Do You Want Allah to Love You?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

You want people to love you, you want so-and-so to love you, but do you want Allah to love you?

The love of Allah is "the status for which the righteous compete and strive... It is the nourishment of hearts and souls… the delight of the eyes... It is the life of which one who is denied it is dead... the light which the one who loses it is in deep darkness... the healing of which the one who is denied is sick... the joy which the one who is deprived of it lives in distress and pain... It is the spirit of faith and good deeds... by means of which one may draw closer to Allah... which, when it is absent, one is like a body in which there is no soul."

The love of Allah has signs and causes which are like the key to the door. These causes include the following:

[1] Following the guidance of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam

Allah Almighty says,

قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّـهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى يُحْبِبْكُمُ ٱللَّـهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّـهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿٣١﴾ قُلْ أَطِيعُوا۟ ٱللَّـهَ وَٱلرَّسُولَ ۖ فَإِن تَوَلَّوْا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ ﴿٣٢

Say (O Muhammad 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.

[Qur'an AleImran 3:31]

Allah gives Dunya (the material world) to whom He loves and whom he doesn't love, but He doesn't give this Deen (religion) except for whom He loves.

If Allah Almighty facilitates the practice of religion for you then it is a sign that Allah loves you -- if prayers, fasting, paying zakat, performing hajj, being good to your parents, eating halal (lawful), covering your nakedness (putting on hijab) are easy for you; reciting Qur'an, memorizing Qur'an, learning and teaching sacred knowledge, waking up for tahajjud (night vigil prayer), giving charity, being good to your guests and neighbors, doing good deeds are easy for you,... these are signs that Allah loves you.

If sinning is made difficult for you, it is sign that Allah loves you. However, if you sin after Allah have covered your sins once, twice and even thrice, you may have fallen from the eyes of Allah, where He doesn't care about you and you should repent now to avoid His wrath. Allah is Al-Afuww (the Pardoner) and He is Al-Gafur Ar-Rahim (Most Forgiving, Most Merciful).

[2] Being humble towards the believers and stern against the disbelievers, waging jihad for the sake of Allah, and not fearing anyone or anything but Him.

Allah has mentioned these qualities in a single verse, in which He says,

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَن يَرْتَدَّ مِنكُمْ عَن دِينِهِۦ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِى ٱللَّـهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُۥٓ أَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ يُجَـٰهِدُونَ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّـهِ وَلَا يَخَافُونَ لَوْمَةَ لَآئِمٍ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ فَضْلُ ٱللَّـهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَٱللَّـهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ ﴿٥٤

O you who believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion (Islam), Allah will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers, fighting in the Way of Allah, and never fear of the blame of the blamers. That is the Grace of Allah which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allâh is All-Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All-Knower. (54)

[Qur'an al-Ma'ida 5:54]

In this verse Allah describes the attributes of those whom He loves, the first of which is: humility and not being arrogant towards the Muslims, and being stern towards the disbelievers, and not humbling or humiliating oneself before them. They (the ones whom Allah loves) strive for the sake of Allah, against the Shaytan, the disbelievers, the hypocrites and the evil-doers, and they strive against their own selves (jihad al-nafs). They do not fear the blame of any blamer, because so long as they are following the commands of their religion, he will not care about anyone who mocks him or blames him.

[3] Doing naafil (supererogatory) acts of worship.

Allah says – according to a hadith qudsi – "My slave keeps drawing near to me by means of supererogatory acts of worship until I love Him." Supererogatory acts of worship include naafil prayers, charity, 'Umrah, fast, recite Qur'an, seek sacred knowledge, etc.

[4] Loving one another, visiting one another, helping one another (financially and emotionally) and offering sincere advice (nasiha) to one another for the sake of Allah.

These attributes were mentioned in a single hadith in which the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wasallam, narrated that his Lord said: "My love is guaranteed for two who love one another for My sake; My love is guaranteed for two who visit one another for My sake; My love is guaranteed for two who help one another (financially) for My sake; My love is guaranteed to two who uphold ties with one another for My sake."

[Narrated by Ahmad]

What is meant by "two who visit one another for My sake" is that they only visit one another for the sake of Allah, seeking thereby His pleasure for their loving one another for His sake or cooperating in worshiping Him.

[From al-Muntaqa Sharh al-Muwatta', hadith 1779]

[5] Being tested.

Calamities and disasters are a test for a person, and this is a sign that Allah loves him, because this is like medicine: even though it is bitter, but still you offer the medicine, despite its bitterness, to the one whom you love; and Allah's is the highest description.

According to a sahih hadeeth: "The greatest reward comes from the greatest trial. When Allah loves people, He tests them, and whoever accepts it gains the pleasure of Allah and whoever complains earns His wrath."

[Narrated by at-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah]

For calamities to befall the believer is better than punishments being stored up for him in the Hereafter. How can it be otherwise when he is raised in status and his bad deeds are erased thereby? The Prophet sallahu alayhi wasallam said: "When Allah wills good for His slave, He hastens his punishment in this world, and when He wills bad for His slave, He withholds his sins until he comes with them on the Day of Resurrection." [Narrated by at-Tirmidhi]

The scholars have explained that the one from whom calamities and trials are withheld is the hypocrite, for Allah withholds [his punishment] in this world, so as to bring him with all his sins on the Day of Resurrection.

If Allah loves you, do not ask about the good that you will attain and the virtue that you will acquire… it is sufficient for you to know that you are beloved of Allah. The great fruits of the love of Allah for His slave are as follows:

People will love him and he will be accepted on earth, as it says in the hadith narrated by al-Bukhari: "When Allah loves a slave, He says to Jibreel, 'I love so-and-so, so love him,' so Jibreel loves him and then calls out to the people of heaven, 'Allah loves so-and-so, so love him,' and the people of heaven love him, and then acceptance is placed in the Earth for him."

What Allah has mentioned in the Hadith Qudsi of the great virtues of those whom He loves. It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah radhiAllahu anhu who said: The Messenger of Allah sallahu alayhi wasallam said: "Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him."

[Narrated by al-Bukhaari]

This Hadith Qudsi includes a number of benefits of Allah's love for His slave:

"I am his hearing with which he hears" i.e., he does not listen to anything but that which Allah loves.
"his seeing with which he sees" i.e., he does not see anything but that which Allah loves.
"his hand with which he strikes" i.e., he does not do anything with his hand but that which Allah loves.
"and his foot with which he walks" i.e., he does not go towards anything but that which Allah loves.
"Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him" i.e., his du'as are heard and his requests are granted.
"and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it" i.e., he is protected by Allah from all things.

So ask Allah for His love by day and by night and strive for the remaining term of your life to implement the guidance of His beloved Messenger sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Surely, to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.

كُلُّ نَفْسٍۢ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلْمَوْتِ ۖ ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ

Every soul shall have a taste of death. In the end to Us shall you be brought back.

[Qur'an, Ankabut 29:57]

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ حُبَّكَ وَحُبَّ مَنْ يُحِبُّكَ وَحُبَّ عَمَلٍ يُقَرِّبُنِي إِلَى حُبِّكَ

Allahumma Inni As’aluka Ḥubbaka Wa Ḥubba Man Yuḥibbuka Wa Ḥubba ‘Amalin Yuqarribuni Ila Ḥubbika

"O Allah, I ask You for Your Love, and the love of whoever loves You, and the love of deeds that bring me closer to Your Love." [at-Tirmidhi and Ahmad]

Ameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all.

Wassalaam