the love of Allah

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE LOVE OF ALLAAH
Shaykh Adnaan Abdul-Qaadir
Transcribed from the tape of the khutbah
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



All praise is due to Allaah, and we seek refuge with Him in the evil which
lies within our ownselves. Whoever Allaah guides, there is none can lead him
astray and whom He leads astray, there is none can guide him and I bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and I bear witness
that Muhammad (SAAS) is His prophet and messenger.

After this, know dear brothers, that Allaah (SWT) has said in His Qur'aan,
"And We have not created the Jinn and Mankind except to worship Me."

What is the meaning of worship?

Is the meaning of worship to establish prayer only or to give Zakah or to
make Hajj to the house of Allaah or to make Wudoo, to fast?

Are these things only worship?

Or are these things mere signs of worship?

The truth is that worship, as it was explained by the Shaykh of Islaam, Ibn
Taymiyah, worship is an expression of LOVE for Allaah (SWT) and it also
expresses complete humility to Allaah (SWT). For worship does not only mean
prayer but prayer is merely a sign of worship but worship is indeed love for
Allaah (SWT).

Many people claim that they love Allaah (SWT) and they say: 'I prayed and I
fasted and I made the Hajj and I gave Zakah. After all of this, what does
Allaah want from me because I have done all these forms of worship? I have
worshipped Allaah.'

Has this person really worshipped Allaah?

Does Allaah need our prayer?
Does Allaah need our fast?
Does he need our Zakah and our Hajj.

Allaah is High above all these things!

Allaah (SWT) said in a hadeeth Qudsi,

"O my servants! I have made unlawful oppression upon myself and I have made
it unlawful between you. So do not oppress each other.

O my servants! All of you are astray except the ones whom I have guided, so
seek my guidance and I will guide you.

O my servants! All of you are naked except those of you whom I have clothed,
so seek clothing from me and I will clothe you.

O my servants! All of you are hungry except those of you whom I have fed,
seek food from me and I will feed you.

O my servants! You make errors in the night and in the day and I forgive all
sins. Seek forgiveness from me and I will forgive you.

O my servants! You will never be able to harm Me and you will never be able
to benefit Me.

O my servants! If the first of you and the last of you and the jinn from
among you and the men from among you, were to stand as one man from among
you, that would never take away from My Majesty one bit.

If you were to fear Allaah as the best among you, that would not increase in
My Majesty any.

O my servants! If the first of you and the last of you and the jinn among you
and the men among you, were to perform the worst forms of crimes, that will
not decrease from My Majesty any.

O my servants! If the first of you and the last of you, the jinn of you and
the men of you, were to stand on one side and ask Me, I will give each one of
you what you ask and still this will not decrease from My Majesty.

This will not decrease from My Majesty as if you dip a needle into the
water."

Can anyone take away from the Majesty of Allaah? No-one can decrease from the
Majesty of Allaah. He is Great and Supreme. Allaah does not need our worship,
he does not need our love, he does not need our Salat, he does not need our
fast. Allaah is the Owner of all majesty and supremecy and He is independent
and above all needs.

He does not need our worship.

We NEED the worship of Allaah -

We need Salaah.

We need Zakaah

And we need to fast.

We need to perform good deeds to the creation.

We are poor and Allaah is rich.

We are weak and Allaah is strong.

We are the degraded, the low and Allaah (SWT) is the High.

So we NEED the love of Allaah.

O brothers! We relate to Allaah as we relate to this world.

Who from among us, when someone comes to him, says to his brother: 'I love
you and I am this and that in obedience to you,' and then you say to him, if
he said these words to you: 'Have you said these words from your heart?' Did
he really understand what he said to you or are you merely speaking words
that you have memorised.

O brothers, are we truly relating to Allaah in our prayers in this manner?
How many of us recite Faatihah, the opening prayer of the Qur'aan, in the
right manner? How many of us, when we prostrate to Allaah, we feel in our
hearts, humility? We enter Salah, when the Imaam says 'Allaahu Akbar', God is
the Greatest and we remember, at that moment, all the affairs of the world.
We remember, at this moment, all the affairs of the world. We rememeber, we
remember, only at this moment, the affairs of the world and we forget Allaah
(SWT). We remember our food when we go to prayer and we remember our friends
when we go to Salah and we remember our needs when we go to prayer and we
don't know what the Imaam is saying, what he is reading and we don't feel
anything from the prayer except for when the Imaam says 'Salam wa Alaykum,
Salam wa Alaykum'.

