HADITH TWENTY SIX: THE MORE YOU LOVE OTHERS, THE MORE ALLAH LOVES YOU
The Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said, «No two love each other for Allah’s sake except that the best of the two is the one who loves their companion more.»
Reported by al-Bukhari in al-Adab al-Mufrad (544) and Ibn Hibban (566). Al-Albani declared it sahih (Al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, 450). In another narration: (except that the more beloved to Allah of the two is the one who loves their companion more.) (al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, 3273)
Commentary
When the love of Allah is the basis of a relationship, it purifies it and elevates it. It makes kindness and sacrifice the goal, and the love of Allah is the fuel that sustains it.
The more you love Him
Loving Allah has no end. This is not so with anyone else. This is one of the many ways in which the love of Allah is unique. No matter how much we love Allah, we would not have loved Him enough. And no matter how much we worship Allah, we would not have worshipped Him enough. Salman al-Farisi I said:
The Mizan (Scale) will be set on the Day of Judgement. If the heavens and the earth were to be weighed in it, they would fit in it. The angels will say, “O Rabb, what will this weigh?” Allah, Glory be to Him, will say, «Whomever I wish from My creation.» The angels will say, “Glory be to You, we did not worship you as you deserved to be worshipped.” Then the Sirat (Bridge) will be set, thin like a blade. The angels will say, “Whom will you allow to pass on this?” He will say, «Whomever I wish from My creation.» The angels will say, “Glory be to You, we did not worship you as you deserved to be worshipped.”
Reported by al-Hakim (8739) and al-Albani declared it sahih and stated that it has the status of a hadith from the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم (al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, 941)
Who is saying this? The angels who worship Allah day and night, without sin and boredom. But when they behold a glimpse of the extent of Allah’s Power, they know that their constant worship was not enough to fit the incredible Majesty of the Creator.
Whatever we do, we cannot appreciate His Grandeur and Power. Whatever we do, we cannot repay Him for His bounties.
We simply are unaware of all the good that He gifted us and keeps gifting, each second of every day. All our worship cannot adequately thank Him. Yet, He keeps blessing us and forgiving us despite our neglect, shortcomings, and sins. For all that and more, He deserves all of our love. And we can spend our whole life loving Him, and many lives on top of that, and we would not have loved Him enough. (This is, in part, the reason why using Ishq to refer to Allah’s love is inadequate. See Appendix I.) Ibn Taymiyyah said:
There is no end to the love of Allah.
Majmu‘ al-Fatawa (vol. 10, p. 131)
The beauty of loving Allah is that once we start our love journey, we will never reach its end. We will continue to discover new depths each day, a new joy at every corner, and with every step. We will know Allah more, love Him more, and strive to be closer to Him. This is the difference between every worldly pleasure and the joy of being close to Allah. Every earthly pleasure is doomed to end, and this saps the joy out of it. We cannot fully enjoy something while knowing that it will end. But the joy of being near Allah will never end. And this makes it the sweetest thing imaginable, and its satisfaction is endless.
Growing our love for Allah requires expanding our love for what pleases Him. It is a loop: as one increases, so does the other. Only when our love for Him falters that we experience emotional distance from what He loves. This happens to be a good and independent test of Iman. Check how you feel about what He loves, and it will tell you how you feel about Him. Those who love Allah will have the strongest love for what pleases Him, and they keep themselves close to it. They love spending time in mosques and care for them as they care for their own homes. Their hearts race when they hear the Adhan and the Quran, and cannot imagine spending a day without the blessings of the Quran. They dearly love all those who love Allah and are trying to follow His guidance. They stay close to the scholars and the pious to learn from them and remember Allah. Proximity to what Allah loves enhances the love of Allah, wards off the attacks of Shaytan, and protects from the temptations of the world. When we stay close to what Allah loves, we are close to Him. We need more of what Allah loves around us to keep us on the straight path, to protect us from error.
