacked. SubhanAllah, the scholars mention about the sight of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam that he was the most beautiful of Allah's creation. He had the most jamal, the most beauty of Allah's creation, but his beauty was enveloped in his jalal sallAllahu alayhi wasalam, in his glory alayhi salatu wasalam. What does that mean? You know, we always read about Yusuf alayhi salam, the beauty of Yusuf alayhi salam. And many of the scholars, they say, that the difference with the beauty of Yusuf alayhi salam is that the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam was given an extra layer of jalal, an extra layer of glory, to where if you were in front of him sallAllahu alayhi wasalam, you'd immediately put your head down. Because his presence imposed that much of a respect and an honor when you were there. And that's why Amr bin Aas sallAllahu alayhi wasalam said, I couldn't describe the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam to you, because I couldn't bring myself to actually look at him, to stare at him sallAllahu alayhi wasalam. You put your head down. Because not only was he beautiful,
but he had a presence alayhi salatu wasalam that was stunning. A glory that he walked with. Meaning when you saw him, it was plausible that the most intelligent of people, that the most discerning of people, would immediately come to the conclusion that that's the messenger of Allah. A people, subhanAllah, that did not believe in life after death, and did not believe in unseen gods, right, they believed in gods that were made of stone in front of them, could suddenly be brought to the conclusion that there is eternal life after death, and that there is only one unseen god, and all of these gods mean nothing. Could have their entire purpose recalibrated, and their entire theology adjusted, by speaking to the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam one time. These are discerning individuals. These are intelligent people. But seeing him sallAllahu alayhi wasalam was different. You knew when you saw him alayhi salatu wasalam. You were captivated by him. But as Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala anhu says, the difference is that with us, those that came after the companions, the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam is actually included in our ghayb. He's included in our unseen. We are expected to believe in him alayhi salatu wasalam, to follow him sallAllahu alayhi wasalam, to connect ourselves to him alayhi salatu wasalam, to love him sallAllahu alayhi wasalam, and we've never even seen him. And the person that confirms that is the Messenger alayhi salatu wasalam himself. When he's saying, هُمْ إِخْوَانِهُمْ أَحْبَابِي May Allah make us amongst them. They are my brothers. They are my loved ones. Who are they, ya Rasulullah? The muhajireen or the ansar? No, those are the people who come after me. الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِي وَلَمْ يَرَوْنِي They believe in me, but they've never even seen me,
and they would trade everything that's been given to them in this world for the ability to be able to look at me and to be with me. They would give it all up, and they've never even seen me. طُوبَى لِمَنْ آمَنَ بِي Glad tidings to the one who believed in me, and he saw me. طُوبَى ثُمَّ طُوبَى The Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam said, and glad tidings and glad tidings to the one who believed in me, and he never even saw me. What is it that makes you cry when you read about him sallAllahu alayhi wasalam? What is it that makes you feel pain when you read about his pain? What is it that makes you feel joy when you read about his joy? What is it that makes you feel that sense of smallness when his greatness is mentioned alayhi sallAllahu alayhi wasalam? And you've never even seen him. That act is superior to the act of having seen him and believed in him sallAllahu alayhi wasalam simultaneously. But we will never be superior as a people to those great people that were around him sallAllahu alayhi wasalam wa radiAllahu anhum. They surpassed us. But that act is a blessing from Allah and that's something that Allah praises you with in the very beginning of the Quran. الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ Those who believe in the unseen. You've never seen him but you love him sallAllahu alayhi wasalam. That's number one. Number two. Because you love the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam first and foremost for the example that he is to you of how to connect to your Lord. You love him for that reason. When Allah says سِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ Guide us to the path of those who have earned your favor. Who's at the top of that list? It is Muhammad sallAllahu alayhi wasalam. And then it is the Prophets.