Are we REALLY loving Allaah(SWT)?

When we are reading Faatihah, do we really understand the meaning or what we
say or are we merely repeating words that we have memorised? We will never be
pleased if people relate to us in this way, so how can we be happy if we
relate to Allaah in this manner? Our heart has become hard and they have
become like stones! Even harder than stones!

What is the way to the love of Allaah? What is the way which would lead us
and help us to arrive at this station of love of Allaah?

Everyone of us, at this moment, should ask ourselves - When did you love this
person? What were the reasons that lead you to love that brother or that
women? There are three things that lead to love. The first is beauty, the
second is dignity of character and the third is the kindness and graciousness
of that person towards you. Maybe that person is not beautiful and he has no
good character but he provides for you all your needs and maybe that is the
reason that your heart feels out for him.

If we take the first reason, O dear brothers, we know that the hearts are
naturally attached, naturally inclined to beauty. No-one can say that beauty
does not affect the heart. Therefore if someone intends, or needs to travel
to some place, he asks about the natural beauty of that place and if he wants
to marry, he asks if the woman is beautiful. Once a young man came to me and
he asked me to help him find a wife through my wife and I asked him: What are
the things you are looking for? What are your conditions? He said to me: She
must be beautiful, long hair, very tender, beautiful eyes and the colour of
her must be qurnubee. I said: What is the meaning of this qurnubee? The
Shaykh did not know what was meant by qurnubee. He began to describe beauty
to me and the last word he said to me: '...and she must be religious, so that
I will not despise her because the Prophet (SAAS) said choose the one that is
pious.' He did not describe Deen but he described to me beauty. He only
mentioned Deen, so that I would be pleased with him and carry out his wishes.
So really, the hearts of men are very much attached to beauty.

(Also), When we read the story of Yusuf (AS), the Prophet Muhammad (SAAS)
informed us that Yusuf and his mother were given half of all the beauty in
the world. When we read what happened between Yusuf and the wife of the 'Aziz
in Egypt and the woman of the 'Aziz was the highest in social status for
Egypt, because she was the wife of the minister of finance and she was very
beautiful and Yusuf was a slave to her, not only a servant but a property. So
one day, her heart reached out to Yusuf. She closed the door to him and said:
Come to me. And Yusuf refused and this word spread among the women and among
the women, the wives of the ministers. They said that the wife of the 'Aziz,
the minister of finance, tried to lure her servant into lewdness. The love of
Yusuf had dominated her heart and she became possessed by this love and it
overwhelmed her heart. They said: 'Indeed the wife of the 'Aziz has gone
astray. Is she not ashamed of herself? She is trying to intice her servant!
This mean and low person is trying to capture (her slave), surely she is a
women who has gone astray.' The word, sooner or later, go to the 'Aziz and
when she heard of their sayings, she invited them to her house and she
prepared for them a dinner and after this, she presented them with fruits and
gave each one of them a knife and she said, 'Please eat,' and then each one
of them took a fruit and a knife and then they began to peel the fruit. The
wife of the 'Aziz went to Yusuf and ordered him to have a bath and then she
ordered him to wear his finest clothes and this only increased in his beauty.
She, herself, prepared her hair in the best manner. She made Yusuf wear the
best forms of perfume and his beauty seemed perfect and absolute. So she said
to him, 'Now, go to these women.' They were peeling their fruits and when
they saw him, their image of him became very outstanding and then, without
even feeling or being conscious of it, they cut themselves. The knives began
to cut the nerves and the skin without them feeling it and it was said that
they cut their hands and they said, 'By Allaah! This is not a human being. He
is nothing but a gracious Angel!' She (the wife of the 'Aziz) said to these
women, 'This is what you have been blaming me for. Do you want to blame me
for what I have done now?' They said, 'No!' She said, 'This thing which you
have blamed me for. Surely, I tried to intice him and make him do something
bad against his own nature but he stood firm.' She confessed that she had
done something wrong. She was prepared to stand by her wrong-doing. At this
moment, she had not yet gone back on her wrong-doing and she was happy with
the words of the women. 'WIll you hold me wrong for what I have done?' One
women from the crowd called Yusuf, as if she wanted to ask him something. She
said to him secretly, 'What is your opinion of a meeting tonight?' He said,
'I seek refuge with Allaah,' and another women invited him as if she wanted
to make a similar request and when he came, she said, 'What about a meeting
tonight?' And all of them invited (him) to have sex with them and he said, 'O
my Lord! Prison is better to me rather than to do what they invite me to and
if you do not divert me away from what they have tried to make me do, I will
fall victim and I will be among the ignorant,' and Allaah answered his prayer
and Allaah diverted him away from the bad calling. Allaah is indeed the
All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.

