Amount of love for the Prophet - A Shortcoming of the Ummah

It is sad to say that today throughout the world; this Ummah is suffering from a very big loss. A loss that is simply due to our unwillingness and our shortcomings in not being able to recognise the greatness of our Holy Prophet . When an individual's beloved passes away or goes on a long journey, then imagine the condition of the heart of that individual. He constantly thinks about his beloved. He constantly ponders upon that individual's virtues and favours as he keenly anticipates his/her return. Is this not the relationship we should have with our Holy Prophet considering the fact that he bestowed upon us the greatest favours?

Allah Taa'la mentions this in the Holy Qur'an by declaring a challenge to the believers in a very powerful verse, He says,

“Say (O Muhammed) If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your tribe, your wealth that you have earned, your business the loss of which you fear, and your homes which please you are more beloved to you than Allah, His Messenger () and striving in his cause, then wait until Allah brings His punishment and Allah does not guide the Transgressors.” (Surah Tawbah: Verse 24)

Allah Taa'la used the word ‘Ahabba' (more beloved) because Allah is our Creator and He knows His creation better than we know ourselves. In the above-mentioned verse, Allah Taa'la has listed all the things which surround a person in his life from the beginning to the end and all things which are strongly attached and is beloved to him. A person has a natural bond and attachment to his parents, his children, his wives, and his relatives and if anything happens to them, he becomes greatly distressed.

When a person starts to work, he will gradually begin to cherish his earnings thus making his heart tender towards that which he has strived for. Assume that this was to go missing, imagine the grief he would go through. Allah Taa'la then mentioned ‘business'. When an individual works hard to start a business and begins to see it grow and become profitable then that too takes a place in his heart and he is constantly worried about the financial stability of the business. Then finally in this list, Allah Taa'la mentions the homes of individuals. The saying is true, ‘home sweet home'. If someone is on a journey then another saying comes to mind, ‘home sick'.

How amazingly true is the list that Allah has mentioned? Despite the fact that Allah knows how attached a person can become with the above mentioned, He used the word ‘Ahabba' (more beloved). The love, attachment and yearning for the Holy Prophet should be far greater than that of all the above-mentioned.

Now if this is not the case and the love of Allah, His Messenger , and striving for their cause are less beloved to us than the listed things, Allah Taa'la says:

“Then wait until Allah brings about His decision (torment). And Allah guides not the people who are Al-Fasiqun (disobedient to Allah).”

Allah has forewarned us with punishment if we have any shortcomings in our love for Him, the Messenger and striving in His path.

A valuable point is that if we look at the way Allah Taa'la talks to the creation through this verse. He could simply have told us that ‘love the Messenger more than anything else you have', but instead Allah uses challenging words and thus orders the Holy Prophet to pass this on to the Ummah.

Taking this verse into consideration, we should try to bring the love of Rasullullah into our hearts and fill the emptiness we have in that respect. The seerah (the noble life) of the Prophet should be carefully pondered upon to help us with this most important task and we should also contemplate on this verse and keep it before us throughout our life.

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