❖ Regarding the Attribute of “Love” of Allah ﷻ
Source: Fatawa Amun Puri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amun Puri
❀ Question:
What is said about the attribute of “Love” of Allah ﷻ?
❀ Answer:
Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama‘ah affirm the attributes of Allah ﷻ. They affirm for Him every attribute that He has affirmed for Himself or that His Messenger ﷺ has affirmed for Him—without ta’wil (distortion), tahrif (alteration), or likening Him to His creation. Love (maḥabbah) is also among the attributes of Allah ﷻ, and it is obligatory to believe in it without ta’wil, tashbih, or tahrif.
❀ Allah ﷻ says:
﴿سَيَجْعَلُ لَهُمُ الرَّحْمَٰنُ وُدًّا﴾
(Maryam: 96)
“Soon the Most Merciful will bestow love upon them.”
❀ Mujahid رحمه الله said in its tafsir:
يحبهم ويحببهم إلى المؤمنين
“Allah Himself loves them and places their love in the hearts of the believers.”
(Tafsir al-Tabari: 23963, with a sahih chain)
❀ Rabi‘ رحمه الله narrated that he heard Hasan al-Basri رحمه الله say:
النفس المطمئنة اطمأنت إلى الله واطمأن إليها، وأحبت لقاء الله وأحب الله لقاء ها، ورضيت عن الله ورضي الله عنها، فأمر بقبض روحها فغفر لها وأدخلها الجنة وجعلها من عباده الصالحين
“The contented soul is the one that became content with Allah, and Allah became content with it. It loved meeting Allah, and Allah loved meeting it. It was pleased with Allah, and Allah was pleased with it. Then Allah commanded for its soul to be taken, forgave it, admitted it into Paradise, and made it among His righteous servants.”
(Hilyat al-Awliya by Abu Nu‘aym, 6/300, with a hasan chain)
❀ ‘Adi ibn Thabit رحمه الله said:
إذا أحب عبدا نادى مناد من السماء : ألا إن الله قد أحب فلانا فأحبوه، قال : فيحببه الله إلى أهل السماء، وإلى أوليائه من أهل الأرض، وإذا أبغض عبدا نادى مناد من السماء : ألا إن الله قد أبغض فلانا فأبغضوه، فيبغضه الله إلى أهل السماء، وإلى أوليائه من أهل الأرض
“When Allah loves a servant, a caller from the sky announces: ‘Indeed Allah has loved so-and-so, so you all love him.’ Then Allah makes him beloved to the inhabitants of the heavens and His friends on earth. But when Allah hates a servant, a caller from the sky announces: ‘Indeed Allah has hated so-and-so, so you all hate him.’ Then Allah makes him hated among the inhabitants of the heavens and His friends on earth.”
(Al-Zuhd by Hammad ibn al-Sari, no. 491, sahih chain)
❀ Raja ibn Abi Salamah رحمه الله narrated:
When the son of Imam ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz رحمه الله, ‘Abd al-Malik, passed away, ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz wrote letters to various cities forbidding wailing and wrote:
إن الله أحب قبضه، وأعوذ بالله أن أخالف محبته
“Allah loved to take his soul. I seek refuge with Allah from opposing His love.”
(Al-Zawa’id of ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad on his father’s Al-Zuhd, no. 1719, with a hasan chain)
❀ Abu Hazim رحمه الله said:
شيئان إذا عملت بهما أصبت بهما خير الدنيا والآخرة، ولا أطول عليك، قيل : وما هما؟ قال : تحمل ما تكره إذا أحبه الله، وتكره ما تحب إذا كرهه الله عز وجل
“There are two things: if you practice them, you will attain the goodness of this world and the Hereafter. I will not prolong. It was asked: What are they? He said: When Allah loves something you dislike, then bear it; and when Allah dislikes something you love, then begin to dislike it.”
(Hilyat al-Awliya by Abu Nu‘aym, 3/241, sahih chain)
❀ Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله (d. 728H) said:
إن الكتاب والسنة وإجماع المسلمين أثبتت محبة الله لعباده المؤمنين ومحبتهم له
“The Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus of Muslims affirm that Allah loves His believing servants, and they love Him.”
(Majmu‘ al-Fatawa, 2/354)
