Love and Devotion to Allah
We have to love Allah, the Most High, and be
devoted to Him Alone so that in return, He will love us. Only when we gain His love and mercy can we
succeed in conveying the Message of Islam.
We have to be devoted Muslims in order to seek Allah’s help to bless us
and be successful in our Da’wah. We have to earnestly pray to Him that the non-Muslims
who listen to our Da’wah see the Truth. Verily, Allah (Subhanahu
wa ta’ala, meaning: the
Most Glorious and the Exalted) is the One Who guides people to Islam. No matter how much we try to explain the
Truth to non-Muslims, they will never accept it unless our Creator opens their
hearts to it. Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) tells us:
“Those whom Allah
wills to guide, He opens their breast to Islam.
Those whom He wills to leave straying, He makes their breast close and
constricted, as if they had to climb up to the skies; thus does Allah lay
abomination on those who refuse to believe.”
(6:125)
For our guidance,
we have to know how to earn Allah’s love.
In the Qur’an Allah Allah
(Subhanahu wa ta’ala)
tells us two ways by which He bestows His love upon us:
“Say: ‘If you do
love Allah follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins for Allah
is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful.’” (
“On those who believe
and work deeds of righteousness will (Allah) Most Gracious bestow Love.” (19:96)
It is very clear
that if we follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (sallallâhu ‘alayhi wasallam), Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) will love us. Allah’s
Messenger (sallallâhu ‘alayhi
wasallam) invited people to believe (in Tawhîd and the six articles of Faith) and work deeds of
righteousness, which he himself practiced with much devotion. We can show our
love and devotion to Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) by performing not only the obligatory
deeds required upon us but also to do the supererogatory or voluntary deeds. This means to observe the obligatory five
daily prayers, zakat, fasting in the month of
Ramadan, and hajj in the House of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) in Makkah
once in a lifetime for those who can afford it.
In addition to these is to try as much as possible to perform the
optional prayers, to give sadaqa (voluntary charity),
to fast in other days and months, and to perform umrah. All these must be done in accordance with the
Sunnah or Way of the Prophet (sallallâhu ‘alayhi wasallam). The most
important of these voluntary deeds is the qiyaam ul layl or tahajjud (after
O you (Muhammad) folded
in garments! Stand (to prayer) by night, but not whole night, half of it, or a
little less, or a little more; and recite the Qur’an
in slow, measured rhythmic tone. Soon
shall We send down to you a weighty Word. Truly the
rising by night is a time when impression is more keen
and speech more certain. True, there is
for you by day prolonged occupation with ordinary duties: but keep in
remembrance the name of your Rabb, and devote
yourself to Him whole-heartily. He is
the Rabb of the East and the West: there is no god
but He. Take Him therefore for your Disposer of affairs. (73:1-9)
“Verily, your Rabb does know that you (O Muhammad) stand forth (to prayer)
nigh two-thirds of the night or half the night, or a third of the night, and so
does a party of those with you. And Allah measures the night and the day. He
knows that you are unable to pray the whole night. So He has turned to you (in
mercy). Read therefore as much of the Qur’an
as may be easy (for you). He
knows that there will be some among you sick, others traveling through the
land, seeking of Allah’s Bounty, and others fighting in Allah’s Cause. So,
recite as much of the Qur’an as may be easy (for you)
and perform regular prayer and give Zakat; and loan
to Allah a beautiful loan. And whatever good you send forth for yourselves, you
shall find it with Allah. Yes, better and greater in reward, and seek
forgiveness of Allah, for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (73:20)
By making qiyaam ul layl
as part of our practice, we become pious, a characteristic that will make us
better Muslims. We must strive to be pious.
We must know that Allah’s Messenger (sallallâhu
‘alayhi wasallam) encourages
us to have such excellent character as narrated in the following Hâdîth:
Abu Dharr (radhiallâhu anhu) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (sallallâhu
‘alayhi wasallam) said to
him, “You are not better than people with red or black skins unless you excel
them in piety.” (Tirmidhi
5198 and Ahmad)
Once we become
pious, we earn Allah’s love. Allah the Almighty will bless us with the best
personality ľ one that is loved by all the angels, and all the people,
including non-Muslims. We read the
following Ahâdîth Qudsi:
Abu Hurairah (radhiallâhu anhu) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (sallallâhu
‘alayhi wasallam) said, “Allah
(Mighty and sublime be He) said: ‘Whoever shows enmity to someone devoted to
Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything
more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My
servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love
him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with
which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks.
Were he to ask (something) of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to
ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do
not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about (seizing) the soul of
my faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him.’” (Bukhari 8/509)
Abu Hurairah (radhiallâhu anhu) narrated that the Prophet (sallallâhu
‘alayhi wasallam) said, “If
Allah loves a person, He calls Gabriel saying, 'Allah loves so and-so; O
Gabriel! Love him.’ Gabriel would love him and make an announcement amongst the
inhabitants of the Heaven. 'Allah loves so-and-so, therefore you should love
him also,' and so all the inhabitants of the Heaven would love him, and then he
is granted the pleasure of the people on the earth.” (Bukhari
4/431 and 8/66, Muslimand Tirmidhi)
We should include
in our supplications to Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) during qiyaam
ul layl, that He makes us
effective Du’ât, so that those non-Muslims who listen
to us will easily see the Light of Islam. When we do this, by Allah’s Will, we
will succeed as Du’ât because Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) listens and grants
supplications from His devoted worshippers especially during qiyaam ul layl. Allah’s Messenger (sallallâhu
‘alayhi wasallam) said:
Abu Hurairah (radhiallâhu anhu) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (sallallâhu
‘alayhi wasallam) said: “Our Rabb, the
Blessed, the
It is a must that
we should invite people to love Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) for the favors that He has given to us.
Verily, Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) is our Creator,
Sustainer and Cherisher. Everything
comes from Him. He Alone deserves our
love:
“Yet there are men
who take (for worship) others besides Allah as equal (with Allah); they love
them as they should love Allah. But
those of faith are overflowing in their love for Allah. If only the unrighteous could see behold they
would see the penalty that to Allah belongs all power and Allah will strongly
enforce the penalty.” (2:165)
We should invite
non-Muslims to love Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) so that the Almighty will love them in
return. They can show their love to
Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala)
by being rational and sincere in their search for Truth. If they
do so, they will find that verily, Islam is the True Religion from Allah (Subhanahu wa
ta’ala). Insha Allah, He
will open their hearts to Islam as He is the One Who gives Islam to those whom
He loves. Allah’s Messenger (sallallâhu ‘alayhi wasallam) says in the
following Hâdîth:
‘Abdullah Bin Mas’ud (radhiallâhu anhu) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (sallallâhu
‘alayhi wasallam) said, “Allah
Most High has allotted you your characters just as He has allotted you your
provisions. Allah Most High gives worldly things to those whom He loves and
those whom He does not love, but He gives religion only to those whom He loves,
so he who is given religion by Allah has been loved by Him. By Him in Whose
hand my soul is, a man is not a Muslim till his heart and tongue are
submissive, and he is not a believer till his neighbor is safe from injurious
behavior on his part.” (Tirmidhi 4994)