Reality of Love

There once lived in Basrah a prolific and profoundly spiritual worshipper whose fear of the Hereafter caused him to become physically weak, and whose constant crying made him skinny and sick. When he was on his death bed, his family gathered around him and they all began to cry.

'Help me sit up,' he said. He addressed his father first: 'O my father, what is making you cry?'

'My son,' began his father, 'I remembered that I will lose you and I will be alone after you die.'
The worshipper then turned his gaze towards his mother and said, 'O my mother, what is making you cry?'

'I am crying because I will soon have to taste the bitterness of losing you,' she said.

He then turned to his sister and asked, 'What is making you cry?'

'Because I will soon lose out on your kindness and will consequently have to depend on others for help,' she said.

Finally he looked at his children and asked, 'What is making you cry?'

'The prospect of a hard and humiliating life of being orphans after you die,' they said. Now it was his turn to cry. 'And what is making you cry?' everyone asked.

'I am crying because I saw that each one of you cried for his or her own self and not for me,' he said. 'Is there none among you who cried for the long, hard journey I am about to embark upon, and the few supplies (i.e.good deeds) that I have for it? Is there none among you who cries because I will be lying down in dirt? Is there none among you who cries because I will be held accountable (and might have to endure punishment)? Is there none among you who cries because of when I will stand before the Lord of all that exists (for judgment)?'

He then rolled over onto his face; when they tried to move him, they realized he had just died...


Al-Mawaiz Wal Majalis page 111


From the book: Stories of Repentance




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Definition of Love

There are 4 types of love in islam:

1) Divine Love - which is specifically for Allaah alone. And none should be loved divinely more than Allaah.

2) Love for the sake of Allaah, which is love for the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the companions and the righteous etc.

3.
a) Love of the permissible: wives/husband, children, parents etc.

b) Love of food, water, clothing etc.

4) Love of any other deity besides Allaah, such as something which contradicts what Allah has ordered us to do etc. which isn't permitted.

1) The person has to have divine love for Allaah only, which is compulsory in islaam. It isn't permitted that a person's love for anything else goes against the commandments of Allaah.

2) We also have to love the Messenger of Allaah (peace be upon him) more than we love ourselves - this is needed in order to perfect faith. [check tafsir ibn kathir Qur'an 9:24]

3) The 3rd love is a permissible love but it can either lead to sin [if the person disobeys Allah in order to please the creation] or it can lead to reward if the believer has the intention of pleasing Allah.

4) The 4th love is what stops a disbeliever from coming closer to Allah, it may be something else worshipped instead of Allah, such as an idol, a person, the persons desires etc. We should seek refuge in Allah from this.

Most people who fall into haraam love usually don't understand islaam properly. They might start off with desire, and gradually be played into falling in love with the person. However, one has to realize that no love is real, no love is really lasting - unless it is done for the sake of Allah. This is why love which is done while disobeying Allah is usually broken, ends up in hurt, and both people usually end up as enemies, or go down other evil after this, unless Allah saves them and blesses them in hidaayah (guidance.)

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