The Role of Love in our Religion -by our Spiritual Master_Sunni Revival Project





Key Points:

Love exists; it is not distant but close. It has been achieved. It is often described by the Auliya Kiraam [May Allaah Kareem Bless thier souls] as something which is beyond definition in essence, but they have outlined its parameters and what it is and what it is not. Furthermore, the concept of love in modern Western understanding has been corrupted so much, or rather, never truly existed, and so they boast that they have the best understanding of love and they parade all over the place about their so called love and that they are in some sort of love boat all the time, but they have never really experienced any love, as Baed uz zaman explained in his letters, love is sacred and originates from the Divine, who is Supreme and Exalted among that which is profane, and this type of love was never experienced or propagated in godless, loveless modern western civilization. The true love is only that which the Auliya Allaah [The Saints]

experienced through their spiritual struggle and then sought to spread that through their teachings, in line with the Prophetic knowledge. This cursed nation on the other hand can have no right to talk about Divine love while they claim that Islaam is a barbarous and backward religion, incapable of complex systems of legal methodology, citations, love, or metaphysics, and that the cause for all this is the Holy Prophet of Islaam [Peace be upon him]. Yes indeed they do blame the Holy Prophet of Islaam for problems they themselves wrought, and they claim him to be a breeder of hatred among other despicable things, but no, the Divine orders the Prophet Muhammad [Peace be upon Him] to tell the disbelievers, and all who would follow them in misguidance, “Say, ‘If you indeed love Allaah Almighty, then follow me, I will lead you to it, only then will the Divine manifest love for you, and forgive your numerous sins, He is oft forgiving and merciful”.





Love as a Key Concept in the Qur’aan +

Love in View of Classical Sufis Master's:



Abu’l Qasim Qushayri 5 [Rahmatul-Laahi ‘Alaieh] seems to hold the same idea in his Risala [magazine], and why not, while he is the teacher of Imaam Hajwiri [ Rahmatul-Laahi ‘Alaieh]? He said, “Almighty Allaah’s love towards His servant is but His desire to bestow special favours upon him… love is more specific than mercy…  Allaah  Taa’laa Most Exalted’s desire to single out a servant for nearness to Him and lofty spiritual states is named “love”.” Through the eyes of the Sufi masters, this would be their objective in the Sufi path, to earn this special favour and reach the level known generally as Wilayat e Khassa, ‘Major Sainthood’.  

 (Risala fi’t Tasawwuf, al Qushayri, p.326)








Hazrat Imaam Hajweri
                                                                       
 [Rahmatul-Laahi ‘Alaieh]

Imaam al Hajweri  [Rahmatul-Laahi ‘Alaieh] starts his discussion on love in Kashf al Mahjub by quoting the Holy Book, which states, “O believers, whomsoever among you apostatizes from their religion, Allaah Almighty will surely bring in their place a people who love Him and He in turn loves them” (The Holy Qur’aan (5.59). This verse refers to the idea that when guidance and revelation is bestowed upon a nation, then this is a covenant of mutual love, which is understood from the latter part of the verse, “They love Him and He loves them.” In this sense, adherence and safeguarding of Islamic faith is synonymous with the preservation of this ancient covenant of mutual love. What is not clear however is the nature of this ‘love’. Imam Al Hajweri explains (Kashf al Mahjub, p.306) that this is not to be considered in the same way as human attachments, which are nothing more than attractions based on lust and desire, a function of the lower self, or nafs.

The relationship between the Lord and servant… is manifested through Divine favour upon an individual whilst still in this world. That person would enjoy an elevated and prestigious position in this world, which is explained in this context by the hades e Qudsi, “Whoever despises one of my friends, has declared war upon Me”, the state of one who seeks Divine Pleasure through the fulfilment of obligatory acts is such that the Lord [Almighty Allaah] dislikes to ‘hurt’ him and take him out of this life if he dislikes death. The hades e Qudsi indeed refers implicitly to the almost superhuman status of one who reaches the state of divine favour through supererogation, “…when I love him I am his hearing and his sight and his hand and his helper”. This does not mean that divine love is synonymous with supernatural powers, but it indeed shows, as the lives of the Auliya  Allaah [The Saints]of the past have shown, that divine love makes life very pleasant indeed, and if things are going your way here, it is only because you have attuned your thinking to be in line with the Divine way, and there is no other way for success here.

“Through the Qur’anic verse and hadees e Qudsi selected by Imaam Al Hajweri  [Rahmatul-Laahi ‘Alaieh] here to explain the mutual bond of love between the believer and his Lord [Allaah Kareem], it becomes clear that it is not like that which humans sometimes mistakenly refer to as ‘love’ but is actually temporary lust, and also that this stage is attained through effort of an individual to believe and to perform obligatory deeds. Such a person would clearly be a person among the muflihun described in the opening verses of the Soorah al Baqara, and also the Auliya described in Soorah Yoonus,

 “Those upon whom there is no fear, nor do they grieve
 (over any loss)”.”

This is because the attainment of divine love, according to the hadees, causes the dwellers of heaven and earth to love such an individual. It is one of two potential all-encompassing outcomes of a person’s life on this earth, either he earns divine love, or he earns divine hate: “as it happens with regard to love, so does it happen with regard to hate”.

“I will now explain to you the truth of this matter.  Almighty Allaah’s love of Man is His good will towards him and His having mercy on him. Love is one of the names of His will (Iraadat), like “satisfaction”, “anger”, “mercy”, etc. and His will is an eternal attribute whereby He wills His actions. In short, Almighty Allaah’s love towards Man consists in showing much favour to him, and giving him a recompense in this world and the next, and making him secure from punishment and keeping him safe from sin, and bestowing on him lofty “states” and exalted “stations” and causing him to turn his thoughts away from all that is other than the Real. When He peculiarly distinguishes anyone this way, that specialisation of His will is called love. This is the doctrine of Harith al Muhasibi and Hazrat Junayd  [ Rahmatul-Laahi ‘Alaieh] and a large number of the Sufi Shaiekhs as well as the lawyers belonging to both the sects; and most of the Sunni theologians hold the same opinion.” 4




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