Explanation of the author's statement: "And He is the All-Forgiving, the Most Loving"

The Shaykh : And his saying: .
Its meaning has been mentioned frequently: the One who covers the sins of His servants and overlooks them.
It is derived from "wud" (love), and "wud" is pure, good love. It is a "fa'ul" form meaning "fa'il" (active) or "ma'ful" (passive). Both are possible. "Al-Wadud" means "one who loves" and "one who is loved," for He, Mighty and Majestic, is both the Lover and the Beloved.
How do we understand "Al-Wadud" as "He loves them"? Is it as "one who loves" or "one who is loved"? "One who loves" "one who is loved." So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is both the Lover and the Beloved, Glorified and Exalted is He. He is the Lover of His awliya (close friends of Allah), and His awliya love Him; they love to reach Him, to reach His Paradise and His pleasure. So He, Mighty and Majestic, is the Lover and the Beloved. I wish the author had added a third verse regarding love, which is "khalilah" (intimate friendship), based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: The "khalil" (intimate friend) is the one who is at the highest level of love. The highest type of love is "khalilah," because the "khalil" is the one whose love has penetrated to the core of the heart and permeated the channels of his veins. Yes, this "khalil" is above everything; there is nothing above "khalilah" in the types of love, ever. Do you understand?
The poet says to his beloved:
"It has penetrated the path of my soul *** And thus the intimate friend was named 'khalil'"
Yes, do you understand? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) loved his Companions? All of them, but he never took any one of them as an intimate friend. He never took any one as an intimate friend. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said while addressing the people: Allah is the Greatest. So Abu Bakr is the most beloved of people to him, but he did not reach the level of intimate friendship because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not take anyone as an intimate friend. But they are brothers in Islam and in affection. As for intimate friendship, it is between him and his Lord. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Do you understand? I say, I wish the author had brought this.
We do not know that intimate friendship was established for any human except for two. Who are they? Ibrahim and Muhammad. This intimate friendship is one of the attributes of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, because it is the highest type of love. It is based on divine text, so it is not permissible for us to attribute to any human that he is the intimate friend of Allah except with evidence. Not Musa, not Isa, not Nuh, not Isma'il, not Ishaq, nor anyone else. We do not say they are intimate friends of Allah, but we say these two noble messengers, Ibrahim and Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon them and upon their brothers among the messengers and prophets), these two are intimate friends of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. And as for others, we do not know. This is the verse of love. We add it for knowledge, not for writing; do not write it down.
And this is the verse cited by the one who killed al-Ja'd ibn Dirham. Al-Ja'd ibn Dirham was the head of the Mu'tazilah and the Jahmiyyah. The first thing he denied was: "Indeed, Allah did not take Ibrahim as an intimate friend, nor did He speak to Musa directly". So what happened? Khalid ibn Abdullah al-Qusri (may Allah have mercy on him) killed him. He brought him out bound on the day of 'Id al-Adha, addressed the people, and said: "O people, sacrifice so that Allah may accept your sacrifices, for I am going to sacrifice al-Ja'd ibn Dirham because he claimed that Allah did not take Ibrahim as an intimate friend and did not speak to Musa directly. Then he came down and slaughtered him". Yes, Ibn al-Qayyim says about this:
"And for this, Khalid al-Qasri offered a sacrifice of Ja'd *** on the day of the slaughtering of sacrifices
When he said Ibrahim is not his friend*** no, nor is Musa the one spoken to near
"May the sacrifice be thanked by every follower of the Sunnah *** May Allah reward you, O brother of the sacrificial offering"
Correct. And may Allah reward us for this sacrifice, for which we hope for reward from Allah. Yes, in any case, we now say: We have love and affection, and what else? Intimate friendship.
Love and affection are general, while intimate friendship is specific to Ibrahim and Muhammad. The discussion of it will come, if Allah wills, from the perspective of it being an attribute of Allah and from the perspective of practical and methodological matters.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions:
From the creed of the people of the Sunnah and the community is the affirmation of love between Allah and the servant, meaning that Allah loves and is loved. What is the evidence for that?
The student: .

The Shaykh : Correct. So love is established between the human and his Lord from both sides: Allah loves and is loved.
Now, is affection established between Allah and the creation? 'Abd al-Rahman? Yes.
The student: Yes, the saying of Allah the Exalted: .

The Shaykh : The saying of Allah the Exalted: What is the aspect of affirming affection between Allah and the creation from this verse?
The student: Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, loves the believers, and the believers also love Him.

The Shaykh : They love Allah.
The student: They love Him.

The Shaykh : Based on the fact that the word "Al-Wadud" means...
The student: "Al-Wadud" means "fa'il" (active) in the sense of "fa'il" (doer).

The Shaykh : It is not "fa'il" (active), it is...
The student: I mean "Wadud" is "fa'ul" from the form...

The Shaykh : Meaning "fa'il" (active) and "ma'ful" (passive), right? Good. What is the meaning of "wud"?
The student: "Al-Wadud" is an increase in love, intense love.

