When
we love Allah, that love draws us closer to Him and helps us build a strong
relationship that can help us in this life and in hereafter. As Muslims, our faith requires
that our love for Allah and his prophet supersedes any other type of
love for any other object or creation. Many scholars agree on the basis of
sound ahadith that Allah creates a person (and his heart) in such a way that he
has the natural inclination to love Allah. However, as a person’s heart gets
corrupted by doubts, desires and other temptations, that love has to be
rekindled through faith and knowledge.
What Does it Mean to Love Allah?
Love
of Allah requires us to love what Allah loves and to dislike what displeases
Him and to further demonstrate that love by following the Quran and the Sunnah.
This should be a reminder for those of us who merely provide lip service about
their love for Allah and His messenger rather than actualizing that love in
real behavioral commitments.
Let’s
review various aspects about the love of Allah and how we can build and nurture
that love in our hearts.
The
Obligation to Love Allah
Allah
has made His love obligatory on the believers. Many of us find it easy to
express that love verbally but unfortunately our actions don’t reflect that
love for Him. How can we claim to love Allah when we take what He has revealed
lightly, don’t follow His commands, and fail to make our behaviors reflect what
pleases Him? Many times we find that love missing from our hearts because our
hearts are filled instead with doubts, vain desires, and temptations of
temporal life.
Allah is my Lord
As
Ibn Taymiyyah stated in one of his books (Diseases of the
Heart), one of the reasons for this has to do with the lack of right knowledge.
To
counter doubts, therefore, we need to firm up our beliefs, and we need a better
overall spiritual perspective in order to counter desires and temptations. We
also need to clear those doubts that hinder the instilling of that love for
Allah by learning more and asking questions.
Consider
one of the ahadiths which shows the prophet getting angry with a group of
people for taking a decision that resulted in someone unnecessarily losing his
life. On that the prophet said, On that the prophet said, “Could they not have
asked if they didn’t know? Indeed the cure for ignorance is to ask” [Sunan Ibn
Majah and classified as Hasan].
When
we don’t make that effort and don’t plant that love in our hearts, our actions
too come out short and empty and we risk His anger and making our deeds
fruitless. Allah says in the Quran:
“That
is because they followed that which angered Allah, and hated that which pleased
Him. So He made their deeds fruitless” (Surah Muhammad:28).
What
do we have to do specifically to love Allah?
Take
the example of the companions of Prophet who used to say that “We love Allah”. In
response to that and to provide them a yardstick to know whether they indeed
loved Allah, Allah revealed the following verse:
“Say
(O Muhammad SAW to mankind): “If you (really) love Allah then
follow me (i.e. accept Islamic Monotheism, follow the Quran and the Sunnah),
Allah will love you and forgive you of your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving,
Most Merciful.” (Surah Aal-e-Imran:31) (Surah Aal-e-Imran English)
Allah's Love for Us
What
pulls us away from loving Allah?
To
properly answer this question, we need to search deep within our souls about
the motivations that drive our lives and our understanding (explicit or
implicit) of the purpose of our lives. That is because the purpose of our life
drives our goals, actions, and behaviors in general. For many of us, earning a
living tends to be the focal point of our lives, including a total immersion in
building our dwellings, families, and so on while neglecting our duty and love
for Allah. The time that we spend on various activities reflects our priority
and love for each of those activities. For those of us who exhibit that
behavior, Allah says the following:
“Say:
If it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your
kindred; the wealth that you have gained; the commerce in which you fear a
decline: or the dwellings in which you (seek) delight – are dearer to you than
Allah, or His Messenger, or the striving in His cause; then wait until Allah
brings about His decision: and Allah guides not the rebellious” (Sura At-Taubah: 24).
We
can, therefore, infer that while we do have an obligation to attend to our
responsibilities, that should not divert us from building our relationship with
Allah. As He says in the Quran:
“Let
not your properties or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah.
And whosoever does that, they are the losers” (Al-Munafiqoon 63:9).
Love
of Allah triggers sweetness of faith
The
prophet had said as narrated in both Sahih hadith, The prophet had said as narrated
in both Sahih hadith, “Whoever possesses the following three qualities will
taste the sweetness (delight) of faith: the one to whom Alláh and His Messenger
become dearer than anything else, the one who loves a person and he loves him
only for Alláh’s sake, and whoever hates to revert to disbelief, after Alláh
has saved him from it, as he hates to be thrown into the Fire.”
I Love Allah
Love
of Allah can keep us away from sins
Today,
when the hearts of most of us are filled with lusts, desires, temptations and
fantasies, we need to remind ourselves that it is not possible to have those
take room in the same heart where we want to plant our love for Allah. Always
ask yourself whether what lives in your heart makes you neglect Allah, and is
worth more than the love of Allah? When we start replacing the lusts, desires,
and fantasies that live in our heart with Allah’s love, then we will see
ourselves regaining that love back from Allah.
