The Wrappings of Gratitude

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

THE NIGHT STAR

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

By the heaven, and by the night star!

How will you know what the night star is?

It is the piercing star.

There is no soul that has a guardian over it.

Now let man reflect from what was he created.

(Qur’an, at-Tariq 86:1-5)

This surah takes its name from the word at-Tariq which occurs in the first verses meaning shining star which appears towards dawn. Metaphorically it means the prophet (s) himself, emerged from the darkness of the Age of Ignorance.[1]

The Meaning of Light and Knowledge

The Qur’an is resplendant with example after example of the equation between knowledge and light. A piercing spiritual light that enters the heart and illuminates the mind. As Allah says:

هُوَ الَّذِي يُصَلِّي عَلَيْكُمْ وَمَلَائِكَتُهُ لِيُخْرِجَكُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ وَكَانَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَحِيمًا

He it is Who sends blessings on you, as do His angels, that He may bring you out from the depths of Darkness into Light: and He is Full of Mercy to the Believers. (Qur’an, Ahzab 33:43)

The movement from darkness into light is also the movement from ignorance into knowledge, which is further underlined by the first word revealed in the Quran during the month of Ramadan, “Iqra”, or “read”. Allah said, “Read in the name of your Lord Who created”. (Quran, al-Alaq 96:1). Thus the beginning of the entry into the light is through reading which represents understanding the purpose of ones existence and creation, and it is only through this question that one begins that path back to Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala. So in this simple word is contained the knowledge of the entirity of the purpose of our existence – to return to God through the illumination of knowledge in the heart and mind, through seeking to understand our existence, prompted by reflection, all represented by reading. Thus the key to our physical and spiritual journey back to Allah is through the understanding of words and reflecting on their meaning. This was the distinction given to Adam (as) for Allah taught him, above the rest of His creation, meaning.

وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الأَسْمَاء كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلاَئِكَةِ فَقَالَ أَنبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاء هَـؤُلاء إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ

And He taught Adam the names of all things; then He placed them before the angels, and said: “Tell me the names of these if ye are right.” (Qur’an, Baqarah 2:31)

That is to say, the meaning contained in the ideas, principles and laws of Allah. The two major principles that we have often spoken of recently is Mercy and Justice, which are to be found in two of the names of Allah, ar-Rahman and al-Adl. In other words what distinguishes us as human beings from the rest of the creation of Allah is in our ability to understand meaning. Hence the striving towards the higher self is the striving towards the conscious mind overcoming the lower self (nafs) driven primarily by its basic needs. Those basic needs of eating, drinking, sleeping, copulation and so on are activities that may be found in the rest of God’s creation. Thus to live a life performing these tasks is not what Allah requires of us, what we are commanded to do through the heart and our faculty of reasoning, both of which are referred to in the Qur’an:

وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَن تُؤْمِنَ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِ اللّهِ وَيَجْعَلُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ

“No soul can believe, except by the will of Allah, and He will place doubt (or obscurity) on those who will not understand.” (Qur’an, Yunus 10:100)

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ سَيَجْعَلُ لَهُمُ الرَّحْمَنُ وُدًّا

“On those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, will (Allah) Most Gracious bestow love.” (Qur’an, Maryam 19:96)

The Meaning of Paradise

Thus what we are driving at so far is how the believer is directed to think about his existence and through the medium of knowledge and that knowledge is associated with light in the heart and mind, that piercing light referred to in Surah at-Tariq – all of which directs us to a world of meaning which is what the title of this post refers to – that “we see and seek another world”. In other words the world of meaning indicated throughout the Qur’an is the hereafter and all of our action on this earth are as a preparation for that world. Ramadan, this month, in that respect is the month in which that understanding becomes most apparent and most acute to the believer, of the finiteness of this abode as opposed to the infinite time in hereafter. However, one can only move phyically, intellectually and spiritually from this world to the next through seeking that other world, and through ones striving for it one begins to percieve that other world even when in this world. Thus the meaning behind, ‘to see and seek another world’ is to hold in ones mind this idea constantly of striving towards that other world through acquiring an understanding of that special meaning bestowed to the decendents of Adam. Those meanings are contained in the Qur’an which is essentially a book of concepts, ideas and principles rather than a book of law for only less that one tenth of the Qur’an deals specifically with law whereas as the remaining nine-tenths deal with ideas. Those ideas are applicable in this world, but they are not necessarily just for this abode, because whilst we are tested in our understanding and implementation of those ideas here on earth, it is their perfection that takes us to paradise. Hence they are of paradise, and what else is paradise but a place of perfection, for the people of perfection. One of those ideas is love, indeed the highest of those ideas. As we have previously mentioned the relationship between husband and wife, the perfect marriage is represented through the perfect marriage of two principles, of Justice represented by the man, and love ror compassion epresented by the woman. Justice gives love its meaning, and love gives justice its strength.

