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It’s A Matter of Love

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By: Mehmudah Rehman

Love Allah

Ever been in love? Stayed up nights thinking about the object of your adoration? Ever felt the helplessness, the vulnerability of falling in love? Ever felt your life was on a standstill, revolving as though in a strange cacophony of thoughts, emotions and words around the one you love? I’m talking about the feeling, which when unrequited can tear your heart into a million little pieces. The feeling that overpowers you, envelops you and controls you in such a way that defeat in its game is too unspeakable an option to even think about, for it can annihilate you thoroughly — almost without hope of a rebirth.

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The above may not be an ideal opening paragraph, but you know why I felt compelled to begin this way? Well, because in all age-groups, especially in that of teenage and young adulthood, this phenomenon called ‘love’ creates waves. If we look at college life, the workplace, the TV-shows we follow, the movies we watch, to books we peruse we learn that love seems to be on everyone’s mind. So coming to my original question: Have you ever been in love?

If you have, you’ve probably been through profound grief as well. You know that the one thing that can bring pleasure and pain in equal quantities is in fact: love. Just about everyone around us seems to be yearning for ‘love’ yet few around us have found that proverbially ‘happy ending’.
KEEP CALM & Love Allah

So what is this elusive entity anyway? My mind is a cauldron of thoughts which only confuse me more than before. I look to the perfect deen of Allah to find some answers. And then I realize the solution, the answer to my question, has been there all along – I just didn’t look hard enough.

It is narrated in Al-Bukhari in a Hadith Qudsi:

“When Allaah loves a slave, He says to Jibreel 'alayhi'l-salām (peace be upon him), ‘I love so-and-so, so love him,’ so Jibreel 'alayhi'l-salām (peace be upon him) loves him and then calls out to the people of heaven, ‘Allah loves so-and-so, so love him,’ and the people of heaven love him, and then acceptance is placed in the Earth for him.”

Take a moment to read the last part again ‘acceptance is placed in the Earth for him’. So that’s how it works! The acceptance, the love we sometimes crave from people comes from Allah’s love? Does this mean that if Allah begins to love us, the whole world will follow suit? Actually, it means more than only that (although it does mean that too!).

When a believer is blessed by the love of Allah, life suddenly begins to look better  indeed the fixation with the love of others is finally given a rest. Imagine, a person who is so close to Allah that Allah becomes the eyes which he sees with, and the hand with which he strikes, and the tongue with which he speaks, wouldn’t the contentment of the entire universe be at his feet? Would a person so spiritually elevated even crave the recognition and love that we sometimes do from the dunya? To quote the words of another Hadith Qudsi:

When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it.

[Bukhari 6502]

But how does one get Allah’s love? This ayah of the Quran puts things in perspective:

“Say (O Muhammad ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) 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 your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [Aale Imran 3:31]

As we are all aware, Prophet Muhammad ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) was the most perfect man ever to tread on the earth and by following him we are making Allah love us. It’s that simple! Following the sunnah of our blessed Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) is not only good for us in deen, but also dunya. After all, who doesn’t like an honest, humble, trustworthy and pure person? Truly, like Ayesha raḍyAllāhu 'anha (may Allāh be pleased with her) once commented, his conduct was the Quran.

Remember Allah says in the first part of the above hadith al-qudsi:

My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him.

So that is one way to gain Allah’s love. Perform the religious duties (fard) and supererogatory (nafl) ibadah until Allah begins to love us. However, that is not the only way- far from it. Concealed inside the pages of the Quran are myriad ways of soliciting the Creator’s love. Below are only a few glimpses of it.

Patience

“And Allah LOVES as-Sabirun (the patient).” (Quran: 3:146)

 

3:146

Putting Trust in Allah

3:159

“Certainly, Allah LOVES those who put their trust (in Him).” (Quran: 3:159)

Repentance

2:222

“Truly, Allah LOVES those who turn unto him in repentance.” (Quran: 2:222)

Piety

3:76

“Verily, then Allah LOVES those who are al-Muttaqun (the pious).”

(Quran: 3:76)

Doing Good

2:195

“Truly, Allah LOVES Al-Muhsinun (the good-doers).” (Quran: 2:195)

Purification of the Body

9:108

“And Allah LOVES those who make themselves clean…..” (Quran: 9:108)

Ahadith to show us how to earn Allah’s love:

Kindliness

‘Aisha raḍyAllāhu 'anha (may Allāh be pleased with her) narrated:

The Messenger of Allah ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said: “Allah LOVES kindliness in all matters.” (Bukhari)

Honor

The Messenger of Allah ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said:

“Allah LOVES the slave-believer who is poor but virtuous enough to refrain from begging though he has many children.” (Muslim and Ahmed)

Love for the Sake of Allah

Al-Tabarani, Ibn Ya’la, Ibn Hibban and Al-Hakim narrated: Allah’s Messenger ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said:

“If two men LOVE each other for the sake of Allah, the stronger in love to his brother will be more loved by Allah.”