Who from among us, reads the story of Yusuf, he wishes in his heart that he
see Yusuf in his sleep? To see and witness his beauty. By Allaah! If the
beauty of Yusuf were gathered and the beauty of his mother and the beauty of
his nature and the beauty of all men and all women and all this beauty was
put in the person of one man, by Allaah, this beauty would not be in any way
equivalant to the beauty of Allaah. The Prophet (SAAS) said in a hadeeth by
Imaam Muslim, 'Indeed Allaah is beautiful and He loves beauty.' Because
Allaah's nature is beauty. Every aspect of Allaah is beauty.

The Prophet (SAAS) was asked, 'Have you ever seen your Lord?' He (SAAS) said,
'Noor (Light)! This is what I have seen. How can I see all that beauty?' The
face of Allaah (SWT) is all beauty and all light, therefore Allaah (SWT) says
about this world, 'Everything in it will vanish and face of Allaah will
remain.' His Majesty and His Glory, His Dignity and His Beauty is all that He
embodies. Allaah (SWT) has described himself that is face is all light.
Therefore he says about the light of His Face, 'Allaah is the light of the
heavens and the earth.' So, the light of the heaven and the earth is part of
the creation of Allaah. When the world is overwhelmed with darkness, this
sun, which Allaah has created, and it will overwhelm the darkness and present
light to the earth and give it light and this is the light of the creation,
so how can you imagine the light of the Creator! Therefore the Prophet (SAAS)
said, 'Allaah (SWT) opens His Hands in the night, to give forgiveness to
those who disobeyed Him during the day and He opens His Hands in the day, to
give forgiveness to those who disobeyed Him in the night and His veil is
Light and if He removes it, His Light will burn whoever of His creation turn
to Him.' All of Him is light.

Therefore Musa (AS), when Allaah spoke to Him, his heart reached out to
Allaah and there was an exchange of words between him and Allaah. When Allaah
spoke to Moses, his heart was attached to Allaah and Musa thought that there
was no harm in trying to see Allaah. He said, 'O my Lord, let me see You.'
Allaah, 'You will never see Me, but if you so wish, look at the mountain and
if it stands in its place (when Allaah unveiled Himself to the mountain),
then you will see Me.' So Allaah (SWT) said, 'And when Allaah revealed
Himself to the mountain,' and as bin Malik said the light of Allaah was only
a small bit and when Allaah revealed Himself to the moutain, it smashed the
mountain, Musa fell down in a state of unconsciousness. The mountain could
not carry the beauty of Allaah (SWT). It could not stand in front of the
Majesty of Allaah and it became levelled with the earth and Musa fell down in
a state of unconsciousness. When he was revived, he said, 'Glory be to You O
Allaah! I repent and I am the first of the believers.'

So, my dear brothers, Allaah, all of Him is light and all of Him is beauty.
Allaah (SWT) says about himself: On that Day, the Day of Judgement, how great
is the Glory and Majesty of Allaah and the whole of the earth, on the Day of
Judgement will be in His grip and the heavens will be in His Palms. Glory be
to Him over what they ascribe to Him!

It will be blown in the trumpets and all of the people in the heavens and the
earth will faint away except whom Allaah wills and then there will be a
second blowing and they will stand up looking, all the people will stand
again and look and the people will ask that Allaah should come to seperate
between the people and Allaah says about Himself, '...and Allaah will come
with the angels in ranks...' and the angels will come carrying the Throne of
Allaah. Allaah says, '...and they carry the Throne of Allaah above them.'
Eight angels carrying the Throne of Allaah and when the procession comes
before those who carry the Throne of Allaah. Rows, ranks of angels will
proceed before Allaah comes. Allaah (SWT) informs of His coming and the earth
will become enlightened with the light of Allaah and that is because of the
beauty of Allaah and the completeness of His light and Allaah gives the best
of examples.

