To know him is to love him

Bismillah

I have fallen in love with Rasulullah Salallahu Alayhi wa salaam.

When I didn’t know about him, when I didn’t know about his life and about his AMAZING character, his unique compassion towards the creation of Allah Azza Wajal, I could not really love him. How could I love one I didn’t know anything about?

He was so foreign to me, the era he lived in, the language he spoke, the culture.. everything was different and all I could see was the differences and that was a barrier for me.

Alhamdulillah, one day I decided to find out more. I bought a book of seerah and as I read about him for the first time, and learned about all the painful events he endured despite the fact that he salallahu alayhi wa salaam was the beloved of Allah Azza Wajal, I could not help but feel for him and my heart softened towards him.

I would rejoice when he was rejoicing, I would hurt when others would hurt him such as the event in which some of his enemies put the inside of a camel on him when he was in sujood. I would cry when he lost his wife and uncle in the same year. I also cried at his pain when facing the death of his beloved uncle Hamzah Radhiyallahu anhu. Rasulullah Salallahu alayhi wa salaam deeply taught me about how to handle pain as I was going through a painful loss myself.

Rasulullah Salallahu Alayhi wa salaam the best of men, the beloved of Allah had to experience burying most of his children. As I reflected on this, I realized that he, Salallahu Alayhi wa salaam grieved far more than I ever had throughout my many losses.

All his children came into this world and lived a couple of years. The boys died early, at the tender age where you just get to really enjoy them, play with them and see their personality. That is when they were taken back to Allah.

Allah Azza Wajal knew Rasulullah Salallahu Alayhi wa Salaam will never have boys who would outlive him. Knowing that fact, Allah could have only given him girls. He could have taken the boys during labor or delivery. No, He waited for that time for reasons HE knows best. It is a source of comfort to me that He did because I can go back to the seerah and take comfort in the fact that the beloved of Allah went through more than me. It helps me to avoid asking myself, why all these hopes if they are not amounting to anything, why go through them in the first place. As soon as I start thinking that way, the experience of our beloved prophet peace be upon him, comforts me. After going through passages of his life that would saddened me, I would smile at other moments of his life in which he smiled, such as the time he would tease his beloved wife Aisha Radhiyallahu anha. My heart would melt when I would realize how playful he was with children and how respectful he was with the elderly. My respect for him grew when I learned that strangers could not tell in a gathering who he was, because he was one with the people. He would not give himself a higher chair or distinguish himself from others. His character already did that for him, he did not need any external props. SubhannAllah. The more I read, the more I fell in love and the more I appreciated the tremendous blessing of being part of his ummah.

What a blessing, what a privilege!

After reading several books on his life, I took a class focused specifically on his character and his appearance.

There again, I was impressed. There is absolutely no comparison. He is indeed the sealed of the prophets and the best of mankind chosen to lead mankind to the pleasure of Allah Azza Wajal. With this understanding, sisters, it became easier for me to embrace the Sunnah, to submit to ahadeeth that in the past I resisted. I became thirsty for more knowledge and for better understanding.

I now understand why it is part of eeman to not only believe in Rasulullah Salallahu Alayhi wa salaam but to also love him more than ourselves and everything else we hold dear.

Say, ‘If your fathers, sons, brothers, wives, tribes, the wealth you have acquired, the trade which you fear will decline, and the dwellings you love are dearer to you than God and His Messenger and the struggle in His cause, then wait until God brings about His punishment.’ God does not guide those who break away. (9:24)

This becomes easier with knowledge. If you find yourself far from implementing this command, ask yourself how much you know about him, for indeed, to know him is to love him.

This is the third eeman booster I wanted to share with you. We started with Tadabbur of Qur’an then moved on to the names of Allah and today we looked at the powerful impact the seerah of Rasulullah Salallahu Alayhi wa salaam has on our eeman. There are many eeman boosters but for me in my ongoing journey to Allah Azza Wajal, these three made a huge difference in my life and continue to do so. This is why I absolutely wanted to have these three eeman boosters available on our learning platform. Right now, the seerah class I taught is offered on our platform at a special price until after Eid.

Check it out and share your thoughts here with me in shaa Allah. I am curious to know if these classes helped you love him (salallahu Alayhi wa salaam) a bit more bi idhnillah.

And Allah Azza Wajal knows best!