Does Allah Love Us?

Does Allah Love Us?
by Muhammad Alshareef

After the Prophet sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam passed away, Abu Idrees Al Khawlanee (d. 80 AH/699-700 CE) in Dimishq (Damascus), went to Masjid Al-Kabeer. In the masjid he saw a group of people sitting around one man. He described the man as smiling very much and people were sitting around him asking questions. So Abu Idrees Al-Khawlanee asked, “Who is this man?”

They answered, “That is Mu’adh Ibn Jabal radi Allahu anhu, the companion of the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam.”

The next day Abu Idrees Al-Khawlanee came to the masjid early in the morning, before Salaatul Fajr, thinking he was the first one to enter the masjid. But there he found Mu’adh Ibn Jabal radi Allahu anhu praying in the masjid before salah. So Abu Idrees came to Mu’adh and sat behind him and waited for him to complete his prayer. After Mu’adh completed his prayer, Abu Idrees went to him and said, “Oh Mu’adh! I love you for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala!”

Mu’adh Ibn Jabal radi Allahu anhu pulled Abu Idrees closer and he asked him,“By Allah do you love me only for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala?”

Abu Idrees replied, “Yes!”

At this Mu’adh Ibn Jabal radi Allahu anhu smiled and pulled him closer and said to him, “Let me give you good news, for verily I heard the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam say, ‘Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, “My love is wajib upon those who love for my sake.”

Brothers and sisters, throughout history people have claimed that they love Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and Allah loves them. The Christians claim that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala loves them but Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala calls them: “The misguided”. (Surah Al Fatiha 1:7)

And the Jews claim that they love Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala but Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says about them: “Those whom Allah is angry with” (Surah Al Fatiha 1:7)

And so Muslims also claim that they love Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. But whether Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala loves us, is the real question. Does Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala truly love us?

In Sahih al-Bukhari, the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam says:

“When Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala loves someone, he calls Jibreel and Allah then says, ‘Ya Jibreel! Inni uhibbu fulan! (Oh Jibreel! Verily, I love such and such a person, so love him!)’

And Allah names that person and then Jibreel loves that person. Then Jibreel calls out to all the angels of the heavens and he says, “Allah loves so and so, so love him!” and so all the angels love him. And then Allah places pleasure in the hearts of the people towards this person!”

The Prophet sal Allaau alayhi wa sallam said in another narration of this hadith:

“The slave will continue to try to win the pleasure of Allah; he will try to win the love of Allah until Allah calls Jibreel and says to him, ‘Oh Jibreel! My slave so and so is trying to please me, verily my love has overcome him!’”

Indeed the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam told us in the Quran and the Sunnah about many people that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala loved. And amongst the greatest people that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala loved was Ibrahim alayhis Salaam. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said:

“…For Allah did take Ibrahim for a friend.” (Surah Al-Nisa’ 4:125)

When one of the companions heard the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam recite this in salah, he said to the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam, “May coolness of her eyes be the mother of Ibrahim. For who wouldn’t love for their son to be taken as the Khalil of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.”

And from the people that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala loved was Ayyub alayhis salaam. Allah said:

“We found him to be patient… What a beautiful (blessed) slave he is.”

In Sahih Muslim the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam told us that:

A man went out once to visit his brother for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. On his path Allah sent an angel and the angel asked him where he was going and he said, “I am going to visit my brother for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.”

The angel asked him,“Do you have any other reason to go to his house?”

The man said, “I am going for no other reason than for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.”

Then the angel said, “Verily I give you good news; I am an angel from Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala with a message from Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala that He loves you!”

And from the people that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala loved was Khadijah radi Allahu anha. In Sahih Al-Bukhari the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam was sitting with Jibreel reciting the Quran and Khadijah radi Allahu anha came. Jibreel turned to the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam and said, “This is Khadijah bringing you some food. Give her my salaam!”

This is Jibreel alayhis salaam giving his salaam to Khadijah radi Allahu anha and then he said, “Give her the glad tidings of a home in paradise!”

What happens when Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala loves us?

Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala first and foremost will mention the name of the person, and then Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will call to Jibreel and tell him that he loves this person. Not only will Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala love this person but Jibreel will also love this person. Not only Jibreel, but also the angels of the heavens and the earth will love this person. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will put the pleasure in the hearts of the people towards this person.

And if that person was to ask anything, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala would grant what he asks for. And if he seeks refuge in Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala from anything, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will protect him. And a person whose case is such, his end is surely Jannah.

