HADITH SIXTEEN : READ THE QURAN OF ALLAH
The Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said, «The one who would like to love Allah and His Messenger should read the mushaf [i.e. the Quran].»
Reported by Aby Nu‘aym in Hilyat al-Awliya’ (vol. 7, p. 209) and al-Bayhaqi in Shu‘ab
al-Iman (2027) and al-Albani declared it hasan (al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, 2342).
Commentary
Allah is the best in teaching us about love, and His book is the best guide to it. Read the Quran and understand it if you want to experience Allah’s love.
What pleases you?
What is it that you like? What makes you happy? I mean really happy. Our happiness says a lot about us. Beyond what we claim to be, what we tell ourselves and people, our happiness reveals what is close to our hearts. The cuisine we like, for instance, says a lot about us. It is an amalgamation of the culture of our birthplace, parents’ eating habits, experience in life, travels, nostalgia, convictions, how we relax, and what we hope to be. If we like a specific sports team but not another, we do so because of very personal reasons. This team may belong to a region we like, it may tell a story we identify with (e.g. the underdog who wins big despite the odds or the invincible champion who always comes on top), it may give us a sense of belonging, or provide us with an escape more satisfying than reality. Shopping does not only reveal our taste but also how much we value wealth, love ourselves, care for others, what we deem central in life, and
our entire worldview (e.g. are we capitalists or anti-capitalists, idealists or materialists). If something brings joy to our souls, it is because it is important to us.
Allah teaches us in the Quran that we have multiple sources of happiness. Allah said:
Say, “In the bounty of Allah and in His Mercy, let them rejoice. It is better than what they amass.”
Yunus (Q10:58)
In the books of Tafsir, the bounty of Allah and His mercy are explained as Islam, the Quran, and religious guidance. And what we amass are worldly gains. The following incident, recorded in explanation of this ayah, highlights the difference between the two sources of pleasure.
When the land tax of Iraq reached Umar, he and his servant came out [to receive it]. Umar I started counting the camels, and they were bountiful, so Umar praised and thanked Allah. His servant said, “O Emir of the Faithful, this is by Allah from the bounty of Allah and His mercy.” Umar replied, “You are wrong! This is not it. Allah said, ﴾In the bounty of Allah and in His Mercy, let them rejoice. It is better than what they amass.﴿ And this is from what you amass.” Tafsir Ibn Abi Hatim
There is worldly and otherworldly happiness. The otherworldly joy, Allah reminds us, is the real deal while the worldly one is a sad imitation. Religious gifts last and deliver us to Jannah. This world, however, perishes and is mixed with pain and anguish. Despite the vast difference between the two worlds and what each promises, we are happiest with this world. Allah said:
And they rejoice in the worldly life, yet compared to the Hereafter, the worldly life is but a brief enjoyment.
Ar-Ra‘d (Q13:26)
This honestly describes how most of us live. We are happiest when we receive more of this world, even though we know it is destined to end one day. The problem is not that this world makes us happy. The problem is that we do not love the Hereafter. Religious gifts do not make us happy. Or, if they do, they do not make us as happy as this world does. We are ecstatic when we get a perfect score on an exam, graduate, land our dream
job, get married, and have children. We feel content when we buy a new car or move into a big house, and we are on cloud nine when we receive a bonus or our investments pay off. It is natural to be happy with all these things, for they are blessings from Allah. And as long as we are thankful, close to Allah, and are using these gifts in ways that please Him, they are indeed blessings. But we do not get the same joy and contentment from religious blessings, even though they matter more. Reading and memorizing new chapters from the Quran, praying on time, frequenting the masjid, praying the night prayer, giving charity, fasting Mondays and Thursdays, engaging in dhikr of Allah—we do not appreciate these as we do worldly success. We do not appreciate religious achievements, even though they should make us happier. Listen carefully to the real value of piety.
The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم came out when we were in al-Suffah and said, «Which of you would like to leave every morning to Buthan or al-‘Aqiq and bring back two large camels without being guilty of sin or severing the ties of kinship?» We said, “O Messenger of Allah, we would like to do it.” He said, «Does not one of you go out in the morning to the mosque and teach or recite two ayahs from the Book of Allah, glory be to Him? This is better for him than two camels, and three ayahs are better for him than three camels, and four ayahs are better for him than four camels, and [any number of ayahs is better than] their number in camels.»