When some of the most beloved people come to you, you say, 'Oh you have
bought light because of your beauty.' So how could it be with Allaah (SWT)?
So the dark earth which encompasses all the worlds on the Day of Judgement
will become enlightened with Allaah. It was this reason that the hearts of
the companions were attached to Allaah (SWT) and so to our Prophet (SAAS) was
deeply attached to Allaah and His Prophet (SAAS) said, 'I ask you for the
good taste of seeing Your beauty and I ask You, so that I may long to meet
You.' So too the heart of Abu Bakr (RA) was attached to Allaah (SWT) and
Allaah (SWT) spoke about Abu Bakr in Surah al-Lail, when Allaah said about
the Fire, 'The pious will never enter the Fire.' Ibn Abbaas said the most
pious and God-fearing man after the Prophets and Messengers was Abu Bakr.
This is because he used to purchase slaves, the weak, the oppressed and he
would free them for the sake of Allaah and his father would say to him, 'O
son! Will you purchase people who have strength for themselves so they can
defend you but you are purchasing weak people. What will they do for you and
what will you do for them?' What did Abu Bakr say to his father, 'O my dear
father, I want what I want and I want the pleasure of seeing the Face of my
Lord, one look only at Allaah (SWT). It is equal to this world and what is in
it.' And Allaah (SWT) said, 'The pious will never enter the Fire, the one who
gives his wealth to purify his heart.' There is none who has any greater
worldly qualities than Abu Bakr except the Holy Prophet (SAAS) because he
bought guidance, therefore Prophet (SAAS) said the most beloved person among
people in terms of their person, is Abu Bakr and none can claim to better
than him but he, himself, can claim to better than them. Why? Because Abu
Bakr wanted to see the face of Allaah and Allaah said that He will indeed be
pleased with Abu Bakr and Abu Bakr will be pleased with Allaah. So the hearts
of the companions were attached to Allaah and their hearts were attached to
the beauty of Allaah. And Allaah (SWT) said about them, 'And they were giving
out of their wealth for the love of Allaah.' And they were giving their
wealth despite their love of that which they were giving and they gave their
wealth to the poor, the orphans and the prisoners of war. They said, 'We are
feeding you. Why? So we can see the Face of Allaah. We do not want your
reward or your thanks.'

Once, one companion came to the Prophet (SAAS) and his heart was shredded and
he said, 'O Prophet of Allaah! Our hearts have become really attached to
Allaah and His beauty. O Prophet of Allaah, will we see Allaah on the Day of
Judgement?' The Prophet (SAAS) said, 'If you all put yourself together and if
the sun comes out without any clouds, willl of you will see the sun (without
needing to move to see it)?' He said, 'No Messenger of Allaah, we do not need
to move to see it.' The Prophet (SAAS) said, 'Do you crowd each other in
order to see a full moon?' He said, 'No O Messenger of Allaah!' He (SAAS)
said, 'So you shall see Allaah like this on the Day of Judgement.'

What is the way to see Allaah? The Prophet (SAAS) said, 'Whoever from among
you is able to make Salatul Fajr and Asr, he should preserve these prayers.'
These are two reasons which will enable us to see the Face of Allaah.
Therefore the hearts of believers are always attached to Allaah (SWT) and
Allaah (SWT) has promised them and Allaah (SWT) has said that on the Day of
Judgement, all their faces will be lights and they will see the Face of their
Lord.

and their faces will increase with light when they see the Allaah! As Allaah
(SWT) has also said when he has spoken about the righteous; He says, 'Indeed
the Book of the righteous will be in a high stage ('illeyeen).' And what can
you perceive is this high station? Allaah says it is a written book and the
people who are close (the angels) will bear witness to this book and indeed
the righteous will be in contentment and delight. They will be sitting on
high chairs looking. What are they looking at? They will be looking at the
Face of Allaah! They will be sitting on high cushions looking at the Face of
Allaah and you will see in their faces, contentment and delight after they
have seen Allaah. You will contentment and pleasure. They will be given a
drink, the Sealed Nectar. At the end of this drink will be misk* and for
this, those who compete should compete and this drink will be mixed with
something from tasneem. Tasneem is a spring from which the close people will
drink.

Those crinimals used to laugh at the believers and the righteous. Used to
laugh at the people when they grew their beards. They laughed at him and made
fun of him because he had his thowb short. They laughed at him because he
turned his back on vain desires and women and they say that he wasted his
youth and they say he wasted his life and they say that he made his life
narrow because of this religion, so they laugh at him. Surely, those people
who committed crimes and outrages, they laugh at the believing, righteous
people and when they pass the righteous people, they touch each other and
they make fun of the righteous and when they go to their people, they laugh
at the religious and the righteous people and when they see the righteous
people, they say, 'Surely these people have gone astray. They have wasted
their lives, wasted their youths. Surely there are many womens and girls for
them to have and all these fair delights are easy to have.' Allaah (SWT) says
about the kuffar that He did not send the disbelievers to set any standard or
to preserve or protect the believers. O unbelieving people are you not
calling to freedom? So why don't you leave the Muslim people? Why are you
laughing at them. I did not send you to protect them.

