HADITH TWENTY FOUR: THE SWEETNESS OF IMAN IS IN LOVE
The Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said, «If one would love to find the taste of Iman, let them love someone only for the sake of Allah, Glory be to Him.» In another narration, «If one would be happy to find the taste of Iman.»
Reported by Ahmad (7967). Al-Albani declared it hasan (al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, 2300) and so did Shu‘ayb al-Arna’ut
Commentary
Love for Allah’s sake guides us to the best love on earth. It rescues us from adverse love and lifts us above our limitations.
The folly of love
We cannot escape love. We are constantly in love with something or other. It literally does not stop. We are constantly in love with ourselves. We also love others based on what brings us benefit and protects us from harm (e.g. we love those who help us but not those who hurt us). We love beauty, but our appreciation of it is idiosyncratic. We love money, but what we do with it varies from one person to another. We plan our days based on love (e.g. what to eat, how to spend our free time, whom to talk to). No matter what we love, we all love for very personal reasons. What and whom we love is an extension of loving ourselves. This is not selfish but the necessity of being dependent on humans. Only Allah, the Self-Sufficient, can love without receiving any benefit in return (for more, see Appendix I).
If we understand the motivation, we are well poised to examine its consequences. If we love to maximize our benefit, is our love actually accomplishing this? In other words, does what we love help us? And are we expressing our love properly?
It is evident that we sometimes love what harms us and hate what benefits us. Allah explained this when He said:
Perhaps you dislike something good for you and like something bad for you. Allah knows and you do not know.
Al-Baqarah (Q2:216)
He also said:
Perhaps you hate something and Allah puts plenty of good in it.
An-Nisa (Q4:19)
These ayahs condense one of the most profound realizations, wisdom we would learn after living for many years: we cannot always trust our emotions. Benefit and harm may be hidden from us. We love something to death, thinking that our happiness lies in it, only to discover later that it was the most harmful thing to seek. And the opposite is true: we run away from something as fast and far as we can, and it is the thing that we need the most. Yet, this is not our only handicap. Sometimes, the harms are visible, but we do not want to see them. This is why they say that love is blind. Abu al-Darda’ eloquently pointed this out when he said:
Loving something blinds and deafens.
Reported by Ahmad (21694) and Shu‘ayb al-Arna‘ut declared its chain sahih
Love can cover up the flaws of what we love. We only see what we like and ignore the warning signs. Our love even blinds us to sincere advice. We are very biased beings when we love and hate.
There is an important lesson for us here. Some of us love our compass, following it no matter where it leads us, ascribing to it almost magical powers. Love, some believe, guides to the truth, without the need for further evidence: if we love something, then it is good; and if we do not, it must not be. If our hearts point us in a direction, we follow it because love is inherently good. This is romantically attractive, but alas, is mere fantasy. Our hearts are prisoners of our experiences, expectations, weaknesses, knowledge, and surroundings. That is, they are constrained. We are often missing the whole picture. And when we have all the information we need, we often go against it. How many of us are certain that something is wrong and harmful and yet continue to do it? Even continue to love it? We need a nobler love to save us from all of our destructive loves. We need a higher love to save us from selfishness. This is why we need Allah in what we love.
Loving for Allah’s sake
Just as loving Allah is unlike any other love, love for Allah’s sake is unique. It guards against the folly of love (loving the wrong thing and loving the right thing inappropriately). It does so because Allah inspires this love and guides it. Loving what Allah loves guides us to loving the best of things in ways pleasing to Him. This explains why it is important to follow the Sunnah of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم: it is how we properly express the love of Allah and how we reach it. Allah said:
Say, “If you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you and forgive your sins. And Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful.”
Ali ‘Imran (Q3:31)
Some of the People of the Book claimed to love Allah, but they envisioned and practiced this love in ways displeasing to Him. One cannot reach the love of Allah through unsanctioned means. It is a contradiction to do what Allah hates in the name of the love of Allah. It is the same with Bid‘ah (innovated and unsanctioned acts of worship). Unless Allah ordained it, it will not bring us closer to Him.
The advantages of love for Allah’s sake do not stop there. This love is sublime. It allows us to escape love solely for our own sake. When we love out of self-interest, our love is immature. It is selfish, short-lived, unstable, and may even be destructive. Because of its origin and limitations, such love survives as long as one is receiving personal benefit. Once this stops, love disappears. People will love you as long as they need you, but run away when you need them. Some will forget all the good you have done and hate you because of a single mistake, real or imaginary. Some soon forget you because they are easily bored, some betray your trust for personal gain, and some love and fall out of love for trivial reasons. Some love with such intensity that it turns into intense hatred and venom after a disagreement. Love for Allah’s sake is different. It is selfless, just, stable, and uplifting.