We can see Allah’s Great Mercy in linking love for Him to our love of others. If we desire more of His love, we should strengthen our love for the believers. This is how much Allah loves you and is taking care of you. He made your rights sacred. Every lover of Allah is duty-bound to be the best they can for you. No one can peacefully enter Jannah if they assault you or violate your rights. And kindness to you is one of the keys to Jannah and His love. For that, we should love and thank Him as long as we are alive.
A better you with greater love
The more you love for Allah’s sake, the better you are. Why? Because that love comes from loving Allah. As one increases, the other does too. The more one loves their companion, the stronger is their love for Allah. Hence, their Iman is greater and their obedience to Allah more complete. And for that, they will take greater care of whom they love. They will even put them before themselves, expecting the reward solely from Allah. Lukewarm responses to their kindness do not change their intention or behaviour. Remember, we are doing it for Allah. We are not seeking reward from anyone but Him. You are not waiting for gratitude, praise, reciprocal favours, or money. If we love because of Allah, our acts are because of Him and for Him. The fact that Allah gave us the opportunity to do something good out of love for Him is reward enough. If the door of love opens for you, count yourself among the luckiest on earth, for very few do this today. Many do good today to get something back (money, fame, and to improve their image). But you do it so you would look better before Allah. The difference between the two acts is like the distance between heaven and earth.
Similarly, when there is discord between two lovers, the better of the two is the one who is better to their companion. It is the one who works to restore love to its past vigour. They begin by reviewing their behaviour to see if their sin could have been the cause of this rift. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
«By the One who has my soul in His Hand, if two who love each other are separated in discord, it is because of a sin that one of the two committed.»
Reported by Ahmad (5357) and al-Albani declared it sahih (Sahih al-Targhib, 2219)
Love comes from Allah; sin chases love away. The real reason behind loss of love today—lurking behind other causes of conflict—is sin. Restoring love demands dealing with the main reason for its loss. Repentance and asking Allah for forgiveness are the medicine, followed by apologising for our mistakes. But if one finds that their beloved is the one who had committed this sin, they rush to give them gentle and loving advice to save them from Allah’s anger. They would be happier with their beloved’s repentance than if they had discovered gold and silver. They treat their beloved better than they treat themselves. They can do this because Allah’s love moves them to do this. As they can put Allah before themselves, they can put others before themselves too. Mus‘ab ibn Ahmad ibn Mus‘ab said:
Abu Muhammad al-Marwazi passed by Baghdad, intending to travel to Makkah. I loved to accompany him, so I asked his permission to be his companion, but he refused that year. Then he passed by the next year and then the year after that, so I came and made the request [again], and he said, “Do, on the condition that one of us is the Emir and the other does not disobey him.” I said, “You are the Emir.” He said, “No Abu Muhammad, you are the Emir.” I said, “You are older and more worthy.” He said, “Yes, and you will not disobey me?” I said, “Yes.” So we travelled together. When it was time to eat, he used to favour me with food. And if I objected, he would say, “Did you not promise me that you would not disobey me?” And this was constantly happening until I regretted keeping his company because of the harm he was bringing to himself. One day, heavy rain fell while we were walking, so he said to me, “O Abu Muhammad, head to the milepost.” When we saw the milepost, he said to me, “Sit at its bottom.” So, he made me sit at its bottom and put his hands on the milepost while standing, leaning over me with a cloak he had over him to protect me from the rain until I wished I did not go out with him because of the hardship he was bringing to himself. He continued to behave this way until we arrived at Makkah.
Al-Muntatham fi Tarikh al-‘Umam wa al-Muluk (vol. 13, pp. 18–19)
This devotion in generosity is devotion in love. It is a race to gain as much of Allah’s love while we are still alive. And to that end, one can sacrifice everything on earth to be closer to Allah. This is why and how the people of Allah’s love fly higher than everyone else. They are indeed something else. May Allah make us one of them and grace us with their company.
DR. ALI ALBARGHOUTHI
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