Allaah says On this Day of Judgement, the believers will laugh at the
disbelievers. They will be sitting on their high chairs looking at the Face
of Allaah and Allaah says, after this, about the kuffar, did the unbelieving
people get their reward for what they were doing? This the rewards for anyone
who turns to Allaah and attaches his heart and allows his heart to reach
Allaah.

Allaah (SWT) says in Surah al-Insaan, 'And they will be surrounded by boys
who will never die and if you see them you will think they are scattered
pearls.' And if you see them in their high stations, you will see delight and
you will see Allaah in His High Majesty. This is the promised vision of the
believers of Allaah (SWT). This is the greatest that a believer will be given
on the Day of Judgement.

So Bukhari has related and so too Imaam Muslim on the authority of Abee Said
al-Qudree, that the Prophet (SAAS) said, 'If the people on Jannah, enter
Jannah and the people of Hell, enter the Hell, there will be a caller who
will give his call. 'O people of Jannah! You have an appointment with Allaah,
He wants to realise for you all your ambitions.' Then the Prophet (SAAS)
said, 'Then the curtain will be taken away and they will not be given
something more loved to them than the sight of Allaah (SWT).' Therefore the
greatest pleasure to the believers is the sight of Allaah (SWT) and the worst
punishment of the people of the fire is the denial to see Allaah. So Allaah
says about the unbelieving people, 'Surely the Book of the unbelieving people
will be locked.' And what is the prison were the unbelieving will be locked?
It will be a punishment to those who denied the Prophets, the coming of the
Day of Judgement and what did they deny with except with every mean form of
outrage and sin. 'If our signs and verses were recited to them, they say
'Stories, fables of the past peoples.' O indeed, we will cover their hearts
because of their wrong-doings. Indeed, they will be a barrier between them
and their Lord on that Day' They will be denied the right to see Allaah, the
King of all kings. They will be denied the right to see the most Mighty and
Allaah gives the most complete expressions.

If you want to reach out to the heart of the most beloved person to you or
the most beautiful person, you will say close the door upon him. Don't let
him enter him upon me. This is the way and this is the curse and he does not
have the rights, he does not deserve to see me and he will be belittled and
denied the right to see me and many peope will have this experience and they
will be exposed in front of the people. How will it be on the Day of
Judgement? When they will be thrown out in front of all the world. This is
one of the worst forms of punishment for the people of the Fire while the
believers will be given the delight and the pleasure of seeing Allaah (SWT).
This is the reason why the heart of the Prophet was so much attached to
Allaah. He used to say, 'O Bilal! Make us comfortable with prayer.' He never
said, make us comfortable from prayer. anThat is because in prayer, he spoke
to Allaah and he felt during this dialogue with Allaah, he felt love for
Allaah (SWT) d his heart moved and pulsated with the love of Allaah and
Allaah gives the most beautiful expressions.

If all the disasters will fall upon you, you go the most beloved person to
you and you speak to him and you sit with him and you open your heart to him
and when you do this, your sadness goes away. So the Prophet (SAAS) said, 'O
Bilal! Make us comfortable with prayer.' This is why the Prophet (SAAS) said,
'The delight of my eye is prayer.' Therefore, he stood up one night from
among the nights, and he was sleeping in the house of the Mother of the
Faithful, 'Aaisha and he wanted to pray and she said to him, 'O Prophet of
Allaah. I love your closeness to me.' The Prophet (SAAS) said, 'O 'Aaisha.
Leave me one minute to worship my Lord because my heart is attached to
Allaah.' Who from amongst us feels this way? The hearts of believers are this
way. A man, when the night comes, his heart begins to throb with love and his
heart begins to search for the most loved thing to him, so that he can sit
with that person and he would call that person and pour out his troubles to
that person as one person once said, 'When the darkness comes and the heart
begins to move with love and longing is the most burning thing in the heart,
and the believers wait for that night and instead of sitting with their love,
they wait for the moment when they can stand in prayer, so that they can make
the prayer of Tahajjud to Allaah because their hearts are attached to Allaah.'

