Qur'anic Reflections

#20. Signs of love for Allah

Source :en.islamway.net

All praise is due to Allah alone. And prayers and peace of Allah be upon the chosen Prophet, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, and upon his family and companions and whoever followed his guidance.

O Allah, I ask You to bestow upon me Your love and the love of whoever loves You and the knowledge that helps us to attain Your love!

Dear reader, we present to you these ten signs of Love for Allah, which are mentioned by imam ibn Al-Qayim (may Allah mercy him) in his great book, Madarij As-Salikin.

»The first sign:

Reciting the Holy Qur'an with deep contemplation in its meanings and its purposes; this is like thinking deeply in the book that the servant memorizes and expounds on it to understand the purpose of its author.

Allah Almighty says: {Do they not then think deeply in the Qur'an, or are their hearts locked up (from understanding it)?} [Muhammad 47:24]

We should know that the purpose of reading is to contemplate; if this could not be gained without repeating the verse, the person should repeat it as the Prophet (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) and his companions did.

»The second sign:

Seeking nearness with Allah by the supererogatory deeds after the obligatory deeds, because they take the person to the rank of the beloved after the rank of love.

Allah the Exalted and Glorious says in the Qudsi Hadeeth: "And the most beloved things with which My slave comes seeks nearness (through) to Me, is what I have enjoined upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (supererogatory acts) till I love him, and if I love him, I become his sense of hearing with which he hears with, and his sense of sight with which he sees with, and his hand with which he grips, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks Me, I will give him, and if he asks My protection (Refuge), I will protect him; (i.e. give him My Refuge)". [Reported by Al-Bukhari]

Note: This Hadeeth means that he does not say or hear except what is good and does not see except what is permitted by Allah and does not deal with a prohibited thing or walks to what is prohibited; this is because of the success that Allah bestows upon the servant.

And this is the meaning of His saying 'so I become his sense of hearing with which he hears, and his sense of sight with which he sees ... etc.'

»The third sign:

Remembering Him all the time by tongue, heart, deeds and status; person's share of love depends on his share of this remembrance.

Allah the Exalted and Glorious says in the Qudsi Hadeeth: "I am with my servant as long as he mentions Me and his lips moves with mentioning Me." [Authenticated by Al-Albani as Sahih]

And Allah almighty says: {Therefore remember Me (by praying, glorifying), I will remember you} [Al-Baqarah 2:152]

and the Prophet (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) says: "There is no people get up from a gathering in which they do not remember Allah but they get up like people who got up after eating a donkey's corpse and it would be grief to them." [Reported by Abu Dawûd and Authenticated by Al-Albani]

»The fourth sign:

Giving preference to what He likes over what you like, at the times in which the whims overcome you, and seeking what He likes even if it is difficult.

Ibn Al-Qayim (may Allah mercy him) says: "Giving preference to the satisfaction of Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, over the satisfaction of anyone else means to want and to do whatever brings His satisfaction even if it dissatisfied the creatures. This is the rank of Ithar, and its superior status is for the messengers of Allah (prayers and peace of Allah be upon them), and the superior of this status is for the Messengers of strong will, and the superior among those is our Prophet, Muhammad (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him).