Isa alayhi wasalam, Musa alayhi wasalam, Ibrahim alayhi wasalam and so on and so forth. And then it is the companions, the family and the companions of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam. May Allah be pleased with them. And then it is the Siddiqoon and the Shuhada. The pious ones, the truthful ones, the martyrs. وَحَسُنَ أُولَئِكَ رَفِيقًا What a great companionship that is. May Allah sallAllahu alayhi wasalam allow us to be their companions. Allahumma ameen. You're asking Allah صِرَاطًا لَذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ You're asking Allah to make you like the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam every single time you read Surah Al-Fatiha. You're asking Allah to guide you to that path. You would not know that path had you not had your Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wasalam. That's what he means to you. And the Messenger of Allah sallAllahu alayhi wasalam continues in a beautiful narration where he says alayhi salatu wasalam in the hadith in Surah Al-Tirmidhi. He said أَحِبُّ اللَّهِ لِمَا يَغْذُوكُم مِّن نِعَمِهِ Love Allah for the blessings that He provides to you. Now you should love Allah for many reasons. You should love Allah for who He is subhanahu wa ta'ala. You should love Allah for His names and attributes. But subhanAllah, Sheikh Hassan was sharing this reflection. Every one of these blessings around you is so that you could love Him more. And it's a sign of His love for you. Everything around you, every blessing that you have is a sign that Allah loves you and He wants you to love Him and to connect with Him subhanahu wa ta'ala. So love Allah for the blessings that He provides for you. SubhanAllah, I want you to think about if someone were to walk up to you in the parking lot right now and to say to you, I don't know you and you don't know me. And this might seem completely out of the blue.
But here are the keys to my house and my car. They're yours. How indebted would you be to that person? What would you do if you needed a kidney transplant or a liver transplant or a heart transplant? And someone put their own life on the line to donate that to you. How indebted would you be to that person for the rest of your life? How much would you love that person? How much would you cry every time you see that person? Especially if it worked, if the operation was successful. But the one who put that heart and that kidney and that liver in you in the first place and created you and originated you and allowed you to function and gave you reward upon reward upon reward upon reward and you don't love him? أحب الله لما يغذوكم من نعمه Love Allah for the blessings that he constantly showers you with. Blessings that you did not earn but that in his generosity he bestowed upon you. Love Allah for those blessings. And the Prophet SAW continued, وأحبوني بحب الله Love me because of the love of Allah. Shaykh Atif shared a beautiful reflection on this. I was cheating. I was asking them both before I came in here. Give me your reflection on this hadith. And I feel uncomfortable not attributing it to them. He said the greatest ni'mah that Allah gave you is the Prophet SAW. So you have the blessings of Allah and then you have the blessing of Allah. The greatest blessing of Allah upon you is guidance. And that guidance was manifested through the guide SAW. But love me for the love of Allah. Love me because of Allah's love for me. You want to connect to Allah? Love the Prophet SAW.
Love the most beloved creation to the creator. Increase your salawat. صلى الله عليه وسلم. اللهم صلي وسلم على نبينا محمد. Increase your salawat. Watch how your du'as are beautified. Increase your salawat. Watch how your life is expanded. Watch how everything changes in your life through salawat on the Prophet SAW. Love me for the love of Allah. Allah loves him SAW. And that in and of itself would be sufficient of a reason to love him SAW. You know who implements this in the best way? Can anyone tell me? Who implements this hadith in the best way? Which creation of Allah? I'm giving you all some hints. The angels. The angels implement this hadith beautifully, don't they? Why? إِنَّ اللَّهَ إِذَا أَحَبَّ عَبْدَهُمْ نَادَى جِبْرِيلٍ When Allah loves someone, جِبْرِيل إِنِّي أُحِبُّ فُلَانٍ I love this person so you should love this person. So Jibreel A.S. loves that person. Does Jibreel A.S. say why? Why? What do we know about this person? Can you tell me about this person? So I can love this person as well. Can you give me some of the descriptions? Maybe if I hear a few paragraphs about this person. Maybe if you tell me, O Allah, what it is about this person, I'll start to love this person as well. No, يُحِبُّهُ جِبْرِيلٍ Jibreel just loves that person because Allah loves that person. That's enough. And then Jibreel A.S. calls upon Ahl as-Sama'ah. Jibreel calls all of the inhabitants of the heavens and says إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ فُلَانٍ Allah loves this person so love that person. So all of the inhabitants of the heavens love that person as well. وَيُوضَعُ لَهُ الْقَبُولُ فِي الْأَرْضِ And Allah A.S. puts acceptance in the hearts of the people for that person. The acceptance of the righteous for the righteous. What does that mean?
