{There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful.} (At-Tawbah 9:128)

In the last passage of Surat At-Tawbah, Allah describes the qualities of the Prophet’s relationship with us. He mentions three characteristics that highlight how much the Prophet loves us:

First, he is so bothered and grieved over whatever befalls you or any difficulty that happens to you.

Second, he is so concerned with the quality of your life and wants to ensure that things are running well.

Third, he is so gentle, so kind and so merciful to us.

Do we do our best to love him in return?

Sometimes it is difficult to truly understand how much you should love someone until you know how much they loved you first.

When I hear the stories of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) standing in the night, feet swollen, eyes shedding tears, hands in the air  and making du`aa’ for you and me while I sleep at night, do not even make du`aa’ for myself sometimes, I realize then how much he loved me.

This Ramadan, let’s work on learning and loving the man who loved us so much, may peace and blessings be upon him.