The most important teachings of Islam are centered around Love. We start with an article on Love followed by an Islamic novel Doolhun The Bride.
Love, the cure to all our woes
“And only he (will prosper) who brings to Allah a sound heart.”Al Quran Sura Ash-Shuraa 26:89.
With the name of Allah,the Most Gracious, the ever Merciful.
Heart, in this context is the seat of feelings and love, and love in Islam holds a very high pedestal, even higher than all our acts of prayer. Abu Zarr (RA) reports that the Prophet Salalahu Alayhe Wasallam came to us and asked:
“Do you know which of the actions is dearest to the Glorious Allah? Someone replied prayer and charity and someone else said Jihad. The Holy Prophet Salalahu Alayhe Wasallam said: The action dearest to the Almighty Allah is love for Allah’s sake and hate for Allah’s sake.”Al Hadis. 1:4:29:273.
There is great wisdom in love having such a status, for love is that emotion that softens our hearts and purifies us of greed, jealousy, pride and hatred. Love is the greatest motivator and it opens up doors to Divine knowledge and inspiration. How beautifully Rumi (RA) describes the power of love.
“He alone whose garment is rent by a mighty love is purged of greed and all defect. Hail, O love that brings us good grain- thou art the physician of all our ills.” Matnawi V1. 23.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali in his note 47 of his translation of the Holy Quran states that love is a quality that angels cannot experience because they do not have the passions that we humans have.
“We may imagine angels without passion or emotion, (and of human passion) the highest flower is love.”
It is this capacity to love that allows humanity to soar to the heights that other created beings cannot reach. A lover has such a high status because he is the one that truly worships. His prayers and actions stem from adoration and wanting to please the beloved from the depths of his heart. His actions are pure and untainted from wanting something in return. Love is not about getting, but it is about giving and sacrificing without the slightest desire of receiving anything in return. In describing how great love is, the Holy Prophet Salalahu Alayhe Wasallam has said in a Hadis e Qudsie that Allah says:
“Those who love one another for My Magnificence, will have pulpits of light for which the prophets and the martyrs will envy them.” AL Hadis. 1:4:29:267.
Our spiritual guide, Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saib (RA) always quoted the following couplet: “humanity was created for the pain of the heart (meaning love) otherwise what was short in the prayers of the angels and the jinn.” Our normal ritual acts of prayers cannot match the prayers of angels and if piety was the deciding factor as to which of creation is the highest, then man would fall far short of the angels. He went on to say that the Arabic word that is used for “man” in the Holy Qur’an is “Insaan” which is derived from the word “ins” which means love. Man is created for the purpose of love, and therefore living a life without love is not fulfilling the purpose of our creation, and until we do not fulfill this purpose, we would never know inner fulfillment and contentment. Even in the English language, the word human is associated with love and caring and an example of this is the concept of “humanitarian aid” and the description of a person as being inhumane when he does something bad. In addition he said love is such that it cannot be seen and it cannot be explained but, because it has a name and because it is experienced then it has to have substance. According to the Aulia Allah, love does not have a substance like everything else – its substance is Allah.
If we look through Islam, then it is in Tasawaff and Sufism that we hear, read and learn about love. Tasawaff poetry is only about love. Such is their focus on love that in his book “Risala-e-Ishqia”, Shah Abdul Aziz Muhadatith Dehalawie (RA), discusses ten stages of love and fifty phases of love. In Tasawaff, the Aulia Allah have divided love into two categories. The first is called “ishk-e-majazie” (worldly love). Loving our parents, siblings, spouses and children fall into this category because we love them to gratify ourselves. Then broadening our scope to love our neighbours, other people’s children and humanity at large also falls into this category but slightly higher. The second type of love is called “Ishk-e-Hakaki” (Love for the sake of Allah Subhanatallah). This entails loving a person that has Allah’s Favor and Blessings upon him such as the “Aulia Allah”. When we have grown to love our spiritual guide then we would progress towards loving the Prophet Salalahu Alayhe Wasallam, and finally, Allah Subhanatallah. Quite often in Sufi terminology, the word “fana” is used to describe the intense love that a disciple must develop for his spiritual guide and this word signifies submitting oneself totally and becoming nonexistent by only living for the beloved. To understand why such a word is used we would have to talk about the all consuming madness of love.
“It beseems the generous man thus to give money, but verily the generosity of the lover is the surrender of his soul (becomes fana).”Matnawi – Vol 1 Verse 2235.
Love makes a person blind to everyone else, and everything else. It is only the beloved that matters. No rules, reason or logic can change the focus of the lover, and his behavior cannot be judged by any religion or law.
“When I went to the house of Laila, I kissed its walls. Love is not for the wall, but for its owner”matnawi.
If worldly love can produce such madness where a person could kiss a wall and even sacrifice his life for the beloved, then can you imagine the state of those that have “Ishk-e-Hakaki.”
“Like moths they burn themselves in the fire of love. Their beloved is in their breasts, yet do they seek him: though near a fountain, their lips are parched.” Sadi.
Our Pir O Murshid, Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saib (RA) when discussing Tasawuff used to say:
“Pir dill me uterna – ye sab se barie baat hae.” (Putting your pir into your heart – this is the greatest achievement).
Tasawaff and Sufism is all about growing to love your Pir O Murshid for the sake of Allah Subhanatallah. The Companions of the Prophet Salalahu Alayhe Wasallam loved him dearly, and there are many examples of this recorded in the Hadith books. Here is one such example: Once the Prophet (SAW) asked his companions to give charity. When Hazrath Abu Bakar (RA) made a donation he asked him what he had left for his family. He replied:“I have left for them Allah and His Apostle. Al Hadis 4:46:2:22
Once Hazrath Ebrahim Adham (RA) put his arms around his son fondly and by way of “Ilhaam” (a type of revelation) he was told that there cannot be two swords in one sheath meaning, we have only one heart and we can love only one. Our principal or main love has to be “ishk-e-Hakakie”. He repented and asked Allah Subhanatallah to take him or his son. His son passed away shortly thereafter. This is not always the result in making the spiritual guide the recipient of our love. On the contrary, a disciple that loves his spiritual guide has great affection (not blind love) for everyone else around him. Although the companions loved the Prophet Salalahu Alayhe Wasallam blindly they still showed, by their actions, that they cared for everyone else around them. The problem with making worldly love our principal or main love is that we put ourselves at the beck and call of sometimes a selfish, petty person and this person can ruin all our other relationships and sometimes these relationships are very important ones. As an example, it is quite common to see a wife manipulating a husband that loves her, to go against his own parents. In order to reap the benefits of this world and the other, we have to place our hearts into the hands of a responsible person who is a person of Allah.
“Say: ‘if your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, the wealth which you have obtained, the commerce wherein you fear decline and the dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and striving in His cause, then wait until Allah executes His command. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.”Al Quran Sura at Tauba 9:24
Love is an extremely important part of Islam, or shall I say, the most important part of Islam. Most of Islam teaches us about love – developing habits that bring about love such as greeting, shaking hands, being good, sharing and being fair to people etc. Creating an environment of love was the first thing that the Prophet Salalahu Alayhe Wasallam strived to achieve. In the first years of his mission there were no compulsory prayers, fasting and mosques. It was all about bringing social reforms that would create an environment for the flowers of love to blossom.
Peace and salutations be upon Allah’s Messengers who are responsible for guiding humanity throughout time. Ameen.
Author: Mohammed Hassan Gaffoor. December 2012
You can contact him on WhatsApp: +27 84 910 1486
A “Naath” about the love and knowledge that the Holy Prophet Muhammad Salallahu Alayhe Wasallam inspires.
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