In the name of Allāh, Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.
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All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation; may Allah extol the mention of our noble Prophet Muhammad in the highest company of Angels, bless him and give him peace and security―and his family, his Companions and all those who follow him correctly until the establishment of the Hour.
The saying of Allah (the Most High), “And from the people there are those who have taken besides Allah rivals, loving them as they love Allah.”
Shaykh al-Islām Muhammad ibn ʿAbdul-Wahhāb (rahimahullāh) said:
Allah (the Most High) stated:
قُلْ إِن كَانَ آبَاؤُكُمْ وَأَبْنَاؤُكُمْ وَإِخْوَانُكُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُكُمْ وَعَشِيرَتُكُمْ وَأَمْوَالٌ اقْتَرَفْتُمُوهَا وَتِجَارَةٌ تَخْشَوْنَ كَسَادَهَا وَمَسَاكِنُ تَرْضَوْنَهَا أَحَبَّ إِلَيْكُم مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَجِهَادٍ فِي سَبِيلِهِ فَتَرَبَّصُوا حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِيَ اللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ
“Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline and the dwellings in which you delight are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His cause, then wait until Allah brings about His decision (torment). And Allah guides not the people who are al-Fāsiqun (the rebellious, disobedient to Allah.)” (Surah at-Tawbah 9:24).
It is reported from Anas (radiyallahu ‘anhu) that the Messenger of Allah (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his son, his father and all of mankind.” (Reported by Bukhāri and Muslim).
Bukhāri and Muslim also both narrate from Anas bin Mālik (radiAllahu ‘anhu) that the Messenger of Allah (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “There are three qualities that whoever possesses them has tasted the sweetness of Eemān: that Allah and His Messenger are more beloved to him than anyone besides them, that he loves a person and he does not love him except for the sake of Allah, that he hates to turn back to disbelief after Allah has saved him from that just as he hates to be thrown into the fire.” There is a narration that begins with, “There is not anyone who has truly tasted the sweetness of Eemān until Allah and His Messenger are more beloved to him than anyone besides them…”
It is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbās (radiyallahu ‘anhumā) that he said: “Whoever loves for the sake of Allah, and hates for the sake of Allah, and makes allegiance for the sake of Allah and holds enmity for the sake of Allah, then Allah’s friendship is attained by that. And a servant will not experience the taste of Eemān, even if his prayer and fasting are plentiful until he becomes like this. Most of the relationships have become based upon worldly affairs, and that will not attain for its people anything of goodness.” Reported by Ibn Jareer. (Sheikh Ahmad an-Najmi mentioned that he did not find this statement of Ibn ‘Abbās with Ibn Jareer but he found it with Ibn al-Mubārak in his book ‘Az-Zuhd,’ page 160-161, Hadeeth number 353).
Ibn ‘Abbās (radiyallahu ‘anhumā) said regarding the statement of Allah the Most High:
إِذْ تَبَرَّأَ الَّذِينَ اتُّبِعُوا مِنَ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوا وَرَأَوُا الْعَذَابَ وَتَقَطَّعَتْ بِهِمُ الْأَسْبَابُ
“When those who were followed disown (declare themselves innocent of) those who followed (them), and they see the torment, then all their relationships will be cut off from them.” (Surah al-Baqarah 2:166) – it means that the love (al-mawaddah) will be cut off between them. (Ibn Jareer in his Tafseer 3/290, Al-Hākim in Al-Mustadrak 2/299 no. 3076)
Explanation
Sheikh ‘Abdur Rahmān bin Nāsir as-Sa’dī (rahimahullah) said in his notes on this chapter: The origin of Tawheed, and its spirit and its soul is to have sincere love for Allah alone. This is the origin of the deification and the worship of Him, rather it is the absolute reality of ‘ibādah. A person’s tawheed cannot be complete until the perfection of the love the slave has for his Lord is attained. The love of Allah takes precedence over (and overtakes) all other things that are loved. He makes this love of Allah the judge over all other types of love, and this love of Allah brings happiness and joy to the servant. A person perfects his love for Allah’s sake and his Tawheed by befriending for the sake of Allah and having enmity for His enemies. And by this, the eemān of the servant is perfected, and his Tawheed. [End].
This speech of Imām as-Sa’dī is priceless and was it to be written in golden ink, even that would be a small matter. That is because Allah is the One who brought the servant into existence, and He is the One who raised him and nurtured him through His bounties and His blessings, so that he may live upon that from food and drink. He caused this sustenance to be absorbed into his body so that he can be nourished with it, and He bestows by way of it, strength so as to worship Him, the Most High. He is the One who bestowed taste into food and water, so they are palatable. He is the One who made for each human a tongue, saliva, and different types of teeth so that he can grind his food and benefit his body by way of it.
