ON LOVE

It is mentioned that a person saw an ugly picture in the desert so he asked: “Who are you?” It replied: “I am your evil deeds.” He asked: “How can I save myself from you?” It replied: “Sending salutations on the Prophet .” The Messenger of Allâh said: “Sending salutation on me will be light on the sirât. Whoever sends 80 salutations on me on Friday, Allâh will forgive him the sins of 80 years.”

It is related that a person was neglectful of sending salutations on our leader Muhammad . One night he saw the Prophet in a dream in such a state that the Prophet paid no attention to him. So he said: “O Messenger of Allâh! Are you angry with me?” He replied: “No.” The man said: “Then why are you not looking at me?” He said: “Because I do not recognize you.” The man said: “How can you not recognize me when I am a person from your ummah? And the ulamâ have narrated that you recognize yourummah better than how a mother recognizes her child?” He said: “The ulamâ are correct. But you do not remember me with salutations. And my recognition of members of my ummah is according to how much salutations they send to me.” The man then got up from his sleep and made it incumbent upon himself to send 100 salutations to the Prophet daily. And so he did that. He then saw the Messenger of Allâh after that in a dream and he said to him: “Now I recognize you. And I will intercede on your behalf.” This is because he now became a beloved of the Messenger of Allâh .

Allâh says: “If you have love for Allâh…” The circumstances behind the revelation of this verse is that when the Messenger of Allâh invited Ka‘b ibn al-Ashraf and his friends to Islam, they replied: “We are like the children of Allâh and we love Allâh far more intensely.” So Allâh said to His Prophet : “If you have love for Allâh then follow my way.” On my religion for I am the Messenger of Allâh, I am conveying His message to you and I am His proof against you. “so that Allâh may love you and forgive you your sins. And Allâh is forgiving, merciful.” [37] The believers’ love for Allâh entails obeying His commands, giving preference to obedience to Him, and seeking His pleasure. Allâh’s love for the believers entails His praising them, rewarding them, pardoning them, showering them with His mercy, protecting them and inspiring them to do good.

The Imâm [Ghazzâlî] says in his Ihyâ: Whoever claims four things without doing four things is a liar. Whoever claims to love Paradise without doing acts of obedience is a liar. Whoever claims love of the Prophet without loving the 'ulamâ’ and the poor is a liar. Whoever claims fear of the Hell-fire without abstaining from sins is a liar. Whoever claims love of Allâh but complains when any calamity afflicts him is a liar. Râbi‘ah said:

“You disobey Allâh and yet you claim love for Him. I take an oath that this is a very strange way of thinking. Had your love been true, you would have obeyed Him. Surely the lover obeys the one whom he loves.”

The indication and sign of love is agreement with the beloved and abstaining from contradicting him.

It is related that a group of people went to ash-Shiblî rahimahullâh so he asked them: “Who are you?” They replied: “We are the ones who love you.” He turned around and then pelted them with stones and so they fled from him. He said to them: “Why are you fleeing from me? If you really loved me, you would not flee from my affliction.” Ash-Shiblî rahimahullâh then said: “The people of love drank the cup of love and so the earth and lands became constricted upon them. They recognized Allâh as He ought to be recognized. They wandered in His grandeur and were at a loss in His might. They drank the cup of His love and they drowned in the ocean of His intimacy and they took delight in speaking to Him in privacy.” He then said the following couplets:

“O my Master! The remembrance of love has made me intoxicated. Have you ever seen a lover not intoxicated [in his love]?”

It is said that when a camel becomes intoxicated [with love], it does not eat fodder for 40 days. And if several times the normal load that it carries were to be loaded on it, it will carry it. This is because when the thought of its beloved stirs in its heart, it does not like to eat fodder and does not even bother about the heavy weight that is loaded onto it. All this is because it is longing for its beloved. If a camel can abandon its desire [for food] and carry a heavy weight because of its beloved, have you left the desire to commit an unlawful act for the sake of Allâh ? Have you abstained from food and drink for the sake of Allâh ? Have you borne heavy weights [responsibilities] on your selves for the sake of Allâh ? If you have not done any of these good acts which I have mentioned, then your claim has no meaning whatsoever. It is of no use in this world, in the hereafter, with the creation, nor with the Creator.

‘Alî said: “The person who yearns for Paradise hastens towards good deeds. The person who fears the Hell-fire prohibits his self from desires. The person who is convinced of death, considers all pleasures to be insignificant.”

Ibrâhîm al-Khawwâs was asked about love so he said: “Love entails wiping out all your intentions, burning all attributes and needs, and drowning oneself in the ocean of mere indications.”