Love is something that is hidden, it exists in the heart and therefore anyone can claim to have it; Allah informs us about the Jews and the Christians:
ﺩﻭﻬﻴﻟﺍ ﺕﻟﺎﻗﻭ ﻕﻠﺨ ﻥﻤﻤ ﺭﺸﺒ ﻡﺘﻨﺃ لﺒ ﻡﻜﺒﻭﻨﺫﺒ ﻡﻜﺒﺫﻌﻴ ﻡﻠﻓ لﻗ ﻩﺅﺎﺒﺤﺃﻭ ﷲﺍ ﺀﺎﻨﺒﺃ ﻥﺤﻨﻯﺭﺎﺼﻨﻟﺍﻭ
which means: “But the Jews and the Christians say: 'We are the children of Allah and His beloved.' Say: 'Then why does He
punish you for your sins?' Rather, you are human beings from among those He has created…” [Al-Ma’idah: 18] Love is easy to claim but difficult to prove. One should not allow himself to be deceived by the thoughts which Satan brings to his mind, making him think that he loves Allah; a person should first test himself by means of practical indicators in order to ascertain his claim, because love is just like a tree which bears fruit; so the love in one's heart will reflect on his limbs as an indicator of its existence, just as smoke is an indicator of fire. There are many such signs, such as:
· Loving to meet Allah, because one always longs to meet his beloved, always mentions him and never forgets him. When will we meet Allah? This will happen three times: The first will be at the time of death; the second will be on the Day of Resurrection and the third will be in Paradise. The fact that the first meeting will be at the time of death does not mean that one should supplicate to Allah for Him to take his soul, rather, what it should mean is that when death does arrive, the righteous slave rejoices, because he will be next to his Lord and receive reward and blessings from Him, as Allah says:
ﺭﻬﻨﻭ ﺕﺎﻨﺠ ﻲﻓ ﻥﻴﻘﺘﻤﻟﺍ ﻥﺇ * ﺭﺩﺘﻘﻤ ﻙﻴﻠﻤ ﺩﻨﻋ ﻕﺩﺼ ﺩﻌﻘﻤ ﻲﻓ
Which means: “Indeed, the righteous will be among gardens and rivers, in a seat of honor near a Sovereign, Perfect in Ability.” [Al-Qamar: 54-55] Allah knows that His righteous slaves love and long to meet Him, and thus He informs them that they will indeed meet Him by saying:
ﺕﻵ ﷲﺍ لﺠﺃ ﻥﺈﻓ ﷲﺍ ﺀﺎﻘﻟ ﻭﺠﺭﻴ ﻥﺎﻜ ﻥﻤ
Which means: “Whoever should hope for the meeting with Allah – indeed, the term of [i.e., decreed by] Allah is coming…”[Al-‘Ankaboot: 5]
· Enjoying being alone while supplicating to Allah, reciting the Qur’an, and praying optional night prayers while taking advantage of the calmness of the night and the absence of obstructions; and this is the very lowest level of love, because one who sleeping or talking to others more than supplicating at night is not truthful in his claim to love to Allah. The more love that one has for his beloved, the more he enjoys obeying and serving him.
The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said:
“From among the things of this life, women and perfume were made dear to my heart, but the delight of my eyes lie in prayer.”[An-Nasaa’i] The delight of the eyes are, as Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy upon him, said, of a higher rank than loving worldly things such as women and perfume. The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam informed us that the delight of the eyes are those things that bring about real tranquility and joy, and in his case, it was when he would pray, which was his connection with his Lord. He whose delight of the eyes in this life lies in prayer, will have the delight of his eyes lie in being close to Allah in the Hereafter in addition to the support of Allah for him during this life.
One who obeys Allah due to love will do so easily and willingly, in contrast to he who feels that it is a heavy burden on his back. Those who are sincere and who truly love Allah are obedient to him; they obey Him as easily as water runs down from the top of a hill. Such people's souls delight in obeying Him.
How can we explain the hardship that one faces during certain acts, such as waking up to pray the optional night prayers or the Fajr prayer? Does this perceived hardship mean that the slave does not love Allah? We must know that reaching the state in which a slave worships Allah with ease cannot be accomplished at the very first attempt or act of worship; rather, it is vital that one trains himself, struggles and sacrifices. This is why the joy and pleasure of worship only occurs after one perseveres and exhausts himself in it. When he does this with sincerity, he eventually reaches the level of being able to worship Allah with ease and pleasure. This is why some of the righteous Salaf, may Allah have mercy upon them, would say: “We struggled for twenty years with our optional night prayers, but enjoyed them for the rest of our lives.”
One fluctuates between enjoying them and finding them difficult until he reaches the level of totally enjoying his worship. Thus, It becomes evident that striving to worship Allah consists of various ranks and the one who comprehends this will be able to reach the highest of them, which would then make worshiping Allah very easy for him. One who reaches this level hates to waste any time; indeed, he finds this abhorrent and very painful, and such feelings can only be achieved by having love of Allah. This is why those who have reached this level suffer when they become sick, but they do not suffer due to their sickness; rather, they suffer due to the fact that they have been prevented from worshiping in the manner that they have become accustomed to. This is why Allah has blessed such people with the reward that the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam informed us of when he said: “When a slave becomes sick or is travelling, he receives the same reward that he would receive for all the righteous deeds that he is used to performing whilst at his residence.”
والله تعالى أعلم
