Allah’s Love and Anger: Divine Guidance for Believers and Disbelievers
Source: Fatawa Ameenpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri
❖ Question
Some people say that Allah loves every Muslim and disbeliever. What is the reality of this claim?
❖ Answer
Allah ﷻ possesses countless attributes. Some of these necessitate mercy and love, while others necessitate anger and punishment.
- The attributes of mercy and love are specifically for the believers.
- The attributes of anger and punishment are for the disbelievers, hypocrites, and sinners.
Numerous Qur’anic verses and mutawatir ahadith prove this.
Thus, saying that Allah loves both Muslims and disbelievers and that He is never angry with anyone is absolutely false. Such a claim entails denial and suspension of several of Allah’s attributes.
❀ Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (RA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
إذا أحب الله عبدا دعا جبريل...
“When Allah loves a servant, He calls Jibreel and says: ‘I love so-and-so, so love him.’ Jibreel then loves him. Then Jibreel announces among the inhabitants of the heavens: ‘Allah loves so-and-so, so you all love him.’ Then the inhabitants of the heavens love him, and acceptance is placed for him on earth. But when Allah dislikes a servant, He calls Jibreel and says: ‘I dislike so-and-so, so dislike him.’ Jibreel then dislikes him. Then Jibreel announces among the inhabitants of the heavens: ‘Allah dislikes so-and-so, so you all dislike him.’ Then they dislike him, and hatred is placed for him on earth.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari: 3209; Sahih Muslim: 2637)
❀ ʿAllamah Abu ʿAbdullah al-Qurtubi (رحمه الله, 671H) said:
يدل عليه إجماع الأمة على أن الله سبحانه وتعالى غير محب لمن علم أنه من أهل النار، بل هو ساخط عليه، وأنه محب لمن علم أنه من أهل الجنة.
“This is proven by the consensus of the Ummah that Allah, Exalted is He, does not love those whom He knows to be among the people of Hell. Rather, He is angry with them. And He loves those whom He knows to be among the people of Paradise.”
(Tafsir al-Qurtubi, 1/194)
