HADITH FORTY TWO: NEVER-ENDING LOVE
The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said, «Jibril came to me and said, “O Muhammad, live as long as you wish, for you will die. Love whomever you wish, for you will leave them. Do whatever you want, for you will be requited for it. And know that the believer’s honour is in praying at night, and their strength is in not needing people.”»
Reported by al-Tabarani in al-Mu‘jam al-Awsat (4278) and al-Bayhaqi in Shu‘ab al-Iman (10541). Al-Albani declared it hasan li-ghayrihi (Sahih al-Targhib, 726)
Commentary
All are destined to end, except for Allah. His love is unique, and it gives meaning to everything else.
Live whatever way you want
The choice is ours. How do you want to live and what do you want to do with your life? Who do you love and would like to love you back? We have the choice, and each choice has very different consequences.
Living the way we want is a modern rallying cry. It is the ultimate freedom. No one can tell us how to live: neither parents, culture, nor society. It is imagined as a discovery of your true self, living authentically in pursuit of what you love, not what others force on you. For some, it is a rebellion against injustice and antiquated rules. It is exhilarating because it is liberating, because you can build your life anew. You can imagine a better world and construct it on the ruins of the old. It is especially appealing to anyone who feels they are living under oppressive conditions. Living as you like is to be able to breathe…finally.
As appealing as this may sound, it is not without its problems. The liberation in this idea is individualistic and western in flavour. It pits the individual against society, the modern against tradition, and the secular against religion. This is its general bent, even though not all who are swept by it are secular or anti-tradition. But it is unmistakably clear that the authority is with the individual. Each person decides for themselves, on
their own. Power is wrested from the divine and assigned to humans, to their reasoning or emotions. Doing whatever we like has deep philosophical and religious roots and implications. It is not just about what career to pick, whom to marry, or where to live. It is about who decides right and wrong. And here, humans do, not Allah.
In reality and beyond idealism, there are always pressures that force to conform, to act in specific ways but not others. We just have learned to live with them and not to notice them. You cannot dress whatever way you want, I mean whatever wild way you want. There are always limits, and if we ignore the limits, we pay the price: economically, socially, and legally. You have to dress a certain way to get a job, to fit in society, and not be arrested. There are always limits. We do not get to do whatever we want. They tell us that so we would believe it, but there are still limits set for us, and we tacitly accept them. Do you know who the real maverick is? The one who truly does whatever they want? The homeless who live outside of society, or the off-the-grid recluse who withdraws to the woods. Everyone else has to follow the rules of the game.
The real revolutionary today is the follower of Allah. I do not mean the followers of a culture that they believe is religion, or traditions that masquerade as the true religion. I mean the follower of Allah the way He wants to be worshipped, which is revealed in the Quran and Sunnah. This person is going against a global thrust of materialism, hedonism, self-obsessiveness, and fatal cynicism. They embrace meaning in a world that is moving towards nihilism. They embrace Allah in a world that is running away from Him and paying the price for it. Today, you are penalised for following and speaking the truth and celebrated if you are false and for falsehood. Real liberation today is not from religion, but from the system that oppresses people. If we do not choose Allah as our Master, another will take His place. And they will not be forgiving, merciful, or wise.
Whatever we choose has consequences. And we will see them in this life and the next. Eat whatever you want, and drink whatever you want. There will be consequences: physical, social, familial, and financial. Abstaining from alcohol is not like drinking it, and sobriety is not the same as alcoholism. Eating healthy and exercising is not like a bad diet and a sedentary lifestyle. Each choice leads to a different path. And our life will be different because of it. Sin is the same.
Surrender to Allah and obey Him, and it will lead you to the best this life has to offer. You will understand the meaning of this life and be liberated from false gods and prophets. You will be liberated from Shaytan and see through his plots: you will see the puppeteer behind the puppets. You will learn how to rise above your desires and weaknesses. And Allah will be beside you. And in the Hereafter, you will live close to Him forever.
But if we rebel against Allah, we will pay for it here first. We will make the worst choices, follow the worst paths, and suffer with each choice. Everything else will enslave us, and Shaytan will dominate us. We will be miserable, and will grow more
miserable with each sin. And in the Hereafter, it will be even worse. So yes, we can do whatever we want. But we will see the consequences. We will meet our choices.
Anticipating death may be one of the few things to convince us to make the right choices. The finality of life shows its triviality. You will see everything in a new light when you know it is going to end. When you remember death, life will have a new
meaning. What seemed important will stop being important. What you thought you could delay will become urgent. Our goals will mature. There is great wisdom in remembering death. Many run away from it. But it can teach us so much. And its
lessons lead back to Allah. If everything is going to end, we desperately need the Only One who will not. He is the Only One who can give our life meaning.