One companion, one believer, was on his death bed. He began to cry and they
said to him: Why are you crying? You are about to die and Allaah has written
death to everyone and you are among the believers. He said: I am not crying
because my spirit is going, because I am going to leave but I will miss 3
things - Firstly, the night prayer. How will I be able to speak to Allaah and
I am in my grave and my heart has become so attached to Allaah. Second, the
fasting during hot days and the third, sitting close to the scholars who
reminded me about Allaah, about my beloved Prophet. Who would remind me of my
beloved Prophet when I am in my grave?

One of the Salaf, Sufyan at-Tawhree was on his death bed and he began to cry.
They said: Why are you crying? Allaah has written death to all people. He
said: I am not crying because of death but I am crying because Tawheed will
be taken away from me. And what he means by Tawheed, if the love of worship
for Allaah (SWT) only.

O brothers do we feel this way?

One of the Salaf, Kais said to his beloved wife, her name was Laila and the
star which guides people never came out and the morning except that it made
me remember her. But the believers say the star never comes out and the
morning never comes until we remember Allaah. They never say that the coming
of the star or the coming of the Fajr reminds them of their lovers but they
say that the coming of the stars and the coming of Fajr reminds them of
Allaah and Kais also said about Laila that he used to go to the desert alone
and he said that we would go out from among the house, so that I can speak to
my serve about you (Laila) and it is an empty night. But what does the
believer say? One of the students of Ibn Taymiyah said: We saw Shaykh
ul-Islaam leaving the houses going and he went into the desert so we followed
him without him knowing and we heard him saying, 'I have come out from among
the houses so that I can speak to myself about you O my Lord!' So it was how
their hearts were attached to Allaah.

So the love of Allaah (SWT) dominates the hearts of the believers. Do we
ourselves feel this kind of love? Maybe one of us, if we enter prayer to
speak to Allaah and to communicate with Him, he remembers his beloved or some
other of creation other than Allaah and when he sits with his beloved, he
does not remember Allaah and when he enters that thing which should be
dedicated to Allaah, he remembers his beloved and when he sits with his
beloved, he does not remember Allaah. Allaah speaks about the polytheists,
they ascribe to Allaah what they have created from plantations, animals, a
portion. They say these products are for Allaah and this portion is for our
idols and when the produce which they dedicated to the idols finishes, they
take from that which they give to Allaah and they give it to the idols and
when the produce they dedicate to Allaah decreases, they never take from
Allaah and give it to Allaah. When we do our prayer, we see this matter. When
we sit with the most beloved person to us, this sitting becomes purely for
that person who we love and when we enter prayer, then comes the ideas and
the memories of our beloved persons and so this prayer will never be purely
for the sake of Allaah. Would anyone be pleased that we are related to in
this manner? So Allaah (SWT) says that from among the people, there are those
who take false gods and they love those false gods as they love Allaah but
the people who believe, they are more strong in their love towards Allaah and
Allaah says in another ayah, 'And the gates of Jannah will be bought close to
the God-fearing people and the fire will be bought close to the bad people
and it will be said to them, 'What did you worship? Those who you worshipped
other than Allaah, can they help you now?'' They will thrown onto their faces
into the Fire and those whom they worshipped and the soldiers of the Satan,
all together and they will be there debating and fighting amongst themselves
in the Fire and they will say, 'O Allaah! Surely we were astray because we
worshipped others in the way that we should have worshipped Allaah.' The
associating of partners in Shirk is like the associating of partners in love
as Ibn Taymiyah said.

Therefore it should become clear to us know, the way to the love of Allaah. I
will not be much longer upon you. I will conclude now.

