Do You Heart Him???

I will begin this post with two beautiful hadiths where Prophet Muhammad (saw) said:

"None of you believes until he loves me more than he loves his children, his parents, and all people."

and
"None of you believes until he loves me more than he loves himself."

When I first learned about this hadith, I was not married yet. I thought, "hey, that's not so bad. I can fulfill that condition. I just need to love the Prophet more than I love parents, siblings and some material wealth." Then I married the Bride. I thought, "yup, still can fulfill that condition. I have room for much love in me. I can easily love the Prophet more than I love my own beloved wife."

When Alisha came into this world I felt as though my heart had grown so much bigger to accommodate the love that I have for her. Ask any parent and they would tell you the same feeling. Parental instincts will creep into you naturally. Sometimes it can even go to extreme levels. Although to some people, it just doesn’t come at all. A drastic example would be about husband who chopped his pregnant wife’s fingers because he lost his temper. The pregnant lady decidede to sacrifice her fingers from being re-attached as the doctors fear the operation might risk her baby’s life. She chose her baby over her fingers. That’s a clear example of whether you have the parental instinct or you are just a cold hearted idiot.

Then it struck me, “Damn… If I love my daughter this much *imagining that I stretch my hands like the Energizer battery in my head*, do I really love the Prophet more than that?” Ask any parent and they would say, “That’s a lot of love man!”

It is easy to have the intention to love the Prophet more than that. But how do you really do that? The only way is for me to get to know him better. This can be done either through reading the Quran, his hadith, autobiography, books, attend classes, talks and be around people who constantly remind you of him. Islam also teaches us the many ways to be close to the Prophet (see here.)

I recall one hadith regarding the intention to love the Prophet (saw):
Narrated 'Abdullah bin Hisham:

We were with the Prophet and he was holding the hand of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab. 'Umar said to Him, "O Allah's Apostle! You are dearer to me than everything except my own self." The Prophet said, "No, by Him in Whose Hand my soul is, (you will not have complete faith) till I am dearer to you than your own self." Then 'Umar said to him, "However, now, by Allah, you are dearer to me than my own self." The Prophet said, "Now, O 'Umar, (now you are a believer).”

Sahih Bukhari: Volume 8, Book 78, Number 628

To myself, this hadith shows that at times, we can change our intention if we are sincere. Sayidina Umar loved himself a little bit more than he loved the Prophet. But when he was taught otherwise, because he knew that the teachings of the Prophet is true and pure, he corrected himself accordingly and it was accepted.

So the question is do you love the Prophet more than you love yourself, parents, children or anyone?

That is my new mission. I want to love the Prophet more than Energizer Battery’s stretched arms. I want to be able to give the Sayidina Umar’s answer and have that answer accepted.

By doing so, I hope to gain his wisdom and benefit such knowledge.
Insya Allah.

Would you like to join me?
Blog adjourned.