Make Allah Your Beloved Part 3

How to Become the Beloved of Allah

How do we go on this journey of becoming the Beloveds of Allāh?

إِنْ أَوْلِيَاؤُهُ إِلَّا الْمُتَّقُونَ

Allāh says, ‘those that are Beloved to me are those who have Taqwa’. After the great month of Ramadhaan, the levels of Taqwa are high. Now what do you do? Take these levels of Taqwa and nurture them because this Taqwa of Allāh will make you the Beloved of Allāh.

Who is the Beloved of Allāh?

وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ

Those who do good. You do good the entire month of Ramadhaan now continue with this good because it will take you towards your goal of becoming the Beloved of Allāh.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ

Allāh loves those who rely on Him.

أَنَا عِنْدَ مُنْكَسِرَةِ قُلُوْبُكُمْ

Allāh says, ‘those people who crush their desires and as a result they break their heart, I come to those broken hearts, and I make those hearts my Beloved’

You were resisting sin and temptation the whole month of Ramadhaan, you were abstaining from that which is normally Halaal, now continue to abstain from that which is always Haraam even if it breaks your heart because Allāh says, “I make broken hearts My Beloveds.” Break your heart for the pleasure of Allāh and you become the Beloved of Allāh. What is the benefit of becoming the Beloved of Allāh?  When Allāh loves you then that benefit is not restricted to yourself.

اِنَّ اللهَ تَعَلى يَحْفَظُ بِصَلَاحِ الْعَبْدِ وَلَدَهُ وَ وَلَدَ وَلَدِهِ وَ عِتْرَتَهُ وَ عَشِيْرَتَهُ وَ اَهلَهُ فِي حِفْظِ اللهِ مَا دَامَ عَلَيه

When you become the Beloved of Allāh, Allāh will then cause the benefit to apply to you, to your progeny, to your family, to your community and to your entire locality, an entire locality will benefit if one man has become the Beloved of Allāh.

If you become the Beloved of Allāh, you know how you will be received on the Day of Qiyaamah? The Scholars have given a beautiful example. They say, you know how when you have gone away for a long while, and when you come back, your wife lays out the tablecloth and prepares a wonderful meal, and there’s a great excitement in the house – that is how the Angels will welcome you on the Day of Qiyaamah if you have become the Beloved of Allāh. We hear about the horrors of the Day of Qiyaamah and how long Qiyaamah will be, five hundred years and each year is according to the years of the Hereafter not according to the years of this world. Aaishah رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهَا says that that person who has become the Beloved of Allāh, Qiyaamah will be so quick for him like the two Rakaats Sunnah before Fajr Salaah.

When you attain Jannah,

وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَاتَّبَعَتْهُمْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُمْ بِإِيمَانٍ أَلْحَقْنَا بِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَمَا أَلَتْنَاهُمْ مِنْ عَمَلِهِمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ

Because you are the Beloved of Allāh, you will be granted a very high rank in Jannah. When you look down, you will see your family and your progeny. Allāh will say, take all of them and let them join him in a higher rank because he was a true Friend of Allāh.

The day of Eid after the great month of Ramadhaan is a moment of introspection. Why is it that we have become disobedient servants of Allāh? It is because we have allowed the love of everyone and everything else to saturate our hearts and we have left no place for the love of Allāh.

The ultimate disgrace is to die without the love of Allāh in your heart. Look at the devil: he had three ع’s but not the fourth. He was an Aalim – there was no greater scholar than the devil. He was an Aabid – there was no greater worshipper than the devil, even the Angels used to be envious of him. He was an Aarif – he knew who Allāh was. But he was NOT an Aashiq – he did not have the love of Allāh in his heart and all of his Ibaadah, all of his knowledge, all of his recognition came to naught because the fire of the love of Allāh was not burning in his bosom.

Make Allāh your beloved, become the Beloved of Allāh. Each Ramadhaan gives us that boost. Our levels of Taqwa are high. Our levels of Itaa’at and obedience are high. Make use of that in your journey towards striving to become the Beloved of Allāh.

مَنْ عَرَفَ اللهَ لَمْ يُحِبْ غَيْرَهُ

Once you know who your Allāh is you cannot love anyone but Allāh. That’s why Nabi ﷺ said to Abu Bakr رضِيَ الله عَنْهُ:

لَوْ كُنْتُ مُتَّخِذًا خَلِيلًا لَاتَّخَذْتُ أَبَا بَكْرٍ خَلِيلًا

Abu Bakr you are my companion, you are my best friend, I knew you from childhood but my heart belongs to Allāh. We have allowed the love of everything and everyone else to creep into our hearts.

What does Allāh say in a Hadith-e-Qudsi:

يَا ٱبْنَ آدَمْ خَلَقْتُ الْاَشْيآءَ كُلَهَا لَك

I have created this Dunya and whatever it contains for you

وَ خَلَقْتُكَ مِنْ اَجْلِي

But I have created you for Me, so when are you going to start loving Me?

In another Hadith-e-Qudsi, Allāh Tabaraka wa Ta’ala says:

يَا عَبْدِي

اِنِّي لَكَ مَحِبٌّ

O my Servant, I love you.

فَبِحَقِّ عَلَيْكَ كُن لِي مُحِبًّا

Now due to that right that I have over you as your Creator, when are you going to start showing true love to Allāh?  Allāh is saying, ‘I already love you’, but once you start showing true love to me, I will take you from beyond the normal love that I have for my servants and make you the truly Beloved. Make you my Khaleel. Make you my bosom friend.

{Extracted and adapted from Volume One of the book In Pursuit of Purpose by Ml Sulaimaan Ravat}