Love in Islam

Ethics

by Zaira Said

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Love is one of the most central attributes of God. God is described in the Quran as Wadood, a superlative term for love which has been translated as The Affectionate or One who is full of loving kindness. In one verse: {And ask forgiveness of your Lord, then repent to Him. Truly my Lord is Merciful, Affectionate.} (Hud 11: 90). This divine attribute is connected with mercy and in the other: {and He is the Forgiving, the Loving,} (Al-Buruj 85:14), it is connected with forgiveness. This appears to show the inter-connectedness and interdependence of the attributes of love, mercy and forgiveness. Verses on these attributes appear in the Quran hundreds of times.

The centrality of Gods love is not only measured by the frequency of occurrence in the Quran, but also in the manifestations of His love by creating the human in the best mould, commanding the angels to bow down to Adam, ennobling the human and appointing him/her as trustee on earth, creating all that is on earth and in heavens for human benefit, granting humans the freedom to believe in God and obey Him or to reject belief and defy Gods commands. Even for the sinful, the door of repentance is wide-open at any time prior to the time of death.

Love, however is a two-way street. The Quran speaks also about the human duty to reciprocate Gods love by loving God as well and to manifest the seriousness of that love in the form of willing and trusting submission to His will. Such submission is an act of gratefulness; Shukr: {And verily We gave Luqman wisdom: Give thanks to God. Whoever gives thanks only for his own sake and whoever is ungrateful, then surely God is Independent, Praised.} (Luqman 31:12)

Similarly the way man has physical needs in life which he strives and struggles to fulfill, the soul too has needs that must be satisfied. These spiritual needs and urges have been placed by the hands of the creator in the depths of the creations soul. Man has a natural inclination to find Love and love in any form towards any object has no valid reality except when it is for the sake of God. All love directly or indirectly in some way, shape, or form is a mans hope to be in reach of the ultimate perfection, which can be nobody but God-the Almighty

Love the Sole Purpose of our Creation

God created the universe to have something or someone there to reciprocate his love back to him. From the vast universe to the cosmos, the clouds above our heads to even the most minuscule insects, there is love intertwined within every creation of Allahs. There is no realm of existence where love does not manifest itself in some way.

Oh my beloved! After witnessing Your infinite beauty I become entangled. Seeing, the manifestation of Your glory I become saturated with joy and ecstasy. -Imam Khomeini

Love the Sole Purpose of our Creation

Gods Love For Man It is the mans heart which attracts Gods love towards mankind more than any other creature. The angels cannot feel the intensity of Allahs love as the humans can due to the fact that they cannot undergo wrath, severity, and detachment like man can. And the animals cannot feel love in the way man is capable because they cannot experience beauty, tenderness, and proximity suitably. All the conflicting celestial qualities are brought jointly within man, nearness, distance, gentleness, and severity.

There are two elements of Gods love for humanity. The first element is all-embracive and unrestricted even for those who defy God and commit sins.

Such love and care is seen in how God still provides them with all their needs and in His acceptance of them with even greater affection when they repent to Him and reconnect with Him.

The second element of Gods love is the bliss of greater love resulting from pursuing a virtuous life.

As God loves virtue, His Holiness means that He does not love vice. But both virtue and vice are not abstract concepts that are floating in the air.

They acquire their concrete meaning only as they are embodied in the actions of a human being. When the human acts virtuously, he/she enjoys the bliss of additional love, hence the Quranic expressions such as Allah loves the righteous, the just, the doers of good.
Likewise, when the human acts in a brutal, unjust and evil manner, he/she still enjoys Gods all-encompassing love and care. However, when the Quran states that Allah does not love evil doers, the real object of not loving is not the sinful person but the negative character or traits of that person. Such traits are not necessarily inescapable and irreversibly tied to the sinful person. Once that person decides to deal with his/her negative trait (s), he/she can immediately enjoy the additional bliss of even greater love.

God, mans real beloved Surely my lord is all-merciful, all-love. Holy Quran (11:90)

True love and Imitative love True Love - All love in actuality is love for God, for the reason that everything else in existence is merely a shadow or reflection of him. Only God truly exists and one should only direct their love towards him. Imitative Love - Belief in independent existence of various objects of desire therefore turn ones love towards them.

How to Reciprocate Gods Love

Act in a Manner that would Please God Aside from the fact that one who loves God is loved by him, a real love for God prompts one to prove that if someone really loves him he would act in a manner that would please him. God says to Prophet Muhammad to tell the people in the Quran:
Say, if you love God, then follow me, and God will love you and forgive you your sins, and God is forgiving and Merciful (3:31)

INVOCATION Through invocation one can gradually lift himself from the material world into the next world. A lover enjoys talking to his beloved, strives at every chance to do so, and feels the pain of separation when they are not in proximity of their beloved.

Nothing should come into conflict with your love for God
Man must separate God from imitative beloveds, enhance his seeking and need through spiritual discipline under the guidance of an educated, and wipe out all things other than God including himself so only God can be the core of his adoration. Imam Ali once said: Blessed is he who sincerely devotes the entirety of his actions, knowledge, love, hatred, receiving, relinquishing, speech, silence, deeds, and statements absolutely to Allah. Al-Majlisi, Bihar Al-Anwar, vol.77, p.289.

Imam Sadiq said once, The heart is the sanctuary of God, therefore do not settle therein anything but God. Al-Majlisi, Bihar Al-Anwar, vol. 70, p.25.

If God asks us to give our lives to protect innocent lives or our territorial integrity or similar to, we shouldnt let our love for this world or any other distraction i.e. family, wealth, power, etc. avert us from striving in his way

Say, If your fathers and your sons, your brethren and your wives, your kinsfolk and the property you have acquired, the commerce you fear may slacken and the dwellings which you love-if these are clearer to you than God and his apostle and striving in his way, then wait till God brings his command; God does not guide an ungodly people. Holy Quran (9:24)

Love is the most important principle of existence in the real world. No one is more worthy of love and genuine affection than the divine being.

Love Allah (SWT)

Thy love has infatuated me; O my Allah, I love Thee! Thy love is so sweet, really; O my Allah, I love Thee! Doing the prayers properly, And also earning the worldly, Is what I do daily and nightly. O my Allah, I love Thee Neither wealth pleaseth me, Nor do I worry about poverty. Thy love, alone, makes me happy; O my Allah, I love Thee! The nafs I have is so treacherous; Poor me, with this being so lecherous! I've found the real delight, so gorgeous: O my Allah, I love Thee! Love is not only words, O Hilmi! Thy Allah commandeth drudgery; Let your manners testify to thee! O my Allah, I love

The nafs I have is so treacherous; Poor me, with this being so lecherous! I've found the real delight, so gorgeous: O my Allah, I love Thee!

Islam's enemies are so many, Attacking the religion insidiously; How could one ever sit idly! O my Allah, I love Thee

A lover simply will not sit lazily, Lest his darling should be hurt slightly. Silence the enemy, and then say honestly: O my Allah, I love Thee!