P.S.- Allaah does not love nor hate, because those are both emotions, and Allaah is free from emotions.
Shaykh Ahmad(may Allaah accept his deeds) said:
"Because love and hate are emotions and love and hate were not mentioned in the religious texts rather the terms يحب and يبغض were used in the Qur'ān and the meaning of those two terms are acceptance and rejection/non-acceptance and they dont mean the emotion of "love" or "hate" when referring to Allāh'
There are four kinds of love:
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The first of them is love of Allah, but this alone is not sufficient to save a person from the punishment of Allah and to earn him His reward. The Mushrikeen (idolaters), worshippers of the cross, Jews and others all love Allah.
- The second is love of that which Allah loves. This is what brings a person into Islam and out of disbelief. The most beloved of people to Allah is the one who is most correct and most devoted in this kind of love.
- The third kind is love for the sake of Allah, which is one of the essentials of loving that which Allah loves. A person’s love of that which Allah loves cannot be complete until he also loves for the sake of Allah.
- The fourth is love for something alongside Allah, and this love has to do with shirk (paganism). Everyone who loves things alongside Allah but not for the sake of Allah has taken that thing as a rival to Allah. This is the love of the Mushrikeen (pagan)
- When Allah causes him to be hated and to have a bad reputation and be spoken ill of in this world, because that is usually due to a person’s bad conduct and corruption.
- He loves that which Allah, may He be exalted, hates, and he hates that which Allah loves
- He gets carried away in sin, transgression and misguidance, moving from one sin to another, and he is not enabled to repent, and he dies in that state.
- He persists in keeping company with people of sin and avoids people of faith.
- He does not adhere to the duties enjoined by Allah and the pillars of Islam. So you only see him neglecting the prayer, too lazy to offer it, and ignoring the rights of Allah and the rights of His slaves, not caring about the consequences of that in this world and the Hereafter.
- He hates advice and resents the one who offers it; if he is instructed to do something good or is told not to do something bad, he takes pride in his sin. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
- He hates that which Allah loves and he loves that which Allah hates.
- He has the characteristics that Allah dislikes, such as lying, deceiving, betraying, backbiting, malicious gossip and so on, characteristics that Allah hates and He hates those who have those characteristics. If a person acquires any characteristic that Allah hates, to such an extent that it becomes second nature to him and part of his character, this is something that exposes him to the wrath and hatred of Allah, for Allah when Allah hates a characteristic, He hates for people to adopt it .
- He is one of those who show off and seek to enhance their reputation, one of those who boast, are proud and arrogant, and feel themselves to be above submitting humbly in servitude to Allah.
- His attachment to his religion is weak, and he is more attached to his whims and desires; he only strives to fulfill his desires and evil inclinations, until he becomes like one who has taken his whims and desires as his god.
- He strives hard for worldly gain, but he is heedless about matters of the Hereafter.
- He gives in to major sins that incur the wrath and anger of Allah, such as zina, consuming riba, slandering chaste women and the like, then he is not enabled to repent.
- He imitates the disbelievers and evildoers, and hates to resemble the people of faith.
- He commits shirk and falls into it, then he is not enabled to repent from it. Shirk is the worst characteristic a person may have and it exposes him to the wrath and anger of Allah.
