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The Highest Degree of Love for Allah | Khutbah
You may love Him for His blessings or for His beauty. But what is the highest degree of loving Allah? And what practical implications does that have on our worship?
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Dear brothers and sisters, Allah says in the Qur'an, يا أيها الناس, O people, and pay attention to who is being called upon, O people, يا أيها الناس اذكروا نعمة الله عليكم. Remember the blessing, the favor of your Lord upon you. هل من خالق غير الله يرزقكم من السماء والأرض؟ Is there anyone that is a creator in the heavens or in the earth that provides for you from all of these different directions? لا إله إلا هو فأنا فكون. There is no God but Him, so how is it that you still manage to go astray? This is an interesting way that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala introduces Himself to people as a whole. Reminding you as mankind of His ni'mah, of His blessing and everything that is encompassed within His blessings. And I want us to, insha'Allah ta'ala, for the next few minutes, dissect this idea of the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Why do you love Allah? Now if you ask any Muslim child, do you love Allah? They're going to say yes, because they know that's what they're supposed to say. And most of us would say yes, because we know we're supposed to say we love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we love God. But what does it actually mean to love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? And what is the reason by which Allah commands you to love Him? And I want to start with a hadith from the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, which also connects to this ayah that I just mentioned. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said in this hadith from Ibn Abbas radiallahu ta'ala, qala ahibbu Allah, love Allah, lima yaghthuukum min ni'mihi. Love Allah for what He provides you from with His blessings.
Love Allah for the blessings that He descends upon you. Love Allah for His ni'ma upon you. And then he says, wa ahibbuni and love me bi hubbillah, because of the love of Allah. You want to love Allah, you love the most beloved of His creation to Him, Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And so loving Allah is loving the Messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And why would you love the Messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam? So intensely, except because of the love of Allah and the blessing that Allah provided to you through Him, which is the ultimate blessing of faith. So love Allah because of what He provides you of His blessings. And love me due to the love of Allah. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam says, wa ahibbu ahlul bayti li hubbi, and love my family for my love for them. We love the family of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, his spouses, his children, all of them. We love Ahlul Bayt. We love the household of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Why? Why do we love them so much? Because of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam's love for them. Why do we love Khadija radiyallahu anha? Why do we love Fatima radiyallahu anha? Why do we love the entire household of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam? Because of how much the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam loved him, loved them, and how much they loved him. So it is the love of the Messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam that connects us to his family, because of his love for them. And it is the love of Allah for the Messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam that connects us to him. But why love Allah himself, the love of God? And there's something very profound that the ulema point out in this regard. And there are long discourses in regards to the meanings and the ways in which you demonstrate that love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. There are degrees of the love of Allah just like there are degrees with the love of anybody else.
You love multiple people in your life, but you don't love them all the same. And in some ways you can't quantify, right? How much you love a person and who you love more and these types of things, but you love multiple people, but there are different degrees and different manifestations of that love for the people that are around you and different reasons for how you love people. The constant of many of those reasons is because of some blessing or some goodness that has come to you through that person. And what the ulema mention is that the bare minimum of being introduced to the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is by his ni'mah, but it can't stop there. And this is what I want to talk about. The level of Bani Israel that the ulema mention, the level of Bani Israel you always find Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala addresses them. How? Ya Bani Israel, uzkuru ni'mat Allahi alaykum. O Bani Israel, remember the favor of Allah upon you. Some of the scholars they say, but the standard that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala holds this ummah to is, Ya ayyuha allatheena amanu uzkuru Allah. Remember Allah. That a person graduates from not just remembering the obvious blessings of Allah upon you because you only remind someone of those blessings when they are at risk of becoming ungrateful people and going off the path. And so you remind them with the obvious of what is around you. Look at the blessing of Allah upon you. And indeed Allah reminds this ummah of the blessing upon us as well. Ith kuntum a'da'an fa'allafa bayna qulubikum. When you were enemies and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made you out to be brothers, a blessing from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala upon you. Remember when a large army was going to consume you, a blessing from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala upon you.
