Love for Allah: Transcending Worldly Boundaries
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In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate
"May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon you"
Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah
As-Salaam Alaykum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakaatuh
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Love for Allah: Transcending Worldly Boundaries
Loving someone for the sake of Allah alone, is a kind of love that is devoid of any other worldly motive or desire.
One of the positive outcomes of advancing in age while having a good memory is that one can vividly recall past life moments and events and, using the wisdom that comes with years of experience, glean lessons from them that unveil the realities of life, especially if one reflects in the light of the Quran and Sunnah.
One of the most eye-opening life lessons I have learned so far, is the deceptive and fleeting nature of supposedly “rock-solid” worldly friendships that one forms during youth years, i.e. the transient bonds of affection, love and affinity that we have with someone to whom we aren’t related by blood, lineage, community, or professional occupation.
Over the short three decades that make up most of my life so far, I have watched with amazement some of the most apparently ‘foolproof’ friendships between my (former) friends eventually disintegrate into nothingness.
I am not exaggerating when I say that I have witnessed girls (who are now women), who used to publicly declare their friendship as ‘stronger than blood’, eventually reach a stage in life when they no longer see, speak to, or communicate with each other at all, despite living in the same city.
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Friendships in Islam - Friendship for the Sake of Allah - New Muslim Friendships; Islamic Style |
The withering away of their initially die-hard friendship wasn’t even caused by any serious falling-out. It just died a natural death after being weathered over time.
And these were people who purportedly couldn’t live without each other, nor pass a single day of their youth without talking to each other on the phone at least once!
Why We Make Friends
The main reason we like and then begin to love someone whom we then consider our “good friend” is because they fulfill some need inside us. Maybe they entertain us with their company when we are bored or free; the primary example of such friendships being those we form at school or college. Or maybe they fill up our social calendar with entertaining activities that we enjoy.
In most cases, though, our dearest friends are genuinely good people whom we like being around, simply because they inspire us because of their good qualities, kind nature and nice conduct, and we therefore value their company, advice and help.
However, many a time, we value our friends only because it’s just socially convenient and beneficial for us to have them as friends. These so-called ‘friendships’ are those that are formed just to boost personal popularity or social prestige, since they allow us to fit into a certain type of crowd that we want to be seen hanging out with, or garner us any other worldly benefit that we covet.
Do All Friendships Last?
As a homeschooling mother, I am well aware of the fact that my children will probably never have any ‘school friends’. Many a critic of homeschooling brings this up as an apparently blatantly negative factor going against the decision to homeschool, whereas ironically, I consider it one of the positives.
Yes, you read that right: I am actually grateful to Allah that my children will probably never have any ‘school friends’, simply because of my acute observation of how transient, distractive and unreliable these friendships turn out to be in practical adult life, especially in the long term, once the days of carefree youth are gone.
True, friends make our lives merrier during youth, but we all know too well how they mostly do so at the expense of our faith and righteousness, viz. because of frequent backbiting, gossip, slander, and peer pressure to do things that Allah dislikes, not to mention, involvement in entertainment activities that undermine if not completely do away with the punctual, timely performance of daily prayers.
A Glimpse of Heavenly Love in this World
Fortunately, after experiencing the disappointing ‘fizzling out’ of most of my strong childhood friendships (without any hard feelings, alhamdulillah, - most of them just died a naturalized death because the foundation on which they were formed was no longer there), I’ve had the immense honor of experiencing a few friendships (very few, mind you) that were formed on a love that is truly rare and exclusive.
When one begins to read and study the Quran with deep understanding, with the intention of getting to know Allah and “recognizing” Him (i.e. acquiring His ‘ma’arifah’), one begins to love His Lord deeply.
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In the Quran, Allah says that it is He who creates and nurtures affection between the hearts of believers |
Thenceforth, depending upon the sincerity of the slave, Allah grants him or her a beautiful worldly blessing: He gradually brings righteous brothers/sisters into their life, who are treading the same path/mission as they, and all of them start to experience a beautiful kind of bond with each other.
This bond is based on love that is born and nurtured because of their mutually shared goal of getting closer to Allah with the sincere intention of getting to know Him, His attributes, and His commands, so that they can obey Him and do whatever pleases Him during this life.
The people who thus come together in this world, at any level, on any platform (virtual or physical), in any location, in any way, that they mutually share the intention and efforts of growing closer to Allah, are blessed with a mutual love for each other that Prophet Muhammad referred to in Arabic as “hubb fillah” (love for the sake of Allah).
What is Love For the Sake of Allah (Hubb Fillah)?
In the Quran, Allah says that it is He who creates and nurtures affection between the hearts of believers, and that this is a blessing that could not have otherwise been acquired, even if Prophet Muhammad had spent all that was in the earth:
{And He had put affection between their hearts, if you had spent all that is in the earth, couldn’t have produced that affection, but Allah had done it. For He is Exalted in might, Wise.} (8:63)
Loving someone for the sake of Allah alone is a kind of love that is devoid of any other worldly motive or desire. It is a love that is born and that grows “in” (as denoted by the Arabic letter used for it, “fi”) (the path of) Allah, and is therefore the most special kind.
Prophet Muhammad once advised a man to inform the Muslim brother whom he loved for Allah’s sake, of his love for him:
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loving someone for Allah’s sake only, is an act of worship in itself |
Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported:
“A man was with the Prophet when another man passed by and the former said: “O Messenger of Allah! I love this man (for Allah's sake)”.
The Prophet asked:
“Have you informed him?” He said, “No”. Prophet Muhammad then said:
“Tell him (that you love him)”.
So he went up to the man and said to him, “I love you for the sake of Allah;” and the other replied, “May Allah, for Whose sake you love me, love you.” (Abu Dawud, 385)
The best part about loving someone for the sake of Allah, besides the fact that it is based on the love that one has for Allah, is that it transcends the geographical boundaries of this world, and the physical limits of time and realm imposed by this short life.
In other words, love for the sake of Allah doesn’t end with the death of the person whom we love for His sake, but rather, it leaves behind a hope and yearning to be reunited with them (this time permanently) in the next, eternal life.
Lastly, loving someone for Allah’s sake only is an act of worship in itself, that will garner special rewards and the pleasure of Allah in the Hereafter:
Mu'adh ibn Jabal narrated that Prophet Muhammad said:
“Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, said:
“Those who love each other for the sake of My Majesty shall be upon podiums of light, and they will be admired by the Prophets and the martyrs.” (Jami’ At-Tirmidhi, 2390)
Conclusion: Strive to Acquire and Protect this Blessing
All interactions, meetings and conversations with those whom one loves in (the way of) Allah are truly a miniature glimpse of the assembly of Paradise in this world: devoid of all useless, futile, negative and harmful feelings, vibes, topics and words.
The one who is granted the precious worldly blessing of sharing love for the sake of Allah with even a few other believers in this world is truly fortunate, and should strive to cherish and value it by protecting it from all negative and undermining influences.
All I want to say at the end is: Alhamdulillah that Allah compensated me with much better than what I lost!