Loving Allah for the Bounties He has given You
For this reason, we have the Hadeeth of the Messenger of Allah (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) where he said: “Love Allah for what He nourishes you of His blessings, and love me due to the love of Allah, and love my household due to love of me.” (Reported by Imām at-Tirmidhi, no 3789, however, Shaikh Al-Albāni declared it to be da’eef (weak) in Al-Mishkāt no. 6173)
Added to this is the fact that Allah, the Most High, created us for His worship, and then He taught us this worship with that which He revealed in His Book (the Qur’ān) and that which was clarified by His Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) from the qualities and characteristics of this worship in his Sunnah, by way of his sayings and his actions.
Allah, the Most High, informed us of the path of goodness that will lead us to Jannah, and He informed us of the path of evil that leads to the Hellfire. Allah, the Most High, said in His Book after warning the believers against marrying the male and female idol-worshippers saying:
أُولَٰئِكَ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى النَّارِ ۖ وَاللَّهُ يَدْعُو إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ وَالْمَغْفِرَةِ بِإِذْنِهِ ۖ وَيُبَيِّنُ آيَاتِهِ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ
“Those polytheists invite you to the fire, but Allah invites you to Paradise and to forgiveness by His leave and makes His verses and signs clear to mankind that they may remember (and take admonition).” (Surah al-Baqarah 2:221)
This is so that each one of us is reminded that were it not for the grace of Allah and His bounty upon him, guiding him to eemān and placing him in a Muslim society, then he could have become from those deserving Allah’s punishment. Therefore it is obligatory upon us to love Allah (the Mighty and Majestic), because He created us, provided for us, guided us and taught us that which we did not know. From the signs of the love that a servant has for the Lord is that he loves that which Allah loves of deeds, and that he loves those whom Allah loves, and that he hates that which Allah hates of bad deeds, and he hates whoever Allah hates.
Those Who Love Allah More
Al-Hākim reports in his Mustadrak (no. 1913 1/706) from the Hadeeth of Mu’ādh bin Jabal, authenticated by Shaikh Al-Albāni (Al-Mishkāt no. 748), that the Messenger of Allah (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) would make dua: “O Allah! I ask for your love, and the love of whoever you love, and the love of every deed that takes me to your love.”
This Hadeeth explains the statement of Allah the Most High:
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَتَّخِذُ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ أَندَادًا يُحِبُّونَهُمْ كَحُبِّ اللَّهِ ۖ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِّلَّهِ ۗ
“And of mankind are some who take others besides Allah as rivals to Him. They love them as they love Allah. But those who believe love Allah even more.” (Surah al-Baqarah 2:165).
It is also made clear that the one who loves other than Allah from the idols and the false gods that do not create, nor sustain, nor give life or death, nor can they enter you into Jannah or save you from the Hellfire, then such a person has placed his love where it does not belong―and he is blameworthy in the sight of Allah. For this reason, those who worship these other gods and love them as they love Allah, and have allegiance for them and enmity due to them, then there will come upon them a day when they will despise themselves. It is obligatory upon every Muslim to be sincere in his deeds for Allah, the Most High, having love for Him and glorifying Him and magnifying His greatness. And it is obligatory on every Muslim to befriend the friends of Allah, and they are those who are obedient to Him―and they should hate the enemies of Allah: those who are in opposition to this pure and sincere love of Allah, the Most High, due to their polytheism and disobedience.
These verses clarify for us that it is not permissible for a servant to give precedence to his father, his children, his brothers or his kindred or tribesmen, nor to his wealth that he has accumulated, nor to the dwellings and properties he has gathered―nothing that he owns or possesses is to be put ahead of his love for Allah, just as is mentioned in the verse:
قُلْ إِن كَانَ آبَاؤُكُمْ وَأَبْنَاؤُكُمْ وَإِخْوَانُكُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُكُمْ وَعَشِيرَتُكُمْ وَأَمْوَالٌ اقْتَرَفْتُمُوهَا وَتِجَارَةٌ تَخْشَوْنَ كَسَادَهَا وَمَسَاكِنُ تَرْضَوْنَهَا أَحَبَّ إِلَيْكُم مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَجِهَادٍ فِي سَبِيلِهِ فَتَرَبَّصُوا حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِيَ اللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ
“Say to them (O Prophet): If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline and the dwellings in which you delight are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His cause, then wait until Allah brings about His decision (torment). And Allah guides not the people who are rebellious and disobedient to Allah.” (Surah at-Tawbah 9:24).
