HADITH TWENTY : LOVE THROUGH SUFFERING
A man came to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and said, “O Prophet of Allah, by Allah I love you.” So the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said to him, «Affliction runs faster towards those who love me than a stream running down to its mouth [i.e. bottom end].»
Reported by Ibn Hibban (2922) and al-Albani declared it hasan (Al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, 1586)
Commentary
Tests are part of the experience of Iman. But they carry with them many gifts.
The price of commitment
Did this Hadith scare you? Hearing that hardship will be seeking you if you love the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم may be causing you to rethink what you read so far. Should I keep my distance from him to be safe? But is this an option? Not to love him? So, what do I do with this Hadith?
Let us examine another narration of this Hadith to understand it better.
A man once said to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, “O Prophet of Allah, by Allah I love you.” He صلى الله عليه وسلم said to him, «Consider what you are saying.» He replied, “By Allah I love you,” repeating it three times. He صلى الله عليه وسلم then said to him, «If you love me, put on protection from poverty. Indeed, poverty runs faster towards those
who loves me more than a stream running down to its mouth [i.e. bottom end].»
Reported by al-Tirmidhi (2350) and al-Albani declared it sahih (Al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, 2827, 2828)
The man came to proclaim His love for the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, something we will come to see, in another hadith, is highly recommended. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم asked him to stop and reconsider what he had said. This is a grand claim. And it has consequences. So, if you are swearing by Allah that you love him, are you sure? And do you know what that means?
Loving the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is not like loving anyone else. It is born out of loving Allah, the Highest. Loving the trivial in this life does not put plenty of demands on us. You may love a movie, fried chicken, or a pair of shoes, but none of these things is serious enough to demand something from you. If you say that you love another human—spouse or your child—this love will ask you for things in return. You cannot love your child and spouse and neglect them. Your love will require you to change your priorities and put your family, at times, ahead of yourself.
If you say you are passionate about a serious cause—environmentalism, saving endangered animals, or economic equality—then the weight of this cause will demand your activism. Or if not activism, then life choices that reflect your proclaimed passion. You cannot be an environmentalist and not recycle, in support of animal wellbeing but use toxic chemicals, or for economic equality but support greedy conglomerates. If you
are passionate about any of these causes, it will change your life (e.g. you will not use plastic, you will not eat animals raised or killed inhumanly, and maybe you will not purchase a new iPhone). In other words, there is a price to pay for this love. And the more serious you are about this love, the heavier the price. But it will be worth it if you believed in the cause.
Now, there is nothing more important and more serious than Allah and His Messenger. They dwarf all other causes and subsume them. This is the greatest thing you could ever care about. So naturally, it will completely change your life if you are serious about it. And naturally, this will have a price. Just consider how the message of Islam altered the life of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. It changed it completely. He could have chosen to ignore it and stay home with his loving wife and kids, but Allah was too important to let go of. And so, he lost his home, lost his job and money, put himself and family in danger, fled to a new land, and began a life of struggle that lasted for twenty-three years. Yes, it culminated in victory, but he did not know if he would live to see that day. He knew that he had a message, and it needed everything from him. And he gave it all he had. Look at the lives of the Companions, and you will see the price they paid for loving Allah and His Messenger. It turned their lives upside down. They lost family and friends. It changed how they slept and ate, whom they married and where they lived. It did not leave a single detail in their life unaltered. This is a message that changes everything if taken seriously.
And so, when this man proclaimed his love for the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, he asked him to pause and consider if he was serious. This is a monumental claim and a high honor. And so when the man came back to affirm it three times, each time swearing by Allah, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم told him what this love entails. The test is not always poverty—some Companions were pious and wealthy—but there is always a test.
Now, someone may think that it is easier for them to stay away from this love, to protect themselves from pain and hardship. In response to that, you should read what Ibn al-Qayyim wrote:
Allah the Most High said, ﴾Alif Lam Mim. Do people think that they will be left to say, “We believe” without being tested? We certainly tested those before them. And Allah will make evident the ones who are truthful and the liars. Or do the evildoers think that they can escape us? How mistaken is their judgment. Whoever hopes to meet Allah, then Allah’s appointed time is sure to come; He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.
