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Those Whom Allah Loves | Dr. Omar Suleiman
Dr. Omar Suleiman explains the unique lives of service of those who love Allah and are loved by Allah.
He shares reflections on the ayah: “O believers! Whoever among you abandons their faith, Allah will replace them with others who love Him and are loved by Him. They will be humble with the believers but firm towards the disbelievers, struggling in the Way of Allah; fearing no blame from anyone. This is the favour of Allah. He grants it to whoever He wills. And Allah is Ever-Bountiful, All-Knowing.” (Qur’an 5:54)
This session was part of the “In the Way of Faith” Yaqeen conference held in Toronto, Canada in 2022.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim It is one of the most comprehensive verses in the Qur'an and it's actually one of the few verses that connects Allah's love to His letting you do da'wah, to His letting you work for this noble cause. O you who believe, if you turn away from this faith, Allah will bring about a people that He loves and they love Him. They are humble with the believers. They are proud with the disbelievers. They strive in the path of Allah and they do not fear the blame of the blamer and that
is the bounty of Allah. That's the bounty of Allah. He bestows it upon whom He wills and Allah possesses all expanse and Allah is all-knowing. I think about that verse and there are many things that you can thank Allah for. First and foremost, Alhamdulillah for giving us Islam. Alhamdulillah for giving us Islam. Alhamdulillah for giving us Iman and we pray to Allah for Yaqeen. And Alhamdulillah for letting us be in any way a small part of the succession that is to come and we pray that we don't disgrace ourselves and risk being replaced by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. I want to break down this verse inshaAllah Ta'ala for a bit and hopefully leave you with something instructive and I want to thank everyone for being a part of this and remind you by the way that being a part of this da'wah is not just being Sheikh Muhammad Al-Sharif Rahimahullah and he'd be the first person to tell you that. There are many people that were around him, some of them that are in this room today. There are many people that support this work in different ways and as Dr. Nazer was speaking earlier about the capacities, the spiritual arzaq, the rizq, the sustenance that Allah gives us in terms of how he divided the a'mal, how he divided good deeds. Don't belittle your place in this community and in the work of this deen. Your position is important. Every single person has something to contribute to this beautiful message and to exert themselves. When we talk about this verse, Allah will bring about a people.
That is to show you that if Allah chooses to let you be a part of this, then that is the bounty of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala upon you. If Allah Azza wa Jal replaces you, that is your loss even if you don't have as much of a burden in terms of carrying this message and moving it forward. But everyone wants to be loved by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And that description, yuhibbuhum wa yuhibboona. Allah loves them and they love Allah. You know if you were a companion of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, you had a pretty good idea about where you stood in the hierarchy of believers. But when the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam comes out the day before Khaibar and says tomorrow I'm going to give this flag, this banner to someone who loves Allah and his messenger and someone who Allah and his messenger love. And all of the sahabah are competing to hope to be that person. And everyone wants to have their name announced, not so that they can have the glory of carrying victory when they come out of Khaibar. Not to have the spoils of war nor the celebration of their colleagues and companions but to fit the description that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam just gave. That Allah and his messenger love this person and this person loves Allah and his messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And everyone was just hoping that they'd hear their name. That was the greatest prize, no matter what the sacrifice was. Until Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam announced that it was Sayyidina Ali Ibn Abi Qadir radiAllahu ta'ala alaihi wa sallam. That he was a man who loved Allah and his messenger. And Allah and his messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam loved him. It makes everything else so irrelevant.
