بسم ﷲ الرحمٰن الرحیم
Defining Love: Mahboob and Muhib –The Love Between
Rasoollah ﷺ and Allah ﷻ
Bibi Reseela
TIL Women English – Year 2
Hubb… Love
What a strange concept.
When linked to Allah سبحانه وتعالى it becomes the reason he created the worlds.
When related to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم it becomes the beauty and essence of his character and reason for his impartial obedience and forbearance.
When linked to the sahaba and the righteous it becomes their strength and the physical embodiment of sunnah.
Love is of Two types:
Ishq e majazi
The commonly known love. It is materialistic, need-based and a mere fantasy.
Ishq e Haqiqi
The Divine Love. The love that goes above a temporary desire and need. The love that connects the two in a way where they are always in each other’s presence. The thought of the others displeasure is unimaginable and they begin to live in each other, for each other. Where the Ashiq can no longer see himself as an entity. For him there is only one. His Mahboob.
But then, ask yourself.
Have you ever seen such love?
The object of love is mostly a thing or person. Things break or become old and boring. People die, become separated, betray or become entangled in misunderstandings. Whoever you love, at some point you will come to realize that no person or thing is capable of being 100% loyal, loving, or understanding. This is because such perfection is beyond human capability. The only One who can truly be all of this is Allah سبحانه وتعالى
So, we see Ishq -e- Haqiqi is love for Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
And the ultimate example of such love, can be no other than Allah سبحانه وتعالى and his Mahboob Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى يُحْبِبْكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ
Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “If you ˹sincerely˺ love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you and forgive your sins. For Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
(Surah Al Imran verse 31)
The beauty of love lies in its expression and embodiment.
The Ishq-e-Haqiqi between Allah جل جلاله and Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is such that it has brought about the creation of all worlds and all they contain and RasoolAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم became Rahmatulil ‘Alameen, a mercy for all worlds.
Subhan Allah!
How did Allah express love for His Mahboob صلى الله عليه وسلم?
Durood
Allah سبحانه وتعالى sends durood upon محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم himself and rewards those who send durood upon Rasoollah صلى الله عليه وسلم abundantly. He has made it such that His remembrance is tied with the remembrance of his Mahboob. To love one is to love the other.
Kalimah of faith
The foundation the Shahadah, the very declaration of Faith is incomplete and invalid if the name and relationship of Allah with His Mahboob is not acknowledged. Allah سبحانه وتعالى has made the remembrance of RasoolAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم everlasting. Never to be abrogated.
Seal of the prophet
Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم was chosen to be the perfect example and perfect warner such that no prophet was needed after him. Allah سبحانه وتعالى gave Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم the highest of ranks, Maqam Al Mahmood; along with the status of being The Last Prophet and then marked the Seal of Prophecy between his blessed shoulders. Proof of His love and certification of their connection. The Lord of all worlds showing everyone, that Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم belongs to Him and is His chosen One.
Miraj – The Night Journey
Suffering from one hardship after another, one loss and then another (demise of Hadhrat Khadija رضي الله عنها and Abu Talib, may Allah be pleased with them both) . Mocked, treated harshly and then rejected. ‘The year of sorrow’ was a very testing year for Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم but Allah intended to comfort him. He made him see above and beyond the world and its people. Allah سبحانه وتعالى showered Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم with honor and love from the inhabitants of Jannah and granted him His Qurbat. What could be a better way to express your love, and comfort your beloved!
Created with Love and Perfection
Allah blessed RasoolAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم with perfect manners and personality and created him with perfection too. His blessed body and its features being in a just proportion. His height, his weight, stature, the waves in his blessed hair, the color of his blessed face, down to width between his shoulders. Everything was made with nothing short of perfection. Allah سبحانه وتعالى, honored him to such a level that when he stood with other companions he didn’t look shorter than them. He صلى الله عليه وسلم always looked taller. سُبْحَانَ ٱللَّٰهِ
How did Nabi Kareem صلى الله عليه وسلم express love
He صلى الله عليه وسلم would spend time alone, often isolating himself from his Beloved family for days, giving priority to Allah. Devoting himself to worship, immersing his soul in His Lords sweet remembrance.
His love for Allah gave him the strength to stand for long hours in Qiyam and Salah. The stamina required for such intense worship came from his deep love for Allah. He endured the hardships of life with beautiful patience and overlooked the misconduct of people. He prayed for their forgiveness. All for the sake of Allah.
He reached unimaginable heights of manners and forbearance because he صلى الله عليه وسلم knew these characteristics were most pleasing to Allah.
He loved Allah so much he physically became whatever Allah loves and because of this love, he loved everything connected to Allah, including us. His love for us is evident in his speeches and preserved in Hadith, and in his last requests before meeting Allah was regarding us!
When you love someone, you love all that belongs to them. You love what they love. His love for us is evidence of his deep love for Allah.
So how can we be a part of this beautiful bond?
Simple. To earn the love of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and His Habeeb صلى الله عليه وسلم we must follow the Qur’an and Sunnah.
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said: Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him. It was related by al-Bukhari.
The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said, “One of Prophet Dawud’s supplications was: ‘Allahumma inni as’aluka hubbaka, wa hubba man yuhibbuka, wal-‘amalalladhi yuballighuni hubbaka. Allahumm-aj’al hubbaka ahabba ilayya min nafsi, wa ahli, wa minal-ma’il-baridi (O Allah! I ask You for Your Love, the love of those who love You, and deeds which will cause me to attain Your Love. O Allah! Make Your Love dearer to me than myself, my family and the cold water).” (At Tirmidhi Riyad as-Salihin 1490)
Let us renew our intention today and set out to please Allah سبحانه وتعالى in everything we do.
May He accept us for His love and make our path to His closeness easy.
آمیــــــــن يارب العالمیــــــــــن
جزاك اللّٰه خيرا كثيرا