When one loves for Allah’s sake, they love whom/what pleases Allah regardless of their personal feelings. Their love continues and grows as long as their beloved is pleasing to Allah. And when their beloved displeases Him, they sympathize, conceal their mistakes, and offer advice to rescue them; they do not gloat, feel superior, ignore them when in need, or wish them more harm. They do not cancel one’s virtuous past because of a single mistake or a personal quarrel. Their heart moves for Allah, with all the mercy and justice that Allah loves. Such love does not fluctuate with time, is not dependent on worldly favor or benefit, and does not expect anything in return. It is faithful, sincere, and above suspicion and envy. It cannot envy because it does not object to Allah’s decisions and gifts. It will not envy because it desires the best for all. How could we love someone and wish them to lose a blessing? Love means wishing the best for your beloved in every way, that they can trust you. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
«A believer’s dream is a fortieth portion from prophethood. And it is as if the dream is tied to a bird’s leg [i.e. is not fulfilled] as long as he does not share it. But if he shares it, it falls [i.e. happens]. So, do not share it except with one who is wise or beloved.»
Reported by al-Tirmidhi (2278) and al-Albani declared it sahih (Sahih al-Jami‘, 3456)
You can trust a loved one not to envy you or misinterpret the dream. Love and envy are contradictory. How could we hate something our loved one received? How could we hate something our Beloved gave? Love for Allah’s sake rises above our personal feelings, conflicts, and limitations. When love is tied to Him, love is liberated from selfishness and materialism. We love the good in all because Allah loves it, whether this brings us personal gain or not. And we would dislike evil in all because Allah dislikes it, even if it is in us. When what Allah loves is dearer to the soul than its love, when the source of love is not the self but Allah, we will know how sublime love is.
With this love, we will be better Muslims, better human beings. And we will keep getting better the closer we get to Allah. This love will turn the world into a small heaven. This small heaven is a taste of eternal happiness in Jannah.
Finding the taste of Iman
We saw in Hadith One that the sweetness of Iman is to be found in love. Love is the culmination of who we are, the best of what we want and would like to be. When we give our love to someone, we are sharing the best and dearest thing that we have. Allah wants us to love Him because it is the greatest human devotion we can give. It is a complete surrender to Allah, where we migrate from ourselves to Him. This is deep and profound. For most of our lives, we live for ourselves. We are the center of our existence. We love and move for our own sake. Loving Allah is the surrender of our ego. We admit that we are not the center, not the most important thing in our lives. We move from a life centered on us to one centered on Allah. This is the profound transition, the great migration. The fruit of this dramatic change is the escape from the trap of personal love to divine love. Instead of surrendering to our self and its dictates (Hawa), we surrender to Allah’s love. We move as He wants us, not as we want. We are happiest with His decisions, not ours. We go wherever He wants us to go, and like whatever He wants us to like. This complete surrender is the sweet Iman in the Hadith. And it is available only through love.
Ibn ‘Abbas explained how love perches at the highest branch of the tree of Iman. It is like the highest fruit on that tree, and you need to climb all the branches to get to it. He said:
Love for the sake of Allah, hate for the sake of Allah, befriend for the sake of Allah, and befoe for the sake of Allah, for one only becomes a wali of Allah by doing this. And one will not find the taste of Iman—even with much Salah and fasting—until they behave like this.
Al-Ikhwan by Ibn Abi al-Dunya (69)
Salah and fasting are essential gateways to Allah’s love. They are like the trunk of a tree. If they are absent, there is no tree. But as the trunk, they carry the branches and the fruits. And we need to keep climbing to reach them. We need to achieve internal and external surrender to Allah, for the ability to sacrifice for Allah’s sake. You become a wali of Allah when you put Him before yourself. When you love for His sake, hate for His sake, and move for His sake, you are close to Him. He is dear to you, and you to Him. Love is the consummation of our worship, the consummation of our life. When you give it to Allah, you are His, and He yours.
Love is the best worship
Hisham ibn Isma‘il asked Umm al-Darda’ J, “What deed of yours do you trust the most [to be pleasing to Allah]?” She replied, “Love for Allah’s sake.”
Al-Ikhwan by Ibn Abi al-Dunya (64)
Saturated with love for Allah, one is born anew. They experience the world differently from everyone else. They see everything the way Allah wants them to see it. They do not cease to have personal desires, but their preferences become secondary to Allah. If there is a conflict between the two, they embrace what Allah loves. And it becomes their preference. When Allah’s love is strong, it changes the lover, inside out. This is when the love of Allah permeates all aspects of life.
When we love for Allah’s sake, we are in fact loving Allah. Makhul said:
The one who loves a pious man indeed only loves Allah.
Hilyat al-‘Awliya’ (vol. 5, p. 180)
He is behind our every love, and this is why He is our ultimate love. When we reach this level, the sweetness of Iman will reveal itself to us.
DR. ALI ALBARGHOUTHI
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