There remains a fifth kind of love which has nothing to do with our topic; this is the natural love which is a person’s inclination towards that which suits his nature, such as the love of a thirsty person for water or of a hungry person for food, or the love of sleep, or of one’s wife and children. There is nothing wrong with this unless it distracts a person from remembering Allah and keeps him from loving Him. Allah says (interpretation of the meanings):
“O you who believe! Let not your properties or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah” [63:9]
“Men whom neither trade nor sale (business) diverts from the remembrance of Allah” [24:37]
(Al-Jawaab al-Kaafi, 1/134)
And he said (may Allah have mercy on him):
The difference between loving for the sake of Allah and loving something alongside Allah is one of the most important distinctions. Everyone needs to make this distinction and is indeed obliged to do so. Loving for the sake of Allah is a sign of the perfection of faith, but loving something alongside Allah is the essence of shirk (paganism). The difference between them is that a person’s love for the sake of Allah is connected to his love of Allah; if this love becomes strong in his heart, this love dictates that he will love that which Allah loves. If he loves that which his Lord loves and he loves those who are the friends of Allah, this is love for the sake of Allah. So he loves His Messengers, Prophets, angels and close friends because Allah loves them, and he hates those who hate them because Allah hates those people. The sign of the love and hatred for the sake of Allah is that his hatred for the one whom Allah hates will not turn into love merely because that person treats him kindly, does him a service or meets some need he has; and his love for those whom Allah loves will not turn to hatred simply because that person does something that upsets or hurts him, whether it is done by mistake or deliberately, in obedience to Allah or because the person feels that he has a duty to do it for some reason, or because the person is a wrongdoer who may yet give up his wrongdoing and repent. The entire religion revolves around four principles: love and hatred, and stemming from them, action and abstinence. The person whose love and hatred, action and abstinence, are all for the sake of Allah, has perfected his faith so that when he loves, he loves for the sake of Allah, when he hates, he hates for the sake of Allah, when he does something, he does it for the sake of Allah, and when he abstains from something, he abstains for the sake of Allah. To the extent that he is lacking in these four categories, he is lacking in faith and commitment to religion. This is in contrast to the love of things alongside Allah, which is of two types. One is diametrically opposed to the principle of Tawheed (Oneness of Allah) and is shirk; the other is opposed to perfection of sincerity and love towards Allah, but does not put a person beyond the pale of Islam.
The first kind is like the love of the Mushrikeen for their idols and gods. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And of mankind are some who take (for worship) others besides Allah as rivals (to Allah). They love them as they love Allah” [2:165]
These Mushrikeen love their idols and gods alongside Allah as they love Allah. This love and devotion is accompanied by fear, hope, worship and supplication. This love is pure Shirk which Allah does not forgive. Faith cannot be perfected unless a person regards these idols as enemies and hates them intensely, and hates the people who worship them, and regards them as enemies and strives against them. This is the message with which Allah sent all His Messengers and revealed all His Books. He created Hell for the people of shirk who love these rivals, and He created Paradise for those who strive against them and take them as enemies for His sake and to earn His Pleasure. Anybody who worships anything from the vicinity of the Throne to the lowest depths of the earth and takes a god and a supporter besides Allah and associates other beings in worship with Him, will be disowned by the object of his worship when he is most in need of it [i.e., on the Day of Judgement].
The second kind is love for the things which Allah has made attractive to people, such as women, children, gold, silver, branded beautiful horses, cattle and well-tilled land. People love them with a kind of desire, like the love of the hungry person for food and the thirsty person for water. This love is of three kinds. If a person loves them for the sake of Allah and as a means of obeying Allah, he will be rewarded for that; it will be counted as a part of love for the sake of Allah and a means of reaching Him, and he will still find enjoyment in them. This is how the best of creation [i.e. the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)] was, to whom women and perfume were made dear in this world, and his love for them helped him to love Allah more and to convey His Message and fulfil His commands. If a person loves them because they suit his nature and his own desires, but he does not give them preference over that which Allah loves and is pleased with, and he gets them because of his natural inclination, then they come under the heading of things which are permissible, and he will not be punished for that, but his love of Allah and for the sake of Allah will be lacking somewhat. If his sole purpose in life is to get these things, and he gives priority to that over that which Allah loves and is pleased with, then he is wronging himself and following his own desires.
The first is the love of al-Saabiqoon (those who are foremost in Islam); the second is the love of al-muqtasidoon (those who are average) and the third is the love of al-zaalimoon (the wrongdoers).
Al-Rooh by Ibn al-Qayyim, 1/254.
Allow us to further elaborate:
Allah, may He be exalted, loves those who believe, hence He makes faith dear to them. And He hates those who disbelieve and disobey Him, unless they repent. If Allah helps a person to believe and makes faith dear to his heart, and makes the believers dear to him and makes him dear to them, and he lives and dies following that, then he is one of those whom Allah loves.
