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157

In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful.

Love of Allah {Those who havefaith are more loving to Allah}

Written by: Sk Omar Ali

Translated by: Dr. Faheem Bukhatwa

23 Safar 1432.

28 January 2011.

The messenger ppbu said: {Allah said: I will declare war against him who shows hostility or enmity towards a patron of Mine. No other way is more loved to Me when my slave draws closer to me, than with doing the duties or obligations I imposed upon him. And My slave keeps on getting closer to me with voluntary deeds (nafilas) until I love him. When I love him then I become his hearing with which he hears, and his vision with which he sees, and his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. And were he to ask something of Me, I would surely give to him, and if he were to seek my protection or refuge then I would surely grant him it}.

This is a great statement or hadeeth, and yet all statements made by our messenger ppbu are great. This is the best of what was said about the pious worshippers of Allah. Declaring a war by Allah against someone means that Allah is letting them know that Allah’s war is because of their war against Allah shown by them being enemies to Allah’s patron. It is an obligation to support and love Allah’s patrons instead of hating and fighting them; just as it is forbidden to support or sponsor the enemies of Allah. Allah says: {Do not support and befriend My enemy and yours} 60-1. Allah also says: {Your patron can only be Allah; and His messenger and those who believe, who establish the prayers and come up with donation, and bow down (in prayer) (55). And whoso takes Allah and His messenger and those who believe as patrons (will know that), the party of Allah, they are the victorious. (56)} 5:55-56.

What is it which brings for certain Allah’s love for His slaves? It is their love for Allah. Nothing in this life is greater or dearer than their love for Allah. This makes them seek to get closer to Him, and show their sentiments through obedient and good deeds. Allah says: {and those who have faith are the most loving to Allah} 2:165. Using the term “Loving” here is a beautiful; as well as being a true; expression. Love of the faithful to Allah is an absolute love which has no limits and no bounds.

Allah praise be to Him, Has everything within His hand. He is the Creator and the Provider and He is the Bestower and the Everlasting when all is gone. He is more deserving to the love of those. Paradise is in His hand, into which exists the eternal life, and the lasting pleasures, which has in it what no eye has seen nor an ear has heard, nor crossed the mind or the heart of a human being. It is forbidden to have obedience and worship and loyalty to anyone else other than Him, Allah. All other love must stem out of the love for Allah; and all obedience can only be according to the obedience for Allah. When a slave reaches the level or status of love for Allah, and kept getting closer to Allah by doing the obligations, then followed them with the voluntary deeds then the required elements of loving Allah become fulfilled. Then Allah will love the slave.

And so what when Allah loves a slave of His! The Messenger ppbu said: {If Allah has loved a servant [of His] He calls Jibreel, and says: Allah Has loved So-and-so, therefore love him. So Gabriel loves him. Then he (Jibreel) calls out in the heaven, saying: Allah loves So-and-so, therefore love him. And the inhabitants of heaven love him. Then acceptance is established for him on earth}. Allah says: {Those who believe and do good deeds, the Beneficent will have affection for them} 19:96. Meaning Allah will have love and affection for them based on faith. All love which exists among people has a reason, for you could see someone who loves you and shows affection for you. When you see them approaching you smile into their faces, you would give them space or give them a seat close to you. If they are absent you ask and enquire about them. If they become ill you go and visit them, and if they are happy you share their happiness, and feel for them in their sorrow. You give them support at hard times. This is affection generated out of love.

Affection in this life can flourish between all creations, the faithful and the unbeliever. In this verse Allah says: {will have affection for them} meaning love and affection without a reason, affection without being related, and without mutual interests or mutual friendship. There exists affection between the faithful as if when you see someone for the first time you get such a relaxed feeling towards them; as if you know them. And you say to him or her: I love you for the sake of Allah. This is a loving affection Allah created amongst those who have faith; out of His grace and generosity, not due to any of known standard reason for love. Harrum Ebn Hayan (هرم بن حيان) said: When Allah praise be upon Him, sees that a slave has approached closer to Him with his heart, and when he has Allah in his heart, and has submitted his heart and his foot to Allah then Allah will open the hearts of all the faithful towards him. Everyone who sees him will love him as a gift and grace from Allah, and love him without any of the reasons of love. It is because of the love of Allah that people love him, and because of the love of Allah, Allah becomes his patron and makes him victorious against his enemies.