All love will end
Separation from our loved ones is probably one of the hardest things in life. But we must separate from them. This fact will force us to reevaluate our love.
The first lesson is that if we must separate, then we must learn to be less attached. We cannot be so dependent on something that will not last. This prevents every earthly love from ballooning to dominate our life. We will love, but we will do it with moderation and anticipation of its impermanence. This allows us to deal with loss, too. If you know you have to lose something, you will be more prepared for it. Loss is like the day and the night, summer and winter. It must happen. But is this enough? Is this knowledge sufficient to curb pain and bring happiness? How can we accept the loss of all that we love?
We live for love. If you read the rest of the book, you know how much we need it. The possibility of all love ending is the death of all hope and joy. Fortunately, one love defies this rule.
The love of Allah. It cannot end. And because of this love, all other loves survive.
What is exceptional about Allah’s love is that it is inexhaustible. It covers all creation and is there as long as we need it. There is more of it the more we take. It is always with us. It is our solace when we lose other earthly loves. When we feel alone, Allah is there to carry our burden and comfort our hearts. We can make it through anything if He is with us. He is beside us in every difficulty, and with us when we pass from this life to the next. We leave all of our loved ones behind when we die except Him. He is with us in our graves. And He is with us when we come back to life. On the day when loved ones will run away from each other, He brings you closer to Him. Allah said:
On the Day when a man will run away from his brother, and his mother and father, and his wife and children. Each will have their own worries to consume them.
‘Abasa (Q80:34–37)
When we know that Allah’s love is greater than any other love, we will not put anyone before Him in our hearts. We will not choose anyone else over Him.
His love saves every other love. Allah said:
Loved ones will be enemies of each other on that Day, except for the pious.
Az-Zukhruf (Q43:67)
His love unites and connects. All other loves, when not based on His, evaporate. If we are righteous, Allah joins us with our loved ones in Jannah. He said:
For those who believe and whose offspring follow them in faith, we will unite them with their offspring.
At-Tur (Q52:21)
We will see them again, and this eliminates the finality of death. When we die, we transition, we travel, but we do not lose each other. Allah’s love keeps us connected forever. If we know this, we can overcome every loss in this world. Every loss is a temporary separation that will end one day. The real tragedy is losing His love. If we do not have it, we will lose every other love we have. If we sacrifice His love for someone else, we will lose it all. He is the source of all love, and all love returns to Him.
Dignity and strength
All of us search for honour and dignity. Some find it in wealth, some in education, and others in lineage. But real honour resides with Allah. He said:
Whoever desires honour, then all honour belongs to Allah.
Fatir (Q35:10)
And those who believe in Allah receive honour from Him. Allah said:
And to Allah belongs honour, and to His Messenger and the believers. But the hypocrites do not know.
Al-Munafiqun (Q63:8)
The honour of the believer, as the Hadith states, is in night prayer. This Salah teaches us how to be alone with Allah. It lifts us above worldly plains and connects us to the heavens. In it, we are conversing with Allah, the Highest, and surrounded by angels. We learn in this heavenly encounter to give all our problems and concerns to Him. We learn that if we ask Him, He listens. If we rely on Him, He helps. If we need Him, He is
always there. And this is real dignity. We are close to the Greatest, and He is listening to us. We take every problem to Him, and He makes it small. We take every worry, and He makes it better. We are not weak next to Him, and are not lost as long as He guides us. We do not need anyone else but Him. This is the dignity of the believer. And night prayer is the path to it. When you are alone with Allah, you learn who He is and who you are.
As we acquire our honour from Allah, we derive our strength from Him. We are, by nature, weak. We need others. When we rely on other humans, our heart partially submits to them. We feel indebted, and we can compromise our beliefs to fulfil our
needs. This is a clear weakness. When we trust another human to help us, we are trusting someone as weak as us. When we rely on creation, we forget the Creator. And this is a weakness in Iman. Strength is in depending on Allah alone. When you have Him, you do not need anyone else. He will bring everyone else to you. When you trust Allah, you are trusting the greatest power. And this is the strength that every believer can have. The more you rely on Allah, the stronger you will be on earth. And the more you rely on people, the weaker.
The end is a beginning
I conclude this book with a hadith on the end of everything. But embedded in it, as we have seen, is the realisation that nothing ends with Allah. And so, the end of this book is not an end but a beginning. It is the start of another journey. It is when you take what you read here and move closer to Allah. You will find Allah’s love when you read the Quran and hadith. You will feel it when you make du‘a. You will see it when you look at the world around you. Let it be your path and destination. Let your love of Allah grow and inspire you to meet Him. Spread love all around you. Feel His love when you worship, and let others feel His love by how you treat them. Ask Him for His love, and
ask Him to spread love through you. May you love Allah, and may Allah love you back.
DR. ALI ALBARGHOUTHI
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