HADITH FOUR: ALLAH LOVES EXCELLENCE
HADITH FOUR: ALLAH LOVES EXCELLENCE. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, «Allah loves that when one of you does something, that they perfect it.»
Reported by al-Bayhaqi in Shu‘ab al-Iman (4929) and al-Albani declared it hasan (Sahih al-Jami‘, 1880 and al-Sahihah, 1113)
Commentary
Allah perfected and beautified creation out of mercy and love. One of the paths of attaining Allah’s love is to perfect our deeds, the worldly and the otherworldly ones.
Allah loves
Sometimes, the magnitude of Allah’s love escapes us. Though we frequently read about His love in the Quran and Hadith, we may fail to appreciate what it means entirely. Unfortunately, some feel that Allah is uncaring and distant. Perhaps due to how they were introduced to Allah or because of a struggle in their lives, they do not feel the love of Allah. Focus on sin and punishment can magnify to displace the other important side of Allah’s Mercy and Love. Our inability to process and understand pain and suffering may also lead us to the wrong conclusions. It is vital that we have a deeper appreciation of who Allah is, especially His Love and Anger.
Allah is not a vengeful God who is waiting for the next sin to destroy us. This much should be clear. He is not a God who simply punishes, hurts, or complicates our lives. He is not a God who enjoys suffering, ignores prayers, or does not care about our pain. Allah said:
What would Allah do with your punishment if you are thankful and believe? Indeed, Allah is Thankful and Knowing. An-Nisa (Q4:147)
If people were grateful and faithful, there would be no punishment in this world or the next. This is why the people of Jannah live in eternal bliss. Allah did not create humanity—including you—to punish you. As the ayah explains, what benefit does Allah receive from punishment and pain? What He wants is peace and happiness for all of His creation. Love was the cause of our creation and is its goal.
The fact that Allah loves means that He cares. It means that Allah knows us, understands our feelings, and understands our pain and fears. He created us and knows us better than anyone else. He is the closest to us. He is always with us. He sees us and hears us when no one else can. He is with our thoughts and our wishes when no one else can hear them. He truly knows us better than anyone else.
Allah’s love means that Allah wants the best for us. This is why He repeatedly informed us in the Quran of how to get to Jannah. This is why He revealed a way of life that protects us from harm and leads us to happiness. Allah clearly outlined the path of happiness and warned us against the plots of Shaytan. He sent down book after book, and sent Messengers, some of whom died for the sake of delivering this message. Why would the One who had no beginning and has no end, the Almighty, bother with all of this if He simply did not care? Do we think the richest and strongest person on earth cares about us? We are nothing to them. Allah’s greatness is unimaginable in comparison. Yet, He deeply cares.
The names of Allah testify to this. Allah is the All-Hearing and Seeing, He is the One who knows what is hidden deep inside our hearts. He is the Most-Forgiving, the One who repeatedly accepts repentance, and al-Rahman (One full of mercy). He is al-Wadud: the One who loves immensely and is loved immensely. And it is out of His love that He gave love to His creation. Allah said:
Those who believe and do good deeds, Allah will grant them love.
Maryam (Q19:96)
Al-Wadud will surround them with love, so that everyone loves them. This is what He did with Musa. Allah said:
And I bestowed upon you love from Me so that you will be brought up under My Eye.
Taha (Q20:39)
This means that anyone who saw Musa S, loved him immediately. This is how Allah protected and took care of this child. If Allah loves you, hearts cannot resist you. When Allah’s love is around you, it pulls everyone to you. Imagine walking on this earth and feeling this love of Allah. Imagine how different this life would be if we start sharing this love with others.
It is true that Allah punishes and gets angry. This is part of a balanced understanding of who Allah is, and we need this to guide our behavior. But some unduly focus on Allah’s punishment and anger. But as Ibn Taymiyyah wrote:
Among Allah’s Most Excellent Names, there is no name [of His] that has the quality of anger and punishment, and there is no attribute among His attributes that entails this.
Jami‘ al-Masa’il (vol. 8, p. 52)
What he meant was that though you will find among His names the Most Forgiving, the Most Patient, the One who rewards abundantly, and the Merciful, you will not find names such as the angry and the punisher. This is so because mercy, forgiveness, patience, and thankfulness are constant and dominant attributes of His. Anger and punishment happen only when there is a reason, and are thus not constant. They are subordinate to and are much less frequent than His Mercy and Forgiveness. Allah forgives much more than He punishes, and He is Merciful a lot more than He is angry. And if sins were to cease, Allah would not be angry at all. His Mercy, on the other hand, is uninterrupted, even with the most rebellious and ungrateful.
