Love for Belovedﷺ:

■ Love for Belovedﷺ:

A man once came to Imam Shafi‘i ؓ and said, “You claim that your Prophet ﷺ is superior to all the other Prophets, and that whatever honor and rank Allah ﷻ gave to any Prophet, He has also given it to your Master, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. But tell me, has your Prophet ﷺ ever brought a dead person back to life, like Prophet ‘Isa عليه السلام did?”

Now, this man was actually a Christian, which is why he asked such a question. He said, “This is even written in your Qur’an, that ‘Isa عليه السلام gave life to the dead. So you also believe this.”

Imam Shafi‘i ؓ replied, “Yes, indeed, that is true. But let me explain the difference.”

The man asked, “What difference?”

Imam Shafi‘i ؓ said, “The dead that ‘Isa عليه السلام brought back to life were those into whom Allah ﷻ had already once placed a soul. First, they lived, then they died, and then by the command of Allah, ‘Isa عليه السلام revived them again.

But my Master, the Beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, gave life to things into which Allah ﷻ had never placed a soul in the first place. Things that were never meant to be alive – trees, leaves, stones – yet by his blessing, they spoke, they responded, they bore fruit.”

This is the reach of the Prophet ﷺ, his rank, his status, his closeness to Allah ﷻ.

True Rahmah (mercy) is not only to revive what once lived, but to breathe life into what was never alive.

For example, the mountain of Uhud. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Uhud loves me, and I love Uhud.” Now ask yourself, can something lifeless like a mountain feel love? No, only a living being can love. But Uhud responded, Uhud moved, Uhud expressed love, Uhud shook in ecstasy when the Prophet ﷺ stood upon it.

Narrations tell us that when the mountain shook beneath the Prophet ﷺ and the companions, the Prophet ﷺ said to it, “Be firm, O Uhud, for upon you is a Prophet, a Siddiq, and two martyrs.”

And the mountain stilled out of obedience. This is why the Prophet ﷺ declared, “Uhud loves us, and we love Uhud.”

Look at the greatness of love! Whoever loves the Prophet ﷺ, whether human, jinn, or even stone and tree, will be honored by Allah ﷻ.

That is why the mountain of Uhud will be in Paradise, though it never recited the Shahadah. And the palm tree, known as Hannānā, that cried in longing for the Prophet ﷺ when he left it, will also be in Paradise.

This is called the Kalima of Love, the Word of Ishq (divine love).

Once, a Jew challenged the Prophet ﷺ and said, “If you can make that tree testify that you are the Messenger of Allah, I will believe in you.”

The Prophet ﷺ replied, “I do not need to call it. You go and call it, and it will come.”

So the man went to the tree and said, “O tree, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is calling you.”

And suddenly, the tree pulled its roots out of the earth and walked, step by step, until it reached the feet of the Prophet ﷺ and fell in prostration.

Seeing this miracle, the Jew immediately recited the Shahadah and embraced Islam.

This is the rank of our Beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ – not only the reviver of souls but the giver of life to what was never alive, the one whom even mountains and trees could not resist loving.