Reported by Muslim (803)
Imagine the joy we feel if we were to come back home one day with a new car, ten thousand dollars, or tickets to a dream vacation in an exotic destination. Do we feel similar joy when we finish reading the Quran, fast the month of Ramadan, or receive Sahih al-Bukhari as a gift? Should we not feel immensely fortunate when we are religiously blessed? Why do we not?
If our happiness is always tied to this world, then the world is what matters to us. It dominates our happiness because it dominates our hearts. When Allah’s pleasure and nearness become important, religious blessings will bring us joy. How do we make it important, you ask? Bring more of Islam into your life. And ask Allah for a heart that transcends the transient.
The Word of Allah
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم taught us how to love for Allah. It is one of the best voluntary deeds to bring us closer to Allah. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar said:
If a man spent the night spending one dinar after another and one dirham after another, and equipping horses to fight in the cause of Allah, and a man spent the night reciting the book of Allah until the morning and it was accepted from him, and I spent the night reciting the book of Allah until the morning and it was accepted from me, I would not love to have his deeds instead of mine.
Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah (vol. 6, p. 135)
Spending for the sake of Allah is highly meritorious, and Allah calls for it in many places in the Quran. It is one of the effective ways to combat love of money, materialism, and to care more about the Hereafter. What ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar was attempting to say was that reading the Quran, available to rich and poor alike, matches the best of deeds. And especially if one is too attached to money to be able to spend it, reading the Quran will transform their heart to become more pious and generous.
If your love for Allah is weak, rush to the Quran and start your journey of love. Why does the Quran have this effect? Khabbab ibn al-Aratt answered:
If you want to draw nearer to Allah, you will not get closer to Him with something more beloved to Him than His Speech.
Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah (30098)
The Quran is Allah talking about Himself to us. He reveals Himself in it. And the best description of who Allah is comes from Allah. You encounter in the Quran the Mercy and Forgiveness of Allah, and the rest of His Beautiful Attributes. You understand His Majesty and Power, why He created us, and how He promised to take care of us. You see in it that Allah will always take care of His people, will always protect and guide them. He tells you there that He listens and answers your prayers, for He is closer to you than you are. You learn in it that if you rely on Him, you need no one else. And if He forgives you, you will be happy forever in Jannah. You learn that nothing is eternal but Him, so you cannot trust and turn but to Him. Nothing lasts but Him, so He is the goal, and He is the end. The Quran gives you purpose, and it is Allah.
The other thing that the Quran does is cleanse our hearts to allow us to receive the gifts of Allah. It warns us about the deception of the world so we can open our eyes to see the truth. It tells us about Jannah—our home—so we long for it. It gives us solutions to our problems, insights into our own selves, and wisdom to deal with people. It elevates us above this life so we can be bigger than our problems and limitations. It is our faithful companion. Our solace. Our weapon. Our medicine. Our everything.
The Quran is Allah talking to us. Are we listening?
The Book of Love
This may be the first time that you have heard that the Quran is the Book of Love. You may not have thought about the Quran in this way. But the Hadith of this chapter leaves no doubt. If you are seeking love, head to the Quran. The Quran will teach you the meaning of love and nurture it until it blossoms in your heart. If Allah is best in showing us what love means, there is no better book than the Quran to explain it. It is no exaggeration then to call the Quran “The Book of Love.”
Some may object that the Quran cannot be such a book while mentioning Hell, punishment, and Allah’s Anger with the disobedient. Love is forgiving and all-embracing, while the Quran has a harsh and stern tone. According to this argument, it seems more like a book of discipline than a book of love.