I think the above is pretty self-explanatory. There is another aspect of love without discussing which, this article, or indeed our lives and our Eman, would be incomplete.

It is narrated in Al-Bukhari that Prophet Muhammad ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said:

“None of you believes until he loves me more than he loves his children, his parents, and all people.”

When was the last time you and I made Allah and His beloved Prophet, the epicenter and the focal point of all our love? Take a moment to go back the first paragraph, and ask yourself

“have I ever been in love with God?

Why are we lost in the love of this dunya when the real love we should yearn for the only one that can bring us true solace, both in this world and the next, is all that we need? And for someone who gains this sublime, Supreme love, is anything else in the world sweeter and more beautiful?

May Allah create love for Him and for His beloved Messenger ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) in our hearts, and may it grow therein forever.

 

 

 

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19 Comments

19 Comments

  1. Pingback: Its A Matter of Love | MuslimMatters.org | Find Best Information about Islam on Internet

  2. Pingback: It’s A Matter of Love | allah.eu

  3. Hasanah

    July 12, 2011 at 4:45 AM

    SubhanAllah! Jazakillah khair for sharing this article. I love it! And ameen ya rabbi al alamine to your du’a :)

  4. Atikah

    July 12, 2011 at 4:53 AM

    I felt so lucky following this site on twitter and now I found this site. It’s really good to me. It’s true. There are more people fall in love each other rather than falling in love with your own creator. Some of them willing to do ANYTHING just to prove their “love” to their partner. And they are not even married. I saw many stuff like this every single day! They feel no shame towards their behaviour. Although they are Muslims, but they tends to holding each others hands.. I’m not suppose to write about this..sorry. Astaghfirullah hal azim.. and by the way, thank you for writing this. Subhanallah.

  5. shiney

    July 12, 2011 at 5:19 AM

    Ameen to ur du’a.
    masha’Allah this was wonderfully written! it was very calm and got to the point. JZK so much for the practical steps from the Qur’an & Sunnah (Patience, Repentance, Piety, Kindness, etc.) and May Allah Reward you and love you for writing this-Ameen=)

    • mr

      July 13, 2011 at 6:22 AM

      :) absolutely. everything you wrote as comment . :)

  6. Pingback: It’s A Matter of Love | Ummanaal's Musings

  7. Sabeen Mansoori

    July 12, 2011 at 8:02 AM

    Jazakallah khairun for a lovely reminder. The love for Allah and His Messenger is the cure for all the discontent in our lives. The first step towards attaining that love is to develop an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for everything He has given us.
    Ameen to your dua :)

  8. Ibrahim

    July 12, 2011 at 10:14 AM

    Jazakillahu khaira

  9. Olivia

    July 12, 2011 at 10:50 AM

    I really liked this article. Jzk!

  10. Halima

    July 12, 2011 at 4:23 PM

    Oooooh really enjoyed reading this! :-D Nice article..

  11. Khojestah

    July 12, 2011 at 11:38 PM

    Love every single ayah and hadith in this article!!! Really well written/articulated!

  12. hc

    July 13, 2011 at 4:24 PM

    Jazakillahukhairan. May Allah increase His love for you. Ameen.

  13. Abdullahi Aishat

    July 14, 2011 at 1:06 PM

    highly inspirational

  14. Huma

    July 14, 2011 at 11:47 PM

    Mashallah!!! Jazakillahu khair for this well-written and an a-must reminder article. It was truly inspiring; Ameen to ur dua

  15. Basmah

    July 17, 2011 at 11:55 PM

    Thanks. It’s rare I read an article anywhere which I feel is worth sharing. I’m going to use this one to spam Facebook. =)

  16. Alua

    November 23, 2013 at 3:22 AM

    AA

    I love this article :)
    It made my day brighter, JAK

    Just one thing though; the use of the word “begins”: “Does this mean that if Allāh begins to love us” we should remember Allah loves us already; He is the Most Loving and Most Compassionate, we strive to be loved MORE by Him – and the information you’ve given above certainly helps!

  17. khadijat abdulsalam

    December 16, 2013 at 5:17 AM

    jazakumllah akhirah

  18. Pingback: On Love for Allah (swt)

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