And We believe that Allah loves His awliya (close friends of Allah) and they love Him << قل إن كنتم تحبون الله فاتبعوني يحببكم الله >> [ Surah Al-Imran

The Shaykh : He said "And We believe that Allah the Exalted loves His awliya (close friends of Allah) and they love Him" meaning that we believe that Allah the Exalted loves and is loved, so He is loved by His awliya (close friends of Allah) and His awliya (close friends of Allah) are loved by Him, so the love is mutual. The evidence for this is In this verse, there is the affirmation of love for Allah and the affirmation of love from Him. The affirmation of love for Him is due to His saying and from Him is due to His saying This verse is called by the Salaf (the earliest generations) the Verse of the Trial, meaning the test, because it was revealed regarding a group who claimed that they love Allah, so Allah revealed this and made this the criterion: if they are truthful in their love for Allah, let them follow the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And if they follow the Messenger, the reward is greater than what they claim. They claim that they love Allah, and this is an honor for them, but the reward if they follow the Messenger is that Allah loves them. This is the great matter and this is the great purpose: that Allah loves you. It is not the case that you love Allah, meaning you may be truthful or you may not be truthful, but the whole matter is that Allah loves you. If Allah Mighty and Majestic loves you, Is this love a real love or is it a metaphor for reward?
The student: Real.

The Shaykh : Answer, everyone.
The student: Real.

The Shaykh : It is a real love and not a metaphor for reward, because reward is one thing and love is another. In fact, reward is evidence of love, because Allah the Exalted does not reward anyone except where Allah Mighty and Majestic loves him. And the people have divided into three groups regarding this, regarding the love:
One group said: "Indeed, Allah loves and is loved"
And a group said the opposite: "Indeed, Allah does not love and is not loved"
And a group said: "Indeed, Allah loves but is not loved" So the opinions are three, and logical division requires a fourth, but I do not know of anyone who holds the fourth opinion, that Allah
The student: Loves but does not love.

The Shaykh : Loves but does not love, but I do not know of anyone who holds this opinion. So how many are the opinions, brother?
The student: Three.

The Shaykh : What are they?
The student: That Allah Mighty and Majestic does not love and is not loved. The second is that Allah Mighty and Majestic loves and is loved. The third is that Allah loves but is not loved.

The Shaykh : Yes, and there is no doubt that the established opinion is that Allah loves and is loved, as in this verse and the verses following it. And no one finds the taste of love unless they do what is the cause of it, which is following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And the more a person follows the Messenger, the greater Allah's love for him becomes. And in Allah's love, a person finds a great pleasure that is not approached by the greatest pleasure in this world. It is a great pleasure, and intimacy with Allah Mighty and Majestic, and joy in Him, and light in the heart, and light in the face, that nothing is comparable to. Those who said that He does not love and is not loved raised an objection against them, saying that love does not occur except between two similar things, between two similar things: a man and a woman, a man and a man, a woman and a woman, and it does not occur between two different things. So there is no love between a human and a camel. And if this is the case with different created things, its impossibility with the Creator is even more certain, because the Creator Mighty and Majestic is distinct from the created thing in the greatest distinctness. This is their objection, and this objection is refuted.
First, by the explicit text affirming the existence of love from Allah and for Allah. And logical analogies, when they contradict the texts of the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law), are invalid. For this reason, they said: there is no analogy against a text, and an analogy that invalidates a text is defective in consideration. This is one point.
Second, their claim that love does not occur except between two homogeneous things is an error. In fact, love can occur between two things that have the greatest difference. So the love between a human and his camel that he rides is established, or is it not established?
The student: It is established.

The Shaykh : Ask the camel drivers; it is established. Even the camel knows its owner among the men and does not sit except with him when there is a need for his closeness in the days of winter. The camel drivers say: when we stop and light the fire, the camels approach them, and every camel goes to its owner and sits next to him. Some of them even said that he has a camel that smokes.
The student: The camel.

The Shaykh : Yes, and when he sits by the fire in the evening, it comes and lowers its neck and puts its head next to its owner, then he rolls a cigarette for him. And originally, the cigarette was rolled, prepared, not wrapped, then he puts it in its nostrils so that it inhales it. Yes, and how does it do that? Yes. So the camel knows its owner, without doubt. And I, in truth, used to deny this and say it does not happen, until a trustworthy man from our colleagues, the students of knowledge, told me that he was once in Ras al-Khaimah studying. Do you see this? You are not recording it. I say that love is established between
The student: ...

The Shaykh : two non-homogeneous things. In fact, a human may love an inanimate object. For example, he may be accustomed to writing with a specific pen, and his writing with it is beautiful and clear, so he finds that he loves this pen over the other pen he is not accustomed to. Or he has a car he is familiar with, and he has been blessed with it, so he loves it more. So the result is that their objection, which they relied on, is an objection that reality refutes.
As for those who said that Allah does not love but He is loved, they said that the love of the human for his Lord is not denied and no one can deny it, because it is a natural, instinctive matter. But the love of Allah for the servant is the denied one, because love involves softness and something of leniency, and the Lord Mighty and Majestic is free from that. So Allah does not love, but whenever a verse or hadith is brought that establishes that Allah loves, the intended meaning is
The student: ...