And whoever strives only strives for themselves. Allah does not need His creation﴿ [Al-‘Ankabut 1–6]. Allah mentioned in this Surah that He must test His creation and expose them to fitnah to distinguish the honest from the liar, and the believer from the
disbeliever, and the one who thanks and worships Him from the one who denies Him, turns away from Him, and worships another. And He mentioned the condition of those who are tested in the short and the long terms. And He mentioned the chiefs of those who are tested in this world—the Messengers and their followers—and the consequences of their situation and what happened to them. And He began the Surah with chastising the one who thinks that they can escape test and fitnah in this world when they are asked to believe, and that His Wisdom and how He deals with His creation goes against this [i.e. running away from Iman does not protect you from hardship]. And he explained the secret behind this fitnah and test, which is distinguishing the honest from the liar and the believer from the disbeliever, which he knew beforehand but His Justice and His Excellence dictated that He would not treat creation according to what He knows they will do but [according to] the physical manifestation of His Knowledge as it happens. It is fitnah that made it visible and brought it out into existence [i.e. only when they are tested, do they believe or disbelieve]. And then, the recompense is suitable [but not before that when no one obeyed or disobeyed]. Then He, Glory be to Him, criticized the one who does not believe in Him and does not follow His Messengers out of fear of fitnah and hardship which Allah tests His Messengers and their followers with, thinking that by turning away from Iman and belief in the Messengers that they can escape from fitnah and hardship, for in front of them lies greater fitnah, hardship, and torment than the ones they ran away from. After the Messengers are sent, people have two options: either they believe or reject and continue to sin. The one who says that they believe, Allah tests them and afflicts them so the test would verify the soundness of their Iman and their adherence to it and show that it is not an Iman of ease and luxury but an Iman that is stable in both states of blessings and hardship. And the one who does not believe, they should not think that they can escape their Rabb and outrun Him; no, they are in His Grip and their forehead is in His Hand. They will have greater hardship than the one that tested the believer. The one who believes in Him and His Messengers has to be
tested by Allah’s enemies and the enemies of His Messengers with what hurts them and is hard on them. And the one who does not believe in Him and His Messengers, Allah must punish them, and so they will receive pain and hardship that is many times more the pain of the believers. Every soul, believing or nonbelieving, must experience pain. But the believer experiences pain in this world in the beginning, then it stops and is
followed by the greatest joy. And the nonbeliever receives joy and happiness in the beginning, then it stops and is followed by the greatest pain and hardship. And it is the same for those who follow sinful desires: they enjoy it in the beginning and then it is followed by plenty of pain in proportion to what they gained from it. But those who patiently stay away from sinful temptations, they hurt in the beginning because they do not have it, but this pain is followed by joy and happiness in proportion to what they patiently stayed away from and abstained from. So, pain and joy are necessary for each human. But the difference is between the hastened that is little and ending, and the postpone that is lasting and great. And that is why the nature of the mind is to consider the consequences and ends [and not be fooled by immediate appearances]. So, whoever thinks that they can escape pain so it never touches them, then their thinking is the falsest of thinking.
Shifa’ al-‘Alil (p. 245)
If this was a little long and hard to understand, please allow me to encapsulate. If one thinks that they can escape hardship by avoiding Iman, think again. The hardship in Iman is temporary and small. The greater and more lasting hardship is in opposing Allah. Allah decreed that anyone who loves Allah and decides to obey Him will be afflicted. There is a purpose to this affliction: it tests the reality of their Iman. Is it an Iman of conviction or convenience, an Iman that withstands pressure or collapses under it? And if one passes this test, they will emerge with their love for Allah stronger than ever, and their Iman as the dearest thing they have in this life. Then Allah will remove their pain and grant them the pleasure of this life and the greatest pleasure of the Hereafter. Note as proof how the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and his Companions were tested in the beginning, and because they were strong, Allah granted them His love and
worldly victory. They won the honor of this life and the honor of the Hereafter. On the other end, if someone disobeys Allah to escape hardship, let them know that they chose hardship itself. They will have some fun and joy in the start, but what they chose carries in it the seeds of pain. Sooner or later, these seeds will grow and bring severe hardship and regret. And the hardship of those who defy Allah is much greater and much longer than any hardship Allah’s beloved experience. Plus, those who love Allah begin to see hardship as a gift.
Gifts from the Beloved
Everything that comes from Allah is a gift. It is all good. This may be hard to believe at times, especially when the calamity is big and we feel like we are hopelessly drowning in it. But our assessment of any calamity and hardship is flawed and incomplete if we look at it in isolation. Who sent this calamity? What is its purpose? Do I have to endure it alone, or can someone help? Once you note those three—the sender, the reason, and the assistance—your perception of pain and suffering will begin to change.
