All praise is due to Allah alone, who perfectly controls everything. May He send salutations and exalt the mention of the Warner and the Bringer of Glad Tidings - our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), his family and all his companions.
One of the attributes of Allah is that He Loves His believing slaves in a fashion which befits His Majesty and Might; His slaves in turn love Him more than their wealth, children and their own selves.
Allah says what means:
"Allah will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him." (Al- Ma'idah:54)
It is mutual love between the Lord and His slaves:
"And of mankind are some who take (for worship) others besides Allah as rivals (to Allah). They love them as they love Allah. But those who believe, love Allah more (than anything else)." (Al-Baqarah: 165)
The Ruling on Loving Allah
Loving Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) more than we love our family, our possessions and anything else in this world is a part of being a true believer in Islam.
Anas narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
"I swear by The One in Whose Hands is my soul, none of you will be a complete believer until I am dearer to him than his father, his son, and all of mankind." (Bukhari)
Loving Allah is a Sign of Strong Belief
The Prophet (peace be upon him) informed us that it is a quality of belief and a sign of enjoying the sweetness of faith is realized when the love of Allah and His Messenger is greater than that of anyone or anything else. Anas Ibn Malik narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
"One who attains the following three things will taste the sweetness of faith: To make Allah and His Messenger more beloved to himself than anything else; to love a person for no other reason except for the sake of Allah; and to hate to return to disbelief just as much as he would hate to be thrown into fire." (Bukhari & Muslim)
Loving Allah is Following the Way of the Prophet (peace be upon him)
Allah says (what means):
"Say (O Muhammad): 'If you (really) love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins.'" (Al 'Imran:31)
How much do we truly follow the Prophet (peace be upon him)? Where are we when it comes to following his Sunnah in our worship, transactions and manners? Where are we when it comes to following his Sunnah in our supplications, remembrance of Allah, recitation of the Quran, seeking the assistance of Allah, relying on Him and taking refuge in Him? Where are we when it comes to following his Sunnah by being kind to our friends, neighbor and parents, and when it comes to being generous to guests and visiting the sick? Where are we when it comes to following his Sunnah in our etiquettes, humility, mercy, leniency and forgiveness? Where are we when it comes to following his Sunnah in bravery, wisdom and Jihad against the enemies of Allah everywhere?
The Qualities of Those Whom Allah Loves
- To do good: "And do good. Truly, Allah loves the good-doers." (Al-Baqarah:195)
- To repent and purify themselves: "Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves." (Al-Baqarah:222)
- To be are pious: "Yes, whoever fulfils his pledge and fears Allah much; verily, then Allah loves those who are the pious." (Al 'Imran:76)
- To be patient: "But they never lost heart for that which did befall them in Allah's way, nor did they weaken nor degrade themselves. And Allah loves the patient." (Al 'Imran:146)
- To rely on Allah: "Then when you have taken a decision, rely on Allah, certainly, Allah loves those who rely on Him." (Al 'Imran: 159)
- To be just: "And if you judge, judge with justice between them. Verily, Allah loves those who act justly." (Al-Ma'idah:42)
- To be sincere in Jihad: "Verily Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in rows (ranks) as if they were a solid structure." (As-Saff:4)
Beware of Having The Following Qualities
Allah has described in His Book the qualities that we must avoid if we want to one of His believing servants that He loves:
- Disbelief: "But if they turn away, then Allah does not like the disbelievers." (Al 'Imran:32)
- Transgression: "And fight in the way of Allah those who fight you, but transgress not the limits. Truly, Allah likes not the transgressors." (Al-Baqarah:190)
- Mischief-making: "And they (ever) strive to make mischief on the earth. And Allah does not like the mischief-makers." (Al- Ma'idah:64)
- Oppression: "But whoever forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is with Allah. Verily, He likes not the oppressors." (Ash-Shoora:40)
- Pride and boastfulness: "Verily Allah does not like such as are proud and boastful." (An-Nisa':36)
- Betrayal: "And argue not on behalf of those who deceive themselves. Verily, Allah does not like anyone who is a betrayer, sinner." (An-Nisa': 107).
- Publicly uttering evil: "Allah does not like that the evil should be uttered in public except by him who has been wronged." (An-Nisa':148)
- Extravagance: "Eat and drink but waste not by extravagance, certainly He (Allah) likes not those who waste by extravagance." (Al-A'raf:31)
- Taking pride and being ungrateful: "Remember when his people said to him: Do not exult (with riches, being ungrateful to Allah). Verily, Allah likes not those who exult (with riches, being ungrateful to Allah)." (Al- Qasas:76)
How to Earn Allah's Love
The true description of attaining Allah's love comes from a Qudsi Hadith,
Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said on behalf of his Lord:
"I will declare war against him who shows hostility to a pious worshiper of mine. And my servant never comes closer to Me by virtue of anything more than that which I have made compulsory upon him, and my slave continues to draw closer to me by performing optional good deeds until I love him, and if I were to love him I become the hearing by which he hears, the eyesight by which he sees, the hand by which he strikes and the legs by which he walks." (Bukhari & Muslim)
Things Which Instigate Allah's Love
Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy upon him, mentioned some examples of things which instigate the love of Allah:
1. Reciting the Quran with attentiveness and pondering over its meanings.
2. Performing optional acts of worship after fulfilling the obligatory ones.
3. Always remembering Allah in the heart, by the tongue and deeds, because one will benefit proportional to the amount that he remembers Allah.
4. Favoring His love over any other love, particularly when your desires become strong.
5. Striving hard to reach that which He loves.
6. Learning and pondering over His qualities and attributes, because the one who learns and ponders over the qualities and attributes of Allah will certainly love Him due to this.
7. Thinking about His apparent and concealed favors and kindness.
8. Supplicating and appealing to Him during the last third of every night, reciting His Book, standing with full servitude before Him and begging for His forgiveness.
9. Being around righteous people who sincerely love Allah and learning the best of what they say, just as one would pick the best fruit from a tree. Also, one should not speak unless one is certain that this is the correct thing to do and that one will benefit by this.
10. Refraining from anything which might become an obstacle between oneself and Allah.
All these can be achieved by being willing to perform them and having insight, which can only happen after the help of Allah.
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