Friday, March 18, 2022

Let's Read Surah Kahf Today (Friday) -- Gaining The Love of Allah

Bismillah
 
One of the sunnahs of Friday is to read Surah Al Kahf. Following this sunnah will gain the love of Allah in shaa Allah. Let's read Surah Kahf today and every Friday, and work towards understanding of the meaning. There are many lessons we can derive from the Surah that will guide us in our everyday lives.
 
Every true believers wish and hope to gain the love of Allah. There are many hadiths that tell us how to earn the love of Allah.
 
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى يُحْبِبْكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ‎﴿٣١﴾‏
 
Say, [O Muhammad], "If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." [Quran, AleImran 3:31]
 
We all love Allah but love is meaningful when it is mutual. So follow the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wasallam by believing in Him and by following as many sunnah as you can. 
 
In a hadith Qudsi, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Verily Allah ta’ala has said: ‘Whosoever shows enmity to a wali (friend) of Mine, then I have declared war against him. And My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more loved to Me than the religious duties I have obligated upon him. And My servant continues to draw near to me with nafil (supererogatory) deeds until I love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with which he sees, and 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 seek refuge with Me, I would surely grant him refuge.’ ” [Al-Bukhari]
 
Perform the recommended and optional prayers (like the rawatibs -- prayers before and after obligatory prayers, witr, dhuha, etc), optional fasts (mondays, thurdays, white days, etc), charity. The more we do that regularly and consistently, the more the possibility of gaining Allah's love.
 
There are also three things relating to character that are mentioned in a hadith on how we can gain the love of Allah and His Messenger sallallahu alayhi wasallam
 
1) Being truthful -- Tell the truth even it is against youself or your loved ones. Lying is a major sin. Some people lie so much that they started to believe in the lies. Truthful in everything we do and every aspect of our lives -- truthful in business (buying and selling), in our dealings with our prents, children, spouse, Muslims or non-Muslims, etc. 
 
"...Truthfulness leads to righteousness (birr) and righteousness (birr) leads to Paradise. It will be said of the truthful person: 'He spoke the truth and was righteous', and it will be said of the liar, 'He told lies and was immoral.' "For a person continues to tell lies until he is recorded with Allah as a liar." [Ibn Majah]
 
2) Being trustworthy -- fulfill our trusts not just in material things but also with secrets and confidential matters. Someone confided in you, the matter is now a secret and it is your amanah. If someone told you not to tell anyone, it means noone including your spouse. This is an amanah.
 
3) Be good towards your neighbor -- many of us don't know our neighbors even their names. There is no relationship whatsoever. We need to change that. Greet your neighbors with a lovely smile when you see them outside. Show your generosity to your neighbors even if they are not Muslims. Be a good Muslim to your neighbors. 
 
Narrated Abu Shuraih:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe!" It was said, "Who is that, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)?" He said, "That person whose neighbor does not feel safe from his evil." [Bukhari]
 
If we constantly practice truthfulness, fulfill our amanah and good towards our neighbors, avoid sins and we do our obligatory worship, we will gain the love of Allah. 
 
What does it mean when Allah loves you? When Allah loves you, He will announce His love to Jibril alayhissalaam. Then Jibril loves you and he announces it to the angels and the angels love you. Then the people love you. SubhanaAllah!
 
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
 
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "When Allah loves a slave, calls out Jibril and says: 'I love so-and-so; so love him'. Then Jibril loves him. After that he (Jibril) announces to the inhabitants of heavens that Allah loves so- and-so; so love him; and the inhabitants of the heavens (the angels) also love him and then make people on earth love him".
[Al- Bukhari and Muslim].
Another narration of Muslim is: Messenger of Allah, (ﷺ) said: "When Allah loves a slave, He calls Jibril (Gabriel) and says: 'I love so-and-so; so love him.' And then Jibril loves him. Then he (Jibril) announces in the heavens saying: Allah loves so-and-so; so love him; then the inhabitants of the heavens (the angels) also love him; and then people on earth love him. And when Allah hates a slave, He calls Jibril and says: 'I hate so- and-so, so hate him.' Then Jibril also hates him. He (Jibril) then announces amongst the inhabitants of heavens: 'Verily, Allah hates so- and-so, so you also hate him.' Thus they also start to hate him. Then he becomes the object of hatred on the earth also".
[Muslim].
 
May Allah grant His love and the love of those who love Him, and the deeds that He love, and make our last deeds the best of deeds and our last words la ilaha illallah. Aameen.
 
Allahumma salli ala Muhammad wa ala aalihi wasahbihi wasallam

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