The second reason that leads to the love of Allaah after the beauty of
Allaah, to know the great qualities of Allaah because you may have heard of
some man and you have never seen him but his qualities are well known and you
love him, only because you have heard about his great qualities. If you look
at the qualities of Allaah, as this Arab once said he heard only one hadeeth
of the Prophet. The hadeeth in which the Prophet (SAAS) said, 'The last
person to come out of the Fire, his face will be turned to the Fire and he
will look for one moment and the heat of the Fire will burn him and also the
smell of the Fire and he will say, 'O my Lord, turn my face away from the
Fire,' and Allaah (SWT) will take from him a strong promise that he will not
ask other than this question (for anything else) and Allaah turned his face
away and then he stood for one moment and then he would say, 'O Allaah, turn
my face towards the Jannah,' and Allaah will say to him, 'O what a wretched
creature you are! Did you not promise you would not ask for anything else?'
He said, 'O Allaah! I swear, I promise I will not ask for anything else.'
Then Allaah turned his face towards the Jannah. He (the man) waited for a
moment and then he said, 'O my Lord! Make me come close to the Jannah,' and
Allaah will say, 'O what a wretched creature you are son of Adam! Did you not
promise you would not ask for anything else?' He said, 'I swear I will not
ask for anything else,' and Allaah made him come close to the Jannah and the
Jannah became high and near towards him and he saw in it the delights and
pleasures. He said, 'O Allaah, make me enter the Jannah.' Allaah says, 'O
what a wretched creature you are son of man! Did you not promise you would
not ask for anything else?' He said, 'I swear Allaah, I will not ask for
anything else.' Allaah then says to him, 'Make a wish.' And Allaah said to
him, 'Again, make a wish,' and the angels were near to the that person and
the angels will say, 'Wish for any of things of al-Jannah,' and the angels
will say, 'There are so many things in al-Jannah, what do you want?' And the
angels will tell him all about the delights of al-Jannah and his heart began
to long and yearn for the things of al-Jannah and then he made more demands
from Allaah until he had nothing more to ask for. Allaah will then say to
him, 'Ask for something again.' He said, 'I don't have anything else to ask
for.' Allaah says to him, 'All of this is for you and ten times this is for
you,' and Allaah laughed and this servant said, 'Are you laughing at me and
you are the Lord of the Worlds? You told me to make a wish and now you laugh
at me.' Allaah (SWT) says, 'I am not laughing at you but I am able to do
whatever I want for you.' So Allaah gave him.' This Arab man from the desert
heard that Allaah laughed, he said that the great Master of the heavens and
the earth, He laughed!? The King of all kings is laughing!? The Owner of
all-Majesty and Power laughs! The One who can hold the heavens in His Hands
and the earth in His other hand and then He shakes them and then He says, 'I
am King! Where are the great oppressors?' Where the proud people? Where are
the people who held up their heads high up in pride and did not submit to
this Deen? And none of them will be able to say anything and they will be
forced into submission and humility to Him. Where are the Ceasers? Where are
the rulers of Persia? None of them will be able to speak in front of the
Majesty of Allaah, and they (the Arabs) would say, 'The Great and Powerful
Allaah is laughing!? Allaah will never be able to deny us any good. If Allaah
is laughing then He will not deny us any good.'

If you enter upon one responsible person or one minister and you have some
request and he smiles in your face after you enter upon him, you will say O
look he is laughing at me and then you would say I am sure he will not reject
my request. So how can it be with Allaah? The King of all kings. Therefore
when Allaah (SWT) smiles we know that there will not be a denial of good. O
observe dear brothers, this one quality. This one quality made the heart of
this desert Arab become attached to Allaah.

And the third thing which will take us to the love of Allaah, is the
graciousness of Allaah towards us. How much have we paid for what Allaah had
blessed us with? If you have lost your sight, how much can you pay? If you
loose your heart, how much can you pay? If you loose your mind, how much can
you pay for it? If you loose a kindey, how much can you pay for it? 30,000? A
liver? 50,000? Intestines? 30,000? How much about the nervous system and
different parts of the body? How much have we paid for all of these things
which we have? We have not paid one single cent and Allaah (SWT) gives them
working in perfect order for us.

One man, Ibn Sama, he went to Harun Rasheed and Harun Rasheed had with him a
gathering. Harun Rasheed asked for a cup of water and he was at the time, the
leader of the Muslims and before Harun drank, Ibn Sama said to him, 'One
minute Amir ul-Mumineen, can you imagine if you were denied that cup of water
and you were in the heart of the desert and you are about to die from thirst?
How much will you pay for this small cup of water?' He said, 'Half, O Ibn
Sama, I will pay half of my throne (kingdom) for this.' Ibn Sama said to him,
'O leader of the faithful, drink graciously and thankfully.' Then Harun
Rasheed drank and we waited for one moment and we wanted to go now to the
bathroom to relieve himself of this water and Ibn Sama said to him, 'O leader
of the faithful, can you imagine if this water could not leave you and this
water was held within you? How much will you pay to get this water out of
your system?' He said, 'O I will pay one half of my throne (kingdom).' Ibn
Sama said, 'O leader of the faithful, what do you want from your throne!?
Your throne is not equal to a cup of water? Half of your throne is not equal
to what you drink and half of it is not equal for you to relieve what you
drink? And in the night and the day, we drink and we relieve ourselves
without anything in return!'