Brothers and Sisters on the same side of this hadith we also have to be aware and fear gaining the wrath of Allah. We also have to beware of the people who gain the anger of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said regarding a person who angers and disobeys Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will hate that person. And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will call to Jibreel and tell him, “Oh Jibreel! My servant so and so is continuing to anger me and my anger has overcome him.”

I was listening to a tape once and the shaykh was talking about stories and hadith dealing with children. One of the stories that he mentioned was about the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam playing with children. The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam was playing with Al-Husayn and then he raised him up for people to see and he said, “Allah will love those who love Al Husayn!”

So it got me thinking of other lessons from the Quran and Sunnah that can give us more ideas of how to we can have Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala love us. Ibn Al-Qayyim rahimahullah actually wrote different ways we can gain Allah’s subhanahu wa ta’ala love.

One: We need to take advantage of the third portion of the night. The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Every night Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala comes down to the samaa’ ad-dunya and he calls out to the people, ‘Is there anyone who will make du’a, so I may accept their du’a! Is there anyone who will ask for forgiveness, so I shall forgive them!’”

So we should take advantage of this by praying Qiyaam-ul-Layl (voluntary Night Prayer).

Two: We should also remember Allah often. Whenever we are commuting to work or standing in a line somewhere, its always our chance to remember Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Allah says:

“Then do ye remember Me; I will remember you…” (Surah Al Baqarah 2:152)

And who does not want Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to remember them?

Three: We should read the Quran with understanding. Read what Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala revealed to us for our life and for our death. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says:

“Do they not consider the Quran (with care)? …” (Surah Al-Nisa’ 4:82)

And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says:

“(Here is) a Book which We have sent down unto thee, full of blessings, that they may mediate on its Signs,…” (Surah Sad 38:29)

Four: We should sit and be with those people who truly love Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and spend our time with them. In Surah Al-Kahf, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says:

“(Some) say they were three, the dog being the fourth among them; (others) say they were five, the dog being the sixth,- doubtfully guessing at the unknown; (yet others) say they were seven, the dog being the eighth….” (Surah Al Kahf 18:22)

In this verse, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala mentions the dog of the Ahl Al-Kahf (people of the cave) over and over again. Why? It is because of the companions that the dog had, the companions that he was with that he is mentioned so many times. So if a dog is going to be mentioned in the Quran so many times because of his compantions, you can imagine how much Allah will love the person who chooses to spend his time with the people Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala loves. As the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam taught us, good companionship is like a person who sells musk. Even if the companion doesn’t give you any musk, you are going to benefit from the smell and fragrance of the musk.

Five: We should love to meet Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“Whoever loves to meet Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, Allah loves to meet them!”

And no doubt if someone is going to love to meet Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala they will do good for that meeting; they will prepare for that meeting. And the one who does not want to meet Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, is the one who has been spending his life in disobiedance. He will not love to meet Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will not love to meet that person.

Six: We should push away everything that stands between us and Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and Allah’s Messenger sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam. We have to critically look at the things that we are doing in disobediance to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and take them and extract them out of our lives.

Seven: We should always put RasulAllah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam in front of us. We should always put the wishes of the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam before our wishes. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala revealed in the Quran:

“Say: “If ye do love God, Follow me: God will love you and forgive you your sins: For God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”” (Surah Ali ‘Imran 3:31)

Eight: We should make patience a part of our character. As they say, a person who continues to do something will be known for that which he does. When a person is patient in his dealings in his home and at his work, then he becomes as-saabir (the patient). And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala tells us of those who are patient:

“…And Allah Loves those who are firm and steadfast.” (Surah Ali ‘Imran 3:146)

Nine: We should learn Allah’s subhanahu wa ta’ala’s asma was-sifaat (names and attributes). So when we read in the Quran Ar-Rahman we should understand it’s meaning and depth and hope Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has mercy on us. And when we read that Allah is As-Sami’ and Al-Baseer, that He is All-Hearing and All-Seeing, we should understand that Allah can see us at all times. And when we read in the Quran that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is Shadeedul-‘Iqaab, He is severe in punishment, we will think twice before we disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and we will abstain from that action.

Ten: We should continue in doing our nawaafil (voluntary acts). In Hadith Qudsi, the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam says that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says:

“The slave will continue to come close to me in voluntary deeds until I love him.”

In the sharh (explanation) of this hadith, the scholars have said these are voluntary acts of all kinds. Voluntary acts of the tongue and the limbs.

A poet once said, “How can you disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and you claim that you love Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.”

This is a very unique way of understanding. If your love of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is true, you will obey Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Verily the person who loves someone, will follow that person.