Sacred Love

sacred love

in a world filled with egocentricity,

it is easy,

to fall in love,

with a person of humility,

again and again. 

— se 

"There is a difference between loving for the sake of your own self and loving for the sake of Allah subhana wa taala. There is a very subtle difference... The stronger one's iman becomes and the more these meanings become rooted in the heart the closer it gets to being connected to the sacred type of love. Which is, in a sense, the goal because love is the most powerful emotion of the human being." - Shaykh Yahya Rhodus in 'Imam Al-Ghazzali's Book 36 on Love, Longing, Intimacy and Contentment'

I have been reflecting on Shaykh Yahya Rhodus' contention on the difference between loving a person, be it a family member or  a friend (or any of His other creations), for the sake of ourselves and the sake of God. I suppose when we love a person for the sake of Allah, we love them because they possess the qualities that He loves or we are aware of our amanah (responsibility) to love them. When we love God we love what He loves and when He loves us He makes our hearts drawn towards what He loves. 

"My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him so, I become his sense of hearing with which he hears, and his sense of sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he grips, and his leg with which he walks." - Hadith Qudsi

Loving someone for the sake of Allah could also mean that even when the situation becomes difficult we will do the right thing, be it to show compassion and patience or speak up against injustice, despite what our nafs (ego) tells us to do. To love is a courageous act, especially when it is done for His sake and not merely our needs and desires. الله اعلم.