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Belief in the Messenger of Allah
THE CONQUEST HZ. MUHAMMAD (PBUH) IN HEARTS
We will mention the conquests that Muhammad (pbuh) made in hearts and spirits. The conquests he made in hearts and spirits are far greater than his material conquests.
You should not forget that you can dominate only the body by force and pressure; you cannot dominate hearts, spirits and ideas. That is, if a tyrant has a great force, he can scare people and make them obey him. He could make them do everything he wishes. However, it is not possible to capture hearts, spirits and ideas, that is, to be the sultan of hearts, beloved one of souls and guide of ideas, and to establish domination on conscience with pressure and force.
After learning this rule, let us have a look at the spiritual conquests that Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) made. See how he won hearts, spirits, ideas and consciences and how he became the beloved one of the hearts, the sultan of the spirits, the guide of the ideas and the ruler of the consciences. Now we will give you some examples of how the Companions, the friends of this person, loved him. Thanks to these examples, we can at least understand how this person became the beloved one of the hearts and compare it to other spiritual conquests.
When Hz. Ali was asked, “How much do you love the Messenger of Allah?”, he gave the following answer: “The Messenger of Allah was more beloved to us than our wealth, property, family, children, and parents. We loved him more than cold water when we were very thirsty.”
Before the Battle of Badr, Sa’d bin bin Muadh said, “O Messenger of Allah! We believe in you and we have confirmed you. We witness that what you have brought is true. We promised you that we would listen to you and obey you. O Messenger of Allah! Do as you wish. I swear by Allah, who sent you with the truth, that if you showed us the sea and jumped into it, all of us would jump into it without any exceptions.”
Hz. Abu Bakr‘s father became a Muslim after the conquest of Makkah. Hz. Abu Bakr took his father by the arm and went to Muhammad (pbuh). His father uttered kalima ash-shahada there and became a Muslim. Hz. Abu Bakr started crying all of a sudden. The Prophet asked him, “Why are you crying? You father believed. Should it not be your happiest day today?” Thereupon, Hz. Abu Bakr said: “O Messenger of Allah! I wish it were not my father who believed right now but your paternal uncle Abu Talib. Your heart would be pleased now instead of my heart.”
Now think about it! Hz. Abu Bakr knows the love of the Prophet toward his uncle Abu Talib and expresses his sadness because Abu Talib died without believing. He says, “I wish your uncle Abu Talib had believed instead of my father and you would be happy instead of me.” A person cannot be loved more than this. The Companions preferred his happiness to their happiness.
Now, let us have a look at the love of Abdullah b. Zayd toward the Prophet: When the Prophet died, this person lifted his hands toward the sky and prayed: “O Lord! Blind my eyes! Blind my eyes so that I will no longer see anything in this world, where he no longer lives! “The prayer of this person was instantly accepted and he became blind.
What kind of love is it that he does not want to see the earth, where he does not live and wants to be blind? He prefers blindness to seeing the world without him. Has anyone in this world been loved like this?
Now, let us have a look at the love of Hubayb b. Adiyy toward the Prophet: Hz. Hubayb was captured by the enemy. The Makkan polytheists decided to kill him after keeping him for a certain period of time.
The polytheists grabbed Hubayb and tied him to the gallows. They turned him toward Madinah. They made him the following offer so that he might be afraid of death and give up his belief: “If you leave the religion of Muhammad and we will release you.”
Hz. Hubayb never expected such an offer. Accepting this offer was the worst form of death for him. He said with a solemn voice, “No, I will never give up my religion even if you give the whole world to me!” They made another offer sarcastically: “Tell us the truth. Would you not like Muhammad to be killed instead of you so that you would live with your family at home?”
The answer given by Hubayb, whose heart was full of with the love of the Prophet, intimidated the polytheists: “By Allah, I would rather sacrifice my life than see a thorn prick the foot of the Prophet!” Then, he continued: “My life is of no significance in the way of Allah. By Allah, if I am to be killed because of my belief, I do not care which side I fall; for, it is for Allah’s sake.”
What a love it is! He accepts to die but he does not want a thorn to prick the Prophet’s foot!
Now let us look at Zayd bin Dasina. Before the polytheists executed him, Abu Sufyan approached Zayd and asked, “O Zayd. Tell me the truth for the sake of Allah! Would you not like Muhammad to be killed instead of you here so that you would live with your family?”
Hz. Zayd replied as follows: “By Allah, I would not like a thorn to prick the foot of the Prophet Muhammad and to hurt him let alone him being here while I am with my family.” Abu Sufyan was astonished by these words and could not help saying, “I have not seen anyone love another person as much as Muhammad’s friends love him.”
Now, let us look at the love of Thawban toward the Prophet: Once, Thawban entered into the presence of the Prophet in a sad and gloomy way. When the Prophet (pbuh) saw him like that, he asked, “O Thawban! What happened to you?” Thawban answered, “O Messenger of Allah! I love you so much that if I do not see you even for a moment, I cannot bear it; I feel as if I will die of longing for you. Then, I cannot stop at home and run here to see you.”
Hz. Thawban began to cry after this statement. The Prophet Muhammad asked why he cried. Thawban answered, “O Messenger of Allah! Suddenly the hereafter came to my mind and I cried because of it. I can see your luminous face here whenever I want. However, in the hereafter, you will be in the highest rank in Paradise. Even if I enter Paradise, I will be in the lower ranks. How will I put up with not seeing you when I want to see you? This comes to my mind and I cry.”
Thereupon, the Prophet (pbuh) said, “A person is together with the person he loves.” Only this statement soothed Thawban.
Now, let us have a look at the love of Hz. Sumayra toward the Prophet: When Sumayra sent her husband and three children to Uhud, she said to them, “Go and sacrifice your lives at Uhud but do not let anything happen to the Messenger of Allah. If you come home safe and sound and if anything happens to him, by Allah, I will not allow you in. Sacrifice your lives to protect the Messenger of Allah.” Then, Hz. Sumayra decided to go to Uhud herself and help the wounded Muslims and distribute water to them. Meanwhile, she heard the following ill news: “Muhammad was killed, Muhammad was killed.”
This news affected Hz. Sumayra deeply. She went to the battlefield to find out whether this news was true. Someone who knew her said, “Look! Your father is lying over there.” She said, “May Allah accept the martyrdom of my father! Tell me about the Messenger of Allah. How is he? Has anything happened to him?” While continuing to look for the Messenger of Allah in the battlefield, someone who recognized her said, “Sumayra! Your sons Muadh and Muawwidh were martyred.” She said, “My sons! That would fit you! It fits you to die in the cause of Allah. I give you my blessings.” Finally, she saw the Messenger of Allah! She said, “O Messenger of Allah! Since you are alive, all misfortunes are easy for me.”
The Companions loved Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) like that. Their love toward him was superior to their love toward their own souls, spouses, parents and children. There are so many things we want to tell you regarding the issue that we cannot finish this topic for days. For, all of the Companions were in love with him. They loved him more than their own souls.
Now we would like to ask those who do not see this great thing Muhammad did in the hearts of people the following questions:
At the beginning of this evidence, we mentioned the following rule: You can dominate only the body by force and pressure; you cannot dominate hearts, spirits and ideas. That is, if a tyrant has a great force, he can scare people and make them obey him. He could make them do everything he wishes. However, it is not possible to capture hearts, spirits and ideas, that is, to be the sultan of hearts, beloved one of souls and guide of ideas, and to establish domination on conscience with pressure and force.
Considering this rule, how can the miraculous conquest of hearts, spirits, minds, and consciences by Muhammad (pbuh) be explained except with his being the Messenger of Allah?