Those people loved the Messenger

Allah (Glory be to Him) says: "And whoso obey Allâh and the Messenger (Muhammad peace be upon him), then they will be in the company of those on whom Allâh has bestowed His Grace, of the Prophets, the Siddiqûn (those followers of the Prophets who were first and foremost to believe in them, like Abu Bakr As-Siddîq may Allah be pleased with him), the martyrs, and the righteous. And how excellent these companions are!" [Surat An-Nisa': 69].

Imam Al Baghawy said in his Tafsir: "The Ayah was revealed about Thawban, the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) who loved the Messenger of Allah greatly and had no patience to stay away from him. One day, he came to the Messenger of Allah and his face changed out of sadness. Thereupon, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "What has changed your face?" He said: O Messenger of Allah, I do not suffer sickness or pain, but I have not seen you for a long time, so I missed you. I recalled the Hereafter and I feared that I would not see you there because you will be in a higher position and degree with the Prophets, whereas I will be in a lower position. Moreover, if I shall not enter Paradise, I shall not see you. Then the Ayah was revealed.

Examples of those who loved the Messenger:

• `Abdullah ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) was working in his garden when his son came to tell him that the Messenger of Allah had passed away. Thereupon, he said: O Allah, make me blind so that I do not see anyone after the Prophet (peace be upon him), then his sight was gone and Allah had responded to his invocations.

• Ethiopian Bilal, the muezzin of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) grew up while the love of the Prophet (peace be upon him) possessed his heart until he was in the agony of death. He heard some of his family saying: "How miserable we shall be after you," thereupon Bilal opened his eyes smiling and said: "How lucky I am! Tomorrow I shall meet the beloved ones: Muhammad and his Companions."

• When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was mentioned before `Abdullah Az-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him), he used to cry until he flew tears.

Examples from the appreciation of women to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him):

• The Ansary woman whose father, brother, and husband were killed with the Messenger of Allah on Sunday, then she did not ask about them but asked: How is the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)? They said: He is fine. She said: Show him to me until I see him with my own eyes. When she saw him, she said: Every ordeal is easy as long as it does not befall on the Prophet.

• One day, `Amr ibn Al `As said: No one was dearer to me than the Messenger of Allah and no one was more respected in my eyes than the Prophet. However, I did not dare to look into his eyes out of respect and reverence and if I am asked to describe him, I cannot describe him because I could not look into his eyes.

• When Quraysh sent `Urwah ibn Mas`ud to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) on the Day of Al Hudaybiyah Treaty and saw how they revered the Messenger of Allah, he said: I have never seen anyone loves someone else as the Companions of Muhammad loved him. When he finished ablution, the Companions hasted to use his ablution [as a blessing].

• It was reported that when `Abdullah ibn Mas`ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)," he felt distress and sweat flew down his forehead.

Moreover, loving the Prophet (peace be upon him) entails loving all his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). `Abdullah ibn Al Mubarak said: There are two qualities whomever is characterized by will be secure; they are: Truthfulness and the love of Muhammad's Companions.

Ayyub As-Sakhtiyany used to say: Whoever loves Abu Bakr will have a complete faith. Whoever loves `Umar will find out the Straight Path. Whoever loves `Uthman will have a light from Allah. Whoever loves Ali will hold firm with the religion, and whoever praises the Companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be secure of hypocrisy. Whoever dispraises one of them is an innovator and does not act according to the Sunnah or the way of the Pious Predecessors, and I fear that his actions shall be in vain until he loves them.

Loving the Messenger of Allah is the great rank about which people compete, lovers haste to gain, and worshippers yearn to reach because it is the nutrition of the hearts, bodies, and the joy of the eyes.

Loving the Prophet (peace be upon him) and following him is the honorable life which a person seeks, so there is no true life except by the love of Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him), and following him.

Do not you see that the lovers of the Prophet and his Companions rejoiced by them, their hearts felt comfortable about that, and they became glorious in the world and masters in the Hereafter because of that?! On the other hand, those who hated them, kept away from the Straight Path, and all their lives filled by concerns, worries, and pains.

Imam Ibn Al Qayyim said in Zad Al Ma`ad: "The meaning is: As much as you follow the Messenger (peace be upon him), you shall gain glory and victory in the world as well as in the Hereafter because Allah connected between happiness in the world and in the Hereafter by following the Prophet (peace be upon him)."

So, anyone wants to achieve good and save himself should know the guidance of the Prophet (peace be upon him), his biography, and his life to get rid of ignorance and enter under his followers.

I ask Allah to make us from his sincere Companions and to gather us with the Prophet's Companions. Peace be upon the Prophet, his family, and his Companions.