Ramadan Excerpts 1444 H (Lesson 12): Love for Allah
- Ramadan Lectures
- /
- 23.Ramadan Excerpts-1444
Additional link to watch the video
Click
×
In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Ibn Al-Qayyim has an amazing quote that goes as follows:
"It is odd to know Allah, but you do not love Him. It is also odd to love Him, but you do not obey Him!" This statement is really decisive, crucial and inclusive. The love for Allah is based on knowing Him, given "No vision can grasp Him". Allah says:
﴾ ﴾ Then in which speech after Allah and His Ayat will they believe?﴿ ﴿
As though Allah has given us three ways to know Him: The first way is His creations, and our stance should be to reflect on them, the second way is Allah's Actions, and our stance should be to observe them, and the third way is Allah's Words, and our stance should be to comprehend them. Man swings between these three ways by reflecting, observing and comprehending, because they are the only ways to know Allah.
The foundation of religion is based on knowing Allah, and this foundation is established through the Divine Revelation for ten years in Makkah, and we refer to this period of time in the Noble Quran as the makkan phase.
Let me tell you the following: If we overlook this phase we will have a big problem, why? Because you will get to know the commands before knowing the Commander, and thus you will artfully disobey the Commander. However, if you know Allah (The Commander) and then you know His Commands, you will devotedly obey Him. Having said that, I have already pointed out the problem Muslims suffer from.
Muslims are more than one billion and 800 million, they own half of earth's treasures and they have things in common more than any other nations, like the language, the religion, the hopes, the pains…etc., yet their enmity among themselves is very great, because they turn away from abiding by Allah's Way as they should. This is a very crucial matter.
Hence, when man knows Allah, he will love Him, and if he loves Him, he will obey Him. On the other hand, if man is satisfied with cursory knowledge he has collected from his community without abiding by any commands, religious text or evidences, his faith will be the faith of the common people which is prone to collapse upon being tested with any blazing desire.
The sky-diver knows very little about the shape of his parachute, whether it is round, square or oval, and he knows very little about the kind of fiber it is made of or how many ropes it has or what colors they are, yet he is obliged to know one important thing without which he will land dead; he should know how to open the parachute. This kind of crucial knowledge is referred to by scholars as "The requisite knowledge".
Common people are not asked to know every detail in Islam, or to dive deep in it, but they are obliged to abide by Shari'ah (following commands and refraining from prohibitions). If they abide by Shari'ah, they will reap its fruits.
If you lower your gaze from looking at something unlawful, if you are honest and trustworthy or if you master your career, this will be a virtue you have. Had we demanded the professional scholars to master the roots of religion, and had we demanded common people to abide by the rulings of Islam, we would have survived (as a nation).