The Shaykh : No, "Wad" is pure love, as they said. Good. Is there a third description in love?
The student: Intimate friendship.

The Shaykh : Intimate friendship.
The student: And it is the highest type of love.

The Shaykh : What is its evidence?
The student: Allah the Exalted said: .

The Shaykh : As an intimate friend. And was intimate friendship established for anyone other than Ibrahim?
The student: It was not established except for Ibrahim and Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : If it was established for Muhammad, what is the evidence?
The student: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .

The Shaykh : Good.
Intimate friendship is the highest type of love. If someone asks: We know the textual evidence for the establishment of love, so what is the rational evidence? And as we said before, our reliance in matters of the unseen must be on what? On textual evidence. But there is no harm in using rational evidence to compel those who deny that love is established by rational evidence, such as whom? The Asha'irah and the Mu'tazilah say: It is impossible to establish love between Allah and the servant, ever. Reason does not indicate it, and whatever reason does not indicate, we must purify Allah from it. Yes, we ask Allah for safety.
Now, we say: There is no harm in establishing love by rational evidence, not to report it and confirm it, because this is established for us by textual evidence, but to argue against those who deny its establishment by reason. We say:
Rewarding the obedient with paradises, victory, and support, and other things, does this indicate love, or hatred, or negation (neither love nor hatred)? It indicates love, without doubt. And we see with our own eyes and hear with our own ears, from those who came before and those who followed, that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, supported those He supported among His believing servants, and helped them, and rewarded them. Is this not evidence of love? The answer: Yes, it is evidence of love. Good.
A third discussion on the topic: Textual evidence and rational evidence. A third discussion: How does a person attain the love of Allah, Mighty and Majestic? This is what every person seeks. How do I attain the love of Allah? What kind of love is it? Love is a natural matter in a person that he does not control. Therefore, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding justice between wives: You cannot love a person while you hate him, can you? So how does a person bring about the love of Allah, Mighty and Majestic? The answer: It has many causes:
Among them: That a person looks at who created him? And who has extended blessings to him since the soul entered him, indeed before that, until this moment? Who is it? Allah. Who has caused blood to flow in your veins before you descended to the earth, except Allah, Mighty and Majestic? Who has averted from you the calamities whose causes were established, and you often see with your own eye afflictions and calamities that would destroy you, and He lifts them from you, except Allah, Mighty and Majestic? So this, without doubt, brings about love. And it is reported in the athar: "Love Allah for what He provides you with of blessings". I believe if someone gave you a gift of a pencil worth half a riyal, you would love him, wouldn't you? You would love him. Therefore, give and take, and you will love each other. If that is the case, then look at the blessings of Allah upon you, the many great blessings that you cannot count, and love Allah. Do you understand?
Therefore, sometimes when a blessing comes and you are in great need of it, you find your heart expands and you love the one who bestowed it upon you. Unlike permanent blessings, for a person's heart may harden, but the renewed ones, he finds pleasure in them and loves Allah for their sake. So you remember these blessings that Allah gave you, and you also remember that Allah has favored you over many of His believing servants. If Allah has blessed you with knowledge, He has favored you with knowledge; or with wealth, He has favored you with wealth; or with family, He has favored you with family; or with sustenance, He has favored you with sustenance. And there is no blessing but that there is something below it. So when you see this great blessing, you thank Allah, and then you love Him. This is one thing.
Second: Loving what Allah loves and those whom Allah loves. Loving what Allah loves among the verbal, physical, and heart-based actions. You love what Allah loves, and this makes you love Allah, because Allah rewards you for this by placing His love in your heart. What is the answer? So you love Allah when you do what He loves. Likewise, you love those whom He loves. The difference between the two is clear. The latter refers to whom? You love those whom He loves among people. The former refers to actions, because we came with "what" for the non-rational, such as actions, places, and times. "Whom" is for the rational, such as people. You love the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), you love Ibrahim al-Khalil, you love Musa, Isa, and the other prophets. You love the truthful ones, such as Abu Bakr, yes, and the martyrs, and others whom Allah loves. This brings you the love of Allah, and it is also one of the effects of the love of Allah. Look at how this is: it has become both a cause and an effect. Loving those whom Allah loves is a cause and an effect.
It is a cause because you love Allah because you love His beloved ones. It is also an effect of the love of Allah, because you did not love these people except for the sake of Allah, except through your love for Allah. So this is also one of the causes of the love of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
Third, among the causes of the love of Allah: frequenting His remembrance. You should always have Allah (Mighty and Majestic) on your mind, so that whenever you see something, you use it as a sign pointing to Him (Mighty and Majestic), so that your heart is always occupied with Allah and turned away from everything else. This brings you the love of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He).
These three causes are, in my view at the present moment, the ones I have recalled now, among the strongest causes of the love of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
As for the third research topic in these verses, the third research topic is: what are the behavioral effects that necessitate what has been mentioned? We say, let us listen:
First: His saying What does this necessitate? That we excel and strive for excellence, because Allah loves it, and whatever Allah loves, we strive for it.
What are the portions? It means justice. Look how these two verses now adjust our behavior to justice and excellence, in contrast to that injustice and wrongdoing. If we know that justice and excellence are among the causes of the love of Allah, then injustice and wrongdoing are among the causes of the hatred and aversion of Allah, so we stay away from them.
Likewise, this also obligates us to fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic), not to fear the created beings, such that if we have people we are shy of, we leave off the sins, and if no one is present, we commit the sins. This is not taqwa. Taqwa is that you fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and do not care about people. If you rectify what is between you and Allah, Allah will rectify what is between you and people. Look at the person, my brother. Look at the thing between you and your Lord, and do not care about Do what the Shari'ah requires, and you will have a good outcome.
Now, he also says: Allah is the Greatest. He loves the repentant. What does this require? That you increase your repentance to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Increase saying "I repent to Allah," or increase returning to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with your heart and your speech, yes? The second is merely the speech of the tongue, "I repent to Allah," which may not be beneficial. But you should realize, while you say "I repent to Allah," that you have sins before you from which you are returning to Allah and repenting, so that you may attain the love of Allah through that. Do you understand? And when a person says in his prayer, "My Lord, forgive me and have mercy on me," and when he says, "O Allah, I have wronged myself greatly," in the tashahhud, he should realize, first of all, his wrongdoing in that very prayer. Have we established the prayer that we are currently praying? Yes, we have, and we have, but there is no doubt that we have done something deficient in it, yes. So you realize that in the very act you are currently engaged in, you are seeking forgiveness from Allah while you are still in it, and you have done wrong in it, and at that time you benefit from the seeking of forgiveness and the repentance.
Allah is the Greatest. If you washed your garment from impurity, do you feel that Allah loves you or not? Because Allah loves those who purify themselves. If you feel that Allah loves you, you will love Allah (Mighty and Majestic). If you perform wudu', you feel that Allah loves you because you purified yourself. If you perform ghusl, you feel that Allah loves you because Allah loves those who purify themselves. Where are we from these meanings?
By Allah, we are indeed heedless of them. Yes, very heedless. Most of the time we use purification from impurity or from states of ritual impurity because it is a condition for the validity of the prayer, out of fear that our prayer will be invalidated. But do we feel that this is a means of nearness and a cause for Allah's love for us? Yes. I am speaking about myself; this is often absent from my mind, and I say that this is heedlessness on our part. If we were to realize, when a person washes a drop of urine that hit his garment, that this brings the love of Allah for him, we would have attained much good. But we are in heedlessness. Yes.
Now, we have this also requires that we strive with utmost striving for what? For what? For following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), such that we trace his path, we do not deviate from it, and we do not fall short of it. Does this feeling protect us from innovations? Yes. Does it protect us from innovation? Yes. Does it protect us from falling short? Yes. Does it protect us from excess and extremism? Yes. If we feel these things, look how our behavior, our manners, our morals, and our acts of worship would be.
Now, he says: What do we guard against with this? Against apostasy from Islam, such as leaving the prayer, for example. So if we know that Allah threatens us that if we apostatize from our religion, Allah will destroy us and bring a people whom He loves and who love Him, who fulfill their duty toward their Lord.
If we believe in this love, we do these five causes that it necessitates and requires: fighting and not hesitating, sincerity so that it is in the path of Allah, that we strengthen one another as if we are a building, that we make the bond between us strong like a well-joined building, yes, that we align our rows, and this requires equality in height so that the hearts do not differ, and this is what confirms affection. And when a person sees one person to his right and one person to his left, he is strengthened to move forward, or not? He is strengthened. But if he becomes alone, with one person behind him, one person in front of him, one person far to his right, and one person far to his left, his determination is scattered. Now, we move on to a new topic. We have now understood four topics in these verses:
Establishing it with auditory evidence. Establishing the love with auditory evidence. Establishing it with rational evidence.
The causes of attaining it. Yes.
The behavioral effects in believing in it and establishing it.
As for the people of innovation, and may Allah protect us from them, who denied it, they have only a very weak argument. They say:
First: That the intellect does not indicate it. This is one.
Second: That love only exists between two similar beings. It does not exist between a Lord and a created being, ever. It exists between two similar created beings. There is no harm. And we respond to them by saying:
We answer you regarding the first that the intellect did not indicate it with two answers: The first is by concession.
And the second is by denial.
Concession: Meaning we say, "Peace be upon you?" We concede to them what? We say, "The intellect did not indicate it." We say, "We concede that the intellect did not indicate it," meaning the love. So the hearing indicated it, and the hearing is a proof that stands on its own. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says in the Qur'an Do you believe in this or not? They believe. If it is an explanation, it is a proof that stands on its own, a root on its own. So the hearing indicated it. "The absence of a specific proof does not necessitate the absence of the specific indicated thing" because the indicated thing may have multiple proofs, whether sensory or conceptual, or not?