But the majority of the ayat go to remember Allah. And the ulama here make this distinction. That there is loving Allah for his ni'ma, and then there is loving Allah li thatihi because of who he is, which is a higher level. I'm going to say that again. You love Allah for his ni'ma and that is certainly there. And the more you recognize his ni'ma, the more you recognize his blessing, and you attribute it to him, the more you are increased in love of him. And that should directly translate into ibadah, into worship. You love Allah for his blessing when you recognize his blessing. When you love him and recognize that blessing, then you increase in your worship of him. That is good. But loving Allah li thatihi because of who he is, is an even higher level. And that is the standard that this ummah should be seeking, that every person who is trying to develop a meaningful relationship with Allah should be seeking, is to love Allah for himself in a very powerful and meaningful way, and one that has practical consequences for you. And so the question becomes, what does it mean to love Allah for the sake of Allah? We always talk about what does it mean to love someone else, love your brother or your sister for the sake of Allah. What does it mean to love Allah for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? And the ulama say that the two things are not disconnected. One of the great imams, Imam al-Marudi rahimahullah ta'ala, and one of the gifts of Imam Ahmad rahimahullah ta'ala is that you have these recorded conversations between him and his students. Masa'il, some of the questions in fiqh, but then sometimes just these advices that become entire books, and this is the case with Imam al-Marudi rahimahullah ta'ala. Sometimes in the course of asking Imam Ahmad rahimahullah
multiple questions in fiqh or in hadith, he would ask him a life question. He'd ask him a question of taskiya, a question of the heart. So he told him, he asked him the question, what is al-hubbu fil-lah? What does it really mean to love someone else for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? You know, we talk about loving someone else for the sake of Allah, but what does that even mean? And he said that you don't love him for anything of this dunya. Litama'id dunya. You don't love him because of this dunya. There's no worldly benefit. There is nothing attached to your love for that person that is causing you to love that person or that is dominating your love for that person. Your primary reason is that you love that person for Allah. And so it's no catch to it in regards to your love of that person. When it comes to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the way that you build on that, and this is the concept where it needs to stick for a bit. If you love Allah only for the blessings of this dunya, and hence you increase in your worship of Allah and your love of Allah only when you feel like the blessings are coming down. You know, you always see a person when something great happens to them. Alhamdulillah. And indeed, sajda to shukr is from this deen. Sajda to shukr is from this deen. The prostration of gratitude is from this deen. But Ayub alayhi salam was not just driven to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala out of shukr. When the good things were there, we praise him and celebrate him because he was driven to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the same position when everything was taken away from him because his love of Allah was not about the ni'mah. It wasn't restricted to the ni'mah. And so if your relationship, your love of Allah is only attached to dunya-y things, when the ni'mah, when the blessings come descending upon you, what's going to happen? And this is where Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullah ta'ala injects why this is such an important conversation.
Those that turn away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because of this dunya, right, when things start falling apart, ya'budu Allah ala harf and they're ready to jump off of a cliff. Those that turn away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because of this dunya cannot be turned back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because of this dunya. You can't stop them there. It's like when you're raising your children and you hope that nothing bad will ever happen to them. I'm going to give them everything that they want and I'm just going to teach them to say alhamdulillah. Good. Say alhamdulillah. Love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The goodness that is coming to you is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But then you know inside of you, I hope nothing goes wrong because then the faith is going to fall apart. You can't restrict that relationship with Allah to ni'mah, to blessing. It has to move beyond that. It has to be so intense and so consistent that if a person were to see you when you're struggling or when you are celebrating, they would think you're in the same position. Subhanallah. The example, if you saw the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam praying qiyam al-layl, you would be like, what is wrong? I hope he's okay. He's crying so much. So there's a puddle under him from his tears. Something must be wrong. No, something's not wrong. Something is right. The love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala drives that person's ibadah, drives that person's closeness beyond ni'mah. And so the idea here is that those that turn towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and develop their relationship with Allah, don't just wait for the ni'mah to be good. And alhamdulillah for that. And intensely thank Allah then. But they're constantly in the state of shukr, constantly in the state of love, constantly getting to know their Lord and increasing their obedience to Him to where the other stuff is becoming irrelevant.
