Loving Allāh and gaining His Love
source: bidāyat us-sūl fi tafdhīl ir-rasūl ~ …
the superiority of the Messenger (of Allāh) ~ page no. 5-7
Shaykh al-Albānī says in his introduction:
“Know, O Muslim brother, that it is not possible for anyone to rise to this station of loving Allāh and His Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) except by tawhīd (singling out) of Allāh, the Most High, alone in His worship, and by singling out the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) alone for following from among the servants of Allāh, due to (Allāh’s) statement: ‘He who obeys the Messenger (Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم)) has indeed obeyed Allāh’[1] and His statement ‘Say (O Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) to mankind): ‘If you (really) love Allāh then follow me (i.e. accept Islamic Monotheism, follow the Qur’ān and the Sunnah), Allāh will love you.’’[2] And (the Prophet) (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: ‘No, by the One in whose Hand my soul is, if Mūsā was alive, he would have no choice but to follow me.’[3]
I say: so if someone like Mūsā, the one who Allāh spoke to (directly), cannot follow other than the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), then can anyone else do that? Hence, this is one of the definite evidences of the obligation of singling out the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in following, which is one of the requirements of the shahāda (testimony): ‘anna muhammad ar-rasūlullāh (that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allāh).’ Therefore, Allāh, the Blessed and Most High, in the before-mentioned āyah, made following him (صلى الله عليه وسلم) alone to be a proof of Allāh’s love for (the follower). And there is no doubt that whoever Allāh loves, Allāh is with him in everything, as occurs in the authentic hadīth al-Qudsī:[4] ‘(Allāh says), ‘My slave does not come near to me with anything more beloved to me than that which I have made obligatory upon him, and My slave continues to come near me with supererogatory deeds until I love him; and when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he grasps and his leg with which he walks.[5] And if he asks me, I will surely give him, and if he seeks refuge in Me, I will surely protect him . . .’[6]
And if this divine care is only for the beloved slave of Allāh, it is obligatory upon every Muslim to take the means which will make him beloved to Allāh, namely following the Messenger of Allāh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) alone; and just by that, he will attain special care from his Mawlā[7], the Blessed and Most High. Don’t you see that it is not possible to know the obligatory duties and distinguish them from the supererogatory acts except by following him (صلى الله عليه وسلم) alone? And indeed there is no doubt that the more the Muslim learns about the biography of the Messenger of Allāh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and knows of his pleasant nature and virtues, the more his love for him will be and the more extensive and comprehensive his following of him will be.”
~ asaheeha translations ~
[1] Sūrat un-Nisā, 4:80
[2] Sūrah Āl ʽImrān, 3:31
[3] Shaykh al-Albāni adds the following footnote: “Ad-Dāramī, Ahmad and Abu Nuʽaym narrated it from the hadīth of Jābir bin ʽAbdillāh, and it is a hasan (good) hadīth as I clarified in ‘Al-Mishkāh’ and others”
[4] a hadīth in which the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) narrates Allāh’s Speech from Him
[5] i.e., Allāh directs his hearing, sight, actions with his hand and his walking to only that which is good; refer to Explanatory Notes on Imām an-Nawawī’s Forty Ahādīth (Revisited) by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Sālih al-ʽUthaymīn (rahimahullāh), p. 250-251
[6] Sahīh al-Bukhārī #6502
[7] Lord, Helper, Protector, etc.; refer to Translation of the meanings of the Noble Qur’ān in the English Language by al-Hilāli/Khān