Allah’s love is life, and whoever is denied Allah’s love is among the dead. Allah’s love is the light, and whoever is denied it; is in oceans of darkness. Allah’s love is health and recovery, whoever is denied it, is plagued with illness in his heart. Love of Allah is the pleasure whoever is denied it, then all his life is gloom and pain.

Patrons of Allah who seek to get closer through whatever means that gets them closer to Allah, are divided into two parts:

1) They are those who get closer to Allah by doing what they are obligated to do and by refraining from doing what is forbidden. And that is the minimum.

2) Those who as well as the obligation, do voluntary deeds.

Any claim made of any other way to get closer to Allah other than those two methods is just lies and fabrications.

Some of the reasons of winning Allah’s love are the following:

1)         following up the guidance of the prophet ppbu. Allah says: {say, if you did love Allah then follow me, and Allah will love you and will forgive your sins, for Allah is most forgiving most merciful} 3:31,

2)         humbleness towards the faithful and pride towards the unbelievers. And striving in the cause of Allah, and having no fear except from Him (praise be to Him). Allah says: {O you who believe! Whoso of you becomes a renegade off his religion, Allah will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him, humble toward the believers, stern or proud toward disbelievers, striving in the way of Allah, and fearing not the blame of any blamer. Such is the grace of Allah which He gives unto whom He will. Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing} 6:54.

3)         Examples of doing the voluntary deeds (nafilas) which earn the love of Allah include praying, giving for charity, going for pilgrimage (Hajj) and mini Hajj (Amrah), and fasting.

4)         Other deeds include loving others for the sake of Allah, exchanging visits, and exchanging advice in Allah’s sake. The messenger ppbu said: Allah said: {My love is deserved by those who love for my sake, and My love is deserved by those who exchange visits for my sake, and My love is deserved by those who exert themselves for my sake seeking My satisfaction, and My love is deserved by those who keep in touch for my sake,}

5)         Some of the sings of Allah’s love for a slave is testing the slave with afflictions and tragedies. All tragedies and problems are tests from Allah and a sign of Allah’s love. The messenger ppbu said: {the greatness of the reward is directly related to the greatness of the affliction. Whenever Allah (praise be to Him) love some people He tests them with affliction. Whosoever remains satisfied gets satisfaction, and whosoever becomes discontented and angry then he shall get discontentment and anger}

Those were some of the features and characteristics of the patrons of Allah, who love Allah and Allah loves them. And we ask Allah to make us amongst them.

Remember that if Allah loves you then don’t even ask about all the goodness which will befall you, and all the grace you shall gain. It is enough to know that you are loved by Allah. All you hear is what Allah loves, and you see what Allah loves, and you shall go where Allah loves, and your prayers will be answered.

Let us mention a few examples of the type of people for whom prayers are answered. The messenger ppbu said: {many who are weak and humbled and owns no more than two old worn out garments of clothes, if they make an oath to Allah, then Allah will fulfill that oath. Amongst those is Al-Baraa ben Malik}. Meeting with an army of disbelievers face to face, the Muslims said to Al-Baraa: do make an oath to Allah. He said: I swear by you my God, that you give us victory over their bodies. And they won. The armies met again, and Al-Barra was asked to make another oath to Allah. This time he said: I swear by you my God, that you give us victory over their bodies, and that you make me follow or join your prophet ppbu. They were given victory and Al-Baraa was killed.

Al-Nu3man Ebn Nofail said on the day of the battle of Ohod: “O God, I swear to you that I should get killed and that I would enter paradise”. And he was killed. The messenger ppbu said: {Al-Nu3man made an oath to Allah, and Allah fulfilled his oath}.

Abdullah Ebn Jahsh (إبن جحش) said also on the day of the battle of Ohod: O God, if I meet the enemy tomorrow, then let me meet a man who is very strong and tough, I fight him for your sake, and he kills me. Then he cuts my nose and ear. And when I meet you tomorrow you ask me: O Abdullah, how did you nose and ear got cut off? And I would answer: for your sake, and for the sake of your messenger. And you would say: true. It was reported that at the end of the day he was found dead with his nose and ear cut off and barely hanging with a thread. He was killed and his corpse was desecrated and his nose and ear were cut off just as he wished for.

Notes:

Adhan - The call to prayer.

Ansar (or Al-Ansar): The inhabitants of the city of Al-Medina that received and supported the messenger (PPBU) when he immigrated from Mekkah in the very early years of Islam.

