 Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala in a number of verses in the Qur'an express to us the status of the Prophet ﷺ and since we are in the period of celebration of the birth of the Prophet ﷺ it is appropriate and important for us to spend some time to understand his status with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala but what does it mean for us to express our love for the Prophet ﷺ now Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala made the love of the Prophet ﷺ obligatory alright Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala says In كنتم تحبون الله ثبت بعوني يحببكم الله that if you really love Allah follow me meaning the Prophet ﷺ Allah will love you back which means that following the Prophet is based on the concept of love but the more really specific verse is the one in سورة التوبة the chapter of the توبة the chapter of repentance verse 24 and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala would enumerate for us in this verse all the things that would distract us from loving Allah loving the messenger and also sacrificing in the way of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala and this is really a verse that we could think about and the verse begins قل إن كان أباؤكم say if your fathers وابناءكم your children وإخوانكم your brothers وأزواجكم your husbands and wives وعشيرتكم your own tribe وأموال اقترف تموها and wealth that you have accumulated وتجارة تخشون كسادها and a trade that you might feel or feel that it might be diminished or be in essence unmoving in the market تخشون كساد is for you not to be able to sell you open your store and there's nobody coming to there ومساكين ترضونها and houses real estate that you actually love or you are content with أحب إليكم من الله ورسوله is more beloved to you than Allah and his messenger so if you think about it he enumerated everything that we as a human being have focused on like who would actually would not say that I need to obey my father right and again for us for us who are coming from different parts of the world is like your father is more Munzal than sometimes the Quran right yesterday as a student came and talked to me in my office is my parents want me to study this I don't want to study it he wants to study science you know that Muslims have only two DNA right study everything you want just make sure it's doctor or engineer so he said I don't so he's studying what his father wanted but he said after I finish I'm going to do my PhD in Islamic studies I said Alhamdulillah at least you're fulfilling the obligation to your father but his interest is in here again I'm not going to critique this but again Allah is saying about how much the father and the parents have importance what I've now come you know that your children are dear to you what if one of them and your own brothers even in Arabic we say right my even the term for out in Arabic is have the brother in it right so again in Allah is saying this to us and I see a lot to come your own tribe or actually your husbands and wife was right and then tribal lineages and connections and then the wealth that you accumulate the trade that we do the houses that we appreciate all of this put together if it is more important more beloved to you than Allah and his message and then wait Allah says I have by like him in Allah he was already had in peace ability struggle in the way of Allah fatah Rabb us who wait Hatta yati Allah will be on me wait until Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala brings his decree upon you and this is again important to us chapter of Tauba is the chapter that is seen in the Quran has a form of declaration of war it's the only chapter in the Quran that does not begin with Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem by the name of Allah mercy of the beneficent 130 chapters begin with Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem sort of Tauba doesn't because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala begins by in essence barat on that it's Allah is disassociated from who those who disbelief in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala this is after the macons violated the Hudaibia tree the revelation comes with sort of Tauba that authorizes the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam to undertake the campaign against Macca so and here this verse is actually saying that everything that you put in a status of importance ahead of the love of Allah and his messenger and struggling their path then if that's your state then wait for Allah's decrees upon you right now these days we mix the understanding of how the expression of love to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is to be undertaken right and part of it is that we have entered into what you call the modernity that modernity has really transformed our understanding of Islam because in essence we wanted to have an Islam that is more reflective of what I consider to be their affirmation in Europe so we begin to try to approximate how our Islam how we are modern how we are like you know we're not like you doesn't mean we don't engage with you we don't trade with you we don't communicate with you but we're different insisting your difference is not an is not something that's problematic there is nothing wrong of saying I am different different does not mean that you have to quarrel with someone you have in your own household if you have children each one of them is different even though that they are raised in the same household right but Muslims again in the modern period as a result of all types of development begins to shape their understanding to reflect the notion that we are similar in relations to our theology in relation to our religion in relation to how we see the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam the Prophet was the center of devotion for the Muslims look at Omar radiallahu anh Omar radiallahu anh wa qala al-nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam la anta a habba ilayah min kulli shayt you are a prophet for a lot are more beloved to me than anything except myself right la anta a habba ilayah min kulli shayt illa nafsi except myself allati bayinajan bayin that's my own self mean my inner most that is me this is the only thing that is more beloved to me then then you so what did the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said to him fa qala al-nabi la anta a habba ilayah min kulli shayt la anta a habba ilayah min kulli shayt none of you truly believe hatta aquna a habba ilayah min nafsi and none of you truly believe until I am more beloved to