And I don't want to minimize the problems or the concerns or the other pursuits that exist in our lives because Allah did not create us as angels rather Allah created us as human beings and sometimes we want certain things as human beings. We chart out certain trajectories. But loving Allah is so different. And to be loved by Allah is so different. Al-Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim says, laisa kamithlihi shay, wa laisa kahubbihi shay. There is nothing like him and there is nothing like his love. Allah says laisa kamithlihi shay, there is nothing like him Subhanahu wa ta'ala, wa laisa kahubbihi shay. And there is nothing like his love. To be loved by Allah is to have the greatest companion, the greatest comfort, the greatest protector. And it gets more and more specific as you start to go through the traits of the ayat of the Quran. And by the way we don't credit our teachers enough and those that are pioneers. You know, when I did the series Allah Loves, that was something that I learned from a beloved teacher of mine, Shaykh Omar Al-Ashqar, Rahimahullah Ta'ala. Some of you may know. Shaykh Omar Al-Ashqar, Rahimahullah, taught Iman, taught faith in a way that he always tried to make it practical. It was Islamic creed series, some of you might have seen it. And he said, you know, we need to teach people to long for Allah. We need to teach people to long for the Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. To long for the day of judgment in a way that's practical. And instead of just talking about who Allah isn't, let's talk about who Allah is. And instead of just constructing the philosophy of a God and, you know, talking about why there must be a God, let's talk about what he's like. There's a reason why Allah gave us all these asma and sifat, to know him and then to love him and then to want to do for him.
And then let's talk about all these qualities that he loves from you. Allah has his names and attributes, but he has his qualities for those that want to love him as well. Wa idha aratta am ta'rifa makanaka amd Allah, thamdur ila makanihi indak. As Imam Ahmed Rahimullah said, if you want to know Allah's, your position with Allah, then look at his position with you. You want to know how Allah loves you? Look at how you love Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. So to practically do for him and you start to see the ayat list out these different things and the ahadith and there's always something practical. The famous hadith of Abu Huraira radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said that Allah Azawajal has said, man aada li waliya faqad aadhantuhu bilharb. Whoever takes one of my awliya, one of my loved ones as an enemy, I will wage war on that person. For that person, Allah would wage war. And Dr. Nader talked about that hadith a bit because Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says you don't come close to him. You don't become a wali of Allah through anything more fundamental than the fara'at, than the mandatory deeds. And there's the hadith of Jundab ibn Abdillah radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu SubhanAllah, man sallas subh fahuwa fee dhimmatillah. Whoever prays their fajr prayer is under the protection of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam goes on to say, it's also an authentic hadith in Muslimah Ahmed, less known, but look at the implication. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says, and whoever is fee dhimmatillah, whoever is under Allah's protection, if someone tries to harm that person, faya qubbahu fee wajhi fee al-nar, or kama qal AAalayhi salatu wasalam, Allah will throw that person face first into the fire. Because that person becomes a wali of Allah by virtue of what? Some secret ingredient? No, fajr. They kept their fajr and they observed the rites of salatul fajr. And they grew. There's no greater comforter than Allah.
There's no greater confidant than Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. There is no greater protector than Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And to be loved by him becomes such a great pursuit that it just minimizes everything else. To where you start to love for him, and hate for him. You start to want for him and not want for him. And you start to cast everything in that. It overwhelms your senses. Not in a way that gives you some sort of spiritual ecstasy, to where you feel like you're floating all the time, but in a way that you're action driven to want to hear so badly that Allah considers you amongst his awliya. That Allah considers you amongst those that he loves. So Allah gives us these measures. Fasawfa ya'ti allahu biqawmin yuhibbuhum wa yuhibboona athillatin ala almu'mineen. The first sign of your love of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, of your belief, is the way you're treating your brothers and sisters. Ruhama'u baynahum. Merciful amongst themselves. You love your brothers and sisters. You are humble towards your brothers and sisters. A'izzatin ala alkaafireen, and you have pride with the disbelievers. That doesn't mean that you oppress them or harm them, because the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam did not oppress and harm them, but that means that you stand your ground, your principles, even when you're around people who don't hold that same faith, you don't shy away from what you have of this beautiful deen of Islam. You practice it proudly. You know they say you wear it proudly, you practice it proudly in every way. You love your deen. You don't relinquish it. Wa laa yakhafoon laumata laam, and you don't fear the blame of the blamer. SubhanAllah, these descriptions, I want you to think about the companions that came forth
and embraced this religion, and how their entire world views were shaped, and their entire interactions with everyone around them were shaped. Who did Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala replace Abu Jahl with? Sheikh Yusuf was talking about it so beautifully earlier. Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And one of the narrations where the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was making dua for Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to guide one of the two, Umar ibn al-Khattab or Abu Jahl, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Allahuma izzal Islam bi ahabbi haathayna rajulayni ilayk. Oh Allah, give victory to Islam, to the more beloved of these two men to you. The one you love more out of these two, let them be a source of victory for Islam. Now in the moment, neither one of them look like those that were beloved to Allah or who loved Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. They're both trying to kill the messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, the most beloved person to Allah. But there is something in the heart that needed to be activated. There was some goodness to be salvaged. And the one who was more deserving of it indeed was guided. And suddenly Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, who would beat up a companion of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam for the sake of his tribe, would stand in battle on behalf of those weak and meager people that were looked down upon in society, would stand in battle on their behalf and fight his own tribesmen for them, and then humble himself and get on his knees and take knowledge from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, who was half his size and didn't have the stature or the lineage of the tribe before him, and would refer to Bilal radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, our master who's been freed by our master, come forward. Suddenly Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu anhu becomes what? A dhillatin ala al-mu'minin.
