Using the term "lover" for one who loves the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. This questioner says: Is it permissible for a man to call himself a lover of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), meaning that he loves him with the greatest love?
Answer:
This is not love (ishq). Ishq is for women. Ishq is for women. Is it not said that so-and-so is a lover of so-and-so? This is not permissible. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. This questioner says: Is it permissible for a man to call himself a lover of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), meaning that he loves him with the greatest love?
Answer:
This is not love (ishq). Ishq is for women. Ishq is for women. Is it not said that so-and-so is a lover of so-and-so? This is not permissible. Yes.
Source
شرح إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان لابن القيم، فصل فمن المحبة النافعة : محبة الزوجة وما ملكت يمين الرجل — islamhouse.com (44:36)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.