him than his own self so this is the Prophet fa qala Omar Omar wa al-lady anzala alayka al-kitab by the name of the one who have revealed the book to you meaning by the name of Allah la anta a habba ilayah min nafsi allati bayinajan bayin Omar responded immediately saying oh by Allah the one who revealed the book you are more beloved to me than my own self the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said al-an ya Omar oh Omar it's now meaning now you completed the understanding of the relationship between me and you and my presence in there now why is this because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is the source of our guidance Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wa al-lady anzala alayka min nafsi kum that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that he is the one that sent to you a messenger from among yourselves so the Prophet was known right his character had no blemish whatsoever in Makkah he was the trustworthy one and commentator said they looked at the lineage of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam all the way from Ibrahim alayhi wa sallam all the way to the Prophet they have not found a single blemish on all of his lineage not a single blemish on his lineage from Ibrahim alayhi wa sallam to the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam so he was known his character is known his identity is known now why is he ahead of your own parents your parents will save you from the fire of this world right you don't want to see your kid touch the fire right the stove you what you call you secure your house you don't want them to put anything in the electric socket you secure it you put all kinds of things to save your kid from touching anything that might have a momentary harm and more so you'll try to find everything to secure them but the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is not only securing you in this world because everything that he brought to you secure you his Sunnah is actually the boat of security but more so he's secured from the Hellfire which is more permanent we spent almost limitless to try to secure our kids in this world and express extreme devotion to them sometimes we violate the tenants of our Sharia relative to our kids but we are not ready to express the same devotion to the one that will actually save us from Hellfire for eternity so we have our priorities mixed in this sense of not understanding what the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is about now there's a also the hadith that in the Rajeel and Atan Nabiya sallallahu alayhi wa sallam a man came to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam asking oh Prophet when is the hour right or when the hour or Prophet for Allah the Prophet says what did you pray for it? what did you prepare for it? which is again is a clear good question to ask and the man responded I have not prepared for it not much prayer I have not prepared to it not much fasting I have not prepared for it much in charity but barely I love the Prophet I love Allah and the Prophet the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam responded this is actually one of the shortest route to being with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam again I know that sometimes it's difficult to pray five times a day again just honest as a human being five times a day is difficult sometimes you're working if you're a delivery if you're in a company you don't want to go to the bathroom and do will do because they don't know what what you're doing to the bathroom and you have your legs up trying to do will do so again you might miss a prayer is very difficult sometimes you miss fasting not only Ramadan because you're sick and so on you don't fast additional days Monday and Thursday or the the 13 14 15 in the lunar month so you don't do the additional fasting and sometimes you're limited of Sadaqa so you don't do that so all of these are in the in the sense the Prophet by consenting to this understand where we are at so he's saying to the man who's coming to us right and to my man a habit so if you love the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam that love will make you to be in the company of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam how easy is that how easy is that I know people they have more love for what you call a video game because they think is going to take them someplace rather than expressing the love of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam if you don't have much that can much charity to give just say the Salah on the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam for every Salah you're going to take 10 rewards and you're just sitting in there so the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam has been an open door for you to actually increase your status with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for each Salah the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said there is 10 rewards and there are some that are more as well now there is another hadith which is similar to the one that I mentioned that the man came to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam faqal Ya Rasulullah laa antaa habba ilayah min ahli wa maali that you are more beloved to me all Prophet of Allah than my own family and my own wealth wa inni laa azkuruka fa maa asbar hatta ajee fa andor ilayk I remember you right when ni laa azkuruka and I don't have patience I don't bear the fact that I'm thinking about you and I don't have patience except I want to come and see you fa andor ilayk I want to look at you right wa inni dakartu mauti wa mautuk and I remembered or recall that I'm going to die and you're going to die wa inni dakartu mauti wa mautuka fa'ariftu annaka iida dakhalta al jannah rufiata ma'annabiyeen and I know that when you die that you will be raised to be in the company of the prophets wa inni dakartu haa meaning ana laa arak and if I enter paradise I'm not going to see you for him that is a traumatic right fa anzalallahu ta'ala because of that conversation between the prophet and this man Allah revealed this verse wa ma yuqa illa haa whoever obey Allah wa Rasul and the messenger fa'ulayk ma'allatheena an'ama allah those are the people that will be with the ones that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala have showed favor upon them minan nabiyeena with the prophets wa siddiqeen those who confirm the prophecies meaning Abu Bakr siddiq ta'abu quwalti wa shuhda'ah those who have sacrificed themselves wa hasuna ulayk wa hasuna ulaykarafiqa and these are the best