If your father was to call you to the disbelief of Allah or to associate partners with Allah, or if your son, brother, wife, husband or tribesman were to do that, then it is not permitted for you to obey them in disobedience to Allah. There is no obedience to the creation in disobedience to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. This type of disobedience to the creator occurs mostly amongst those people who reside in the lands of kufr, and even (these days) amongst some of those who reside in the Muslim lands. Allahul-musta’ān.
A father may invite his son to disbelief or sin by saying, ‘If you do not do such and such, then you are no longer my son.’ He may even throw him out of the house, and this is something which Shaikh An-Najmī stated that he had come across over the years in some of the questions that were put to him. Allah’s Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his son, his father and the whole of mankind.”
This means that one’s eemān is not complete and perfect except with this―by giving precedence to the love of the Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) over and above the love of all of the people, and giving precedence to the obedience of Allah and His Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) over obedience of all the people.
Three Qualities that Whoever Possesses them, has Tasted the Sweetness of Eemān
Anas (radiAllahu ‘anhu) reports that the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said:
“There are three qualities that whoever possesses them has tasted the sweetness of Eemān: the one to whom Allah and His Messenger are more beloved than anyone else besides them, that a person loves another person for no other reason except for Allah’s sake and that a person hates to return back to disbelief after Allah had saved him from it just as he hates to be thrown into the hellfire.”
This is an amazing Hadeeth! There are no characteristics that are mightier than these, and a servant does not reach them, except by the help and the aid of Allah, the Most High. Indeed a servant in this world is exposed to all types of calls to wickedness and evil, and to oppose that which Allah and His Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) have commanded―deeds that turn him away from the love of Allah and His Messenger, actions that call a servant to put the love of his kith and kin before the love of Allah and His Messenger.
A believer must hold fast to the love of Allah and the love of the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam)―and he must be ready to sacrifice all other types of love for His love of Allah if those other loves call him to oppose the love of Allah through disbelief or disobedience. Indeed the love of Allah calls a servant to love and hate for His sake, and to hate to return back to disbelief after Allah had saved him from that, just as he hates to be thrown into the Fire. This is because Kufr (disbelief) necessitates being cast into Hell, and remaining therein forever. Allah, the Most High, said:
لَوْ يَعْلَمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا حِينَ لَا يَكُفُّونَ عَن وُجُوهِهِمُ النَّارَ وَلَا عَن ظُهُورِهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ
بَلْ تَأْتِيهِم بَغْتَةً فَتَبْهَتُهُمْ فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ رَدَّهَا وَلَا هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ
“If only those who disbelieved knew the time when they will not be able to ward off the Fire from their faces, nor from their backs, and they will not be helped. Nay, it (the Fire or the Day of Resurrection) will come upon them all of a sudden and will perplex them, and they will have no power to avert it nor will they get respite.”(Surah al-Anbiyā, 21: 39-10).
Attaining the Alliance and Support of Allah (the Most High)
Finally, we have the Hadeeth of ‘Abdullah Ibn Abbās (radiyallahu ‘anhumā): “Whoever loves for Allah’s sake, hates for Allah’s sake, makes his allegiance for Allah’s sake and has enmity for Allah’s sake, then Allah’s alliance and support is attained by that…”
So, Allah’s alliance and support are not attained except by having the above characteristics, and this is even if a person has plentiful Prayer and Fasting―and he will not reach true eemān or its perfection except by these characteristics. Ibn ‘Abbās said: ‘Know that most of the relationships between the people are based upon worldly affairs that will not attain for its people anything.’ Meaning, it will not benefit them on Day of Resurrection. For this reason, ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Abbās said regarding the statement of Allah:
وَتَقَطَّعَتْ بِهِمُ الْأَسْبَابُ
“…then all their relations will be cut off from them.” (Surah al-Baqarah 2: 166), it means that the love that they used to have between them in the Dunya will be cut off, because this world will pass away, and on the Day of Resurrection, there will only remain that which was done for Allah. So we conclude by asking, “O Allah! I ask You to make us from those who love You, and that we love and hate for Your sake, that we make our allegiance with those who are obedient to You, and we disavow ourselves from those who are disobedient to You.”
Taken mostly from Shaikh Ahmad Ibn Yahyā An-Najmi’s (rahimahullāh) explanation with additions from other scholars and notes from Abu Khadeejah.
الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم
End.
Some of this article was transcribed by Umm Maryam (may Allah reward her) from the classes of Abu Khadeejah (SalafiSounds.com). Please share it with others.
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