Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Sunday Guardian I March 1, 2015
A scholar very rightly says, "If there is a collection of hadith in a person's house, it is as though there were in his house the Prophet, speaking to him." This means that if you open, with earnestness, a book of Hadith and read the sayings of the Prophet, you will feel that the Prophet is directly talking to you and giving you guidance.
The same is true about the companionship of the Prophet.
If the true spirit is alive in you, and you sincerely desire to follow the Prophet, even today you can experience the Prophet's companionship.
For example, the Prophet's practice was never to hate his enemies. Instead, he used to treat them in a very noble way.
He would beseech God for their guidance. Now, if you have an enemy and you do not respond to him with enmity, but, instead, think "I should behave with my enemy in the same way as the Prophet of God did with his enemies", and if you do precisely this, at that moment you will develop a special relation with the Prophet.
You will begin to associate with him, in terms of your thoughts and feelings. This sense of association with the Prophet will expand so much that you will feel that the distance of time has been overcome and that you have arrived, as it were, in the company of the Prophet.
This is a fact. It is something that anyone can experience anywhere.
Now, if you face any such negative experiences and you wholeheartedly adopt the method of the Prophet in this regard, you will experience certain special feelings arising in you. You will begin to experience the companionship of the Prophet.
You will feel as if you were sitting in his presence and directly learning from him.