TRUE LOVE OF THE PROPHET (SAAW) ACCORDING TO THE BOOK AND THE SUNNAH.

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Indeed, all praises are due to Allah.  We praise Him, seek
His Aid, and beg for His Forgiveness.  We seek refuge in
Allah from the evil in ourselves and from the evil outcomes
of our deeds.  Whomsoever, Allah, Ta 'Ala, guides, no one
and nothing can take that person astray.  Whomsoever,
Allah, Ta 'Ala, takes astray, no one or nothing can guide
that person.  I bear witness that there is nothing worthy
of worship except Allah who is alone without any
associates.  I bear witness that Muhammad ibnu 'Abd Allah
(SAAW) is Allah's 'Abd (slave) and Messenger.  To proceed:

Allah has commanded in the Qur'an (what means):  "O you who
believe!  Have Taqwah (true fear of Allah) according to His
right and die not except that you are a Muslim.  O
Mankind!  Have Taqwah of your Lord.  The One Who created
you from a single soul and from him He created his mate and
from them both He created many men and women and fear Allah
through Whom you demand your mutual rights and do not cut
off the ties of kinship; surely Allah is ever a Raqeeb
(All-Watcher) over you.  O you who believe!  Have Taqwah of
Allah and always speak the truth.  He will direct you to do
righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins.  And
whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger (SAAW) he has
indeed achieved a great achievement."

Verily, the best speech is the Book of Allah and the best
guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ibnu 'Abd Allah
(SAAW).  The worst of all affairs in this Diyn are
innovations.  Every innovation is a Bid'ah and every Bid'ah
is a going astray and every going astray is in the Hell
Fire.

DEVELOPING TRUE LOVE FOR ALLAH'S MESSENGER (SAAW):

Having the proper love for Allah's Messenger (SAAW) is a
must for any Muslim who is striving to please his/her Lord
and who seeks his/her Lord's Forgiveness.  Learning how to
properly apply this love for the last Nabee (SAAW) is to
properly implement the testimony: wa ash hadu ana
Muhammadan rusulu Allah (SAAW).  Indeed, one cannot just
say he/she loves the Prophet (SAAW) while his/her actions
and 'Aqeedah are fundamentaly against what the Prophet
(SAAW) brought (i.e. the Qur'an and the authentic Sunnah).
Hence, the first step in the process of developing this
love is to acknowledge that the Prophet (SAAW) has a claim
over the believers.

Allah has said in the Qur'an (what means):  "The Prophet
(SAAW) is closer to the believers than their ownselves..."
[Al-Ahzab: 6].

Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah (Rahimullah), one of the great
scholars of this Ummah, relates that this Ayah means the
Prophet (SAAW) has a "higher claim" on the believers than
they have on themselves.  This claim involves two important
matters:

1.  WE CONSIDER ALLAH'S MESSENGER (SAAW) TO BE DEARER THAN
ONE'S OWN SELF.

This is so because this claim is based on love.  One has
the most claim to oneself for one loves oneself more than
anything.  Thus, a person knows what types of foods,
clothing, etc. he/she likes to eat, drink, etc. more than
all others.  However, when it comes to Islam, we know that
Allah knows us better than we know ourselves; thus, we
submit to Him and His Orders.  We it comes to the Prophet
(SAAW), we are to love him more than our own selves; thus,
we too put his commandments above our own opinions, logic,
etc.

Once this true love is established, compliance, obedience,
satisfication with his (SAAW) jugdements, and other matters
related to true love will follow.  This is confirmed in the
following authentic Haadith found in Sahih Al-Bukhari:

Narrated 'Abd Allah bin Hisham: 'We were with the Prophet
(SAAW) and he was holding the hand of 'Umar ibnu Al-Khattab
(RAA).  'Umar said to him, "O Allah's Messenger (SAAW)!
You are dearer to me than everything except my ownself."
Allah's Messenger (SAAW) said: "No, by Him in Whose Hand my
soul is, (you will not have complete Faith) untill I am
dearer to you than your ownself."  Then 'Umar (RAA) said:
"However, now, by Allah, you are dearer to me than my
ownself."  He (SAAW) then said: "Now, O 'Umar, (now you are
a believer)."