SubhanAllah, if you've ever seen someone who you feel like is connected to Allah S.W.T. that simple person that comes to Salatul Fajr or whose eyes well up when they hear the name of the Messenger A.S. or someone who you think exhibits characteristics of someone who's beloved to Allah and you immediately love that person. It's a sign of Iman, isn't it? It's a sign of tasting the sweetness of Iman. That you love someone purely for the sake of Allah. Do you love Rasulullah for the sake of Allah S.W.T.? Do you love him A.S. for the sake of Allah? It's the sweetness of Iman. You start to taste the sweetness of Iman. I love Rasulullah S.A.W. first and foremost because of how much Allah loves him A.S. That's the first thing that I love about him S.A.W. is that he is عبده و رسوله S.A.W. Before his smile, before the incredible endearing incidents between him and our mother Aisha S.A.W. Before all of the stories with him and Al-Hassan and Al-Hussain S.A.W. Before all of that, I just love him S.A.W. because he is عبده و رسوله S.A.W. He's Allah's slave and Allah's messenger. Some of the scholars said that that is in fact a beautiful connection between the hadith of where you make a dua for someone and the angels will say, آمين و لك بمثل آمين and for you as well and when you send salawat on the Prophet S.A.W. and the angels respond back with so much more because when you send salawat on the Prophet S.A.W. you are making dua for your most noble brother. So it's not just a dua for anybody else
and Allah and the angels respond to you. Not just بمثل, not just with what you sent on him S.A.W. but with so much more because he's not just another one of your brothers. He's more than that A.S. So love me for the love of Allah. And then thirdly, the Prophet S.A.W. says و أحب أهل بيتي لحبي and love my family because of my love for them. Love my family because of my love for them. When the Prophet S.A.W. says about Fatima Az-Zahra رضي الله تعالى عنها Fatima is a piece of me. سبحان الله Like she is a piece of me. Do you love Fatima رضي الله تعالى عنها? When the Prophet S.A.W. carries Al-Hassan and Al-Hussain رضي الله تعالى عنهما and the Prophet S.A.W. sits on the Minbar holding them. Now if you were an elderly companion they're really cute kids. Right? I mean سبحان الله the description of Al-Hassan رضي الله تعالى عنه walking up to the Prophet S.A.W. It's a beautiful description. Sometimes the vivid details of a hadith of the Prophet S.A.W. are lost. Imagine this cute kid running up to the Prophet S.A.W. in the masjid of the Prophet S.A.W. and he's all dressed up in his Jum'ah thawb and his Jum'ah turban and he's tripping over his turban. Tripping over his thawb. Falling forward to the Prophet S.A.W. and Rasulullah S.A.W. can't resist him. He gets down off the Minbar. He picks him up and he gives the rest of the khutbah with Al-Hassan in his lap. Cute kid. Beautiful kid. That's a piece of the Prophet S.A.W. Love him. Love them. Because the Prophet S.A.W. loved them. I love the family of the Prophet S.A.W. They're my family. The Prophet S.A.W. said حب الأنصار من الإيمان To love the Ansar is a form of faith. If you sent someone beloved to you. If you had a child and you sent them to another place and someone said, you know what, I'm going to pick them up from the airport. I'm going to get them all settled. I'm going to take care of them.
I'm going to make sure that everything is as comfortable and convenient for them as possible. I'm going to protect them. A bullet comes their way, I'd stand in front of them. That's what the Ansar did for the Prophet S.A.W. I love the Ansar. جزاهم الله خيرا May Allah reward them for what they did for our beloved one S.A.W. So when you hear the names of As'ad and Sa'ad and Sa'ad and Sa'ad and beyond. Love them. Because they loved your Prophet S.A.W. And they took care of him S.A.W. So that's one dimension of the Prophet S.A.W. gives to us. And then there's this interesting hadith. Which I'm sure all of you have heard. The hadith of Sayyidina Umar S.A.W. Where Umar S.A.W. hears the Prophet S.A.W. say that no one of you has perfected their iman. Until what? Can anyone repeat? Paraphrase is fine. Who knows this hadith? Until what? Someone can raise their hand and say. Yes. That's one hadith and it's an authentic hadith. جزاكم الله خير Not this one. حتى يحب لي أخيه ما يحب لي نفسه is one. Until he loves for his brother, he loves for himself. But there's another hadith. Until I am more beloved to him than his own self. Family, wealth, his own self. You know Umar S.A.W. is no hypocrite. We love Umar S.A.W. when we read about him. Because you get what you're looking at. The man was as transparent as they come. رضي الله تعالى عنه الفاروق Distinguishes between truth and falsehood. He's always there. رضي الله تعالى عنه
Pummeling the shaytan to where the shaytan doesn't even want to be on the same street as him. رضي الله عنه الفاروق He's an honest man. What does it say to the Prophet S.A.W.? He's afraid. Now when Umar S.A.W. and Ibn Hajar S.A.W. points to this by the way. Because it's an important point. Umar S.A.W. when he asks the Prophet S.A.W. something. Or when he hears something for the Messenger S.A.W. His intention is to practice it to perfection. Right? He wants to know exactly what he's hearing so he can apply it exactly as it should be applied. So he could have simply walked away from that. And so that sounds nice. I mean how many people could really say they love the Prophet S.A.W. more than Umar S.A.W.? And I guess I love him more than myself. But Umar S.A.W. wants to get to Jannah. And so that's why when he asks the Prophet S.A.W. questions. He gets to the details and then he goes home and he practices. So he says to the Prophet S.A.W. Ya Rasulullah. Because he processed it. He thought about the implications. I know I love you more than my family. I love you more than my wealth. But I don't know if I love you more than myself. Like what are the implications of that? Now when he went home and thought about it. How did Umar S.A.W. have this transition in his mind, in his heart? See a lot of people know the beginning and the end of this hadith. But there is a turning point in Umar S.A.W.'s introspection. In his Tadabbur and Tafakkur. In his reflecting upon this concept. Not until I'm more beloved to you than yourself. Umar S.A.W. goes home and he thinks about it. And what does he come to the conclusion of? He says, Nafsi. Myself. Sometimes it commands me to do evil.