Ibn
Taymiyyah said, “the more the servant loves his Master, the less will he love
other objects and they will decrease in number. The less the servant loves his
Master, the more will he love other objects and they will increase in number(Majmu
Fatawa [1/94]).
Let’s,
therefore, take stock of how much we love this life’s objects versus how much
we love Allah and His Prophet.
Love of Allah stimulates our emotions
The
vagaries of this life generate emotions which must be channeled appropriately
for us to retain our positive mental states. No matter how we express and
channel those emotions to various people in this life, there are emotions
trapped in our system that we simply can’t express with an open heart to even
the most beloved of His creations. But it is different with our creator. When
we do succeed in planting that love for Allah in our hearts and build that
relationship, it can make our repressed emotions pour out with a pleasing
force. The relationship that we establish with our creator out of that love for
Him and His love for us can make us say what is in our hearts, complain about
our situations, express profuse apologies, and so on – all without worrying
about demeaning ourselves because He is our creator and sustainer who controls
everything in this universe. In fact, what we humans go through and what
manifests as hidden emotions can come flooding back when we sit in front of our
creator with that love for Him.
This
can help us in reconciling matters within ourselves and, most important of all,
lets Allah respond and listen to us. Thus, the more we love Allah, the better
we will be able to engage with Him at this level and the better we will be able
to feel and expect his mercy in return.
When
we love Allah, He will put our love in others’ hearts
Many
of us spend a lot of our efforts to gain the love and pleasure of others and
sometimes we may do that at the expense of disobeying Allah’s commands. We should
realize that such tactics are short lived (even if achieved) and earn us
nothing but Allah’s displeasure. On the other hand, if we focus on planting
Allah’s love, then we will not only get His love but He will instill our love
in others’ hearts as well. Allah says in the Quran:
“Verily,
those who believe [in the Oneness of Allah and in His Messenger (Muhammad SAW)] and work
deeds of righteousness, the Most Gracious (Allah) will bestow love for them (in
the hearts of the believers)” (Surah Maryam: 96).
How
do we get love of Allah in our hearts and lives?
Finally,
knowing that love for Allah brings about happiness, His pleasure, and keeps us
from indulging in temptations, we can focus on factors that increase our love
for Allah in our hearts. Ibn Al-Qayyim had indicated 10 such ways to bring about the
love of Allah and they are mentioned below:
Recitation of Quran with reflection and understanding of its
meanings and what is intended by it. This also enables us to know Allah using
His own words.
Optional
acts of worship, after the obligatory ones, can get us closer to Him and
furthers the love of Allah beyond what is achieved through the sincere worship
through obligatory acts.
Constant
remembrance in every circumstance by the tongue, the heart, actions and (one’s)
condition (based only on sanctioned forms of remembrance as described in the
Quran and Hadith), so that a person’s share of love is in accordance with his
share of this remembrance.
Preferring
Allah’s love over your own when desires overcome you and climbing to reach His
love, even if the ascent is difficult.
The
heart’s comprehension of His Names and Attributes, witnessing them and having
knowledge of them, to immerse himself in the garden of this knowledge and its
fundamental pillars. Whoever knows Allah by His Names, Attributes and Actions,
will, no doubt, love Him.
Witnessing
His generosity, His benevolence, His favors and blessings, both hidden and
open, for these things call to His love.
The heart’s total defeat and humility in front of Allah, the Most High.
Being
alone at the Time of the Descent of Allah (during Tahajjud) for having private
conversations with Him, reciting His Words, investigating the heart, displaying
the manners of servitude whilst in front of Him and then to seal all of that
with seeking forgiveness and repentance.
Sitting
with the truthful lovers (of Allah) and gathering the good fruits (arising)
from their speech, just as one picks out the best of fruits; however, you do
not speak except when the benefit of the speech prevails and when you know that
there is a betterment for you and benefit for others in it.
Keeping
distant from everything that comes between the heart and between Allah, the
Mighty and the Majestic.
In
Summary, Remember this…
As
we strive to build Allah’s love in our hearts and have that love push out the
vain desires that tend to influence our lives, remember the extent of Allah’s
love for us. Umar ibn al-Khattaab said: “Some prisoners were brought to the
Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and there was a woman among the
prisoners who was searching (for her child). When she found her child she
embraced him and put him to her breast. The Messenger of Allah said to us, ‘Do you think that this woman
would throw her child in the fire?’ We said, ‘No, by Allah, not if she is able
not to.’ The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, ‘ said to us, ‘Do you
think that this woman would throw her child in the fire?’ We said, ‘No, by
Allah, not if she is able not to.’ The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
said, ‘Allah is more merciful to His slaves than this woman is to her
child.’” (Agreed upon. Al-Bukhaari, 5653; Muslim, 6912.)
Finally,
ensure that you are always reciting the following Dua –
Dua for Love for Allah
“O
Allah, I ask for Your love, and the love of those persons who love You and love
of actions that bring me closer to Your love” [Bukhari, confirmed by Albani].
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