Reflection 26 – Allah’s Abundant Love Towards His Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)

This reflection and hopefully some others to come will intentionally move away a bit from ALS to other topics I’m interested in. The reason being is that I don’t want to feel nor do I want to convey to others the feeling that ALS is overtaking my entire life. Definitely it does hold a big share in it, but I like to see it in a way where I define my life rather than having ALS define it for me. Anyway, there are of course numerous topics that I would like to share with all of you, but I will begin with a topic that is very dear and near to my heart and I am sure to all of your hearts as well. And this is; how Allah expresses His love to his beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) as depicted in the Quran. In this regard, I will pick three instances to talk about.
Instance One
Imagine you’re the manager of a company heading numerous employees. Now, one of those employees is very beloved to you because of their beautiful character. One day, this employee does a grave mistake and you need to have a serious talk with them. What are the options you have? Probably two. You can either talk with them and then penalize them in some way or talk with them and let go. Now, forget about your employee and let us see how Allah, the Exalted, dealt with His beloved Prophet. The event was the Battle of Tabuk that was happening in a pretty far destination from Madinah and was taking place in the scorching sun of summer. These two factors combined meant that most hypocrites preferred to stay back rather than engaging in that battle. They then came up with all the lame excuses you can imagine and presented them to the Prophet for not participating. Accordingly, the Prophet would simply accept what they had to say. But Allah wanted something else from His beloved, which was not accepting those silly excuses and exposing their lies. But He did that in the most gentle way you can think of as depicted in ayah 43 in Surat al-Tawba.
عَفَا ٱللَّهُ عَنكَ لِمَ أَذِنتَ لَهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكَ ٱلَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا۟ وَتَعْلَمَ ٱلْكَـٰذِبِينَ
May Allah pardon you ˹O Prophet˺! Why did you give them permission ˹to stay behind˺ before those who told the truth were distinguished from those who were lying? [Quran 9:43]
Now, remember the employee you were going to fine or fire a couple of minutes ago? Well, this is not how Allah deals with his Prophet. He doesn‘t even reprehend him and then forgive him as you would have done with your employee in the best case scenario. Rather, He amazingly begins the ayah with his forgiveness to His beloved Prophet AND AFTER THEN poses the question of why the Prophet accepted their excuses. O ALLAH!! What kind of love and status does our Prophet have in the eyes of Allah?!
Instance Two
Prophet Musa (Moses) (Peace be upon him) is the most talked about character in the entire Quran. This is due to the fact that his nation and the Muslim Umma would have lots in common and lots to learn from. He also holds a very unique status being the only Prophet to talk to Allah directly in a couple of instances. Of these events, his first encounter and dialogue with Allah is very interesting. After offering him a brief introduction about himself, Allah then asks him to go to the Pharaoh because he has transgressed in his injustices. So, did Prophet Musa simply say yes and went on with his life. Actually NO! He first asked Allah more a handful of requests before beginning his task. And the first thing he asked Allah was to expand his chest.
قَالَ رَبِّ ٱشْرَحْ لِى صَدْرِى. وَيَسِّرْ لِىٓ أَمْرِى
“Moses prayed, “My Lord! Uplift my heart for me, and make my task easy” [Quran 20:25-26]
Basically, when we deal with tough situations involving harsh people, we feel as if our chests are tight and therefore we ask for its expansion. So what does all of this have to do with Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him)?! Remember the unique status Prophet Musa has! Despite it, he still had to ask Allah to expand his chest. Well, compare this with our Prophet!! For him, he doesn‘t even have to ask. It simply flows normally. Didn‘t you read Allah’s words:
أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ
Have We not uplifted your heart for you ˹O Prophet˺. [Quran 94:1]
Once again, ya ALLAH! How much do you love your Prophet?!
Instance Three
Probably this one is the most beloved to my heart. Have you ever asked yourself why do Muslims pray facing the Kaaba? I will give you a minute to think. Ha, any answers? Ok, some of you are right. They said because it is Allah‘s command as mentioned in the Quran. Once again, this is a correct answer. But do you know why Allah commanded it? Well, let‘s read this ayah together.
قَدْ نَرَىٰ تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ ۖ فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةًۭ تَرْضَىٰهَا ۚ فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ ۚ وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنتُمْ فَوَلُّوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُۥ ۗ وَإِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ لَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ ٱلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ ۗ وَمَا ٱللَّهُ بِغَـٰفِلٍ عَمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ.
Indeed, We see you ˹O Prophet˺ turning your face towards heaven. Now We will make you turn towards a direction ˹of prayer˺ that will please you. So turn your face towards the Sacred Mosque ˹in Mecca˺—wherever you are, turn your faces towards it. Those who were given the Scripture certainly know this to be the truth from their Lord. And Allah is never unaware of what they do.
Did you get it? You and me and billions of Muslims will pray in this direction because our Beloved Prophet used to stare at the sky with his heart being so attached to the Kaaba in Makkah. Once again, he didn‘t need to even talk or spell it out. Allah’s love is encircling him in every possible way.
TO SUM UP
Doesn’t this abundant love from Allah towards his Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) necessitate some love from us to him? And doesn‘t that mean we need to first KNOW Him and then FOLLOW Him as a way to display our love?! THINK ABOUT IT!
May Allah forgive our ignorance of the Prophet’s life and our distance from his sayings and actions! (Say Ameen )