The holy Qur`an ascribes and attributes love (hubb) to Allah in about fifteen verses, and in several more verses, it acquaints us with what Allah does not love”
One of the main concepts of the Quran is Hubb or love. In the holy Quran, love (hub) is most closely connected to the concept of Ihsan (Perfection, Excellence, doing what is good; a term which, along with its active particles Muhsin, Muhsinun, Muhsinin appears – throughout the Holy Qur`an – in more than 66 verses). That is, the “right attitude” of human being towards Allah is “love”. The holy Qur`an ascribes and attributes love (hubb) to Allah in about fifteen verses, and in several more verses, it acquaints us with what Allah does not love. In this direction, in this article an exploration of the verse related to the ‘love’ to Allah, and what Allah does not ‘love’, with their meaning and sense, are described, illustrated and expressed.
In every Qura’nic instance where Allah is said to love something, the object of His love are human beings whose character traits and activities are good and beautiful and not the human race in general. Some of these verses are mentioned here:
“And spend in the Cause of Allah and do not throw yourselves into destruction, and do good. Truly, Allah loves Al-Muhsinun (the good-doers)” (Al-Baqarah, 2:195, 3: 174)
“Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves” (2: 222)
“Yes, whoever fulfils his pledge and fears Allah much; verily, then Allah loves those who are Al-Muttaqun (the pious)” (Al-Imran, 3:76)
“And consult them in the affairs. Then when you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah, certainly, Allah loves those who put their trust (in Him)” (3: 159)
“Those who believe and do righteous deeds … and fear Allah and do good deeds with Ihsan (perfection). And Allah loves the good-doers” (Al-Maidah, 5: 93)
“And if two parties or groups among the believers fall to fighting, then make peace between them both.” And “make reconciliation between them justly, and be equitable. Verily! Allah loves those who are the equitable’ (Al-Hujjurat, 49:9)
In these verses, it is clear that Allah loves those who and do good, those who are pious and purify themselves, who put their trust in Him, etc. Such verses provide a good idea of which character traits are desirable and praiseworthy. In comparison and contrast, those Qura’nic verses wherein is mention of what Allah does not love speak of blameworthy human qualities, such as the truth-concealers, the wrong-doers, the workers of corruption, the immoderate, the proud, and the arrogant.
One of the significant aspects points about the Qura’nic use of the word hubb (love) is that the quality is ascribed to Allah and to human beings, and to nothing else; and Allah`s love is always directed at human beings. However, Allah does not love human beings whose love is not directed to Him. Human beings can love Allah, but usually their love is directed at others, as holy Qur`an articulates and expresses in the following verses:
“Beautified for men is the love of the things they covet; women, children, much of gold and silver (wealth), branded beautiful horses, cattle d and well-tilled land. This is the pleasure of the present world`s life; but Allah has the excellent return (Paradise with flowing rivers) with Him” (3: 14)
“Verily, these (disbelievers) love the present life of this world, and put behind them a heavy Day (that will be hard)” (Al-Dahr, 76: 27)
“And you love wealth with much love. Nay! When the earth is ground to powder” (Al-Fajr, 89: 20-1)
In other words, people should not love the fleeting beauty that attracts their cravings, but they should love the permanent beauty of Allah. People must follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as by this they will move toward Allah through right practice, right faith, and doing what is good or beautiful. Having imitated (the example of) Prophet`s (pbuh) not only in activity, but also in character, they will be worthy of Allah`s love. Through Allah`s love, people will reach salvation. As holy Qur`an states clearly:
“Say (O Muhammad to mankind): If you (really) love Allah then follow me (i.e., accept Islamic Monotheism, follow the Quran and the Sunnah), Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (Al-Imran, 3: 31).
(The English translation of all the Quranic verses are taken from ‘The Noble Quran’, M. Taqi-ud-Din Hilali and M. Muhsin Khan).
No comments:
Post a Comment