As for the name “the avenger” (al-muntaqim), reported in a hadith by al-Tirmidhi and frequently seen on wall-hanging-posters and tapestries of the Ninety-Nine Names of Allah, Ibn Taymiyyah V wrote (p. 53)—agreeing with al-Tirmidhi—that the enumeration of the Names is weak, not an original part of the hadith but an addition from one of the narrators. In other words, the listing of all those names did not come from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and he did not declare “the avenger” to be a name of
Allah. Allah, indeed, has Ninety-Nine names, but the authentic hadith does not specify them. Vengeance is not a constant or dominant attribute of Allah.
But love is. And the nature of Allah’s love is unique. We love— out of human weakness and need—expecting some benefit. It is Allah alone who loves without expecting or receiving any benefit from humanity (see also Appendix I). The difference between
the two types of love should dismiss any anthropomorphic concerns over ascribing love to Allah. Some, imagining love only in human terms, reinterpret Allah’s love to mean His pleasure and blessings. They imagine love as blushing cheeks, racing heartbeats, and troubled minds. But Allah’s love is free from human deficiencies. Allah’s love is real and befits His Majesty and Perfection. Allah’s love is as unique as He is.
As we explore loving Allah in more depth, we should remember that we cannot approach Allah through love alone. Such would be a distorted relationship. Loving Allah as we do a spouse or a friend removes an integral part of worship: esteem.
Esteem helps us remember the majesty of Allah and stay clear of His prohibitions. Love alone, without respect, turns Allah into an equal in a permissive relationship that fears no adverse consequences despite what it does. Such love is self-indulgent, a licence to do what we desire, not what He wants. As much as this misguided love is corruptive when it exists among humans, it is extraordinarily corruptive between humans and Allah. Ibn al-Qayyim wrote:
Love alone does not produce this effect [i.e. avoiding sin] unless it combines with esteeming the Beloved and glorifying Him. When it is combined with esteem and glorification, it necessarily produces shyness and obedience. Otherwise, love that is free from those two only leads to proximity, cheer, remembrance, and longing. And this is why it is not followed by its effect and consequence, and one searches their heart and sees in it some love for Allah but it does not move them to avoid sins. And the reason is that it is free from esteem and glorification. Nothing makes the heart thrive like love that is combined with esteeming Allah and glorifying Him. Tariq al-Hijratayn (pp. 271–272)
If one only wants to love Allah, they will not be able to follow His commands. But if they love Him with respect and awe, then their relationship with Allah will be close, balanced, and productive.
Allah perfected creation
When you look at Allah’s creation, you will find in it clear evidence of His Mercy and Wisdom. And you will also find clear signs of His love. Allah said:
The One who perfected everything He created.
As-Sajdah (Q32:7)
This is similar to the other ayah:
This is the creation of Allah who perfected everything.
An-Naml (Q27:88)
There is beauty, complexity, and balance in nature. Each creature is guided to what benefits it, given what it needs, and is part of an ecosystem that delicately sustains other creatures. This is clear evidence of Allah’s care. And this care is a sure sign of His love. If it is hard to see this, consider the following. If you find a product made with a lot of care (e.g. woodwork or a painting), and this care is not out of compulsion or financial
need, what do we typically assume about the motive behind the work? We assume that the maker loves their work and cares for the product, and this is why they took the time to create this beautiful piece. This is why the beauty we find around us is a sign of Allah’s care and love.
The Ihsan of Allah in His creation has two dimensions to it: perfection and beauty. Both are seen in how everything is created for a purpose and is equipped to pursue this purpose. Consider the differences between land and sea animals, and within each group, and you will see that Allah varied their creation to fit their environment and function. Each fits perfectly in their environment as part of Allah’s grand design. And each is beautiful in its own way. Ibn Taymiyyah wrote:
The actions of Allah are all good and beautiful.
Majmu‘ al-Fatawa (vol. 11, p. 351)
You can see beauty and care in everything that Allah created. Even when there is pain or harm, there is always a greater benefit than harm, in the short and long term. Since Allah’s actions always lead to beauty, all of His actions are beautiful.
Allah’s creation varies in its beauty. Some parts are more beautiful than others. But all are beautiful in the sense that Allah made them out of nothing, made them well, made them suited to their function, and made them serve a good end. Even when we notice a “flaw,” we should remember that it is never devoid of beauty. It is truly a gift to live while sensing beauty in everything that surrounds us. Consider the following hadith.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم followed a man from [the tribe] of Thaqif until he ran after him and until he grabbed him by his clothes and said to him, «Lift up your lower garment.» The man uncovered his knees and said, “O Messenger of Allah, my legs are crooked, and my knees collide.” The Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said, «All the creation of Allah is beautiful.» The man continued to lift up his lower garment to the middle of his leg until he died.