We use our eyes to disobey Allaah! He preserves our eyes and we disboey Him
with them. Allaah (SWT) preserves our ears and yet we disobey Him with them?
Allaah (SWT) keeps our minds and we use them to disobey him. His good to us
is descending upon us and our evil is going towards Him. He blesses us and
provides for us and we give thanks to others. Is this not waywardness? Is
this not a display of poor manners towards Allaah? These are the ways towards
love for Allaah but this love must be encircled with humility of Allaah
through the way of learning the qualities of Allaah.

Let us consider the story of this little girl. Umar ibn al-Khattab was making
one of his rounds during the night and he became close to this house and this
women was speaking to her daughter, 'Get up my daughter and mix the milk with
water. So we can sell the people this and they will not know that it is mixed
and we will make great interest and profit.' She said, 'O my dear mother, the
Amir of the Muslims has prohibited us from doing this.' The mother said,
'Where is the leader of the Muslims now? He is not here.' She said, 'If the
leader of the Muslims does not see us but the Lord of the Amir is seeing us!'
Umar began to shiver. This strong man, this great personality, he began to
shiver. He said to his servant, 'Put a mark on that house and come to me in
the morning with the name of that girl,' and Umar gathered all his sons...

Aisha (RA) said, "Glory be to Him, Whose Ear encompasses all the voices."
She said, Kholat entered upon the Prophet (SAAS) and she was an old woman,
and she began to complain to the Prophet (SAAS) in the house of Aisha, and
the house of Aisha was small and the Prophet (SAAS) had placed a curtain in
this house and Aisha was behind this curtain and the old woman was on the
other side and the Prophet (SAAS) was with her and the Prophet (SAAS) said
to her, "What is your complaint?"

The woman said, "O Messenger of Allaah! Aisha will hear what I am saying
because it is the nature of women to listen. She would say that I have heard
some of her sayings and perhaps some of it will not be known to her." And
among the things she heard the woman say, "My husband has used all her
wealth and I have lost all my beauty and now I have become old and I have no
offspring and he said to me, 'You are like the back of my mother to me!'"
And she said, "O Allaah I complain to you!" Aisha said, "I heard some of her
statements and some of it was not clear to me but when she said, 'O Allaah I
complain to you!', Allaah (SWT), He was above His Throne, He heard her
complaint, He sent down a verse at that moment,

"Allaah has heard the saying of that women, who complains to you about her
husband, and she complains to Allaah and Allaah hears your conversation.
Allaah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing."

And Allaah (SWT) is worshipped because He has this quality of hearing and
Allaah answered and Allaah, He has all things.

And those who feel the majesty and power of Allaah, who goes to Hajj or goes
to Makkah in the last ten days of Ramadaan, and he stands on the third story
and sees the people circling the Ka'bah and he sees their number, a million
or more and this one is making dua and this one is crying and this one is
seeking help and this one is hiding his dua and this one is crying and tears
are flowing from his eyes and the one who hides his crying and this one is
speaking in Arabic, and another is speaking in Hindi, and another in
Pakistani and another in English and all the people with their languages are
calling upon Allaah according to their own conditions and in one moment and
their number is more than one million! Allaah hears all of this and He hears
this one and He answers to this one and He gives to the other and He
realises the promises to this one, in one moment and the same time! This is
greatness and power upon greatness and power. Glory be to Allaah who can
hear all voices.

This is why the scholars of the Salafis, they concentrate on this quality of
Allaah, that He is all-Hearing and they try to explain this meaning of this
quality of Allaah, that He is all-Hearing so that the believers can really
feel the closeness to Allaah and the love for Allaah and they can experience
true humility to Allaah without any form of distortion of the qualities of
Allaah, without any form of denial of the qualities of Allaah.

One of the Salaf said, 'Whoever denies any of the qualities of Allaah,
surely he does not love Allaah, he does not feel the Majesty and Power of
Allaah.' Therefore, one of the people who denied the qualities of Allaah,
said when he was prostrating, 'Glory be to Allaah, the lowest.'

This is why Abdullaah ibn Mubarak said, 'The truth about what they say is
not above the Throne of Allaah.' But on the other hand, the righteous
predecessors, they have established and given true recognition to the
qualities of Allaah and they establish and realised true worship of Allaah
and also complete love for him and all praise is due to Allaah, Lord of the
Worlds.