The Companions’ Love for the Prophet ﷺ

The manner in which the Companions showed their love for the Prophet.

The Companions of Prophet Muhammad are set forth as examples for all Muslims. They lived a life of total submission to the Will of Allah and complete devotion and adherence to the way and teachings of the Prophet Muhamamd ﷺ . They personally witnessed the life, care, kindness and sacrifice of the Prophet. They were inspired by his beauty, greatness and humility and were thus overcome with an extreme love for him.
Their love for the Prophet knew no bounds to the extent that they loved the Prophet more than their own mothers, more than their own fathers and more than their own children. In fact, they loved the Prophet more than they loved themselves.
The Companions had no doubts about the truthfulness of the Prophet ﷺ . Their faith in the Prophet was all-encompassing. They sacrificed their lives, money and families for the sake of helping the Prophet and his mission. The Companions obeyed every order and did not hesitate in the slightest way.
The way that the Companions showed their love for the Prophet was that they carefully followed his sunnah. Because of the love they had for Prophet, they only worshipped Allah ﷻ in the way that they were taught. The Companions followed what the Prophet did with- out introducing any new practices. This is because they knew the dangers and consequences of it.
The Companionsfully understood the importance of following the Sunnah. They knew that only those who truly love the Prophet ﷺ will follow the Sunnah. Adhering to the Sunnah is so important that Allah told the Companions and all other Muslims to follow the Prophet

لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌۭ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلْيَوْمَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَ وَذَكَرَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًۭا (سورة الأحزاب : ٢١)

There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and (who) remembers Allah often. (Soorat al-Ahzaab:21)

The love that the Companions had for the Prophet ﷺ is evident in the manner that the sa- habah unreservedly acted upon the Sunnah of the Prophet. There adherence to the Sunnah was with regard to was both the verbal and practical ahaadeeth. If they knew or heard that the Prophet did something and told others to do it, then they would immediately act upon it.
There are many examples of the Companions doing exactly what the Prophet ﷺ did and not adding things. The following two ahaadeeth show how the Companions loved the Prophet and how they followed him:

أن عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه قال للركن “أما والله إني لأعلم أنك حجر لا تضر ولا تنفع ولولا أني رأيت النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم استلمك ما استلمتك فاستلمه ثم قال فما لنا وللرمل إنما كنا راءينا به المشركين وقد أهلكهم الله ثم قال شيء صنعه النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فلا نحب أن نتركه (البخاري)

‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab addressed the Black Stone (Hajr al-Aswad), “By Allah! I know that you are a stone and can neither benefit nor harm. Had I not seen the Prophet touching (and kissing) you, I would never have touched (and kissed) you.” Then he kissed it and said, “There is no reason for us to do ramal (walking fast in tawaaf) except that we wanted to show (our strength) off in front of the disbelievers, and now Allah has destroyed them.” ‘Umar added, “The Prophet did that and we do not want to leave it.”(al-Bukhaar)

عن علي بن ربيعة قال : شهدت عليا رضي الله عنه وأتي بداية ليركبها فلما وضع رجله في الركاب قال بسم الله فلما استوى على ظهرها قال الحمد لله ثم قال: سبحان الله الذي سخر لنا هذا وما كنا له مقرنين وإنا إلى ربنا لمنقلبون ثم قال الحمد لله ثلاث مرات ثم قال الله أكبر ثلاث مرات ثم قال سبحانك إني ظلمت نفسي فاغفر لي فإنه لا يغفر الذنوب إلا أنت ثم ضحك فقيل يا أمير المؤمنين من أي شيء ضحكت قال رأيت النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فعل كما فعلت ثم ضحك (أبو داوود والترمذي) “

‘Ali ibn Rabee’ah said, “I was with ‘Ali ibn Abee Taalib when a riding animal was brought to him. When he put his foot in the stirrup, he said: ‘In the name of Allah.’ Then when he sat on its back, he said: ‘And all Praise be to Allah.’ He then said: ‘How perfect is He, the One Who placed this (transport) at our service and we would not have been capable of that, and we will return to our Rabb.’ He then said: ‘All Praise be to Allah, All Praise be to Allah, All Praise be to Allah, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest. How perfect You are, O Allah, indeed I have wronged myself so forgive me. For surely none can forgive sins except You.” He then laughed. He was asked, “What did you laugh at?’ ‘Ali ibn Abee Taalib then said, ‘I saw Allah’s Messenger do as I have done and laugh after that.”” (Aboo Dawood & at-Tirmidhi)

The first hadeeth shows that even though ramal was originally done only to show the disbelievers that the Muslims were not weak, and the reason did not exist in the time of Umar, he still continued with the practice. ‘Umar explained that the disbelievers no longer posed a threat, yet they still did the ramal simply because the Prophet did it. The second hadeeth explains how ‘Ali laughed after making a du’aa for no other reason than the fact that he saw the Prophet do it.
The Companions had the utmost respect and love for the Prophet. They showed that they loved the Prophet by following everything that he did. They believed that the Prophet ﷺ came with the truth and that he was walking the path to Paradise. Because of this, the Companions worshipped Allah in exactly the same way as the Prophet. Muslims today should follow the example of the Companions.

Learning from the lesson

The Companions truly loved the Prophet.
The Companions followed the Prophet ﷺ and they did not add anything into the religion.
Muslims should learn from the example of the Companions.

“Discussion:”

Should Muslims carry on doing the ramal even though non-Muslims are not allowed in Makkah ?
Why is it so important to adhere to the Sunnah of the Prophet ?