Paradise: Conviction, Perfection and Whole-Heartedness

Thus paradise is a place of perfect justice and perfect love, the place granted to those that believed in these two ideas. Thus to conclude, when we seek that other world what we as believers are tested in is to what extent we believe in perfect justice and perfect love. Both these ideas were exemplified by the prophet (s) throughout his life, and were central to his sunnah. The real test for the believers and what separates believers into their distinct categories is the extent to which they seek a perfection of these ideals in their life, and extent not only means how hard one strives but for what realm one seeks them. Justice and love are both temporary, and permenant, that is to say both of this world and the next. Thus if only sought for this world to the exclusion of the next, and sought only in and of themselves, then this is what we have been referring to when we have said, ‘half-hearted justice or half-hearted love’. And Allah says: “O ye who believe! Enter into Islam whole-heartedly; and follow not the footsteps of the evil one; for he is to you an avowed enemy”. (Qur’an, Baqarah 2:208). Whole-heartedness refers to submission which refers to Islam, which refers to peace, which refers to wholeness. In Islam there is no peace without wholeness because the word for peace in Arabic is Salaam, which comes from the root words Salima, which means to make whole. Thus one cannot entirely be a Muslim unless he is striving for peace and one cannot strive for peace without seeking wholeness, and the root of wholeness is in the conviction of whole-heartedness, and whole-hearted belief, which is what paradise represents.

Physical Paradise, Spiritual Paradise and Pure Goodness

As Allah mentions in the above verse, the idea of whole-heartedness is opposite to half-heartedness which belongs to the path of Shaitan, and thus we are warned here, that to follow the path of half-heartedness is to follow the path of Shaitan, a path that lacks any sort of conviction. Whereas the path of the prophet (s) is a path of whole-heartedness and conviction, which means to attain paradise one must continue to believe in a perfect justice and perfect love between human beings even though the whole world may believe in something else, and evn though one may not come to attain either in their lifetime. In other words their physical attainment is not necessarily the goal, the real test is whether one continued to believe in these noble and lofty ideals even though there was much to convince them otherwise. We are reminded here of the extraordinary example of the Sahaba who were full of so much conviction that there was no force on earth that could convince them to either compromise on or give up ‘La illaha il’lal la’. And La illaha il’lal la represents the complete and whole-hearted belief in all the virtues that Allah has created such as sincerity, honesty, generosity, patience, forebearance and so on. But the greatest of these virtues, the one towards which all are directed and without which none may be attained, is love. Thus to believe in a whole love, a love of conviction, of whole-heartedness, a pure and eternal love – is to believe, to see, and to seek another world and this world is paradise. However, something that is misunderstood amongst many believers is the dual-concept of paradise, that before we are granted a physical paradise we must learn to exist in a spiritual paradise. And the composition of the spiritual paradise is believing with a complete heart in all of goodness, for as the prophet (s) said in a hadith Qudsi, “all goodness is from Allah, all evil is from yourselves”. This simple statement is itself proof that there is nothing lacking in the goodness created by Allah, if we choose to believe in a flawed goodness, or that such ideas of true love are non-existant notions, then we ought to know these are things that we are ascribing by ourselves, and inadvertantly making a false judgement against Allah. Thus by not believing in true love one is making several serious errors of judgement. By denying pure goodness, one is making the assertion to Allah that what He has spoken of in the Qur’an is not true, and hence by believing this a person justifies to themselves that on does not need to believe in pure goodness. Again referring to our glorious Sahaba, they had no doubt in the existence of pure goodness, and then way they articulated that belief was to embody it to the best of their ability in their character, so that they themselves became living, walking and talking proofs of the existence of another world of pure goodness, of the existence of God, of the existence of Paradise. The only concievable way in which it is possible for us to not yet believe in pure goodness is to say that we do not yet believe in it, we are trying to, but we most certainly do not deny it. For to deny pure goodnes, pure love, true love, all of which are the same, would be to deny the Creator of all good, Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala.

