The Degrees of Love and What Is Attributed to Allah Thereof
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Or your saying, “Allah,” does the most famous among the degrees of love become [attributed to Him]? And if that is correct, is it permissible to attribute to Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) anything other than the direction of prayer among the remaining degrees of love?
The Shaykh:
What are the degrees of love that lead to Allah? These are the degrees of love in themselves; in themselves, none of them lead to Allah except love (al-wad). He is the Forgiving, the Loving One (al-Wadud). Love is affection, whereas passion (‘ishq), infatuation (gharam), delirium (hayam), the relationship (al-‘alaqah), and the like are not attributed to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Rather, what is attributed to Him is what He has described Himself with: “They love Him and He loves them.” Allah took Ibrahim as an intimate friend (khalil). He is the Forgiving, the Loving One. It is attributed to Him (Glorified and Exalted is He) that He is the Loving One. This will be evaluated, if Allah wills. Intimacy (khalah): Allah took Ibrahim as an intimate friend. Love: “They love Him and He loves them.” As for hatred (al-haqqd), infatuation (gharam), grief (al-la’ah), and the relationship (al-‘alaqah), and the like of these types of love, these are matters of love, and not everything that is valid in the Arabic language is attributed to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Rather, it is what He described Himself with, or what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) described Him with. I follow the evidence in this matter. Yes.
Or your saying, “Allah,” does the most famous among the degrees of love become [attributed to Him]? And if that is correct, is it permissible to attribute to Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) anything other than the direction of prayer among the remaining degrees of love?
The Shaykh:
What are the degrees of love that lead to Allah? These are the degrees of love in themselves; in themselves, none of them lead to Allah except love (al-wad). He is the Forgiving, the Loving One (al-Wadud). Love is affection, whereas passion (‘ishq), infatuation (gharam), delirium (hayam), the relationship (al-‘alaqah), and the like are not attributed to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Rather, what is attributed to Him is what He has described Himself with: “They love Him and He loves them.” Allah took Ibrahim as an intimate friend (khalil). He is the Forgiving, the Loving One. It is attributed to Him (Glorified and Exalted is He) that He is the Loving One. This will be evaluated, if Allah wills. Intimacy (khalah): Allah took Ibrahim as an intimate friend. Love: “They love Him and He loves them.” As for hatred (al-haqqd), infatuation (gharam), grief (al-la’ah), and the relationship (al-‘alaqah), and the like of these types of love, these are matters of love, and not everything that is valid in the Arabic language is attributed to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Rather, it is what He described Himself with, or what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) described Him with. I follow the evidence in this matter. Yes.
Source
شرح العقيدة الواسطية [ صالح الفوزان ] [ الشرح القديم ]، بداية من قوله : وقوله : { وأحسنوا إن الله يحب المحسنين } — islamhouse.com (1:01:38)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.