LOVING FOR THE SAKE OF ALLAH

, , No Comments

Bismillah ir-rahman ir-rahim

Assalam alaykum warahmatullah wabarakatu

How many people actually love simply for the sake of Allah?

Love for the sake of Allah brings rewards your mind can’t even grasp, because it is the strongest kind of love ever. But unfortunately it has become a lost trait among many Muslims. 

But what does it mean to love someone for the sake of Allah? 

Loving someone for the sake of Allah comes in two ways, in your heart and with your deeds. You love someone for the sake of Allah in your heart because of their position with Allah, and this starts with loving the Prophets and Messengers and everyone who follows them. So we should have this love in your heart for other Muslims. In your deeds, it means that you support that person in the good deeds they do, and you respect and defend them according to their good deeds. This means you don’t love them because you know them very well, or because they bring you a direct benefit or because they have a nice appearance, you love and support them because of their efforts to please Allah! You don’t love them for worldly reasons or gains (money or beauty).

You love them because they also remind you of Allah. That both must enjoin each another to truth and patience, and give each other sincere advice. They must enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and guide each other. They must help one another in carrying out works of righteousness. They must excuse each other’s mistakes and defend each other’s honor, never speaking ill of, or deriding each other. They should keep each other’s secrets, advise each other sincerely, and never abuse each other. And when this kind of love is within you, you seek Allah’s pleasure. In a hadeeth with great advice says, “A Muslim is the brother of another Muslim. He neither oppresses him nor humiliates him nor looks down upon him. The piety is here, (and while saying so) he pointed towards his chest thrice. It is a serious evil for a Muslim that he should look down upon his brother Muslim. All things of a Muslim are inviolable for his brother in faith; his blood, his wealth and his honor.” (Muslim)
AND HOW DO WE LOVE FOR THE SAKE OF ALLAH?
  • By having a clean heart and being patient with your brother in Islam. In your relationship with other believers don’t try to seek the negative side of each word or gesture, be fast in accepting apologies and don’t be selfish. A common issue is the more ‘religious’ some people get, their demeaning for others increases. Try to seek the good side in others and always try to find a good explanation or interpretation of certain behavior or the speech of the other.
  • Secondly be a person on whom others can rely in times of need. The Prophet said: “The believers, in their mutual friendship, mercy and affection, are like one body: if any part of it complains, the rest of the body will also stay awake in pain.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim ) You might know this hadith, but try to truly reflect on it. Do you truly feel the pain of other believers, does it affect you? As this is a sign of your actual love for another. There was an example of a man who loaned his friend money and walked back home crying. When his wife asked him why he was crying and if it was because he needed the money himself he said: No I am crying at my brother in faith’s state of affairs. How could I not have known what he was going through? If I had, I would have offered my help before he was compelled to ask for it. He was crying because he had seen his friend sighing, and even though he had seen something was wrong, he had never bothered to ask. This brother was crying because he hadn’t been there to prevent his brother in Islam from going through the pain of having to ask for a loan.
  • Thirdly tell others you love them for Allah’s sake. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “If any of you loves his brother then he should inform him”. (Tirmidhi). Also, Anas ibn Maalik related: “I was sitting with the Prophet when a man came passing by, and he said, ‘Oh Prophet of Allah, indeed I love this man (in a brotherly way)’; so he (the Prophet) said, ‘Have you informed him of this?’; so the man said, ‘No.’; so the Prophet said, ‘Get up and go tell him.’; so he got up and went to him and said, ‘Oh so-and-so, by Allah, indeed I love you for the sake of Allah’; so he said, ‘May the One for whom you have loved me, love you (in return).” (Related by Imam Ahmad and Abu Daawood and it is hadeeth sahih.) We should revive this Sunnah by telling the ones you love them be it (he or her) for His sake by saying:  ﺃﺣﺒﻚ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ Uhibbuka fil-llaahi ( or to a female: Uhibukki fil-llaahi), which means: I love you for the sake of Allah. The plural of this would be ﺃﺣﺒﻜﻢ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻠ  Uhibbukum fil- llaahi ( to a group of men or a mix of men and women) or  ﺃﺣﺒﻜﻦّ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ  Uhibbukunna fil- llaahi (to a group women). When someone tells you they love you for the sake of Allah, you respond by, ﺃَﺣَﺒَّﻚَ ﺍﻟَّﺬِﻱ َﺣْﺒَﺒْﺘَﻨِﻲ ﻟَﻪُ ﺃ Ahabbak-alladhee ahbabtanee lah (for a male) or Ahabakk-illadhee ahhabtineelah (for a female), which means: May the One for whom you have loved me, love you, in return. [Above phrases as narrated in Abu Dawood]. By informing your brother that you love him for the sake of Allah you will gain his love and respect, and he will be ready to accept your advice and will disregards your defects; accordingly, the blessings will prevail.
POINTS TO REMEMBER.
  • You can taste the sweet flavor of belief if you apply three things: Loving Allah and His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) more than others, loving others just for the sake of Allah, and hating returning back to disbelief as much as you hate falling in the fire. Narrated by Bukhari. Al-Qadhi said: “Love is a tendency toward something for certain perfection therein; therefore, if the believer acknowledged that the real perfection is just for Allah, and that any perfection observed by him in himself or in others is just a grant from Allah, his love will be sincere for the sake, in the cause, and in the way of Allah, and this entails the full obedience to Allah the almighty; accordingly, love is construed as a wish for compliance which entails following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).”
  • In a hadeeth narrated Abu Hurairah: Allah’s Apostle (peace be upon him) said: “Verily, Allah would say on the Day of Resurrection: Where are those who have mutual love for My Glory’s sake? Today I shall shelter them in My shadow when there is no other shadow but the shadow of Mine” (Muslim). This includes two persons who loved each other for the sake of Allah, met and separated under such love by (Bukhari, and Muslim). Now what could be more convincing to start loving for the sake of Allah?
  • If you like to taste the sweet flavor of belief, love others for nothing but just for the sake of Allah. Sahih Aj-Jamii. It is mentioned in al-Kashaf book that: love for the sake of Allah and hate for the sake of Allah are one of the most important principles of belief. Love for the sake of Allah entails loving his prophets and faithful believers which is conditional on following them and obeying their instructions.
  • And lastly “A perfect believer is the one who loves for the sake of Allah, hates for the sake of Allah, gives for the sake of Allah and holds for the sake of Allah.” narrated by Abu Dawood i.e. loving others for the sake of Allah alone not for any tendencies or self-desires toward them, hating others in the cause of Allah alone, for their disbelief or disobedience but not for harming them. Ibn Mu'ath said: “the sign for knowing the true love in the cause of Allah is to show no increase in kindness or decrease in unkindness”.
In a hadeeth narrated by Muslim, “One day, a man went to visit his friend in some village. In the way, Allah has sent him an angel. The angel asked him: where are you going? The man answered: I am going to visit a brother in this village. The angel asked: do you want any interest or benefit from him? He answered: no, I just love him for the sake of Allah. The angel said: I am the Messenger of Allah to you, Allah loves you as you love your brother.” It is narrated that Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “You will not have the protection of Allah and you not taste the sweet flavor of belief unless you be like this”.


So let’s ask Allah to help us love others for His sake and get into action now. And I start with you all, for your eagerness to read about Islam. Uhibbukum fil-llaah, I love you for the sake of Allah! May Allah guide us to the straight path.
And Allah knows best.

0 comments:

Post a Comment