The Shaykh : reward or the desire for reward. And these are the Asha'irah (the Ash'ari theological school), and their opinion is false, because we say that Allah has affirmed in the Qur'an, and likewise the Sunnah (the Prophet's way) has affirmed, that Allah the Exalted loves. And it is known that there is no analogy or reasoning in the presence of the text. And the effect of Allah's love for the servant is apparent: a person finds that Allah expands his chest for Islam, illuminates his heart, and the servant loves obedience. And this indicates Allah's love for him and that Allah Mighty and Majestic has taken care of him. So the correct view is that love is established from both sides: established from Allah to the
The student: To the servant.

The Shaykh : To the servant, and from the servant to Allah. So what is the sole cause? What is the sole cause for Allah to love you? What is it?
The student: Following the Messenger.

The Shaykh : Following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).
The student: invalid.

The Shaykh : is deficient and weak, and its deficiency and weakness is according to what he innovated of religious innovation (bid'ah). The opposite of those who say that we do that out of love for our Messenger. We say: if you are truthful, then follow the Messenger. But that you innovate in his religion, this is one of the greatest insults to him and to the Book of Allah. Religious innovation (bid'ah) in the religion is an insult to the Messenger and an insult to the Book of Allah. As for it being an insult to the Book of Allah, it is because Allah said And the religious innovation (bid'ah) is seen by its innovator as
The student: From the religion.

The Shaykh : The religion, which is not found in the Qur'an or the Sunnah. So the verse is not true; the religion was not completed except by this innovation, according to his claim. As for it being an insult to the Messenger, we say: either the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was aware of this Shari'ah or ignorant of it, because he certainly did not practice it. So either he was aware that it was prescribed, or he was ignorant. It must be one of the two. If you say he was ignorant, you have labeled him with ignorance. If you say he was aware, you have labeled him with treachery, because he did not make it clear to the people, neither by his speech, nor his action, nor his approval. The issues of innovations are great; they are not trivial. Even if the innovation itself is trivial, its effect is great. We ask Allah for safety. For this reason, you find these innovators to be the furthest people from following the Messenger. You find them exerting their utmost effort in this innovation, but they are very negligent in matters that are prescribed and more important than it. Reflect on their conditions, and you will find that perhaps he goes from this cradle to the grave calling upon and worshipping it, is that not so? Perhaps he does not reach that state, but he has a slackness in his acts of obedience. His voluntary acts are few, his fasting is little, his charity is little, he looks a lot at what is forbidden, at women and young boys, and so on. Is that not the case? This is the reality, O brothers. So how can you say that you innovated this out of love for Allah and His Messenger? He said: This is an answer to a deleted condition. The estimation is: O you who believe, if any of you turns back from his religion, then Allah will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him. Meaning, Allah is rich in you. If you turn back from the religion, you will not harm Allah in any way. Allah will bring a people other than you, as He the Exalted said: And He the Exalted said: The patient upon the Shari'ah of Allah and the patient upon the decrees of Allah. The Shari'ah of Allah is commands and prohibitions. So they are patient with the commands, patient away from the prohibitions, and patient with the decrees. So whoever is in this state, then Allah loves him. Be just. Be just in yourselves, or in your families, or in your dealings, or with whom
The student: ...

The Shaykh : in everyone, even in yourself. When 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As wanted to stand in prayer the whole night and fast the whole day, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said to him: Be just, even in yourself. For this reason, the scholars made it obligatory for one who fears death from hunger to eat, and for one who fears death from thirst to drink. He does not say, "By Allah, I am free; if I perish, let me perish." We say: No, that is not correct. You cannot destroy yourself. Allah the Exalted said: And by this we know the error of one who volunteers a part of his organs for one of the people. Some people volunteer their kidney for one of the people because their two kidneys have failed. He says, "I want to volunteer my kidney for him." Who said this? Is your kidney yours?
The student : No

The Shaykh : Answer me.
The student: No.