Truly a dhillatin ala al-mu'minin. So humble with the believers. But don't cross him if you're on the other side on the battlefield. Abu Jahl can walk up to Umar and say, you and I, there is no you and I. That doesn't exist anymore. We're a people of principle. And the entire time, wala yakhafuna lauma tala'am, look at Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu entering into Jerusalem. This is the generation of the Quran. Not afraid of the blame of others, not afraid of what they will say. Nahnu qawmun a'azzana Allahu bil-Islam. We are a people who are given their honor through Islam. Wa inabtaghayna al-izzata lighayrihi, adhallana Allah. And when we seek it through anything else, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala humiliates us. Look at Salman al-Farisi radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. A dhillatin ala al-mu'minin, a'izzatin ala al-kaafireen, yujahiduna fee sabili Allah. They strive in the path of Allah. Wala yakhafuna lauma tala'am. Salman radiAllahu anhu did not fear the blame of his father. He didn't fear the blame of the Persians. He didn't fear the blame of the Syrian Christians when he went there. He didn't fear the blame of the Arabs in Al-Hijaz. He didn't fear the blame of anybody. Because Allah chose him. He loved Allah and Allah loved him. You see this love that you have of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has to reshape everything. And because I want to end with something practical for us to take because introspection, at-tadabbar wa-tafakkur wa-l-i'tibar, actually thinking and reflecting a bit, you'll derive answers for yourself that no one else can derive for you in a speech or a halaqa. We just finished the lecture on Abu Darda radiAllahu ta'ala anhu this past Tuesday. Such a thoughtful man, a zahid, the ascetic of the Ansar, the scholar of the Ansar. And he asked his wife, what was his ibadah? She said his ibadah was tafakkur. He would sit and he would think and contemplate for an hour. Take time and think and contemplate.
And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, ittaqoo allaha haythuma kunt. Fear Allah wherever you are. Be mindful of Allah wherever you are. Usually the word taqwa is used in the capacity of what? Do not violate, do not violate the boundaries of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala even when you are in a position to easily and readily do so. And you need taqwa as a foundation. And so you ask yourself when you're in business, when you're in a business transaction, well you don't need the fatwa half the time. Not that there isn't financial regulations, but you know when someone comes up to me and asks me a question about some financial thing, I can tell you already know it's haram before you ask the question. You sound guilty. You ask yourself, what does taqwa look like here? What does consciousness of Allah look like? When you come to your imam and you got a family issue and you want to talk about husband and wife and their rights versus your rights, the Prophet ﷺ said, ittaqwallaha feehin. Be mindful of Allah with the people in your household. What does taqwa look like? What does not taking advantage of the situation look like in this family dynamic? Before I go to the shaykh and start to divide halal and haram and who owes who what and who treats who what, what's taqwa look like? I fear Allah in how I deal with the people in my household. I fear Allah with how I deal with the people that are at my mercy. I fear Allah with how I deal with people in my business dealings. I fear Allah with how I deal with people with my tongue. What does it look like to not transgress that? Because tarakna nisf al halal, we left off half of halal out of fear of the haram. We don't want to go anywhere near that. Then that next daraja, that next level is when you actually examine in every single situation in your life and say what does it look like to love Allah right now? I want you to actually pause.
