The
Levels of Love
Ibn Taymeeyah
Al-'Ibaadah (worship) which we are commanded to perform includes the
meaning of humility and love, it contains extreme humility before Allaah
together with the extreme love for Him
.
The uppermost level of love is the extreme adoration (Tatayum) and its
lowermost level is the interest, because the heart is first interested
in the beloved. After the interest comes the affection, then the love,
and finally the extreme adoration. In Arabic "Taym-u-Allaah" (the adorer
of Allah) is used to mean "Abd-u-Allaah" (the worshiper of Allaah) because
the adorer is the one who yields completely to his lover.
One who submits to someone with hatred is not worshiping him. And one
who loves someone without submitting to him is likewise not worshiping
him; this is like a man who loves his son and friends. Therefore, neither
love nor submission alone are sufficient in worshiping Allaah .
Allaah
must be loved most by
Al-'Abd and He
must be the
greatest of all in his sight. Nothing deserves complete love and submission
except Allaah
. It is a futile
love when anything has been loved for other than the sake of Allaah
.
And whatever has been highly regarded without it being by the Command of
Allaah
, its glorification is
rejected.
The love for Allaah and
Ar-Rasool
should override
any other love.
Allaah said (which means):
"Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight are dearer to you than Allaah and His Messenger, and striving hard and Fighting in His Cause; then wait until Allaah brings about His Decision (torment). And Allaah guides not the rebellious folk." [At-Tawbah:24]
Thus, the essence of love should be due to Allaah
and His Messenger
, so too
with the obedience. For the obedience is due to Allaah
and His Messenger
, and pleasing
is due to Allaah
and His Messenger
,
"But it is more fitting that they should please Allah and His Messenger
(Muhammad ) if they
are (true) believers." [At-Tawbah:62]