In the Spirit of Love

A book once said: ‘ Say (O Messenger): If you love God, follow me. God will love you’”.

There is no way to reduce the infinite love and deep respect Muslims have continued to show the Last Prophet (pbuh) through the ages.

Deeply, simply: he who cannot love, cannot understand. Could this universal love start in small doses, in something as simple as people’s monstrous ability to kill love whenever they feel it?

___Once upon a time, Jade was a vibrant student. Her energy not only filled the classroom, but it filled his heart. A good devout young Muslim. He looked, and looked, and looked in her eyes until he could take it no more, so finally one day he burst towards her, close, close to her eyes as if to scream and scream with all might and glory his plea that he’s in love. And wants to do this the right way.

Then, out comes her ignorance: “umm, kamal, the MSA needs to order more pizza. Take care of it please. I’m going to class”. Even at his nikkah in a Masjid full of brothers and sisters, he gives her one last final look as if a man gasping for one last breath of air before he falls into what he perceives to be a loveless marriage. All he could see, still, was her. Again, she kills the love in his heart and looks away.

____Once upon a time, Fatima was great in extracurricular work in school. She even wrote in the school’s paper about her work as a role model to her peers. He connected with her humanitarian spirit, though he wasn’t Muslim like her.

When she found it hard to come up with new ideas for her projects, she’d go to him for advice and guidance. He offered plenty – as if a teacher guiding a student without realizing that he too was changing. Slowly, his heart beat fast except Fatima was Muslim, and he was a good person but not a Muslim.

This is wrong, she thought. But this time, he kills his love in his own heart because he knew it would never work. Slowly, Fatima watches him die out of her life. She never stops him from killing his love in his heart.

Time goes on and then, how can a woman or man love and understand – when all they’ve been good at is either killing love in their heart or watch it die in people who love them?

It is indeed a moral requirement to follow in the example of the Prophet in daily life, and it all amounts to a series of stories about love to people as ordinary as a girl in school, or a man at work. There is something for us out there to understand, and without true love, we won’t make it. The Prophet’s life is an invitation to a spirituality that avoids no question, no matter how hard it is, especially that of love between people in the right Islamic way, without turning us into loveless ice. Eventually, your heart will be so healthy it will know how to follow the guidance of the Prophet.

The result is God will love you. Find love in the footsteps of the Prophet before life finds you, and teaches you the wrong things the hard way. Bismillah.