Love Placed on the Earth

The final section, from verse 85, is a series of verses of great beauty and marked lyricism, which there is not time to savour properly, and which treat of several matters.

The first is consolation for the Prophet (peace be upon him): that he should not distress himself over these people, for they will be punished in due measure, and the believers will be given their reward. Allah (swt) then addresses the Christians and their claim that God has taken a child. The passage continues on that subject, and then comes this:

For those who believe and do righteous deeds, Allah (swt) will appoint love. The expression is left general — whether they love Allah or He loves them — and it says more than that: Allah will place love for them, He will assign to them a great measure of love.

This may be understood in the light of the hadith of Jibrīl (peace be upon him), these being the guided who are near to Allah (swt). As is recorded in the Ṣaḥīḥayn, al-Bukhārī and Muslim, the Prophet (peace be upon him) told us that when Allah loves a servant — one who has performed good deeds — He calls Jibrīl and says: I love such a one; love him also. And whatever the name may be, whether ʿĀʾishah or Sumayyah, Ṣafiyyah or Yūsuf, Sālim or Mūsā, Hārūn or Ḥudhayfah, Ismāʿīl or Zakariyyā or ʿAbd al-Raḥmān — I love this person, so love him likewise.

Jibrīl (peace be upon him) then spreads word of it among the angels; the angels come down to the earth about their business and their offices, and it is spread upon the earth. The working of it is almost subliminal. Then, in the words of the hadith, yūḍaʿu lahu al-qabūlu fī al-arḍ: acceptance is placed for him in the dunyā. People love such a man without knowing why they love him.

Detractors he will certainly have; even the Prophet (peace be upon him) had detractors who hated him. But for most people the matter is simply this: they cannot always say why they love him. The man is good, and there is something good in him. That is natural love, and it is a good thing.

The converse is also mentioned: when Allah is angry with a man and holds him in displeasure, the same process runs the other way, and people find him despicable. They may be obliged to show him respect on account of his position, but there is no love for him in their hearts — for true love is a matter of the heart. May Allah (swt) grant us that qabūliyyah.