“Allah is more compassionate towards His slaves than this mother towards her child.”
[ Muslim ]
The Holy Quran quotes the Messenger (p.) saying: "If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your faults, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful". (3:31) This Ayah indicates that the pious person should express his love to Allah by believing in His Prophet and following the Message, and through obeying the Prophet, abiding by his orders, leaving what he prohibits and obeying all what Allah has revealed to him, because that is the vivid expression of the practical love that fills his whole entity. In this way, Allah will love the pious person because He, the Most Exalted, loves those who are pious, truthful, charitable, devout, and are sincere to Him and to His Prophet. A man said to the Prophet (p.): "What should I do in order to gain Allah's love". The Prophet (p.) replied: "Love what Allah and His Prophet love and detest what Allah and His Prophet detest".
Prophet Mohammad (p.) also said: "The one who frequently mentions death, Allah will love him". Hence, remembering death reveals to man that the world will perish and that he will come to meet the Hereafter, so he holds his responsibilities in obeying Allah, the Most Exalted.
Imam Ja'far Assadiq (a.s.) said: "I asked for Allah's Love and I found it in detesting the people of wrongdoing". What is meant here is to detest their deeds of disobeying Allah, rebelling against Him, and insisting on that.
In this way, it becomes clear that the expression of loving Allah in the soul of the pious person is represented by following Prophet Mohammad (p.) and his message that he has conveyed on behalf of Allah, to abide by what He wants and leave what He prohibited. And this leads to gaining Allah's love and satisfaction.
Who are those whom Allah loves?
The Holy Quran has talked about more than one aspect in the spiritual and scientific balance of the model of the people who gain Allah's love?
1- The Charitable
Allah said: "…and do good (to others); surely Allah loves the doers of good". (2:195). The humanitarian pious model refers here to those who do good to Allah by observing all conditions of doing good, achieving all its concepts, and embodying all its values, as well as doing good to people by giving them their rights, helping them in attaining their individual and general needs.
Allah also talked about what the people of Qaroun said to him: "…and do good (to others) as Allah has done good to you". (28:77), since they used to advise him to use the land treasures that Allah has bestowed on him, in doing good to himself and not to wrong himself, nor boast or become arrogant, do good to people and hold his responsibilities in helping them with his money. Allah, the Most Exalted says: "and give them of the wealth of Allah which He has given you". (24:33) And in their property was a portion due to him who begs and to him who is denied (good). (15:19)
But, those who did good to Allah and the people, Allah will give them reward by bestowing upon them His grace. He, the Most Exalted said: "Is there any Reward for Good - other than Good?" (55:60), "For those who do good is good (reward) and more (than this)" (10:26)….
2- The Repentant:
Allah said: "surely Allah loves those who turn much (to Him), and He loves those who purify themselves" (2:22). Allah wanted the people who have made sins to turn from their sins and make up for them in order to be near to Allah through gaining His satisfaction, for He has promised to accept their repentance and forgive the sinner, He said: But whoever repents after his iniquity and reforms (himself), then surely Allah will turn to him (mercifully); surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful (5:39), O you who believe! turn to Allah a sincere turning; maybe your Lord will remove from you your evil and cause you to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow (66:8). In addition there are many other Ayahs that indicate the roominess of repentance, because they reveal that the repentant stores in his soul the fear of Allah for the sins that he had committed, asks for Allah's mercy and likes to return back to Allah to serve Him. He is also repentant for what he has done in the past intending to change his bad past to do what makes Allah loves him. It is said that Allah loves the repentant and erases all his sins. Thus, by repentance, man is reborn like he was in the day his mother has given birth to him, "the repentant is like the one who has no sins".
3- The Purified:
Allah said: "surely Allah loves those who turn much (to Him), and He loves those who purify themselves". (2:222)
Those who purify themselves are those who purify their bodies as Allah has ordered in a way that this physical purity opens to the spiritual and moral purity for the intention of getting close to Allah, He, the Most Exalted says: "Allah would not place a burden on you, but He would purify you and would perfect His grace upon you, that ye may give thanks" (5:6). In addition, Islam stressed on purifying the body, clothes and everything that is related to man's private life in his land and home, from the unclean impurity.
On the other hand, Allah directs man to the spiritual purity through the act of giving that is represented by charity that the pious pays as "Zakat" and "Sadakat" almsgiving, and other financial obligations. Allah says: "Take alms out of their property, you would cleanse them and purify them thereby".( 9:103) taking into consideration that the almsgiving through which the spirituality of giving is represented, purifies one's soul from the dirtiness of stinginess and from egoism that only cares about one's stifling needs and private interests.
Moreover, the Holy Quran talks about the Jews and the hypocrites who do not have purity in their hearts because they are not trustful and do not adhere to the Right, but they used to harbor hypocrisy and deception to the pious people and to the whole life. Thus, Allah said: "let not those grieve you who strive together in hastening to unbelief from among those who say with their mouths: We believe, and their hearts do not believe, and from among those who are Jews; they are listeners for the sake of a lie, listeners for another people who have not come to you; they alter the words from their places, saying: If you are given this, take it, and if you are not given this, be cautious; and as for him whose temptation Allah desires, you cannot control anything for him with Allah. Those are they for whom Allah does not desire that He should purify their hearts; they shall have disgrace in this world, and they shall have a grievous chastisement in the hereafter". (5:41) This Ayah reveals that Allah wants man to purify his heart through the doctrinal and intellectual openness on the Right and its people and through adhering to the Right in all his deeds.
Islam emphasized the internal purity of man that is achieved through the purity of the mind in realizing the Right and the purity of feelings through having the pure intention towards man, far away from the meanness of malevolence and hatred and through the purity of the movement that is not lunched except for the sake of justice, Good and life. Therefore, Islam has taken a negative stand against those who harbor disbelief and show belief, because they are the hypocrites who harbor in their hearts evil intentions and plan for destroying peace in all the reality of man.