And so someone might say, well, what does that even mean in terms of the correlation? How do I know that I'm increasing in my love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Himself? How do I know that I'm really developing that meaningful love and relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? And the correlation that Imam Ahmed rahimahullah says, connecting it to how you love someone for Allah, the more that a person grows in their love for Allah, the more their indifference towards this dunya grows. I'm going to say that again. The more that a person grows in their love for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the more that their indifference towards the material world starts to grow as well, starts to parallel that. Now does that mean that you don't love your family as much? No, you love people for Allah. But that means that your concern for money, your concern for reputation, your concern for fame, your concern for prosperity, your love of your houses, your love of your cars, your love of your clothes, your love of all these things, it just naturally starts to diminish. Not because you hate that stuff, you become indifferent towards it. It becomes a thing that's enjoyment, but at the same time, your love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is occupying more and more of your heart. And that's a reality that we can't get around from this deen. No, we're not people who renounce this world to where we have to inflict poverty on ourselves, but the attachment to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala directly leads to detachment from those things. That's why the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, when he was asked by Sahih al-Ibn Sa'ad radhiAllahu ta'ala anhuma, you know, how can I make Allah and the people love me? How do I make Allah and the people love me? Qala izhad fi dunya yuhibbik Allah. You know, detach yourself from the dunya, Allah will love you. And he said, by the way, the same thing is true for people. Wazhad fimaa'inda an-naas yuhibbik an-naas. And renounce what people possess and people will love you too, because they won't feel threatened by you. You don't have anything,
you're trying to get out of them all the time. They'll feel like your relationship with them is genuine. It goes beyond benefits and trying to extract something. You're not trying to compete with them. La yushahih ahl al-dunya fi dunyahum. You're not trying to compete with them over this world. Like, no, we're good. I'm being nice to you because I'm being nice to you. You know, I'm actually developing a relationship with you. I'm not hoping that one day you're going to remember and then do this for me. No, no, this is an actual relationship. So the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam is saying that the connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is your appetite for dunya becomes less. Why is that so important for our faith? Because when is the crisis of faith induced? When I've been told my whole life, just say alhamdulillah, do this and ni'mah is going to grow, ni'mah is going to grow, ni'mah is going to grow, blessings, blessings, good. Pray this, do this. But then when it's those prolonged periods of deprivation, I'm not talking about the strike, but like prolonged periods, illness, unemployment, deprivation for a long time. If your love of Allah was restricted to ni'mah, then you'll start to resent Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for deprivation of ni'mah. See the problem? That's why Imam Ahmed rahimallah is saying it's so important. If your love of Allah was attached solely to ni'mah, then you're going to resent Allah when the deprivation of ni'mah starts to prolong. A resentment will grow. Whereas if your love of Allah has grown beyond ni'mah, then it will be consistent and hold you through the good times and the bad times, through the times of prosperity and the times of adversity, through the times of blessing and the times of deprivation, because you're longing for something greater. You've gotten to know his attributes. You've gotten to know his names. Your dua is intense all the time. You're putting that time aside for that prayer, for that ibadah all the time. You're not waiting for something catastrophic to happen,
