Shaikh al-Albaani:
“Know, O Muslim brother, that it is not possible for anyone to rise to this station of loving Allaah and His Messenger ﷺ except by tawheed (singling out) of Allaah, the Most High, alone in His worship, and by singling out the Prophet ﷺ alone for following from among the servants of Allaah, due to His statement: ‘He who obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allaah’[1] and His statement ‘Say: ‘If you (really) love Allaah then follow me, Allaah will love you.’’[2] And he ﷺ said: ‘No, by the One in whose Hand my soul is, if Moosaa was alive, he would have no choice but to follow me.’[3]
I say: so if someone like Moosaa, the one who Allaah spoke to (directly), cannot follow other than the Prophet ﷺ, then can anyone else do that? Hence, this is one of the definite evidences of the obligation of singling out the Prophet ﷺ in following, which is one of the requirements of the shahaada (testimony): ‘anna muhammad ar-rasoolullaah (that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah).’ Therefore, Allaah, the Blessed and Most High, in the before-mentioned aayah, made following him ﷺ alone to be a proof of Allaah’s love for the follower. And there is no doubt that whoever Allaah loves, Allaah is with him in everything, as occurs in the authentic hadeeth al-Qudsi:[4] ‘(Allaah says), ‘My slave does not come near to me with anything more beloved to me than that which I have made obligatory upon him, and My slave continues to come near me with supererogatory deeds until I love him; and when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he grasps and his leg with which he walks.[5] And if he asks me, I will surely give him, and if he seeks refuge in Me, I will surely protect him . . .’[6]
And if this divine care is only for the beloved slave of Allaah, it is obligatory upon every Muslim to take the means which will make him beloved to Allaah, namely following the Allaah’s Messenger ﷺ alone; and just by that, he will attain special care from his Mawlaa[7], the Blessed and Most High. Don’t you see that it is not possible to know the obligatory duties and distinguish them from the supererogatory acts except by following him ﷺ alone? And indeed there is no doubt that the more the Muslim learns about the biography of the Allaah’s Messenger ﷺ and knows of his pleasant nature and virtues, the more his love for him will be and the more extensive and comprehensive his following of him will be.”
[1] Surat un-Nisaa, 4:80
[2] Surah Aal ‘Imraan, 3:31
[3] Shaikh al-Albaani adds the following footnote: “Ad-Daaramee, Ahmad and Abu Nu’aym narrated it from the hadeeth of Jaabir bin ‘Abdillaah, and it is a hasan (good) hadeeth as I clarified in ‘Al-Mishkaah’ and others”
[4] a hadeeth in which the Prophet narrates Allaah’s Speech from Him
[5] i.e., Allaah directs his hearing, sight, actions with his hand and his walking to only that which is good
[6] Saheeh al-Bukhaari 6502
[7] Lord, Helper, Protector, etc.
[bidaayat us-sool fi tafdheel ir-rasool 5-7 / alalbaany.com]
previously alalbaany.com 
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