Attaining the Love of Allah

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ خَاتَمِ النَّبِيِّينَ وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ الأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ.

All Praise is due to Alláh, We praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds. Anyone who is guided by Alláh, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left astray, will find no one to guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Alláh, the Only One without any partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad, peace and blessings on him, is His servant, and His messenger.

Dear Brothers and Sisters …

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Be conscious of Allah, obey Him, uphold your religion for Him, submit to Him and dedicate your deeds purely for His sake. Be consistent in your good deeds for consistency is better than lots of good deeds done inconsistently. And there is no acceptance without sincerity:

وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ حُنَفَاءَ وَيُقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَيُؤْتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَذَلِكَ دِينُ الْقَيِّمَةِ  : 5 –

Al Bayyinah 5: And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth, and to establish prayer and to give zakah. And that is the correct religion.

Oh people: There is not a believer except that strives to attain the love of Allah. If a believer knew that Allah the Exalted loved him there is nothing in this world that could contain his pleasure and joy. All else is insignificant in the path of this love.  Because it is love from the King of kings for a created servant. The One in Whose hands are the affairs of this world and the next. And controls his provision, lifespan, and heart. It is no surprise that a believer strives with all their efforts to attain His love.

And there are signs indicating Allah’s love of a person and there are deeds to attain it that a believer must be guarded to do:

The foundation for this love, is Iman (faith) and the righteous works. For Allah loves Iman (faith). And Allah loves righteous deeds because they are from the Iman (faith). Allah’s love for a person increases in proportion to their level of Iman (faith) and amount of righteous deeds. The means of attaining the love of Allah and its signs always return to this great foundation and the people vary in their level of Iman:

There are some who realize the basics of Iman but do not reach completion. This is due to shortcomings in some of the commands and doing some of the prohibitions that do not wipe away the foundation of Iman but reduce it.

And some achieve complete Iman (faith) by doing all the obligations and avoiding the prohibitions. And due to his fear and watchfulness of Allah in the public and private, his Iman may rise to the level of Ihsan (perfection).

Similarly, people vary with regards to their righteous deeds. There are some who excel. And others perform them moderately. While others short-change and wrong themselves.

So, whoever wants Allah the Exalted to love them should increase their Iman by doing plenty of good deeds and avoiding what Allah the Exalted prohibited.

From the signs of Allah’s love to his servant is how much they follow the prophet (ﷺ) and perform the sunnah. A person’s striving to follow and act on the sunnah is a sign that Allah loves them as Allah says:

قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمَ – آلِ عِمْرَانَ: 31

Al Imran 31: Say, [O Muhammad], “If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive your sins.

And from the signs of Allah’s love for His servant is the extent that they perform acts of obedience and stay away from prohibited actions. The evidence for this is the Hadith Qudsi in which Allah said:

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Allah said, ‘I will declare war against him who shows hostility to a pious worshipper of Mine. And the most beloved things with which My slave comes nearer to Me, is what I have enjoined upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (praying or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) till I love him, so I become his sense of hearing with which he hears, and his sense of sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he grips, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks Me, I will give him, and if he asks My protection (Refuge), I will protect him; (i.e. give him My Refuge) and I do not hesitate to do anything as I hesitate to take the soul of the believer, for he hates death, and I hate to disappoint him.” Sahih al-Bukhari 6502

https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6502

And from the signs of Allah’s love of His servant is that he likes, dislikes, associates and disassociates only for Allah’s sake. Not for some worldly gain that he is seeking or to please someone. He supports Allah’s allies and dissociates from Allah’s enemies. The evidence to this is Allah’s words:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَنْ يَرْتَدَّ مِنْكُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِي اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ أَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ يُجَاهِدُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلَا يَخَافُونَ لَوْمَةَ لَائِمٍ ذَلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ – الْمَائِدَةِ: 54

Al Maedah 54: O you who have believed, whoever of you should revert from his religion – Allah will bring forth [in place of them] a people He will love and who will love Him [who are] humble toward the believers, stern against the disbelievers; they strive in the cause of Allah and do not fear the blame of a critic. That is the favor of Allah ; He bestows it upon whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.

A person’s relations with the believers should only be for Allah’s sake. That is if he sits with them, he should sit with them for Allah’s sake. If he visits them, he should visit them for Allah’s sake. He should not love them, sit with them, or visit them seeking a worldly gain.

Oh Muslims: Be conscious of Allah and obey Him and do plenty of good deeds for it is a means for attaining the love of Allah. And whomsoever attains the love of Allah becomes one of his allies and that is the great success.

أَلَا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاءَ اللَّهِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ * الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَكَانُوا يَتَّقُونَ * لَهُمُ الْبُشْرَى فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِكَلِمَاتِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ  – يُونُسَ:62-64

Yunis 62-64: (62) Unquestionably, [for] the allies of Allah there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve (63) Those who believed and were conscious of Allah (64) For them are good tidings in the worldly life and in the Hereafter. No change is there in the words of Allah . That is the great attainment.

Narrated ‘Ubada bin As-Samit: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Who-ever loves to meet Allah, Allah (too) loves to meet him and who-ever hates to meet Allah, Allah (too) hates to meet him”. `Aisha, or some of the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “But we dislike death.” He said: It is not like this, but it is meant that when the time of the death of a believer approaches, he receives the good news of Allah’s pleasure with him and His blessings upon him, and so at that time nothing is dearer to him than what is in front of him. He therefore loves the meeting with Allah, and Allah (too) loves the meeting with him. But when the time of the death of a disbeliever approaches, he receives the evil news of Allah’s torment and His Requital, whereupon nothing is more hateful to him than what is before him. Therefore, he hates the meeting with Allah, and Allah too, hates the meeting with him.” Sahih al-Bukhari 6507

https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6507

So, a believer must be guarded to implement the means for attaining Allah’s love and look for its signs. He should make plenty of supplication to attain this great status. The status of attaining Allah’s love and being His ally. For if he attains it, then he will be happy in this world through a pleasant life and comfort in his heart. And on the Day of Resurrection he will have a great victory which is the pleasure of Allah and His paradise.

We ask Allah the Exalted to make us and on our parents from His allies and those whom He loves. And to facilitate actions that He loves. And to keep us away from what He dislikes. Indeed He is the All-Hearer, Responsive.

Remember Allah, the Great – He will remember you. Thank Him for His favors – He will increase you therein.  And seek forgiveness from Him – He will forgive you. And be conscious of Him – He will provide you a way out of difficult matters. And, establish the prayer.

May Allah multiply the rewards of our Prayers, grant us forgiveness for our sins and freedom from the Fire, and allow us to drink from the Prophet’s (saw) fountain, Ameen.

BY IMAM SYED MAHBOOB RASOOL