Its quill is difficult; it cracks the paper. Sometimes the writing is thick, and sometimes it is fine.

The Shaykh : Its quill is difficult; it cracks the paper. Sometimes the writing is thick, and sometimes it is fine. Which do you prefer? The first one, which you love, is inanimate. Your watch every day strikes you, annoys you, and deceives you regarding the time; sometimes it is early, sometimes it is late, and at another time it is accurate, yet you have not seen anything from it. Which do you prefer? The second one. Even among animals, we see that a camel loves its owner and returns to him, and does not love the others. Is that not so? We also see that a person loves this specific camel and does not love the other, because the other is difficult and this one is easy and docile. So, if their statement and their analogy that love does not exist except between two homogeneous things is refuted, well, do they deny love by denial of disbelief or by denial of interpretation? It is denial by interpretation, because if they denied it by denial of disbelief, they would be disbelievers. If they said, "Allah does not love," that would be disbelief. But they say, "He loves, and the meaning of love is such and such." What is the meaning of love according to them? They say love is either the reward or the desire for the reward. The reward is a created thing, separate and distinct from Allah, and no one denies it. Everyone says that the previous creations are those whom Allah created, or it is the desire for the reward, or the desire for the attribute. But the Asha'irah acknowledge the establishment of the attribute of will for Allah, Mighty and Majestic. So they interpret love as either the reward, which is separate, distinct, and created, or the desire for the reward. And although the will is an attribute of the one who wills, they establish the attribute of will, because reason, according to them, indicates it. Reason indicates the establishment of the will for Allah, Mighty and Majestic. How does reason indicate the will according to them? They said: The specification of created things with what they are specified by indicates the will. That is, creating the sky as a sky, the earth as an earth, the camel as a camel, and the sheep as a sheep, this indicates the will. Allah willed that the sky be a sky in this manner, so it became so, and likewise the earth, and likewise the camel, and likewise the sheep. And we agree with them that the will is indicated by the Shari'ah and reason. We do not reject the truth from any person. But making love mean the will is an error. Love is higher and greater than the will. And you find the difference between saying to a person, "Allah loves you," or saying to a person, "Allah wants to reward you." Which is greater? The first is greater, more expansive for the chest, more reassuring for the heart, and more satisfying for the soul. So how do we deny love and establish the will?
In any case, this hadith indicates the establishment of love for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, due to His saying:
And this has come in the Book and the Sunnah. The love of Allah, the Exalted, sometimes relates to persons, sometimes to deeds, sometimes to places, and sometimes to times and moments.
It relates to persons, like this hadith: .
It relates to deeds, like the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): .
It relates to attributes: .
Is there a difference between the will and love, or is there a necessary connection between the will and love? The answer is: No, there is no necessary connection between them. Allah may will what He does not love, and He may love what He does not will. There is no necessary connection between what Allah willed and what He loves, meaning not everything that Allah loves does He will, and not everything that Allah wills does He love. Is that clear, everyone?
So if someone says: "Not everything that Allah wills does He love," there is a problem. How does He will what He does not love? Yes, we say: He wills what He does not love for the wisdom and benefit that necessitates it. So sins are not loved by Allah, but He wills them. They occur by His cosmic will, but He does not love them. Well, how does He will them while He does not love them? We say for the sake of benefit. Have you not heard the saying of Allah, the Exalted, in the Holy Hadith: Here, Allah, Glorified and Exalted, willed what He loves or what He dislikes? What He dislikes, but for a benefit that is necessary. And the parallel in the tangible is: a man brings his son to the doctor, and the doctor decides that he must be cauterized with fire. He heats the iron until it becomes a coal, then cauterizes the man's son with it. Does the man love to burn his son with fire? He dislikes it, without doubt. But he prefers burning him with fire for a greater benefit, which is the healing of his son. So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, may will what He dislikes for a wisdom that necessitates it, and He may love what He does not will. He loves that we be believers in Him and establish His command, but He may not will that for a benefit as well. For Allah has divided the servants into two groups:
, and if the people came in accordance with what Allah, Mighty and Majestic, loves, they would not be divided into anything but one group, and the wisdom of creating the Fire and Paradise would be invalidated, and jihad in the path of Allah would be invalidated, and enjoining good and forbidding evil would be invalidated, and the trial by which the servants are tested, "which of you is best in deed," would be invalidated. So it is clear by this that there is no connection between love and the will. They may coincide in something, and they may differ. In the obedience of the obedient, the will and love coincide, and in the disobedience of the disobedient, it is the will without the love.