The Prophet S.A.W. always commands me to do good. So you know what? I love the Prophet S.A.W. more than I love myself. I love him more than I love my nafs. See this wasn't some ambiguous emotional thing. So Umar S.A.W. is thinking about the practical implications. Yes, I love Rasulullah S.A.W. more than I love my own self. And the Prophet S.A.W. says, Al-an Ya Umar. Now O Umar. Now O Umar. That's the perfection of faith. Now I want you to appreciate for a moment that this is in fact the Tafsir of, Al-nabiyu awla bil mu'mineena min anfusihim. That the Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves. Nafs has a quality to it. Self has a quality in Islam. It has attributes. It has all sorts of definitions and dimensions. And ways by which you tame it. It's not an ambiguous concept in Islam. Right? When Allah says, Al-nabiyu awla bil mu'mineena min anfusihim. The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves. Ibn Abbas S.A.W. explains that what this means is, that when your nafs calls you to something, Idha da'ahum ila shayt S.A.W. Wa da'atum anfusuhum ila shayt. When the Prophet S.A.W. calls them to something, and when their nafs calls them to something, they prefer what the Prophet S.A.W. calls them to, to what the nafs calls them to. That is literally your daily struggle. Isn't it? To resist the urges of the nafs, and to tame it, by connecting it to Allah. And the greatest way that you connect it to Allah, is by making it more like Rasulullah S.A.W.
When your person starts to become like his person S.A.W. And so do you love the Prophet S.A.W. more than yourself? I hope so. I hope that I love the Prophet S.A.W. more than myself. But there is an implication there. See Allah S.W.T. does not leave these concepts in ambiguity. Because if you do, then you're never going to improve. You're never going to actually have a meaningful connection. That's why I say, إِن كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهُ تَتَّبِعُونِي يُحِبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ Say if you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you back. If you have relegated the names and attributes of Allah S.W.T. to a nasheed that you were taught as a child, that you recite, to a few scripted du'as that you recite robotically, to a few things that you read in a book of philosophy, to some things that you come across in Ramadan in the Quran, then of course you're not going to connect to the names and attributes of Allah. Until you start to perceive الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ الْغَفُورِ الْوَدُودِ الْكَرِيمِ in every single element of your life, all of these names and attributes become hollow to you. With the Prophet S.A.W. If the Prophet S.A.W. is simply a book that you read or a lecture that you listen to and not someone that you're trying to be like in every single moment of your life and someone whose sunnah has become the gold standard for you in how you conduct your daily affairs, then of course you're going to feel disconnected from the Prophet S.A.W. Loving the Prophet S.A.W. is not simply something that you express. It's something that you live. It's something that you try to embody.
