Love for the sake of Allah (SWT)

If you love someone for the Sake of Allah, then tell him

Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

A man was with the Prophet (ﷺ) and a man passed by him and said: "Messenger of Allah! I love this man."

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then asked: "Have you informed him?"

He replied: "No."

He (PBUH) said: "Inform him."

He then went to him and said: "I love you for Allah's sake." He replied: "May He for Whose sake you love me love you!"

Hadith Discussion

This Hadith tells us that if we love a Muslim brother of ours for the sake of Allah (SWT), then we should inform him. We should not hide our feelings, but we should tell our brother that we love him for the sake of Allah (SWT).

Some people ask what it means to love someone for the sake of Allah (SWT). To understand the answer to this question, we must first enumerate the reasons why we love someone.

We love others becuase

1. They provide us some benefit
2. We derive pleasure from them
3. They help us in times of trouble

As you can see, in the all of the above examples we love the person because he provides us with some benefit. When you love someone for the sake of Allah (SWT), you do not love the person because he is providing you any benefit, but because he obeys the commands of Allah (SWT). You love him because he strives for Allah (SWT) by trying to spread His (SWT) word and acting on the words of his Beloved Messenger (PBUH).

When you love someone for the sake of Allah (SWT), there are no selfish inclinations present in the love. The person may not be doing you any service, but since he strives in the path of Allah (SWT), you love him. This is the purest form of love and those who love one another for the sake of Allah (SWT) are promised a great reward. Consider the following Hadith:

Mu'adh binJabal narrated that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) said:

"Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, said: 'Those who love each other for the sake of My Majesty shall be upon podiums of light, and they ill be admired by the Prophets and the martyrs.'"

Hadith Authenticity

 

The first Hadith has been recorded in the following Book(s)

 سنن أبي داود

The Hadith has been declared authentic by 

أبو داود

الألباني

The second Hadith has been narrated in the following Book(s)

سنن الترمذي

It has been declared Hasan (authentic) or Sahih (very authentic) by the following scholars of Hadith

الترمذي

السيوطي

البوصيري

الألباني

الوادعي

So, love one another for the sake of Allah (SWT) and do not forget to inform one another either!