The Shaykh : No, the answer is: No, it is not real. It is not yours until you volunteer it for someone or sell it, and you are free, and the free person is not sold. Then, if we suppose that you say, "Insha'Allah, this will not harm me, and this will benefit you," we say: Make the benefit of this man ninety-nine percent. But is there not one percent that the body will not accept it and will reject it? So we committed a harm for a benefit that is illusory and not certainly realized. We committed a harm certainly for a benefit that is not certain. Then, do you feel safe, if you volunteer the kidney, from its failure? Do you feel safe that it will remain sound always, the remaining one? Meaning, perhaps a disease will come to it. If a disease comes to it, it means that you have destroyed yourself, because you will not live without kidneys. Since this kidney absorbs all the toxins in the foods and drinks, if the body were to relinquish it, the toxins would spread in it and you would perish. So if one comes out, you have one left, which may spoil one day. And it appears to me, and I say this not from Shari'ah or medicine, but it appears to me, that these two kidneys cooperate, and if one is alone, the burden becomes heavy on it, and this becomes closer to its fatigue and spoilage. So the important thing is to say that the person is commanded to be just, even in himself, and he does not have the right to destroy or damage any of his limbs, just as he does not have the right to destroy or damage any part of his life as a whole.
And the Hanbali jurists (may Allah have mercy on them) stated in their books that it is forbidden to cut an organ from a corpse, even if he bequeathed it. They mentioned this in the chapter on washing the corpse in the book of funerals. Meaning, if the deceased, for example, said, "I volunteer my eye for so-and-so after my death," or "so-and-so after death," he is not benefiting from the eye. They say it is forbidden to volunteer it. If he said, "I volunteer my kidney, my heart," we say it is forbidden. The scholars stated that. The basis for that is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Meaning, in the prohibition and forbiddance. The issue is not... When a person is afflicted with a disease from Allah, and Allah chooses for him to die, if he does not die today, he will die tomorrow. And perhaps his death is better for him. How many people are there whose remaining in life is worse, as in the hadith: And the believing person, when he transitions from this world, does not transition to a worse abode, but transitions to a better abode than his abode. For that reason, we pray for the believer and say, "Admit him into a home," for the deceased, and when we pray for him, we say: Perhaps this one who was afflicted with a disease in his kidneys will attain a turning to Allah and returning to Him, and receiving death with full preparation. And this is much more beneficial than his life remaining for days and then he dies. For this reason, Do you want it to be few or many?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : No, many, many. First, we do not know now about the manner of the hand of Musa (peace be upon him), whether it is large or small. But there is no doubt that creation is that it will be larger than this, because creation decreases until it reached this Ummah.
And secondly, bulls differ in the arrangement of their hair, just as the heads of the children of Adam differ. The important thing is that... they be many. Because your life, even if it is long, is as if you stayed a moment of the day. Now we are varying in ages, many of us and few. Yes, all the past is the same, it is as if it became and he transitioned to there and died there at the red sand dune. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: But praise be to Allah, that no one knows now, and no one knows the grave of any of the previous prophets except the grave of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), may Allah preserve him, Mighty and Majestic, in this place. In the result, I say that justice is obligatory in everything, even in oneself, even in the family, even in the children. The practice of the Salaf is that they are just between their children in kissing. In kissing, if he kissed the boy once, he kissed the second one once. If he kissed him twice and the other is looking, he kissed him twice. And this is observed: the children want justice, even in kissing. And if a person accustoms himself to justice, Allah will help him with it. Justice is also obligatory between children in giving. Justice is obligatory between wives. Justice is obligatory between the two litigants. The important thing is in everything: or does he love the unjust?
The student : No, O Shaykh

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: ...

The Shaykh : The just ones. As for the unjust one, And the difference between the unjust and the just: the unjust is the one who commits injustice, and the just is the one who rejects injustice. Rejecting injustice means the one who is just. And this is a transition to the fact that he completed excellence, which is more complete than justice. Allah the Exalted said: Excellence in everything, in dealing with the Creator and in dealing with the created. Excellence in dealing with the Creator is the brother
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Yes, excellence in dealing with the Creator is that you worship Allah as if you see Him.
The student : If you do not see Him

The Shaykh : If you do not see Him, then He sees you. Excellence in dealing with the creation was defined by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with a limit in which there is no injustice and no doubt. He said: This is another rule. The point is: This is the scale: that you do good to the servants of Allah the Exalted in your wealth, in your body, in your status, in every dealing. With the body, you help the man to carry his goods, to saddle his camel, to do anything. In wealth, you give him zakah, charity, a gift, a present, a donation. How many categories are these, O people? May Allah help us.
The student: Four.

The Shaykh : O people, five: zakah, charity, a gift, a present, a donation. Five categories. Yes, these are five categories.
Zakah is obligatory. Yes, the obligatory wealth in zakah in the moneys is known.
Charity is what the person intends by it to draw near to Allah the Exalted and Majestic, regardless of whether the poor person benefits from it or not.
A present is what is intended by it to show affection and honor.
A gift is what is intended by it merely for the benefit of the recipient. The giver did not intend to draw near to Allah with this, nor to show affection to the recipient, but he gave it just like that.
A gift given during the illness of death is called a gift. A person who remains with a sixth of his wealth, where the maintenance is a duty, is doing good with his wealth, and this is obligatory.
Likewise, you should do good to creation with your status, through intercession and mediation, but only through permissible intercession. Forbidden intercession is not permissible, such as interceding to drop an obligation. If the matter reaches the authorities, the intercessor and the one for whom he intercedes are cursed. And Allah knows best. Yes.