 Alhamdulillah, we are in the final breezes of Rabi' al-Awwal. Some scholars call it Rabi' al-Anwar, the spring, the illuminated spring. The month of the birth of our beloved Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. In this month, we have had the beautiful blessings of reminiscing and reflecting on the Prophet's miraculous birth. Some of us have had the chance to attend gatherings of praise. Some of us have had the chance to read Seerah of the Prophet. Some of us have even had the chance to visit the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's final resting place in al-Madinah al-Munawwarah. But what does it mean to truly love Allah and His Messenger? Why have we done this out of love of Allah and His Messenger? So what does it truly mean to love Allah and His Messenger? We can truly love the Prophet through learning about his life, following his teachings and loving Allah and His Messenger more than anything else. Say, oh Prophet, ya Muhammad, if you really love Allah, then follow me. Allah shall love you and forgive your sins. Allah is most forgiving, very merciful. The next ayah after that says, Say, oh Muhammad, follow Allah, obey Allah and His Messenger. In the Tafseerah of this ayah, the term Mahabba, from Qul'in Kutum, to Hibbun Allah, Mahabba means according to Ibn Ashur, Love is the reaction of the soul that springs forth when it becomes aware of the beauty of someone, either as an essential attribute, as doing good to others, or believing that he loves those who act excellently and good will come to him. So the love of Allah and His Messenger are inseparable. We love our Prophet because we love Allah. One cannot love Allah without loving the Prophet. If you love Allah, then follow the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. It is also emphasized in other parts of the Qur'an. Allah SWT says, Indeed Allah and His angels send blessings and salutations upon the Prophet. Oh you who believe, we must do so as well. So the fact that Allah SWT is sending these blessings and this Rahmah upon the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam elevates his status. Salawat is the ultimate expression of love that we can put into words. The reality of the term Salawat according to the Arabs is that it is statements that express loving good for one another. So that is the basis of the term Salawat. From there, the meaning of prayer came. Salawat from Allah means mercy upon the Prophet. Salawat from the angels means istighfar, and Salawat from us is dua. So from Allah, the Salawat is Rahmah and his pleasure. His pleasure and his mercy. And from the Malaika, it is their dua and istighfar. And from us, it is our dua and it is our veneration of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Now why do we love the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam? The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is Habibullah. He is the beloved of Allah just as Ibrahim Alaihi Wasallam is Khalilullah. Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is Habibullah, the beloved of Allah. So we love the Prophet because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loves him. Imam Al-Busiri mentions in his Qaseedat al-Burda The Prophet is the one whose form and meaning are complete. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chose him as Habib. And the word istighfar means chosen. And one of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's names is al-Mustafa, the chosen one. Another point about why we should love the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is his status as the greatest of the Anbiya. During his ascension to the heavens al-Isra'a wa al-Mi'raj the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam led all of the Anbiya two times in prayer, in Masjid al-Aqsa and in al-Mal'a al-A'la and in the heavens. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says So the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is Imam al-Anbiya and Khatam al-Nabiyeen, the leader and seal of Prophets. He is the loftiest of the Prophets and best of all creation. This is known by consensus. With this in mind it is imperative that the love of our Prophet must flow, emanate and radiate from our hearts. We must love Allah in his messenger in a way that is transformative and shows through our actions. Showing through our actions, it is something that we act upon. It is not merely dormant in our hearts. It is not manifested only in actions by doing things, by reading things. It is also in the heart as well. And the true love is to love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and his messenger more than you love yourself. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said in a hadith You will not truly believe until you love Allah in his messenger, until you love the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam more than you love yourself. And the love of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is inseparable to the love of Allah because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loves the Prophet. And so those who love the Prophet love Allah. In the story of Umar radiallahu anhu, he was walking with the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and he said Umar radiallahu anhu was walking with the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and he said to the Prophet you are dearer to me than everything except my own self. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said no by him in whose hand my soul is. You will not have complete faith till I am dearer to you than your own self. Then Umar said to him however now by Allah you are dearer to me than my own self. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said now Umar now you are a believer. So what is that stake if you do not truly love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala meaning we and his messenger more than we love ourselves then our iman is deficient. And also we love things that benefit us. We love money, we love wealth, we love our children but these things are temporal. These things are in this world but this love will bring us to an eternal felicity one that is everlasting. So wouldn't we want to take part of that? Loving Allah and his messenger more than we love ourselves is the key to an eternal felicity. But how can we attain this love, this type of love? The pillars of loving the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam are three fold. First is ma'rifah which is knowing the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, studying his seerah, pondering on his life, implementing the lessons that we learn. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says We have not created mankind and the jinn except that they worship. It is also mentioned in the tafsir so that they may know. So knowing, having knowledge is the first step in loving the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. The next part is ma'habah which is the love itself. And through that we will have itibaa which is following the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Following his commandments and avoiding what he prohibited. All three of these must be present. In order to get there, we must habituate ourselves to acts of charity, to fasting, and to learning about the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and building a connection. Because in this is the greatest benefit. Getting closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and entering jinnatul fardos insha'Allah. The thing that we love most is the thing that we will end up with. As it is stated in the hadith, The person is with one who loves, whom he loves. Another thing that we can do is make dua for this love. The madi'ih poet say, The love of the Prophet and his family is my way and my certainty. So, to know the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam bequeaths us the love of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Knowing the Prophet leads to loving him and loving him leads to following him. The greatest generation were a people who would follow him to the ends of the earth and whose love for him was undying, never faltering. Also, when a person loves someone, they are willing to do anything for them. So, if we truly love Allah and his messenger, we will do anything for them. One of the things, part of that is having love for our brothers and sisters in Islam and keeping us and keeping them in our du'as. In these difficult times, in Palestine, Afghanistan, in Maghrib, in Libya and the rest of the world, Muslims are suffering. Some of them are being killed mercilessly. Some of them have very difficult situations. So, our duty as Muslims is to make du'a for them. Especially when we make du'a for them behind their backs, it is mustajab, it is accepted. Allahumma haris ahlah falasitin bi'inika illa tanaam Allahumma jaalih ahlah falasitin an-nusra wal-izzah wal-galabah wal-quwa Allahumma surah ahlah falasitin wa thabbit aqdamahum Allahumma surah ikhwanana fi falasitin Allahumma surah ikhwanana al-muslimina fi kulli makaan Allahumma surah akhwanana al-muslimina fi kulli makaan Ya Rabbi al-alameen Allahumma ahdina fi man hadayt Wa aafina fi man aafayt Wa tawallana fi man tawallayt Wa bariklana fi ma aatayt Waqina wasrif anna bi rahmatika sharra ma qadayt Innaka taqdi wa lai qadaa aleyk Innahu lai dillum wa layt Wa lai izum an aadayt Tabarak ta rabbana wa taalayt Falakal hamd wa ala ma aatayt Wa lakal shukru ala ma an'amta bihi wa alaayt Mastaghfiruq Allahumma wa natubu ilayk Allahumma lai tada'na dhamman illa ghafartah Wa laa dainin illa qadaytah Wa laa hamman illa ferrajdah Wa laa maridin illa shafaytah Bi rahmatika ya arhaman rahimin Allahumma raham motana wa motan muslimin Wa shhimardana wa mardan muslimin Allahumma gfirli wa aladina Kamarabbawna as-Nigara Allahumma adkhilna jalat al-Fildous Ma an nabiina wa sudiqina wa shuhadai wa al-salihin Wa hasuna ula'ika rafiqa Innahu lai wa ma laiqatahu Yusalluna aalan nabi Ya ayyuhal lazina aaman Yusallu aalaihi wa salim wa taslima Allahumma sali ala Sayyidina Muhammadin Bi rahmatika wa rasulika nabiil umi Wa ala aalihi wa sahbihi wa salim Umu ila salatikum Athabani wa Athabakum Allah