Reported by Ahmad (19472) and and Shu‘ayb al-Arna’ut and al-Albani declared it sahih (al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, 1441)
What the man saw as a flaw that had to be hidden, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم saw as a beautiful creation of Allah. It is beautiful because no one has the power to make something like this except Allah. These “flawed’ legs still carried the man, still functioned the way Allah intended for them to work, and were witness to the Power and Wisdom of Allah who creates what He wants as He wants. When we discover the beauty in everything around us—the inherent beauty in everything that Allah makes—we become more grateful and content. When we see the beauty in everything around us, our life becomes more beautiful and tranquil. This should not drive us, however, to violate Allah’s laws in the name of beauty. The fact that my body is beautiful should not push me to expose it and share it with everyone in the name of loving myself and being proud of who I am and how I look. Some beauty needs to be concealed or be off-limits, especially if it were to remain beautiful. A pristine area loses its beauty when many legs trample it. The Creator of all beauty is the One who knows what is truly beautiful and how it can stay beautiful.
Perfecting our actions
Worshipping Allah and knowing Him better through His Names and Attributes lead to adopting the noble and beautiful qualities in them. As we have seen, Allah is Beautiful and loves beauty. He is Forgiving and He loves those who forgive. And Allah perfected creation, and one path towards Allah’s love is perfecting what we do. Ibn al-Qayyim explained that there is a link between Allah’s love and His Names. He said:
And this is the case with His Most Excellent Names: the most beloved of His creation to Him are the ones who adopt their consequent qualities, and the ones whom He hates the most are those who adopt its opposite qualities.
‘Uddat al-Sabirin (p. 544)
For example, since Allah is Merciful, He loves the merciful and hates cruelty and those who choose to be cruel. Learning the Names and Attributes of Allah not only lets us know more about Allah but also guides us to what He loves.
Perfecting what we do means doing it well and in the most beautiful way, including the deeds of the Hereafter and deeds of this world. Perfecting the deeds of the Hereafter, like Salah and fasting, asks us to observe their conditions, times, pillars, recommended acts, and so on. In other words, to know how to do them and to value them enough to do them well. It also includes adding beauty to this performance: the beauty of sincerity, devotion, sensing the closeness of Allah while doing them, learning from them, not seeing them as a burden but an opportunity, asking Allah to accept them, not harming others while doing them, and being kind and considerate while performing
them.
It is clear why perfecting the religious deeds will bring us the love of Allah. But what about our worldly deeds? Why would excelling in our engineering projects, academic papers and degrees, cleaning our homes, and any halal worldly task—why would this bring us Allah’s love? Even how we queue in the grocery store, fix a sink, paint a house, cross the road, drive on the highway, and park our vehicles? When we perfect those deeds, we benefit others and remove pain and hardship; and Allah loves those who help others. When we are better parents, sons and daughters, teachers, students, researchers, lawyers, and architects, we improve people’s lives. When we are better drivers and pedestrians, when we do not litter, and when we keep our homes, mosques, and cities clean, we will protect ourselves and others from harm.
The pursuit of excellence and beauty also spreads excellence and beauty. When we do what we do well, with kindness and a smile, we inspire others to do the same, and this spreads to improve the lives of everyone else they meet. Our entire society benefits as a result. We would also be sharing the blessings that Allah gave us: time, resources, and talents. This is how we thank Allah for His gifts: we use them to help everyone else.
The Islamic pursuit of excellence is different from the capitalist pursuit. While both are motivated by love, the first is driven by Allah’s love whereas capitalism loves money and more of it. This is why the capitalist pursuit is not an act of Ihsan nor a true pursuit of excellence. Capitalism will lie and cheat, destroy everything in its path, and sacrifice human life and wellbeing for the sake of profit. Its achievements are an empty shell, and it will destroy what it builds in due time. Islam cultivates this life for the sake of the Hereafter. The Islamic pursuit is honest, comprehensive, merciful, and ethical. Capitalism is short sighted, cruel, empty, deceptive, and destructive. We, as individuals and nations, should be very cautious not to adopt the capitalist ethos. Our goal in life is not merely to be rich. We can be rich, but let us be rich with a conscience.
When we embark upon a task, we should remember that we have a choice. We can be careless and incompetent, and this will end up harming others, making society worse off, and earning us a sin. And society will be worse off because of us. Or, if we remember what Allah loves, we will approach it with diligence, dedication, and kindness. If we choose the first, we will make ourselves and everyone around us miserable. If we choose the second, we will be happy and Allah will love us. We cannot expect excellence from others if we are not trying to perfect what we do. And we cannot expect kindness if we are not kind.
DR. ALI ALBARGHOUTHI
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