To Love Allah is to Know Allah

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

Assalaamu alaykum

Our noble guest, Ramadhan, is coming our way very soon. The sacred month of Rajab is about to leave us and soon it will be Sha'ban and then Ramadhan.

We ask Allah to make us able to witness its arrival and grant us good health and strength to do more worship and opportunity to be draw closer to Him.

While we anxiously waiting for our noble guest, we should prepare ourselves so we can make the most out of it.

First, we should remind ourselves that we are His slaves. Allah Almighty says,

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ ﴿٥٦

And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. (56) [Qur'an, Adh-Dhariyat 51:56]

In worshiping Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala (glorified and exalted be He), we must have total obedience to His commands, full love for Him and complete loyalty to Him. If we have one and not the other, then we need to work on our worship. It is natural that if you truly love someone, you always want to please that person and loyal to that person. This is how we should worship Allah.

We can only love what we know, and we can never know completely what we do not love. How can you love Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta'āla if you don’t know Him that well? We fall in love with people as we get to know them more and realize that they have a lot of beautiful qualities and characteristics. Of course Allah is above any analogy, but we need know Him more.

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace), said, "One among you who knows Allah best is the one who fears Him most, and I fear Him even more than him."

Accurately knowing Allah is the pillar whereupon Islam in its entirety hinges. Without such knowledge, any action in Islam does not have any real value whatsoever: it has neither essence nor value. The Question is: "How can we get to know Allah, and what is the venue for attaining such knowledge?"

The answer is crucially conditional: If we do not know the right course, we can never reach our destination.

Any erroneous approach to knowing Allah is a major contributor to distancing a large number of people from accurately getting to believe in Allah. The Qur’an narrates to us stories about those who disbelieved in Allah in every age and time, depicting for us how they insisted, in order to believe in Him, on hearing or seeing Him, relying on their senses.

Following are only a few examples: Allah Almighty has said,

وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ لَوْلَا يُكَلِّمُنَا ٱللَّهُ أَوْ تَأْتِينَآ ءَايَةٌ ۗ كَذَ‌ٰلِكَ قَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّثْلَ قَوْلِهِمْ ۘ تَشَـٰبَهَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ ۗ قَدْ بَيَّنَّا ٱلْءَايَـٰتِ لِقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ ﴿١١٨

Those who do not know say, "Why does Allah not speak to us or there come to us a sign?" Thus spoke those before them like their words. Their hearts resemble each other. We have shown clearly the signs to a people who are certain [in faith]. (118)

[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:118]

وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَرْ‌جُونَ لِقَآءَنَا لَوْلَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَيْنَا ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ أَوْ نَرَ‌ىٰ رَ‌بَّنَا ۗ لَقَدِ ٱسْتَكْبَرُ‌وا۟ فِىٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَعَتَوْ عُتُوًّا كَبِيرً‌ۭا ﴿٢١﴾ يَوْمَ يَرَ‌وْنَ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةَ لَا بُشْرَ‌ىٰ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُجْرِ‌مِينَ وَيَقُولُونَ حِجْرً‌ۭا مَّحْجُورً‌ۭا ﴿٢٢

And those who do not expect the meeting with Us say, "Why were not angels sent down to us, or [why] do we [not] see our Lord?" They have certainly become arrogant within themselves and [become] insolent with great insolence. (21) The day they see the angels - no good tidings will there be that day for the criminals, and [the angels] will say, "Prevented and inaccessible." (22)

[Qur'an, Al-Furqan 25:21-22]

وَقَالَ فِرْ‌عَوْنُ يَـٰهَـٰمَـٰنُ ٱبْنِ لِى صَرْ‌حًا لَّعَلِّىٓ أَبْلُغُ ٱلْأَسْبَـٰبَ ﴿٣٦﴾ أَسْبَـٰبَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَ‌ٰتِ فَأَطَّلِعَ إِلَىٰٓ إِلَـٰهِ مُوسَىٰ وَإِنِّى لَأَظُنُّهُۥ كَـٰذِبًا ۚ وَكَذَ‌ٰلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِفِرْ‌عَوْنَ سُوٓءُ عَمَلِهِۦ وَصُدَّ عَنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ ۚ وَمَا كَيْدُ فِرْ‌عَوْنَ إِلَّا فِى تَبَابٍ ﴿٣٧

And Pharaoh said, "O Haman, construct for me a tower that I might reach the ways - (36) The ways into the heavens - so that I may look at the deity of Moses; but indeed, I think he is a liar." And thus was made attractive to Pharaoh the evil of his deed, and he was turned away from the [right] course. And the plan of Pharaoh was not except in ruin. (37)

[Qur'an Ghaafir 40:36-37]

"...the (right) course" refers to the course that ends with acquiring a sound and accurate knowledge of the Almighty. Such a goal should be our first and foremost concern. Without properly knowing Allah, how can we properly worship Him?

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said in a hadith qudsi, "For everything there is a path, and the path to Paradise is knowledge."

Therefore, it behooves us Muslims to seek knowledge and know our Creator well. Begin with learning the 99 Names and Attributes of Allah.

May Allah grant us His Light and help us please Him and make Him our only love.

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ لَنَا في رَجَبٍ وَ شَعْبَانَ وَ بَلِّغْنا رَمَضَانَ

“O Allah bless us in Rajab and Sha`ban and enable us to reach Ramadhan.”

Ameen.

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

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

Wassalaam