of companionship in another narration that the prophet responded to this man man ahabbani fa kaana ma'eefil jannah whoever loves me they will be with me in paradise now we're trying to convey this in relations to us that loving the prophet is not only a metaphorical things that you think about is actually following the sunnah of the prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam because it is the nature of the person who loves to try to emulate whomever they love just think about you know not to compare it in the same way a person just loves a you know these days any one of these what you call famous or infamous or influencer social media and they begin to do replicate everything that they do they dress in something the next day they buy it they book the hat on their head they buy it they put the hat backward they put the hat backward they wear their pans down they wear their pans down they turn around they turn around and that's just in it's very short symbolic the person has nothing to do with them they're not giving them any benefit nothing actually the other way around the person as soon as you replicate them and click on the social share they're making money out of your engagement right the prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam is actually by following his sunnah he's guaranteeing you to be with him in paradise and yet we are delusional in thinking that this world whatever it has is providing us with the benefits or whatever we think which is why literally it's seen as to be the grass on the ground so following the sunnah of the prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam and the companions in the past whenever the mention of the prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam they used to actually have kushu they have to have sakina with the mentioning of the prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam because again every time you mention the name of the prophet that his presence is there and that's the type of quality that we want in relations to remembering and recalling the prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam because he is the best of creation by the testimony of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he is the best of conduct وإنك لعلا خلقنا عظيم verily you are in an magnanimous state of conduct nothing in the character identity history narrative of the prophet that a Muslim should feel ashamed or shy about expressing that relationship these days Muslims like they want to hide they want to because we want to fit in and as we want to fit in we just want to we like you know I don't want to be like you I don't want to wear my pants backward I don't want to have the things that you're saying I am like no I say here's my difference and my difference has a qualitative difference right the prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةَنِّ الْعَالَمِينَ if you read that verse you need to understand that the prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam is رَحْمَةَنِّ الْعَالَمِينَ both in his character both in his identity in his manner in his conduct in the way that he treats people in the way that he smiles in a way with people the way he's attended to the young the way he attended to the to the old the way he people will take his hand to the market to actually take that need and come back right that's our prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam that's why people who look at the so-called the greatest people in history the prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam is always there nothing to be ashamed of or to try to express that we want to be like you and in doing that you're actually almost erasing your specificity and that's why Allah swt you were the best people that not because of our blood bloodline has nothing to do with it it has to do with the conduct with the moral with the ethics with trying to replicate the character of the prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam we're an ummah of generosity that is the prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam he was more generous than the clouds that are bringing rain the next few days that's our prophet he died where his own shield was rented because he was giving everything that he had to people that's our prophet so when people come and visit Muslims they say this is a generous community that's because our prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam exalted the generosity and then also the prophet Ibrahim Ibrahim alayhi sallam is our prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam right he was known not to eat by himself he used to go out and actually bring people to eat with him and if you go to the city of Al Khalil one of the longest standing soup kitchen is in the city of Al Khalil in Palestine where he's buried where people who come and visit the grave of the Prophet Ibrahim they are served soup no one in Al Khalil goes hungry period this is our history this is who we are so don't try to say I want to be the same no be different and where your difference not in a boastful thing but they say here's what we did here's what our society here's our prophet and what his character is all about and that's why we remember him in his birthday not to get into all these what you call side thick differences that for me is just like completely delusional to try to actually get into these differences while we have the best of creation that is the messenger of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala I'll call you so so my advice to you and to to you and to myself is for us to really teach our kids to your families engage in the love of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and make a part of our normal daily affairs, even if you just remember one of his characters and share it on your dinner table as part of the conversation. This is a way for us to really embellish ourselves with the character of the Prophet SAW. A hadith, an ayah verse, a short story would be very important, and I think this is how we should express our love to the Prophet SAW. Faa Inna Qaadeeb Al-Khayri wa laa yuqdaaalayka wa inna hu laa yu'dannumaan wa layta. Tabarakhta Rabbana wa taalayka Rabbana raddanaa laa islami raddan jameelaa Rabbana raddanaa laa islami raddan jameelaa Rabbana raddanaa laa islami raddan jameelaa Allahumma yaa mukallibaa quloobin thabbaa quloobanaa laa taatik Allahumma arina al-haqqa haqqan wa arzukna tibaa wa arina al-baatila batilaan wa arzuknaa اشtinaabaa yaa rabbaa al-Alamin Haan al-Fahshai wa al-Munkari wa al-Baghih. Ya'idukum laa allakum tadakkarun.