Assalam Alaikum - The Islamic greeting, literately means: Peace be with you. Used when approaching or leaving. When used during approaching it will be like saying: I bring no harm to you . and when said during leaving somebody it will mean: No harm will come to you after I leave.

Aya (or Ayah): is a verse of the Koran. It also means a miracle or a sign from God.

Arafa (or Arafah or Arafat): is a mountain outside the city of Mecca that represents the climax of the Hajj worship. All doing Hajj must stay at this location on the same day.

Badr - The place of the first significant battle between the Muslims and the pagans of the Quraish. It is located in Saudi Arabia.

Caliph - A Muslim ruler. See: (Khalifa)

Dajjal - Antichrist or the False Massiah.

Dawah - The proliferation of Islamic teachings through word and deed.

Deen (Din) - Religion or way of life.

Duaa: a prayer in the form of talking to Allah; praising him and asking him for help.

Fatwa - Legal verdict given based on the Qur'an (Koran) and the Sunnah which are the recorded sayings and deeds of Muhammad.

Ferdose: is the highest level of the all the gardens of Eden or paradise.

Fiqh - Religious law.

Hadeeth: is something reported that the messenger have said. It includes all the speeches and ceremonies he gave. It is usually narrated or told by one of his companions. There is a list of hadeeths approximately 14000 that are reported and checked to be genuine. No more hadeeths are acceptably added to this list.

Hajar - The Black Stone set into the corner of the Ka'aba in Mecca. It is said to be a stone from Heaven.

Hajj - The pilgrimage to Mecca which takes place in the last month of the Islamic calendar. One of the five pillars of Islam.

Hasana or hasanas: is the reward for a good deed. a hasana is a point or a merit for a good deed.

Hadith - The sayings and not deeds of the prophet Muhammad recorded by his followers. Considered authoritative and perfect.

Hajj: is the worship of pilgrimage.

Hijra (or Hejrah): the event of the immigration of the messenger from Mekkah to Madina. This event marks the start of the Islamic calendar. the Islamic calendar has 12 months based on the lunar cycle, each is 29.5 days. Hijra is also used as a name for the Islamic dating system.

Ibadah - Worship. All the words and deeds with which Allah is pleased. These deeds could be prayer and charity.

Iblis - (Ibleese): On of Satan's names.

Ibn (Ebn): the son of. Used by Arabs as part of an individual's name. Example: Ali whose father is Omar or the son of Omar, would be called: Ali Ibn Omar.

Imam (or Emam)- The leader for a prayer. In the Shiaa sect, an Imam is the individual who has the religious authority.

Iman: belief or faith

Injil (Enjeel) - The Bible. The book inspired to Jesus for the Christians.

Islam - Submission, the religion of all the prophets of Allah culminating in Muhammad.

Jannah - The heavenly garden, Paradise. The place of the faithful in the afterlife.

Jihad: is striving in the line of Allah in many forms. Includes a very wide scope varying from improving oneself to fighting a defensive war in protection of Allah's word. The greatest Jihad is the fight one's self against temptations. It also means "holy war."

Jinn - Supernatural, invisible beings race of beings, below angels. They were made from fire. Like humans, there amongst them are the faithful and the non beleivers and Jinn shall be judged on Judgment Day.

Ka'aba: A cube shaped building in Mecca containing a stone laid there by Abraham and Ishmael. Some say Ka'aba was first built by Adam, and some say by Abraham. It is the holiest place for Muslims. It is where all Muslims face in their daily prayers. Ka'aba also makes a major part of the pilgrimage in a ritual known as Tawaf.

Khalifa: is the Muslim ruler. Head of the Islamic empire. Exact translation: "Successor".

Khutbah - A sermon given in a Mosque, usually on Friday.

Kufr - Denial or Disbelief. A term Muslims use for anyone who denies existence of Allah or the prophecy of Muhammed.

Koran - Also spelled Qur'an. The holy book of Islam revealed to Muhammad by Allah through the Archangel Gabriel. Koran literally means "the recital." It is the final revelation of Allah given to the prophet Muhammad. It consists of 114 surahs (or chapters.)

Madinah - (Medinah): A city in the Arabian peninsula (in the country known now as Saudi Arabia). A city where the messenger had to immigrate to. Then it was called Yathrib.

Masjid - A center for Muslim activity. It is referred to as a mosque.

