I just want to quickly say that the man who that you’re probably thinking about is probably not the same man that I’m gonna be talking about. But okay, let’s start our discussion.

How to love a man who never you met? I think this is gonna be one of the most discussion I’ve ever done.

I want to share with you a story about a man whom I’ve never met, but whom I love a lot. He is someone who is extremely kind, someone who is incredibly generous, and compassionate. Even to the people who have mocked, or hurt, or insulted him. He is someone who championed the rights of women, of orphans, of the poor, in a time where no one bothered about them.

Everything about him was beautifully balanced. He was neither too tall nor too short. He was not too fair, or too tanned. His hair was neither too straight nor too curly.

Some people have said that “he is as beautiful as the moon”. Some of you may know who I’m talking about right now, but for those of you who don’t. The man whom I’ve been describing is the Prophet Muhammad SAW.

He is my Prophet, he is my beloved, and he is also my biggest role model. But to be honest with you guys, for the longest time, I’ve had no idea how to love him.

I mean, I knew he was my Prophet, I knew we were supposed to love him. But he was just a figure from the past. And I would get extremely jealous at my friend, or at people who would cry just by hearing his name SAW.

That it made me think, “Is there something wrong with me?” that I’ve not been able to love him, like how all these people could.

When I started thinking logically about this, I realised that the main reason why I haven’t been able to love the Prophet SAW is simply that I didn’t know him. I mean, I knew his name, Muhammad SAW but I didn’t know his stories. I knew he was a Prophet, but I didn’t know the kind of sacrifices he had to make for me, for you, and for his Ummah. I said the Shahadah every single day, but I’ve never stopped to realise how the Sahadah is incomplete without me believing in him. That my faith will also be incomplete if I didn’t take the time to get to know and to love the Prophet SAW.

So that about 7–8 years ago. And ever since then, to get to know him SAW. And I do this through learning about him, through reading stories about him, through listening to lectures about him, and every single time I would read, or I would listen about him SAW, my hard heart would melt in awe, and in love towards him. Because the more I learn about him, the more I realised that he SAW loved me too, someone whom he has never met.

There is one story, that I keep really close to my heart and I wanna share this with you guys today. So this is part of a very long Hadith but I will try to be concise.

So Allah will grant a dua, for every single Prophet. But Rasulullah SAW is the only Prophet who has kept his dua, and he kept his dua to be used on the Day of Judgement for his Ummah. Because he knew that is the time where we need it the most. What would happen on Judgement Day is that everyone is doing their best to save themselves?. So they will start saying, “Let’s go to the Prophets. They might be able to intercede for us.” So the people started to go to Nabi Adam AS because he was the first man ever created and the first Prophet. But Nabi Adam AS said, “No, go to the next one.” And they went from Nabi Adam AS to Nabi Nuh AS, to Nabi Ibrahim AS, to Nabi Musa AS, to Nabi Isa AS, and all of them said the same thing, “I’m not qualified, please go to the next one after me.”

Until they reached Prophet Muhammad SAW. And Rasulullah SAW on that day, would go into prostration and he would stay in prostration for as long as you can never imagine. And he will call out to Allah as he has never called out to Him before. And then he will say to Allah, “Ya Allah, Ummahti, Ummahti (My Ummah, my Ummah). Please forgive my Ummah.” (Bukhari)

So on the day where no one cares about anyone else other than themselves, Rasulullah SAW is the only one busying himself, trying to save us. You know, before Rasulullah SAW died, he said something to his companions. He said,

“If there is one thing that I would miss when I die, is not being able to see my brothers.”

Abu Hurairah RA who was there, he asked Rasulullah SAW,

“But aren’t we, your brothers?”

Rasulullah SAW said,

“You are my companions (My Sahabahs). But my brothers are those who have never seen me but still followed me, and still believed in me (i.e us, me and you)”

And then Rasulullah SAW said,

“I’m going to meet them on the Day of Judgement”

The Sahabahs were saying,

“How would you be able to recognise them? You’ve never met them”

This part really touched my heart. He said,

“I would be able to recognise them because on the Day of Judgement they would be shining with noor, with bright light from the Wudhu that they take because of their Solah, because of their prayers” (Muslim)

Rasulullah SAW, he knew that it would be harder for us to believe in him and to follow him. But Rasulullah SAW didn’t forget about us. He wanted us to know that we are his brothers and we are his sisters.

I don’t think anyone of us, no matter how much we would have learned about the Sirah of Rasulullah SAW can ever imagine how much Rasulullah SAW loves us. I don’t think our limited human brain can ever comprehend the kind of sacrifices that he had to go through for us, for someone whom he has never met as well. If you ask anyone who has ever taken the time to study read up about his biography, every single one of them would have one or two specific stories that they love about the Prophet.

I just shared with you mine. If you ask someone else, they would have their own personal favourites. Every single one of us can relate to at least one story about the Prophet SAW. So if you don’t have one right now, please I beg you to start reading about him, and the more you learn about him, the more you will fall in love with him, and the more you will miss him, and the more you want to emulate him, and the more you want to make him proud. And I think this is love that transcends time, love for the sake of Allah.

I’m gonna end this discussion by making a sincere dua, I pray that may Allah allow us to be in the company of Rasulullah SAW in the highest level of Jannah, and if you don’t see me there, please ask for me, okay?

Inspired by Aida, thank you, friend.