What is the ruling on replacing the word "love" with "passion," and what is the difference between them?
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The questioner : 5: We know that the terms of the Book and the Sunnah came down with "love of Allah and His Messenger," but this group has replaced the word "love" with "passion." What is the ruling on that, and what is the difference between them?
The Shaykh : These people deserve to be addressed with what He, the Exalted, said to the Jews:[Al-Baqarah 2:61]. As for the difference, and it is a great difference, that is because passion is of the nature of humans and one of their characteristics. So if someone says that Allah loves me in place of "loves me," or says that I am passionate about Allah in place of saying "I love Him," he has likened Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to humans, whose nature is to exchange passion. In that is a clear contradiction of what He, the Exalted, said: [Ash-Shuraa 42:11] and of Surat al-Tawhid: [Al-Ikhlas 112:1-4]. It is not permissible to describe the Lord of the worlds as one who is passionate or one who is the object of passion. In reality, this is not a new Sufi innovation, but rather an old Sufi innovation that these later people follow. This is also a confirmation of the like of the previous verse that we cited in some of the earlier answers: [At-Tawbah 9:31] They turned away from the expression of the Book of Allah and held fast to the expression of the Sufis who contradict the Book of Allah.
Yes.
The questioner : I hope you will mention the difference between them?
The Shaykh : We said the difference is that passion is of the nature of humans. That is, if a human being, for example a man, is passionate about a woman or loves her and is infatuated with her, why? To enjoy her in all the meanings of this enjoyment. And the reverse is the reverse if a woman is passionate about a man; that is the meaning of passion. As for the meaning of love, it is possible for a man to love a man for the sake of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), just as he loves a woman for the sake of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and nothing of the meanings of sex that enter into the meaning of passion, which is of the nature of humans as we said, comes to the mind of this man or this woman.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : These people deserve to be addressed with what He, the Exalted, said to the Jews:
Would you exchange what is better for what is less?
أَتَسْتَبْدِلُونَ الَّذِي هُوَ أَدْنَى بِالَّذِي هُوَ خَيْرٌThere is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ(1) Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One, (2) Allah, the Eternal Refuge. (3) He neither begets nor is born, (4) Nor is there to Him any equivalent."
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ * اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ * لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ * وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌThey have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah
اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِYes.
The questioner : I hope you will mention the difference between them?
The Shaykh : We said the difference is that passion is of the nature of humans. That is, if a human being, for example a man, is passionate about a woman or loves her and is infatuated with her, why? To enjoy her in all the meanings of this enjoyment. And the reverse is the reverse if a woman is passionate about a man; that is the meaning of passion. As for the meaning of love, it is possible for a man to love a man for the sake of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), just as he loves a woman for the sake of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and nothing of the meanings of sex that enter into the meaning of passion, which is of the nature of humans as we said, comes to the mind of this man or this woman.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.