Masiah - A sin, or a sinful act

Mecca or Makkah: is the holiest city for Muslims. It contains the Ka'aba mosque with the famous black cubical shape. Mecca is the birth place of the messenger (PPBU).

Mosque - A Muslim house of worship.

Muhajir - (Muhajireen) Immigrant, one who leaves his home town due to lack of religious freedom. It was first used to describe early Muslims immigrating from Mecca to Median and Ethiopia.

Muhammad - the final messenger and prophet of God whose message abrogated all previous revelations. He received the Koran through the angel Gabriel over a 23 year period. Born in Mecca and died in Medina at the age of 63. His full name: Muhammad ibn Abd-Allah

Muslim - One who holds faith to the religion of Islam.

Nafilah: a voluntary prayer other than the five obligatory prayers; performed at any time.

Nasara - Christians. Nasrani: A Christian individual. Nasraniah: Christianity.

Ommah: is the Arabic word for a nation. It usually refers to the Islamic nation unless otherwise specified.

Paradise - Another word for heaven. A garden of bliss, fruits, rivers and all forms of pleasures imaginable and imaginable. No suffering, disease or death. Service is provided by angels. All live in it an ever lasting youthful life. Promised by Almighty Allah to all faithful, true Jews, true Christians and True Muslims. Paradise is one of two places every person will go to, either Paradise or Hellfire.

PPBU (P.B.U.H.) : Peace and Prayers Be Upon him. A statement Muslims use any time they mention the name of the messenger or make a reference to him.

Qadar - Fate. Preordainment is the teaching that all things, good and bad, are preordained to occur.

Qadr - (night of Qadr): The night when the first revelation of the Koran took place. Most likely it happened during one of the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan. Or when the Koran was brought down to the nearest heaven in one go, and from there it was brought down in bits and few verses at a time over a period of 23 years. This night is considered the holiest night for Muslims with tremendous advantages.

Qibla - The direction which Muslims turn for daily prayers, towards Mecca.

Quraish - An ancient Arab tribe to which the messenger Muhammad belonged.

Ramadan - The ninth month of the Islamic calendar which is the month of the fast. The holiest month in the Muslim colander.

Salat - Prayers. Generally it covers all forms of worship, but more specifically refers to the Muslim rituals which is performed to worship Allah five times daily.

Shiaa: A sect of Islam that teaches that a religion leader (Imam) should be the political ruler and must be direct descendants of the messenger (PPBU). Therefore, disapproving of all Muslim leaders who ruled After the messenger (PPBU) except Ali, the messenger's grandson.

Shirk - Associating another god with Allah. Or associating anyone or anything with Allah. Or using anyone or anything as a medium to Allah. The opposite of Monotheism or Tawheed.

Siam or Soam- Fasting

Sunni: is a the title of those Muslims who are suppose to be following the life style of the messenger. This differentiates them from the Shiaa of Iran.

Sunna (Sunnah): Is how the Messenger PPBU lived, what he did or said. It includes the way he dressed, ate, drank, prayed, interacted with other people and fought. Basically, sunnah is the life style of the messenger PPBU. It is considered the second source of legislation in Islamic laws and it is considered to be an important reference to be used for concluding arguments and disputes. It is also a title give to the main stream Muslims who make 90% if all Muslims.

Surah - A chapter of the Koran.

Tawaf: part of the pilgrimage (Hajj) ritual. It involves walking round the Ka'aba Mosque in anti-clock wise direction a number of seven circles.

Tauhid - Tawheed - Monotheism, in Islam is the teaching that there is only one God who alone is worthy of worship. The first requirement of becoming a Muslim. It is included in the testimony of faith for new Muslims when declaring that God is one: (No God but Allah)

Taqwah - Proper fear and veneration of Allah. A divine spark that enables the person to understand God.

Taurat: The old Testaments and scriptures of Mosa.

Ummah - the word means: a Nation. Usually refers to the Islamic nation unless otherwise stated.

Umrah - (Amrah): A mini hajj. A Minor form of pilgrimage to Mecca. Unlike Hajj which can only be done on the 12th month of the Islamic year, Umrah can be performed at any time.

Wathoo (wadoo): a washing up ritual done by Muslims before each of the five daily prayers known as ablution.

Zaboor - The Psalms

Zakat - The third pillar of Islam. Alms giving, charity that is given to the poor.

Faheem Bukhatwa, my email address is : faheemfb@gmail.com