Romance! Love! Who really is our role model?

One time or another, in between our busy lives, we would think about love. Whether we are reminded of it from the television, or from people around us, or even within our own family, spouse etc, we would somehow find our paths crossing with it. But what really does love mean. And who is the best person to represent love and romance. You may be thinking of various actors from movies or shows, and the romatic/love scene they were acting out, or perhaps it may even be phrases from poems, or maybe people's stories of how they spent their Valentines Day with their spouses/partners.

Yes, I know, all these scenes, poems, and stories are romantic, and they do make us go "Awww", but after reading an article posted on muslimmatters.org called The Sunnah of Love at http://muslimmatters.org/2011/10/28/yahya-ibrahim-the-sunnah-of-love/, I finally realized that this is actually part of our religion, Islam, and that the Prophet (pbuh) was affectionate, compassionate and loving to his wives. And this was not just any person, this was Allah (swt)'s Messenger, and he is the one the represents what Islam is about! Let me give you a glimpse of some of the ways the Prophet (pbuh) expressed this love:

The Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam mended his own shoes at times. What you may not have heard was how once as he was sitting in a room with 'Aisha raḍyAllāhu 'anha fixing his shoes, 'Aisha happened to look to his blessed forehead and noticed that there were beads of sweat on it. Mesmerized by the majesty of that sight she remained transfixed staring at him long enough for him to notice.

The Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam said, “What's the matter?” She replied, “If Abu Bukair Al-Huthali, the poet, saw you, he would know that his poem was written for you.” The Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam asked, “What did he say?” She replied,

“Abu Bukair said that if you looked to the majesty of the moon, it twinkles and lights up the world for everybody to see.”

So the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam got up, walked to Aisha, kissed her between the eyes, and said,

“Wallahi ya Aisha, you are like that to me and more.”

And another:

'Aisha raḍyAllāhu 'anha and the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam would use code language with each other denoting their love. She asked the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam how he would describe his love for her. The Prophet Muḥammad answered, saying: “Like a strong binding knot.” The more you tug, the stronger it gets, in other words.

Every so often 'Aisha would playfully ask, “How is the knot?” The Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam would answer, “As strong as the first day (you asked).”

Now, this is the Prophet (pbuh) that we are talking about here! Sometimes I get frustrated when I read articles regarding marriage, and the advice for men is only 1 page and the advice for women is 5 pages! Like literally! I was reading through one of the Islamic magazines they publish here in Australia, and I was so shocked at the amount of Hadith they quoted when it came to the advice for women part! Each statement was a hadeeth and there were 40 hadeeth all together. No kidding! And when it came to the advice for men part, there was no hadeeth! I thought they would at least quote the Prophet (pbuh) famous words from his last sermon stating:

"Be kind to women-you have rights over your wives, and they have rights over you." Treat your women well, and be kind to them, for they are your partners and committed helpers" (Bukhari).

But, this article did not even quote that statement! And some of the things they wrote in the advice for women were quite shocking and too gruesome to write on here!

Anyways, for those who want to read of some of the ways the Prophet (pbuh) had expressed his love, go to :

http://muslimmatters.org/2011/10/28/yahya-ibrahim-the-sunnah-of-love/