But if Allah makes faith and obedience hateful to a person, and He makes disobedience dear to his heart, and he makes those who are disobedient dear to him and makes him dear to them, and he lives and dies following that, then he is one of those whom Allah hates.
But we cannot be certain that any particular individual is one of those whom Allah loves, just as we cannot be certain that any particular individual is one of those whom Allah hates. It is essential to understand that Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, may hate a person at one time and love him at another time, according to his actions.
If a person commits some of the deeds that Allah hates, it cannot be ruled that he is one of those who Allah hates, for Allah may bestow His mercy upon him and he may repent before he dies and do good deeds, and Allah may forgive him; and he may have hidden righteous deeds that are unknown to people, so Allah may treat him kindly.
What we can be certain about is that Allah hates his disobedient actions and his commission of that sin.
We will highlight some signs and indications that may signal that Allah hates His slave, without stating definitively that everyone who has some of these characteristics is one of those whom Allah hates. These include the following:
Al-Bukhaari (3209) and Muslim (2637) narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “When Allah loves a person, He calls Jibreel and says: ‘I love So and so, so love him.’ So Jibreel loves him, then he calls out to the people of heaven, ‘Allah loves So and so, so love him.’ So the people of heaven love him and he finds acceptance on earth. If Allah hates a person, He calls Jibreel and says: ‘I hate So and so, so hate him.’ So Jibreel hates him, then he calls out to the people of heaven: ‘Allah hates So and so, so hate him.’ So they hate him and he is hated on earth.”
Al-Bukhaari (1367) and Muslim (949) narrated that Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A funeral passed by and they spoke well of (the deceased). The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “It has become certain.” Another funeral passed by and they spoke badly of (the deceased). The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “It has become certain.” ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: What has become certain? He said: “For the one of whom you spoke well, Paradise has become certain, and for the one of whom you spoke badly, Hell has become certain. You are the witnesses of Allah on earth.”
Allah, may He be exalted, said of the people of faith whom He loves (interpretation of the meaning):
“but Allah has endeared the Faith to you and has beautified it in your hearts, and has made disbelief, wickedness and disobedience (to Allah and His Messenger SAW) hateful to you. These! They are the rightly guided ones”
[al-Hujuraat 49:7].
The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “A man will follow the way of his close friend, so let one of you look at who he takes as a close friend.” Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4833; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood etc.
“And when it is said to him, ‘Fear Allah’, he is led by arrogance to (more) crime. So enough for him is Hell, and worst indeed is that place to rest” [al-Baqarah 2:206].
Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Whoever wishes for the quick-passing (transitory enjoyment of this world), We readily grant him what We will for whom We like. Then, afterwards, We have appointed for him Hell, he will burn therein disgraced and rejected, (far away from Allah’s Mercy)”
[al-Isra’ 17:18].
al-Bukhaari (6435) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Wretched is the slave of the dinar and dirham and fine clothing, if he is given he is pleased and if he is not given he is displeased.”
He is foul mouthed, evil, a slanderer and evildoer; people avoid him because of his rudeness, bad ways, wrongdoing and transgression of the limits set by Allah.
The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The worst of people in status before Allaah on the Day of Resurrection will be those whom the people leave alone for fear of their evil.”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6032; Muslim, 2591.
To sum up, if a person has the characteristic of obedience to Allah and to His Messenger, then he may be one of those whom Allah loves; if a person persists in disobedience to Allah and His Messenger, then he deserves to incur the hatred and wrath of Allah.
By the same token, it cannot be said of any particular individual that Allah loves this person or that Allah hates this person.
Al-Bukhaari (3332) and Muslim (2643) narrated from Ibn Mas‘ood (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “A man may do the deeds of the people of Hell until there is nothing between him and it but a cubit, then the decree overtakes him and he does a deed of the people of Paradise, and thus enters Paradise. And a man may do the deeds of the people of Paradise until there is nothing between him and it but a cubit, then the decree overtakes him and he does a deed of the people of Hell and thus enters Hell.”
BACK TO ALLAH