By Sheikh Abdul-Bari ibn Awwad al-Thubaiti – 15 Rajab 1437

His Eminence Sheikh Abdul-Bari ibn Awwad al-Thubaiti, may Allah preserve him, delivered the Friday Khutbah entitled, “Love for Allah, Exalted Be He,” in which he talked about the love for Allah, Exalted be He, and the means to attain it. He also talked about the different types of love, showing which of them are praiseworthy and which are blameworthy.

Praise be to Allah. Praise be to Allah, Who has made love for Him the most honourable reward and the greatest gift. I praise Him, Glorified be He, and thank Him for the blessings of food and drink. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, Who has no partners, and Who is Exalted above all defects and imperfections. I also bear witness that our master and prophet, Muhammad, is His servant and messenger, the caller to guidance, light, and purity from all deficiencies. May Allah bestow His peace and blessings upon him and upon all his family and Companions.

Now then,
I advise you and advise myself to fear Allah. This is the road to salvation and success. Allah, Exalted be He, says:
“O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), he has indeed achieved a great achievement (i.e. he will be saved from the Hell-fire and will be admitted to Paradise).” (Al-Ahzab: 70-71)
 
Having love for Allah is one of the requirements of faith. A servant’s belief in the Oneness of His Lord is not totally established unless he demonstrates complete love for Him. The meaning of love is clear and self-evident; it cannot be defined in terms of anything other than love itself.  

There is no one that is worth loving for his own sake except for Allah, Exalted be He, Who alone is Worthy of divinity, worship, humility, submissiveness, and complete love. The love for the Lord, Exalted be He, is different from any other kind of love. None is more beloved to the hearts than their Creator and Originator, for He is their Only God and Deity that they worship and He is their Guardian, Protector, Lord, Disposer, Provider, Causer of death, and Bestower of life.  

Loving Allah is the source of delight, pleasure, and true life for the soul. It gladdens the heart, enlightens the mind, comforts the self, and maintains one’s inner goodness. There is nothing more pleasant and blissful for sound hearts and pure souls than the love for Allah, the sense of peace in His nearness, and the longing for meeting Him. The more one loves Allah, the more one will feel the pleasure and sweetness of faith. He whose heart is full of love for Allah will be free from the need to love, fear, or rely on anyone else. Nothing gratifies the heart, satisfies its needs, and quenches its thirst except the love for Allah, Exalted be He. If one’s heart obtained all that it desires, it would not feel satisfied and reassured except with the love for Allah, Might and Majesty be to Him. If the heart lost the love for Allah, that would be more disastrous than losing one’s sight, hearing, or the ability to speak. The decay of a heart that is void of the love for Allah, its Creator, Maker and True God, is even worse than the decay of a body that has lost its soul.

True love, servants of Allah, means giving the whole of yourself to Allah, the One you love. The love for Allah has precedence over the love for anyone or anything else. Any other love should be subordinate to the love for Allah, which alone can realize the servant’s happiness and success. Lovers vary in the degree of their love for their Lord. Allah, Exalted be He, describes the believers as greater than others in their love for Him. He says: “… But those who believe, love Allah more …” (Al-Baqarah: 165)

The word “more” in the above verse indicates that there is variation in the degree of love.

Loving Allah means favouring Him over yourself, your soul, and your property, obeying Him in public and in secret, and being aware that you fall short of loving Him as He should be loved. That is, you should be wholly preoccupied with Allah, devoting yourself entirely to Him, with your heart traveling in search for Him and your tongue uttering words of remembrance of Him at all times. Our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to pray to Allah, saying, “I ask You for Your love, for the love of those who love You, and for the love of deeds that draw me closer to Your love.”  

Fellow Muslims!
When love is so deep, intense, and sublime, it turns into adoration, which is the greatest degree of love for Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He. A servant’s need for adoration for Allah is greater than his need for food; for the lack of food may harm the body, but the lack of adoration for Allah can ruin the soul. If the believer truly knows his Lord, he will love Him, and if he loves Him, he will draw nearer to Him. If he experiences the sweetness of drawing near to Allah, he will not regard this worldly life with lustful eyes, nor will he look at the afterlife with indifference.