to have a deep attachment to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that's why the ulema say again, كَلَّا بَلْ تُحِبُّونَ الْعَاجِلَ وَتَذَرُونَ الْآخِرَةَ That a person loves this world too much, there's no space for loving Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Then you're going to try to turn deen, Allah, your relationship with Allah, merely into a tool of this dunya. How do you then move forward? At this point, this is where we take two lessons insha'Allah ta'ala. And I'll end with this. Loving ni'mah of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, loving Allah for His ni'mah is a station that then translates into the love of Allah. اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ تَأُذْكُرُوا اللَّهِ In the akhira, loving thawab, which is a thing, we love Jannah, loving the reward of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala translates into just loving Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Not to where you ever stop loving Jannah. That's where some of the stuff gets a little beyond the sunnah of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And the ulema actually condemned that level of stated mysticism. That I stopped loving Jannah and caring about Jannah and not because I love Allah that much. No, just like you love Allah for ni'mah in this dunya and it builds your love of Allah in the holistic sense. You love Allah for the thawab, for the guaranteed reward in the hereafter and it builds your love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, which is greater than Jannah. If Allah gives you Himself. Abu Dharr radiallahu ta'ala anhu, he said that, I asked the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, what does a man do when he loves people but his deeds don't line up with theirs? And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, Anta ya'abadhar, you O Abu Dharr ma'man ahbabt, you're with those who you love. Qala fa inni uhibbu Allah wa rasoola. He said, I love Allah and His Messenger. He said, Anta ya'abadhar ma'man ahbabt. You are O Abu Dharr with the one that you love. You love Allah, you'll be with Allah. And if you're with Allah, everything else will work itself out in the hereafter.
In this world, you love Allah, the ni'ma will work itself out. In the hereafter, you love Allah, the reward will work itself out. Because if you're with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, everything that comes after that is good. You love Rasool Allah salallahu alayhi wa sallam, al-firdaws al-a'la is yours because you got to be with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam then, if you're true in your stated love. But Allah will test you with that claim. Imam Hassan al-Basri rahim Allah, qala za'ama qawmun anhum yuhibboon Allah. You had these people that claim they love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He's talking about the companions. fabatalaahum bihaadhihi al-aaya. So Allah tested them with a verse. Qul in kuntum tuhibboon Allah, fattabi'oon yuhibbikum Allah. Say you really love Allah, follow the Messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And he'll love you back. It's not an empty claim. That doesn't mean that you put a bumper sticker on your car, I love Allah. Or your cover photo on social media is I love Allah and that's it. You can just make a claim like that. None of it shows in your actions. You still indulge in the prohibitions. You disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. There is no trajectory of growing religiosity to him whatsoever. But alhamdulillah, I love Allah. Good luck with that on the Day of Judgment. It's not going to get you very far. Because that has to translate into something. And everyone has to be making progress in that trajectory. And if that trajectory just parallels ni'ma, ni'ma, ni'ma, ni'ma, blessing, blessing, blessing, then boom, something bad happens. And then your obedience of Allah. Then that's not really loving Allah for Allah, is it? Faqal imam al-Shafi'i rahimahu Allah ta'ala ta'asid ilaha wa anta tuzhiru hubbahu hatha mahalun fil qiyasi badi'u law kan hubbuka sadiqan la ata'atahu inna almuhibba liman yuhibbu muti'u You claim to love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, but you disobey him. That's a foul analogy. A foul analogy to make with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
If your love of Allah was true, then you would follow him. Because if you love someone, then you obey them, you follow what they ask you to do as well. So you can't just make these empty claims. And then the end of that is what? When you start to do what you're supposed to do and worship Allah properly, and you see the joy that comes to you through that worship. Then what is the joy of the things of this world anymore? What is the joy of the things in this world anymore? When you're tasting the sweetness of that trajectory of good deeds and obeying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and validation through a new way and prosperity through a new way. And that meaningful relationship, naturally your appetite for the worldly stuff diminishes too. And that's how you know that that change is happening. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us amongst those that are grateful and patient and love him from the Muhsinin. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to be with him and with our beloved Messenger, Sayyidina Muhammad al-Firdaws. May Allah forgive us and not punish us.
وَاللَّهُ يَعْلُم مَا تَصْنَعُونَ
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