To that we ask, what is divine love? How do we know what loving Allah is, and what is appropriate and inappropriate in that love? Do we love Allah like a father, a friend, or a spouse? These objections conceive of love in human terms, as romantic attachments, and require Allah’s love to conform to these molds. Allah’s love is unique, unlike any other relationship we have. And it is Allah who sets the proper parameters of this love. This is why as we read the Quran and ponder it, we discover Allah in all of His Majesty and Splendor. And when you experience this, you will love Him. You will love Him as the Great Creator of all. You will not love Him like you love other humans. Allah’s love is mixed with awe and reverence. It recognizes our complete dependence on Him. It is not love between equals. It is not romantic affection that unites the lovers to become one. Allah’s love is in a league of its own. And the mention of Hell and punishment in the Quran only highlights how precious this love is, where some could have had it but lost it because of their disobedience. Loving Allah is not carte blanche to act as we wish or to imagine Allah as we want to. Such conceptions of the divine only feed our ego. When we conceive of Allah as approving of whoever we are and whatever we do, we change Him to fit our needs instead of changing ourselves to earn His pleasure. The love of Allah is there to elevate and edify us, not to demote the divine to the human plane. If we want to love Allah on our terms, we would be loving ourselves, creating a
fantasy that does not exist. But if we are going to love Allah on His terms, we should be willing to listen to Him to understand who He is, who we are, and how to love Him.
If the Quran sounds stern in some places, it is a firmness that prunes human excesses and weakness, edifying to allow the experience of loving Allah. Love is a path. And this path requires the purification of its seeker to be ready to receive and appreciate the love of Allah. Excessive focus on love before one is prepared for it is pointless: the self cannot appreciate it and follow it. This is so because it has not walked the path of sacrifice and humility. If one’s greatest love is themselves and the world, how can they love Allah? Should they not detach from the world in order to love Allah? This is what the laws of Allah and the threat of His punishment are there to do. Humans, in general, respond to rules and threats more than they do to love. This is why we regulate our societies with penalties, not love. But Allah knows that when we respond to His laws, we would be ready to love Him. Change and sacrifice are needed to discover the love of Allah. For some, the love of Allah is an excuse to escape change, imagining a God who is always happy with what they like.
The Prophets of Allah grew in their love of Allah with every test and ordeal, with every renewed commitment to Allah, every time they sacrificed for His sake and saw His favors. As we shall see, the intensity of the love of Allah grows when we walk the path of piety. Before that, it is incomprehensible and misapplied. An academic novice cannot understand advanced work in their field. But as they advance in knowledge, they will.
Similarly, the love of Allah is clear and present in the Quran.
It is behind each ayah. It is the consequence of each ayah. It is what you feel when you follow it, a plant that sprouts when the land is tilled.
The Path of Love
Since the worship of Allah is founded on love, and since the Quran is the Book of Love, we can confidently affirm that Islam is the Path of Love. It is a path that has Allah at its end: on it, one journeys to Allah with Allah’s help. The first stage of this path will seem difficult. It is the stage where we are weaned off the world and selfishness and reborn into something new. Every birth comes with some difficulty, and every weaning requires patience. It is the stage where we learn to seek Allah rather than the self, to be willing to give up some of what we love for His sake. It is the stage to understand that we need to rely on Allah, not our strength, and to put more of our trust in Him. The more we shed what we love for His sake, the more we realize how much we need Him, the more that His love will grow inside us.
Cultivating our love for Allah takes time and effort. This love will increase when we take care of it and decrease if we neglect it. This is why the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم directed us to the Quran if we wanted to nurture this love. The more we read and understand (understanding is vital), the more we will love Allah. But if we stop, our love for Allah will shrivel. This love is precious, and—like every precious love—needs to be protected. You will feel it grow with the passage of every day of worship, with every righteous act that emanates from the heart. It takes time, but you will get there. It takes sacrifice, but it is worth it.
Allah loves it when we remember Him. And there are specific phrases that He loves. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
«Two sentences are light on the tongue but heavy in the Scale and beloved to al-Rahman: Subhana Allahi wa bi hamdihi and Sabhana Allahi al-‘Adhim [Glory be to Allah and praise be to Him, and Glory be to Allah the Greatest].»
Reported by al-Bukhari (6682) and Muslim (2694)
Together with the Quran, this and similar dhikr can bring us much closer to Allah. And it does not take much to start. We just need to move our tongues with Allah’s praise and glorification. Imagine! Few words and you can fill the Scale.
DR. ALI ALBARGHOUTHI
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