Hence, to settle for anything less through believing that true goodness doesn’t exist is an indication of weak emaan in not believing in that other world of complete purity. One may reply to this by saying that to practice half-hearted love or to accept it does not mean that one does not believe in true love in the hereafter, however this reasoning does not hold true. The abode of this world is a testing ground for our hearts, an opportunity to gain knowledge and apply it. Thus it is contradictory to say one believes in an idea but in its practice one is negligent, would be the same as saying one believes in the principles of fasting but does not himself fast, or believes in fighting but when fighting is prescribed he leaves it to someone else.

Finally, the attainment, or lack thereof, of perfect justice and perfect love, in no way detracts from their desire and intention to want to achieve them and hence their reward is the same as, if not greater than, if one had achieved them. It is for this belief that believers are granted the highest reward of paradise. And this is true because Allah has created seven heavens, the distance between them the same as between the heavens and the earth, and each true believer is rewarded according to what he believed in, what he strove for and what he intended to strive for.

“Fair in the eyes of men is the love of things they covet: Women and sons; Heaped-up hoards of gold and silver; horses branded (for blood and excellence); and (wealth of) cattle and well-tilled land. Such are the possessions of this world’s life; but in nearness to Allah is the best of the goals (To return to). Say: Shall I give you glad tidings of things Far better than those? For the righteous are Gardens in nearness to their Lord, with rivers flowing beneath; therein is their eternal home; with companions pure (and holy); and the good pleasure of Allah. For in Allah’s sight are (all) His servants”- (Qur’an ale-Imran 3:14-15)

[1] The Majestic Qur’an. (2000); Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad, Mostafa Badawi, Uthman Hutchinson.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

This is a post I wrote back in April which I wanted to repost insha’Allah by way of reminder before the next article centred on the idea of Justice and Mercy as two halves of the perfect marriage, represented by the man and woman respectively. But before posting that I wanted us to think about the meaning of beauty, the reason being that for beauty to be inculcated in the marriage both husband and wife must understand what beauty is, how its defined, how to achieve it, what is the root of love, how we should be loved, and how to maintain an everlasting love. When our true beauty becomes manifest it is like a light that continues to radiate that spiritual beauty long after that ephemeral has disappeared. The beauty we are referring to here is the same as the love we have been discussing, both are eternal and, and if pure, effaces any notion of time.

Truly Beautiful

Tonight, this still evening, I wish to converse with you, would you permit me? Last night about this time I was writing about the extraordinary creation of God, and if we found His creation so compellingly beautiful, so enchanting, so breathtaking and so awe-inspiring then how extraordinarily beautiful must we appear to the rest of His creation. To the stars, to the moon, to the radiant sunsets, to the glowing galaxies. How must they view us in comparison to themselves and how jealous must they feel that it was us and not they that had been granted something as precious and beautiful as we have been given by Allah. Yesterday I wrote:

“Then what of true beauty is ordinary? True beauty has always been so extraordinary that it has astounded people. The truest of true beauty is a beautiful spirit, for in the human being there is nothing more beautiful than his spirit, when that spirit submits to its Lord and reflects the light of Divine Guidance. This is true beauty and this beauty is extraordinary, with the power to bring light wherever there is darkness”.

Truth and beauty go hand-in-hand, they are in seperable and intimate companions, one cannot exist without the other, because beauty needs truth to tell it that she is beautiful and all the truest reasons why she is so. And truth needs beauty to reflect back to him the beauty of his truthful words. These are the similies that God has given us to understand those precious qualities that reside within us all which require the reflection of others to show us the light they can see in us, to remind us of who we really are, to affirm the truth of our existence, to bear witness to both our beauty and theirs, our truth and theirs. And in doing so, it is more than just bearing witness to the God-given qualities we see in each other, to do so is also to testify to the existence of the One that placed them there.

