Love – An Integral Part of Faith

Loving Allah is an integral part of our faith. It is an action of the heart which draws a believer towards Allah. Loving Allah should wholly occupy our heart. Allah says in the Qur’an: 
وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِّلَّهِ 
 “But those who believe, love Allah more (than anything else)” [2:165] 

Now you might ask, how can I grow my love of my Creator? How can I increase my love for Allah? The simple answer is to get to know Allah more. The best way to love Allah more is by learning about His names and attributes. For example, one of Allah’s name is Al-Kareem, the Most Generous. He generously gave us so many blessings even though we did not ask for them. When we were in our mother’s womb, did we ask Allah to give us two eyes, two hands, two legs, a heart and a healthy body? No. But Allah still gave them to us for free. To get a heart transplant would cost about £100,000 and a kidney transplant costs around £17,000. Did any of us pay Allah thousands of pounds for our heart and kidney? Of course not, Allah gave it to us for free without even us asking for it. Should we not love Allah more now, given that we know Allah is Al-Kareem, the Most Generous?  

Another attribute of Allah is that He is Al-Ghafoor, the Most Forgiving. Allah forgives us even though we commit sins every day. In a hadith, the Prophet  ﷺ said, “O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you.” (Tirmidhi) 

We all commit sins on a daily basis which means that we should ask for forgiveness on a daily basis. Allah is Al-Ghafoor and He will forgive us no matter how big or small our sin is, but the condition is that we need to sincerely ask for forgiveness. Tell me one person who will forgive you a thousand times and more? Even your best friend has some sort of limit. Yet Allah is Al-Ghafoor, the most Forgiving, and therefore our love for Allah should increase even more given that He will forgive us over and over again, unlimited times.  

Another name of Allah is Al-Hakeem, the Most Wise. Everything Allah has made halal for us is actually good for us and everything He has prohibited is actually harmful to us. For example, Allah made eating pork haram because consuming pig is bad for us. Pigs harbour a lot of pathogens and toxins and their lifestyle is that of scavengers. Allah, out of His Wisdom, prescribed 5 daily prayers which is meant to be a form of meditation. According to some research, meditation can improve the mental health and reduce symptoms associated with chronic conditions. Subhanallah, by prescribing salah, Allah is helping our mental and physical health. It might be difficult at the beginning to understand, but everything Allah has prescribed is beneficial for us, He is Al-Hakeem, the Most Wise.  

Two more names of Allah are Al-Khaliq - the Creator, and Al- Aleem, the All-Knowing. Allah created us and so He knows our strengths and weaknesses. He knows that alcohol will damage our liver, brain, social and personal life and so he made it haram. Allah knows that meditation relieves so many problems and so He prescribed daily prayers. Allah knows that racism, poverty, health issues and other problems will exist and so He prescribed Hajj, zakah and fasting. The most important point behind each and every rule of Allah is that it brings about overall benefit, ease and tranquillity in one’s life.  

Allah says in the Quran about fasting: 
يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ بِكُمُ ٱلْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ ٱلْعُسْرَ 
“Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship.” [2:185] 

Knowing that Allah does not intend difficulty, but ease, should lead us to love our creator.  

Love is a two-way relationship. At the beginning we mentioned that one can increase the love for Allah by knowing and applying the attributes of Allah. You might ask the question; how do we earn the love of Allah? Are there a few things that I can do whereby Allah will also love me for? The good news is that there are so many ways to gain the love of Allah. For example, Allah describes the characteristics and traits that He loves. Allah says in the Quran, 
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلتَّوَّٰبِينَ وَيُحِبُّ ٱلْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ 
"Verily, Allah loves those who are ask for forgiveness and those who keep themselves pure." [2:222] 

In another verse, Allah says,
بَلَىٰ مَنْ أَوْفَىٰ بِعَهْدِهِۦ وَٱتَّقَىٰ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ 
For verily, Allah loves those who are righteous." [3:76] 

In another verse, Allah says, 
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ 
"...Allah loves those who trust in Him." (3:159) 

In another verse, Allah says, 
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُقْسِطِينَ 
"...Allah loves those who are just." [5:42] 

So, we can attain the love of Allah by incorporating some of those noble characteristics, such as asking for forgiveness, patience, fearing Allah, doing good deeds and trusting Allah.  

Another way to love Allah is to follow the Prophet Muhammad. Allah says: Say, 
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى يُحْبِبْكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ 
“If you really love God then follow me (Muhammad) and God will love you and forgive you your sins and God is Most Forgiving and Most Merciful.” (3:31)  

We should spend some time during each weekend reading about the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ . You can also listen to talks online and discuss amongst your friends. Discuss matters like what kind of food did the Prophet ﷺ have, what kind of sports was the Prophet ﷺ involved in, what kind of struggles did he go through just so we could be Muslims today. Discuss some of the miracles and prophecies and other amazing aspects of the life of the Prophet ﷺ. And then once we know about the Prophet ﷺ we should try our utmost best to follow his examples. 

In conclusion, we should increase our love for Allah by getting to know Him more. We can also attain the love of Allah by having good characteristics and by following the best of creation, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. 

May Allah give us the tawfeeq to love Him and to earn His love and therefore achieve His pleasure in Jannah.  Ameen.