If hardship is random, we cannot assign any rational purpose to it. If it comes from one who wishes you harm, then it is meant to hurt us. But if it comes from the All-Wise and All-Merciful, then it must be good. Even if it is coated with pain, the essence of hardship is love. If this is hard to see, listen to the following hadith. Abu Sa’id al-Khudri said:
I visited the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم when he was sick, and I placed my hand on him and felt his fever with my hand from above the blanket. I said, “O Messenger of Allah, how hard it is for you!” He صلى الله عليه وسلم said, «We [the Prophets] are like that. Affliction is multiplied for us, and so is the reward.» I said, “O Messenger of Allah, which people are most tested?” He صلى الله عليه وسلم said, «The Prophets.» I said, “O Messenger of Allah, then whom?” He صلى الله عليه وسلم said, «Then the righteous. Some were tested with poverty until they could not find anything except a cloak to put around themselves. Some would rejoice at calamity as one of you would rejoice at ease.»
Reported by Ibn Majah and al-Albani declared it sahih (al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, 144)
The Prophets and the righteous have the severest tests. This is not because Allah hates them. As the next hadith states:
«If Allah desires good for someone, He afflicts them.»
Reported by al-Bukhari (5645)
The test could be so severe that some of the Prophets would own nothing of this world except one piece of clothing to cover their naked bodies, all this while being the best people on earth. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would receive double the sickness an average man would, and his fever was so high that it could be felt from on top of a blanket. What is astonishing is not the severity of the test. What is truly amazing is their patience despite these tests. And what is beyond amazing is that they used to be happy
with hardship as the rest of us would be happy with ease. This could only be because they saw the good in the hardship Allah sent, a good that supersedes reveling in ease.
We have seen previously (Hadith Fifteen) some of the benefits of hardship. The greatest of these benefits is its purification of the heart to prepare it for Allah’s love. Hardship breaks our worldly attachments, one by one. We love money, and so we lose it. We love health, and we lose it. We love youth, and we lose it. We love others, and we lose them. We feel secure and comfortable in this world, and it demonstrates how incredibly unstable and unreliable it is. It keeps changing so drastically from underneath our feet. These detachments are difficult because our attachments are strong. But the heart cannot be free to love Allah when it is a slave to all of these other distractions. We cannot consume healthy food when our bellies are full of junk. So hardship descends like a fast: it empties our hearts of dependence and moves us towards Allah. Ease does the opposite: it feeds our worldly attachments and moves us further away from Allah.
In our hardship, when we find that we can turn to no other but Allah, we discover what He means to us. Our pain compels us to pray for relief. And in prayer, we find something greater than what we were seeking: we discover Allah. We find that being close to Him is all that we need. We thought that we needed the world because we did not know Him. But once we experience the joy of talking to Him, trusting Him, and relying on Him, we know that there is nothing in this world that begins to compare to Him. And so, our pleading for more of this world transforms into an intimate time with Allah, a rediscovery of the joy of Iman and the beautiful promise of the Hereafter. This all comes because of hardship. For the Prophets of Allah, more difficulty meant more love and fewer distractions. This is what made them happy when they were afflicted. No human loves pain and loss. But the reality and consequences of each are beautiful. This is why Allah reserved the hardest for His Prophets and the pious. It is only through our pain that we are elevated, that we get to discover who we are and what Allah means to us. Hardship is a gift from Allah who loves you. We do not pray for difficulties because we do not know if we are ready to receive it. No, let Allah choose this for us. But when He does, see that He is gifting you something special. Al-Fudayl ibn ‘Iyad said:
One does not attain the reality of Iman until they view hardship as a blessing, ease as an affliction, and until they do not love to receive praise for worshipping Allah.
Siyar ‘A‘lam al-Nubala’ (vol. 8, p. 434)
Iman has the power to alter our perception of the world and our experience of it. Rather than seeing any test as a setback, see it as an opportunity, a message of love from the One who wants the best for you. And know that He gave it to you, and promised to help you overcome it. You are not alone. Allah is always with you. Feel His Mercy in everything that He sends you.
What is the protection?
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم advised those who love Him to shield themselves from upcoming tests. This protection resembles wearing armour in preparation for battle, as the Arabic word (tijfaf) suggests. So now, we know that the tests are coming. How do we get ready?
We protect ourselves by strengthening our Iman, and practising patience and Zuhd. These will deflect the pain and save our faith from doubt and despair. When we voluntarily lessen our worldly attachments, tests will not devastate us because we are free. When we have learned to rely on Allah, we will not be crushed under pressure because we know where to go. When we increase our love of Allah now, it will enlighten our life when darkness knocks on our doors. Our love will always lead us back to Him, no matter how strong the test. This is why the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم prayed for Allah’s love. This is what you will see in the next hadith.
DR. ALI ALBARGHOUTHI
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