LESSONS FROM THIS HAADITH:

A.  The Negation and Affirmation:

The Prophet (SAAW) negates (i.e. rejects, denies) that a
person can have complete Imaan with his statement, "No, by
Him in Whose Hand my soul is...".  Thus, the affirmation,
or condition of having complete Imaan, follows: "...until I
am dearer to you than your ownself...".  Therefore, the
Muslim will never attain true Imaan unless he/she considers
the Prophet (SAAW) to be dearer to him/her than everything
including one's ownself.

B.  Character of the Sahabah:

Upon hearing that true Imaan can only be achieved through
loving the Messenger (SAAW) more than everything, including
one's self, 'Umar (RAA) quickly complied with the
commandment of the Prophet (SAAW).  The Sahabah wasted no
time in doing those acts which were pleasing to Allah and
His Messeger (SAAW).

2.  SECOND IMPORTANT MATTER:

The Messenger (SAAW) has more rule over an individual than
that individual has over his/herself.  This means that a
person only does those actions which are in accordance with
the Book of Allah and the authentic Sunnah of His Messenger
(SAAW).

Therefore, three critical conditions must be fulfilled in
order for a deed to be accepted:

a.  One must confess his/her belief in Islam (i.e. one must
be a Muslim).  b.  One must have Ikhlaas of the Niyah (i.e.
purity of the intention).  c.  One must do that deed in
accordance with the Book of Allah and the authentic Sunnah
of His Messenger (SAAW).

If one of these conditions are not meet, that person's deed
will not benefit him/her in the least.  Of course, absence
of knowledge is always an exception (eg. a person may make
Wudhu but does not know the specific parts of the body that
are to be washed; thus, he/she washes those parts which
he/she thinks to be significant.  His/her Wudhu was not
done in accordance with the Book and the Sunnah; however,
he/she did not know the way to make Wudhu according to the
Book and the Sunnah; hence, their Wudhu would be accepted
for a and b were fulfilled, wa Allahu 'alam).  These are
the conditions which the Salaaf As-Salih (Pious
Predecessors) understood with regards to the acceptance and
rejection of a deed.

Another implications of the testimony: Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah (SAAW).

BELIEF THAT HE (SAAW) WAS SENT TO ALL OF MANKIND AND THE
JINN

Verily, Allah, azza wa jall, has said in the Qur'an (what
means):  "Say (O Muhammad SAAW): O mankind!  Verily, I am
sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah - to Whom belongs
the dominion of the Heavens and the Earth.  La illaha illa
Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He).  It is
He Who gives life and causes death.  So believe in Allah
and His Messenger (SAAW), the Prophet who can neither read
nor write, who believes in Allah and His Words, and follow
him so that you may be guided." [Al-A'raf: 158].

The prophet (SAAW) said (what means):  "And the Prophets
were formerly sent to their people only, whereas I have
been sent to all mankind."  [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Therefore, recognizing that he (SAAW) was sent as a mercy
to all of mankind will, Inshallah, help kindle the proper
love for him which will be manifested through obedience to
his rulings.

FINALITY OF HIS PROPHETHOOD

Indeed, there is no Messenger/Prophet after Muhammd ibnu
'Abd Allah (SAAW) as Allah, Ta 'Ala, says in His Book (what
means):

"Muhammad (SAAW) is not the father of any man among you,
but he is the Messenger of Allah, and the last (end) of the
Prophets.  Allah is Ever All-Aware of everything."
[Al-Ahzab: 40].

The Prophet (SAAW) has said (what means):  "And the line of
the Prophets is closed with me."  [Muslim].

Believing that Muhammad (SAAW) is the final Messenger of
Allah confirms Allah's statement (what means):  "...This
day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed my
Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your
religion..." [Al-Ma'idah:3 (in part)].  Thus, if Islam were
not a complete way of life, then this religion would need
to be constantly updated.  In order to update this
religion, there would have to be another Prophet after
Muhammad (SAAW).  However, this is not so as Allah
completed this Diyn and it can never be changed from its
true form.