You know subhanAllah there are times we don't know how to pause. That's actually one of the problems. Hasty. Al ajala. Hasty speech. Hasty action. You know the beautiful quality that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said that we're so loved by al ashajib nuqais, hilm wal ana, forbearance and pause being calculated. When you pause in a situation, say what does it mean to love Allah right now? What does it mean to love Allah when I'm in this compromising situation? What does it mean to love Allah when I'm not in this compromising situation? What does it mean to love Allah when people are around? What does it mean to love Allah when it's just me in the privacy of my home and it's night time and it's 4 am and I see the clock and I say what does it mean to love Allah right now? What does it mean to love Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala when you see one of your family members or one of your friends going through something and you could easily turn away? What does it mean to love Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala when your desires are becoming overpowering? You say I love Allah more than I love myself and I love to please Allah more than I love to please myself. What does it mean to love Allah when there are people around you who don't love Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala? When you're able to pause and say what does it mean to fear Allah right now so I don't violate anyone's rights and then say what does it mean to love Allah right now? Because that has to reshape every single worldview and every single worldly interaction. What was the secret ingredient of the Sahaba in all of these different situations? Sirata allatheena an'amta alayhim, allatheena an'amallahu alayhim, they're the generation, those that Allah is pleased with. What was their secret? That they always loved Allah more than anyone else loved anything or anyone else. Because laysa kamithlihi shayt wa laysa kabhihi shayt. There's nothing like Allah's love.
And so they were able to outlast their enemies in battle because they outloved. They loved Allah more. They were able to outwork those that planned against them despite their smaller numbers because they outloved. You think those people that love their da'wah love their da'wah more than we love our da'wah? You think they hate Islam more than we love Islam? You think they hate our Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam more than we love our Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam? Can't be the case. And so I leave you with that verse. wa min an-naasi may yataqidu min doonillahi andada yuhibboonahum kihubbillah wallatheena amanu ashaddu hubban lillah From those who have taken partners besides Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, they love those things. They love those people the way that they should love Allah. But you know what? Those who believe love Allah so much more than they love whatever it is that they love. Dear brothers and sisters, my request for you with everything that you've learned today is to sit with it for a bit. I want you to sit with yourself insha'Allah ta'ala at some point tonight, maybe sit with each other as a family and say, what do we take from all of this? What's one thing that I'm going to change about my life? What does it mean to love Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in these situations? May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us amongst those that are beloved to Him. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us amongst those who love to be loved by Him more than anything else. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala forgive us for any of our shortcomings and protect us from disqualifying ourselves from His love. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make beloved to us every action that brings us closer to His love. And may Allah put in our hearts the love of those that are beloved to Him, and at the top of them Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, His most beloved.
And may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us to resemble the beloved one Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in our lives, in every single facet of our lives, until we are joyans in love with the one that we love most for His sake, our beloved one Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, Allahumma Ameen. JazakumAllahu Khayran to all of you for coming here today and spending the day with us. I pray that you found benefit in it. I hope that I get to meet all of you InshaAllah Ta'ala. I know we're going to try to arrange logistically for something to happen right now InshaAllah. But I want to ask you to first and foremost thank the volunteers on your way out. If one of them, you know, got a little rough or was taken aback or was getting paranoid or panicking because they're trying to organize, it's not easy to organize this crowd and organize these events. So please on your way out just say JazakumAllahu Khayran and forgive them if they made you feel a certain way. And may Allah reward you all. Should we do this again next year? I'm serious. Alright InshaAllah Ta'ala we'll try to do it again next year InshaAllah. JazakumAllahu Khayran. Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
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