Love for Allah (SWT)

Transcript of the Friday Khutbah delivered by Dr Munawar Haque on Sept 28, 2018

Praise be to Allah (SWT) who breathed into us of His Spirit and placed the light of His guidance in our innermost being. Praise be to Allah (SWT) who blessed us with the guidance of His prophets and messengers. Praise be to Allah (SWT) whose Mercy encompasses everything. Praise be to Allah (SWT) who knows our needs and answers our calls and brings peace to our hearts.

Brothers and sisters! My khutba today is based on some thoughts regarding increasing our love for Allah (SWT). One of the words for love in the Arabic language is mahabbah derived from the three Arabic root letters (ha ba ba). The word habbah which means a grain or seed is also derived from the same three letters. In the Arabic language, there is always a relationship between the multiple derived forms of a word. Hence, there is a relationship between a seed, (a habbah), and the love (the mahabbah) of Allah (SWT). The habbah of mahabbah or the seed of love for Allah (SWT) has been planted in the heart of every human being.

In our primordial state, before our earthly existence, Allah (SWT) planted that seed of His love when He gathered all the human souls (the arwah) and took a covenant from them by asking them, أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ “Am I not your Lord” to which they all replied بَلَى شَهِدْنَا “We testify that indeed You are!”. And they got two things at that moment: Firstly, they got the blessing (the barakah) of knowledge (‘ilm), as they understood what Allah (SWT) asked them, and secondly, they got the seed of mahabbah that was planted in the heart of every human being.

Mahabbah or love is part of human nature. The qalb or the spiritual heart contains the seed of love. Every human being falls in love. Every human being has love for something or someone. Every human being feels attracted towards something. It is human to love; Allah (SWT) designed us that way so that we would use this human attribute of love to love Allah (SWT). There is goodness and light (khair and nur) in loving Allah, and there is injustice and darkness (zulm and zulmah) in loving ghairallah or objects of worship other than Allah (SWT). Just as there is no room except that it either has light or darkness in it, similarly, there is no heart except that it either has the nur of the love of Allah (SWT) in it or the darkness of ghairallah in it.

When we realize that human beings were made to love and that our hearts must love, then why not use our hearts to love Allah (SWT), our Creator? If you love the creation, then know that one day you will be separated from what you love. If you love Allah, then know that you shall meet Him; you will be united with Him in the hereafter (al-Akhirah). Allah (SWT) is that Supreme Being whose association with us is real and eternal. Therefore the love that we have for that Being is real and eternal.

We see that in this life, it is love that drives everything. If a person has love for this world, then everything he does will be based on that love; on the desires for this duniya. Similarly, if a person has love for Allah (SWT) in his heart, then all his thoughts would be for Allah (SWT). All his actions, statements, feelings, and emotions will emanate from that love for Allah (SWT). Because the deen of Islam teaches us that we must make Allah (SWT) dominant in our lives, so it only makes sense that we should make Allah (SWT) our true beloved. The more and more one nourishes and nurtures the love of Allah, the more and more one has faith (iman) in Allah. Those who have strong faith (iman), love Allah (SWT) most.

وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِّلَّهِ 

“Those who believe love Allah most.” (al-Baqarah, 2:165)

Without the love for Allah, our iman is going to remain weak. Just like Allah (SWT) gives life to the soil by sending rain and thus allowing the plant to grow, similarly, He waters the seed of mahabbah all the time through His continuous blessings.

Our reality is like a radio with little or no battery power to receive the signals which are being broadcast all the time. Allah’s mercy and blessings are being broadcast on the hearts of the true righteous believers twenty-four hours a day. But the problem is that we are people who have either turned the receiver off, or we are not able to tune the receiver. And we have placed interference in the signal due to our sins. Our sins block the mercy and blessings of Allah (SWT) that are showered on us all the time. A person who leaves sin and become a person of taqwa also becomes a lover of Allah (SWT). Allah befriends him, and takes him out of darknesses to light.

اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ

“Allah is the friend of those who believe, and leads them out of darkness into light.” (al-Baqarah, 2:257)

The truth is that when we love something, we are always thinking about what we love.  It is impossible to be in love with something and not think about it. A reliable test of how true our love is for Allah (SWT) is to see how much we are able to serve others and to give of ourselves generously and openly for Allah’s sake. The quality of our faith is reflected in our intention, attitudes, and behavior.

Brothers and sisters! What does a person get if he or she takes this plunge into this ocean of the love of Allah? According to a Hadith Qudsi, Allah says, “I am as My servant expects me to be. I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running.” And Allah says in the Qur’an,

أَلَا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاءَ اللَّهِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

“Look, the friends of Allah shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (Yunus, 10:62)

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ 

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين

Brothers and sisters! How does one increase one’s love for Allah (SWT)? Do we feel this deep love for Allah (SWT) in our hearts? Do we yearn for Him? Most probably, an honest reply would be, “We don’t.” If we can examine ourselves honestly and know what we love, then we have taken a major step forward. If we find that what we love is Allah (SWT), then we are blessed with a great gift for which all praise is due to Allah (SWT). But if what we love is other than Allah (SWT), then at least we know and we have the opportunity to seek to change what is in our hearts.

Those who have only tasted the pleasures of this world don’t know about the taste of the love for Allah (SWT). If anyone derives pleasure from committing sins, then only one thing that can take him or her out of that situation is to taste the pleasure of the intimacy with Allah (SWT). Without that the person will most likely continue to sin even after praying; even after fasting for a whole month in Ramadan, and even after performing Hajj. It is difficult to give up pleasure of this world until one gets a greater pleasure, and that is the pleasure of feeling close and intimate with Allah (SWT). He has given us the gift of His companionship, for He says,

هُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ

“He is with you wherever you are.” (al-Hadid, 57:4)

Allah (SWT) is with you wherever you maybe – Masjid, home, workplace, or anywhere else; whether you remember Him or not; whether you are mindful of Him or not; whether you worship Him or not. He is with you even when you are sinning against Him, just waiting for you to turn to Him in repentance.

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ

“And when My servants ask you about Me, say that I am near. I respond to the call of one who calls, whenever he calls Me:.” (al-Baqarah, 2:186)

And Allah (SWT) says,

فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ 

“So remember Me and I will remember you.” (al-Baqarah, 2:152)

Our remembrance of Allah (SWT) is His remembrance of us. Our call to Him is His answer to us. Remembrance is the way of intimacy with Allah. And we still don’t desire to be close to Him; we still don’t wish to love Him; we still disobey Him; we still distance ourselves from Him. Brothers and sisters! Allah (SWT) did not create us to send us to hell. He created us to be eternally happy and to live in Jannah.  And how close is Allah (SWT) to us; closer than we can imagine for He says,

وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ 

“We are nearer to him than his jugular vein.” (Qaf, 50:16)

This means that Allah (SWT) is closer to us than our own selves. The relationship of love between us and Allah (SWT), between us and others, and between us and all of creation is essential to reaching our full potential as human beings. When we nourish our hearts with love, when we manifest Allah’s love in our lives; with our families, with our friends, in our work, in our prayers, in everything that we do, the entire meaning of life changes for us and our own experience of our humanness is transformed. Of course, love of Allah (SWT) requires us to love what Allah (SWT) loves and to dislike what displeases Him.

Brothers and sisters! Allah’s grace multiplies with our sincere efforts and honest intention to come closer to Him. Whatever we give to Him comes back manifold to us. In this way, little by little, our love for Allah grows and develops and it transforms us into loving, noble human beings.

Let me conclude by sharing with you one of the du’as that the Prophet (SAW) used to make to express his love, awe, and longing for Allah (SWT). He used to say,

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ حُبَّكَ وَحُبَّ مَنْ يُحِبُّكَ وَالْعَمَلَ الَّذِي يُبَلِّغُنِي حُبَّكَ

“O Allah, I ask for Your love, and the love of those who love You and love of actions that bring me closer to Your love.”

May Allah bless us with His love, and the love of those who love Him. May Allah fill our hearts with love.

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