I had been pondering this question, the question of what true beauty really was, and just as I mentioned last night, the answer to this question had also been inside for a long while, but like a silent secret it remained there hidden. Like a beautiful flower or a wonderous scent, its mysterious secret was wrapped within its beauty, and that beauty was itself shouded in mystery. And like all things beautiful they only become apparent and manifest only when God intends to reveal these hidden meanings, and again only to the extent the servant is able to understand, only according to his desire to want to learn, only to the extent of his humility and only according to the purity of his heart. So what you ask, was that secret? What gives beauty its beauty? What do we find beautiful and why? What is it within people that we find so utterly beautiful, so compelling? The answer is, it is the spirit. And it is so because the Ruh (soul) is of Allah, it is His spirit that He breathed into man, into each and everyone of us, that is what makes us so extraordinary. And it is so extraordinary becase whilst we may share our bodies with God’s creation, we do not share the Ruh with anything else.

It is the Ruh that shines, whose light shines forth. A face that is enlightened. That is aware. That knows. That knows it knows. That is what we find truly beautiful. That is what pure hearts are attracted to. This is the meaning of true beauty.

يَوْمَ تَرَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَسْعَى نُورُهُم بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَانِهِم بُشْرَاكُمُ الْيَوْمَ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ

“On the day when thou (Muhammad) wilt see the believers, men and women, their light shining forth before them and on their right hands, (and wilt hear it said unto them): Glad news for you this day: Gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein ye are immortal. That is the supreme triumph”. (Quran, al-Hadid 57:12)

But how, you ask, does the spirit shine? How does its light run forth?
The answer to this question is again given to us, its the person that possesses a heart, not just any heart, but a sound heart.

إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ

“But only he (will prosper) that brings to Allah a sound heart”(Quran, al-Shuara 26:89)

And a sound heart is one which desires to want to learn:

هُوَ الَّذِي يُنَزِّلُ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ آيَاتٍ بَيِّنَاتٍ لِيُخْرِجَكُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ بِكُمْ لَرَؤُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ

“He is the One Who sends to His Servant Manifest Signs, that He may lead you from the depths of Darkness into the Light and verily Allah is to you most kind and Merciful”. (Quran, al-Hadid 57:09)

It is a generous heart that desires to commit itself to Allah, one which gives back to Allah the gifts He has blessed us with,the greatest of which are words, which He has graciously taught us, so that we may use them for His sake:

مَن ذَا الَّذِي يُقْرِضُ اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا فَيُضَاعِفَهُ لَهُ وَلَهُ أَجْرٌ كَرِيمٌ

“Who is he that will lend unto Allah a goodly loan, that He may double it for him and his may be a rich reward”? (Quran, al-Hadid 57:11)

A sound heart is also one that desires the closeness of its Lord:

أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَن تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَمَا نَزَلَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ وَلَا يَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِن قَبْلُ فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَمَدُ فَقَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ

“Has not the Time arrived for the Believers that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of Allah and of the Truth which has been revealed (to them), and that they should not become like those to whom was given Revelation aforetime, but long ages passed over them and their hearts grew hard? For many among them are rebellious transgressors”. (Quran, al-Hadid 57:16)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Shakespeare – Sonnet 116

Is it nobler in the sight of God to be miserable without a complete love or to be happy with a half-hearted love – that is surely the question?

Your thoughts…..

Below, is an exchange of ideas and comments between a reader and myself regarding the question posed above of the validity of seeking love for its own sake, a half love or a complete love:

Reader: It is my favourite sonnet, I like the next part of it:

It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height to be taken

So meaningful, so beautiful…

Me: Indeed it is very beautiful, consider these are merely the words that describe the real thing, imagine how must be the love of which he speaks? However, and although I agree with Mr Shakespeare, and with what he goes on to say, “But bears it out even to the edge of doom” – sounds great in theory, the practice is much more difficult to achieve and hence why most people compromise when it comes to the great notion of love, for they are not prepared to go to the edge of doom for it – but occaisionally there are some fools, against their better judgement, cast themselves into the abyss – often never to return…!

Reader: I wouldn’t call them fools, I would say they are people who know how to love, for there are those who don’t understand love in any other way but this; “an ever-fixed mark” which they insist on bearing it “to the edge of doom”, anything else is a half-hearted love, and what is a half-hearted love, anyways?

Me: Is it better to be miserable without a complete love, or to be happy with a half-hearted love – that is the question? The fool in me must incline to the former!

Reader: One must rethink the meaning of happiness in what you call half-hearted love, and whether it is happiness or some sort of illusion.

