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Inner Peace in Islam
Does Allah Love Us All Unconditionally?
Does Allah ever give humans unconditional love?
- God
loves humans but hates their sins. This means that although bad deeds
merit God’s disapproval and subsequent punishment, they also invoke His
infinite mercy on a weak creature whom He has lovingly created,
to whom He has given life, and whom He has nurtured with gifts and
bounty.
- This
means that although bad deeds merit God’s disapproval and subsequent
punishment, they also invoke His infinite mercy on a weak creature whom He
has lovingly created, to whom He has given life, and whom He has
nurtured with gifts and bounty.
- Allah
describes Himself in the Quran as “The Loving”
وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ فَٱدْعُوهُ بِهَا ۖ وَذَرُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِىٓ أَسْمَـٰٓئِهِۦ ۚ سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ ١٨٠
“Allah's are the fairest names. Invoke Him by them. And leave the company of those who blaspheme His names. They will be requited what they do."
— M. Pickthall.”
(Qur’an 7:180)
God is Al-Wadud, the Source of Love. His love is eternal and does not begin or end; it is a fundamental aspect of His essence. Love is not merely something God does; it is intrinsic to who He is. Just as you cannot separate water from the ocean, you cannot separate love from God. He is not influenced or affected by human emotions, actions, or sins. We have the choice to respond to Allah’s love by loving and worshiping Him. However, our refusal to honor Allah does not alter;
Whereas the human being can be kind, God is Kindness (Ar-Ra’uf); where we can be merciful, God is Mercy (Ar-Rahman). God is not just forgiving, He is Forgiveness (Al-Ghaffur); He is not just peaceful, He is Peace (As-Salam). God’s love and attributes do not change in response to our choices because God is not reactive. He is the cause of everything in existence.
The Prophet (pbuh) explains that if every single human on Earth reached the height of spiritual piety or if they were all the worst of existence, it would not add or take away anything from Allah’s sovereignty. The Prophet (pbuh) continues to say that if Allah chose to fulfil the prayer of every single human being at once, it would not decrease what Allah has “any more than a needle decreases what is in the ocean when it is put into it.”4 As C.S. Lewis said, “A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.” Allah’s love for us never diminishes. What changes is our ability to be receptive to Divine Love?
Practice: When we are kind and loving to others reflecting God’s Love upon the Earth, we are more able to receive the unconditional love of God.
Reach out to someone you love with a call or text and just let them
know what they mean to you.
Yet love must be expressed in action; otherwise, it’s just a
word without meaning.
For example: A man may say to his wife “I love you” and then
may treat her badly. Does he love her?
Love between humans and God follows the same principle of
actions consistent with words.
It must mean obedience from us to God — as His
grateful creation — and mercy from God to us as our loving Creator.
