What do I say when my child asks, ‘Why should we love someone we have never met?’ 

Parenting Perspective 

This is a beautiful and honest question that comes from a place of sincere curiosity, not disbelief. It is an opportunity to move a child’s understanding of love beyond the physical and into the spiritual. The key is to approach the conversation with empathy and to connect the concept of this unseen love to feelings they already understand, like gratitude and reciprocity. 

 A Love That Reaches Across Time 

One of the most powerful ways to bridge this gap is to explain that the Prophet ﷺ loved us first. This transforms the relationship from a historical admiration into a personal, reciprocal bond. 

Tell your child that centuries before they were born, the Prophet ﷺ was thinking of them, praying for them, and even crying for them. Describe how he worried about his Ummah (community) that was yet to come and made constant du’a for our forgiveness and guidance. You can say, ‘Imagine someone loving you and praying for your happiness more than 1,400 years ago. That is how much our Prophet ﷺ cared for you, personally. Our love for him is really an answer to the love he already had for us’. This emotional connection makes his presence feel immediate and real, closing the distance of time and space. 

 Meeting Him Through His Character 

Explain that while we cannot see him with our eyes, we can ‘meet’ the Prophet ﷺ every single day through his teachings and his beautiful example. 

Connect his character to your child’s daily actions. When they share a toy, you can say, ‘That is just what the Prophet ﷺ would do. He was the most generous of people’. When they show patience, you can remark, ‘You are showing the beautiful character of our Prophet ﷺ’. This helps a child understand that his legacy is not locked in history books; it is a living, breathing reality that we enact through our own good deeds. You can also compare it to loving a great-grandparent you never met but whose stories and values have shaped your family. We love their legacy and feel connected to them through it. In the same way, we are connected to the Prophet ﷺ through his timeless Sunnah. 

Spiritual Insight 

The question of loving someone unseen touches upon the very essence of faith, which is belief in the unseen (iman bil-ghayb). This love is not based on physical sight but on spiritual insight. It is the love of the soul for its guide, a profound connection that transcends the limitations of time and the physical world. 

Our connection to the Prophet ﷺ is alive and active in our daily lives through the guidance he delivered. Every act of worship we perform and every blessing we derive from living an Islamic life is a direct result of the message he conveyed. 

Allah Almighty states in the noble Quran at Surah Al Hashr (59), Verses 7: 

‘And whatever the Messenger has given you, take; and whatever he has forbidden you, refrain from…’ 

This verse establishes that our entire framework for a blessed life is built upon his teachings. The peace we feel in prayer, the clarity we find in halal and haram, and the moral compass that guides our choices are all gifts from his legacy.  

Most movingly, this love is a two-way connection. The Prophet ﷺ did not just know of his future followers in an abstract sense; he expressed a deep, personal love and longing for us, those who would believe in him without ever having seen him. 

It is recorded in Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith,4306 that the holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ once said to his companions that he wished he could see his ‘brothers’. When they asked, ‘Are we not your brothers?’ he ﷺ replied: 

‘You are my companions, but my brothers are those who have not yet come. I will be at the Cistern (of Kawthar) waiting for them’. 

This is not a historical account; it is a timeless declaration of love. He called us his ‘brothers’ and expressed a profound yearning to meet us. When a child understands that the Prophet ﷺ is personally waiting for them, and that he spoke of them with such affection, the love is no longer a question. It becomes a deeply felt, mutual bond—real, present, and eternal.