Me: I would contend that for believing men and women there is as much happiness in a half-hearted love as there is in half-hearted faith. Neither are entirely deniable but neither is it true that either are entirely complete. If in true love and true faith is contained true happiness, then surely nothing else will do? And in that is wholeness, for if one seeks wholeness, then it is surely only to be found in the completeness of actions, or at least in the soundness of intentions, manifest in the desire for a complete truth, not a half-truth. And pray tell who would disagree with that?

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

“Love is not love,
which alters when it alteration finds,
nor bends with the remover to remove,
Nay! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken”;

This is an extract from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116, which beautifully encapsulates the purpose of this post; a summary of previous posts in which I have written about love, justice and certainty. This is the theme also of the Sonnet which speaks of love, of true love, as an “ever fixed-mark”. A mark that does not alter nor bend, with time or force, with its removal, or with it fastness, it remains fixed and firm, consistent and constant. So I wanted to bring together certain understandings of how I have seen love and its relationship with justice. Of how:

Love does not exist for itself, it must stand for something

Justice

Love needs the companion of justice,
Justice needs the companion of love,
Love gives justice its meaning,
Justice has a purpose for which it exists,
to love, love, to defend love.

Justice purifies love,
for like true love,
justice must also be fought for.

Passion

A beautiful love is not the same as a love of conviction,
Conviction comes from certainty,
and from certainty comes passion,
and without passion there is no conviction,
and without conviction there is no love.

Blessing

To posses the desire for true love is a blessing in itself,
to search for it is a reward,
to find it is paradise.

Struggle

True love will not be granted without struggle,
because true love is justice and justice,
is a struggle that must be fought for.

Absolute

True love is certainty,
certainty is rooted is what is absolute,
true love and justice are absolute,
for both are the Attributes of God,
Ar-Rahman, and Al-Adl.

“The Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil: they observe regular prayers, practise regular charity, and obey Allah and His Messenger. On them will Allah pour His mercy: for Allah is Exalted in power, Wise.” (Quran, Surah at-Tauba 9:71)

The Marriage of Justice and Mercy

How can believers, men and women, be protectors one of another, if their love doesn’t stand for anything? Indeed it is true that “love is not love which alters when it alteration finds”, but one can also say, love is not love if it does not stand for anything. A love without support does “bend with the remover to remove”, the remover being the foundation upon which love resides which is justice, without which it is simply a feeling in the heart, that cannot remain “an ever-fixed mark”, and nor can it remain “unshaken”. But a love whose foundation is justice, is a love that gives justice its meaning, and one which takes its support from it. It becomes the perfect love and perfect marriage, a perfect marriage of love and justice, in which there are no impediments.

From another perspective one may consider the ninety-nine names of Allah, which our scholars say, fall into either the category of justice (al-Adl), or mercy (ar-Rahman). Thus Allah reveals Himself to us through His Divine attributes, and if His perfection through His attributes comprises the marriage of justice and mercy, then analogous to the marriage of believing men and women, the perfection of the whole comprises the marriage of the two halves, of justice represented by the man and mercy represented by the woman. Subhan’Allah.

“And thou wilt see the angels surrounding the Throne (Divine) on all sides, singing Glory and Praise to their Lord. The Decision between them (at Judgment) will be in (perfect) justice, and the cry (on all sides) will be, “Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds!” (Quran, az-Zumar 39:75)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

What indeed you might ask is greater than love, greater than the greatest thing in the universe? Why is it that we consider love to be so great in the first place? The answer to this question is not complicated. One only needs to refer to the Sunnah of the prophet (s) to know that love was central to his life, his example, his words, and his teachings. He forgave people their faults and mistakes over and over. He even forgave those that sought to kill him. When A’isha (ra) was asked to describe the character of the prophet (s), she said, “His character was that of the Quran”. In other words the human being that most perfectly understood and applied the Quran, the guidance of Allah, was the prophet (s), which means that the core message of the Quran is love and compassion. And this view in no way negates the need for justice, for justice, fulfilling the conditions of justice, is also an act of love and mercy. A father may punish his child for the good of that child with a slight pain in this world in order to avoid a much greater pain in the hereafter. A surgeon may amputate the arm or leg of a patient who without such intervention would die. In neither case do we consider these acts, although causing pain, as being unjust. Hence we find in justice there is mercy, and in mercy there is justice. A hadith that illustrates this point is found when the prophet (s) was walking with his companions and upon seeing a mother nursing her child, turned to them and asked, “Do you ever think that this mother would ever throw her child into the fire”? Surprised at the question, they replied “Of course not oh messenger of Allah she would never do such a thing”. To which the prophet (s) replied, “The mercy of Allah is greater than this mother, and He would throw his servants into the fire”. In other words our punishment in the fire, a’uodibillah, is as much a form of justice as it is a mercy. It is justice in that the fire cleanses our unjustness for our time in this life, our injustice towards ourselves and others. But it is a mercy because eventually we are freed from it and into the cooling mercy of Allah. May Allah protects us all from the fire, and as the prophet (s) prayed, “I seek refuge in You, from You”.