It's starting to see people the way the Prophet S.A.W. saw them. And it's starting to try to see yourself the way Allah saw his Prophet S.A.W. It's starting to bring his interaction into every interaction that you have with the creation of Allah and then elevating your worship to the worship that he had of Allah. That's what it means to connect to him, A.S. You know, SubhanAllah, and I know we're getting close to Salatul Asr, there are a lot of people that are waiting for something deeply transformative to happen in their relationship with the Prophet S.A.W. And it's similar in that sense to this miraculous moment you're waiting with Allah S.W.T. to bring you back to him. A lot of people wait for this transformative moment where the light shines on you and suddenly it all comes together and now I'm going to connect with Allah after this deeply transformative moment. And so many people might be thinking, like I'm waiting to see the Prophet S.A.W. in a dream, if I see the Prophet S.A.W. in a dream, then it's going to be easier to connect to him, A.S. One of my teachers said something that stuck with me for a long time, and I'll tell you by the way, that it was because I went to him complaining that I hadn't seen the Prophet S.A.W. in a dream. I was so upset. I was so upset that I hadn't seen the Prophet S.A.W. in a dream. This is an interaction by the way, I want to say exactly 15 years ago. And I actually complained. I'm like, you know, SubhanAllah, I'll feel such a connection. I could have sworn the first time I went to Hajj, when you're in Medina, when you're in the Rado, when you pass by the Prophet S.A.W. for the first time, I was like, this is it. I'm going to see Rasulullah S.A.W. in a dream. And I'd seen a YouTube video, or at that time it was a Google video, prior to YouTube, where some Sheikh was giving a pretty,
in my opinion, a very reductionist take on how you see the Prophet S.A.W. in a dream. So I was really upset with myself, honestly. I was like, I feel like I love him A.S. I really want to see him. I really want to see him. And it is a gift to see him S.A.W. in a dream. It's a gift, for sure. It's beautiful that the Shama'il come to life in front of you. You can see him in a dream, S.A.W. May Allah Azzawajal allow us to see him in this dunya, before the next, before the Akhirah, and to see him day and night in Al-Firdaws Al-A'la, Ya Rabb Al-Alamin. Allahumma Ameen. But you know, he said something to me, S.A.W. He said that, you know, it's interesting that I know of people that saw the Prophet S.A.W. in a dream that were barely practicing Muslims. And that became the means by which Allah brought them back to him. And I know of people that memorize Al-Bukhari and Muslim and have the highest ijazah in the Shama'il Muhammadiyah, the highest of every collection that read about the Prophet S.A.W. that manifest him day and night and that appear to be the most righteous people and they'll tell you they never saw him in a dream, S.A.W. And that's just another ni'mah from Allah S.W.T. Perhaps Allah wants the one who is longing to keep longing and perhaps Allah wants to transform the one who is not longing at all. Think about that. Changed my perspective. It really did. Perhaps Allah wants that 75-year-old, 80-year-old sheikh who's been teaching about the Prophet S.A.W. and who loves him and who longs for him and who's been waiting for that sight of the Messenger of Allah S.A.W. to keep longing. And perhaps Allah wants to transform that 17-year-old and bring him back and give him something transformative in that way. But in reality, Allah has given us enough about the Messenger of Allah S.A.W. to long for him, to want to be with him,
to want to be like him. If you are struggling to love the Prophet S.A.W. first and foremost define what love is. That means that when he calls you to something or his nafs calls you to something else then you follow the direction and instruction of the Prophet S.A.W. By the way, very simple thing, subhanAllah. When you say something like it's just a sunnah. It's just a sunnah. I want you to think about how detrimental that is spiritually. It's just a sunnah. Right? No. Everything that he was A.S. I want to be. And I'm not going to diminish any element of that entire profile of the most beloved creation of Allah. How many people have walked the face of this earth? How many billions and billions and billions and billions of people. To be that one S.A.W. who Allah loves the most that's what I'm going to aim for. You know subhanAllah there is a saying that the sahaba are like the stars. Right? And I want to reiterate this. Aim for the moon who is Rasulullah S.A.W. and if you can't get there then inshaAllah you'll at least find yourself amongst the stars. Aim for the moon S.A.W. The sahaba all give you a deeply personal experience with the Prophet S.A.W. People ask me why I don't teach seerah and I teach the first. I go through the sahaba one by one. You know what I love about learning about the sahaba? It's like getting reintroduced to the Prophet S.A.W. through every one of their stories over and over and over and over and over and over again. It's like that point in the story that you're reading and you're like Where is the moment they met Rasulullah S.A.W.? Because I want to reintroduce him into my life every single day
until Allah S.W.T introduces me to him on that final day and allows me and you to be his perpetual neighbors. May Allah S.W.T put in us that true sincere love of the Messenger S.A.W. that transforms every element of our lives. May Allah S.W.T forgive us for our shortcomings and not let those shortcomings manifest themselves in a barrier between us and the Messenger of Allah S.A.W. May Allah S.W.T make us amongst those who dwell under his throne with his beloved one S.A.W. you
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