A servant’s love for Allah urges him to perform his duties and abandon forbidden acts. It urges him to do desirable deeds and forbids him to do abominable ones. The love for Allah fills the heart with the pleasure and sweetness of faith. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “He has found the taste of faith who is content with Allah as his Lord, with Islam as his religion, and with Muhammad as Messenger of Allah.”

The love for Allah cleanses the heart from loving anything that displeases Allah. With the love for Allah, the body is inclined to do acts of obedience and the soul becomes tranquil and reassured. Allah says in the Holy Hadith, “… When I love him [My servant], I am his hearing with which he hears, his eyesight with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks.”

The pleasure of love for Allah helps the servant easily overcome disasters, without suffering from them in the same way as others do. Love for Allah is one of the strongest means of attaining patience and endurance in abstaining from disobeying Allah and perpetuating sins. A lover is obedient to the one he loves. The deeper the love for Allah is in our hearts, the more likely we are to obey His commands and avoid His prohibitions. Sins and acts of disobedience are but the result of lack of strong love for Allah.

Mere love will not bring about this state unless it is accompanied by revering and exalting Allah, the Beloved One; only then will love yield modesty towards Allah and obedience to Him. If the love for Allah is not accompanied by reverence and exaltation, it will not have the same effect or lead to the same result, though it will beget a sense of comfort and reassurance in His nearness, as well as constant remembrance and longing for Him. When a sinning servant looks into his heart, he will find that his love for Allah is not strong enough to compel him to abandon sins. This is because such love is devoid of reverence and exaltation. No feeling can fill the heart better than the love for Allah that is accompanied by revering and exalting Him. This is one of the best gifts from Allah to His servant, if not the best gift at all. That is the grace of Allah, which He bestows on whom He wills.

If love is devoid of submissiveness and humility, then it is a mere worthless claim. This applies to those who claim that they love Allah but do not abide by His orders, nor follow the Sunnah of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, or apply it in their words, deeds, or acts of worship. No one should claim to love Allah if he does not follow the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. This is what the Jews and Christians said, as Allah tells of them: “And (both) the Jews and the Christians say: “We are the children of Allah and His loved ones.” …” (Al-Ma’idah: 18)

It is a mere claim that anyone could easily make. Allah has refuted all such claims and has clearly distinguished truth from falsehood, as He, Glorified be He, says:

“Say (O Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, to mankind): “If you (really) love Allah then follow me (i.e. accept Islamic Monotheism, follow the Qur’an and the Sunnah), Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Al ‘Imran: 31)

The love for the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, is inseparable from the love for Allah. He who loves and obeys Allah, necessarily loves His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him.

One sign of loving Allah is to love His obedient servants, support His Auliya’ (those who believe in His Oneness and fear and love Him much), show enmity to those insisting on disobedience to Him, fight against His enemies, and stand by those who support His cause. The deeper a servant’s love for Allah is, the better he performs such acts.

In this context, it is relevant to shed light on the ways that bring about the love for Allah. One thing is to know Allah’s countless favours to His servants. Allah, Glorified be He, says: “… and if you count the Blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them …” (Ibrahim: 34)

He also says: “… and do good as Allah has been good to you …” (Al-Qasas: 77)

In addition, one of the greatest means of evoking the love for Allah in a Muslim’s heart is to get to know Him by His Beautiful Names, lofty attributes, and acts; for he who truly knows Allah loves Him, he who loves Allah obeys Him, he who obeys Allah will be honoured by Him, and he whom Allah honours will dwell in proximity to Him; and blessed and happy indeed is he who dwells in proximity to Allah!

Another great means of evoking the love for Allah in a Muslim’s heart is to contemplate the realm of the heavens and of the earth and all things which Allah created. Another great deed that brings about the love for Allah is the frequent remembrance of Allah; for he who loves someone will definitely remember him frequently. “… Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.” (Ar-Ra’d: 28)

May Allah bless you and me with the Great Qur’an and make us benefit from its verses and wise words. I have said what you have heard and I ask forgiveness of Allah, the Most Great, for myself, for you, and for all Muslims for any sin we have committed. Ask Allah for forgiveness. He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.‎