Thus what we have explicated so far is the idea of the centraility of love, mercy and compassion in the message of the Quran and also thus central to the Sunnah of the prophet (s).

So, given what we have stated above, you may well be intrigued to know what is greater than love? Indeed to say something is greater than something else, does not necessarily imply a linear relationship between the properties of those things in question – in that one begins at the point the other ends. But rather we must think about the relationship between the two, the understanding of which will make it clear to us that one is indeed, and upon reflection, greater than the other. That other is Freedom. It is Freedom that is greater than Love, because, and one is caused to think of this idea in terms of “The Freedom to Love”. Unless the love that we speak of, the highest love, comes with freedom, enables a person to love without restriction then that is not the love that the Quran and Sunnah refer to. And thus is not the love that we seek. But instead what we are seeking is the highest possible achievable, attainable love, a love upon which there are few if any restrictions. One is free to love exactly as one is commanded to. Conversely, if the love that is sought enslaves a person, restricts their mind and heart, prevents them from expressing their true love towards their beloved then this is not the love that we speak of, nor seek to attain.

The better part of love is freedom

Taking freedom to comprise the better part of love, if we take one perspective on this and something that Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala mentions repeatedly in the Quran is not to take others for worship:

Glory to Allah! (He is free) from the things they ascribe (to Him)! (Quran, As Saffat 37:159)

Referring to this term, “He is free”, – that, for us to worship Allah who is free, apart and not associated materially with His creation, means that we too must be “free”. And when we say ‘we’, it is to the heart we refer. For Allah does not occupy the hearts of those that are occupied with other than Allah – stands to reason. Allah also says:

“I created the jinn and mankind only that they might worship Me”. (Quran, adh-Dhariyat 51:56)

Thus the entire purpose of our existence on earth is not to serve ourselves, but to worship Allah. However, ones worship of Allah and the purity of that worship is dictated by the extent to which ones heart is preoccupied with worldly matters, or free from worldly matters and able to worship Allah. In other words one canont truly be a slave of Allah if he has enslaved himself to other than Allah.

“And your Allah is One Allah: There is no god but He, Most Gracious, Most Merciful”. (Quran, Baqarah 2:163)

“Allah has not chosen a son, neither is there a god with Him, otherwise every god would have gone away with his own creation, and some of them would have raised themselves above others. Transcendent is Allah beyond what they describe.” (Quran, al-Mu’minun 23:91)

Thus as Allah says, many gods are not the same as One God, for there would be disorder and chaos, each one chosing for himself something else. Thus the purity of ones worship is associated with the freedom of a heart preoccupied with things that occupy a central space in it, where instead Allah, as our Creator, Sustainer and Accounter on the final day, ought to reside. This this is how love and freedom are associated, and thus servanthood, and slavehood to Allah is to be truly free from servitude to anyone or anything else, including ones own capricies and desires.

Thus freedom is not literally greater than love, but the freedom to love is greater than l love bound only by this world. This freedom is one that enables true love to flourish, for our love for Allah  and His messenger can know no bounds, whereas our love for anyone will always be limited to this world. Thus no matter how great, the greatest of human loves we may hope to attain, if we seek that love only for the sake of this wrold then it will forever be bound by the limitations of this world, and will eventually end, whereas a love for our beloved through our love for Allah knowls no bounds but indeed is boundless because it continues to exist long after we have died. Our love for our beloved through our love for Allah will keep increasing day by day, moment by moment, for each time we witness their pure love for Allah it only increases our love for them., and visa verse. Thus there is no better love to seek in others that a pure love for Allah, and if we seek that love in others we have the potential to fall in deep everlasting love with them, in a love whose bond is difficult to break.

“And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are Signs for those who reflect”. (Quran, ar-Rum 30:21)