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See What Muslims Do For The Love Of Allah by FarukuWadata12(m): 11:48am On Apr 11, 2016 |
A Muslim’s Obligation of Love
for Allah
A Muslim’s Obligation of
Love for Allah
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.
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. 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, “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)
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, “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.”
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.
Parting Words
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, ‘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 –
“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].
— End |
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