Love in islam

Love in Islam (Al-Hubb Al-Islam)
Every heart that is not aflame is no heart;
A frozen heart is nothing but a handful of clay.
O God! Give me a breast that sets ablaze,
And in that breast a heart and that heart consumed
with fire.
In Islam, the concept of love is one of the most
important concepts. This fact manifests itself in
Islamic philosophy, theology, mysticism and ethics;
indeed, in some aspects, it plays the crucial role.
For example, in defining the Islamic point of view on
the relation between God and Universe in general,
and between God and Mankind in particular, love has
the most significant and profound place. Love is so
central in Islam that it is seep as "the firmest
handhold of faith" and "faith (Iman) is nothing but
love for the sake of God and hate for the sake of
God".
Ibn Abbas reported that Messenger of Allah (Peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The
strongest faith is to be sincere for the sake of
Allah, to hate for the sake of Allah (Tabarra), to
love for the sake of Allah (Tawalla), and to discard
for the sake of Allah."
There is a tendency among some people to think that
there should be no hate at all. These people assume
that excellence and nobility of character and "being
sociable" consist of having all men one's friends.
Certainly Islam recommends Muslims to love people
and optimize compassionate and sincere relationship
with them, even if they do not believe in Islam or in
God. However, it is not feasible for a person who
has principles in his life and has devoted his life to
realize sacred values to be indifferent to evil and
oppressive deeds of wrongdoers and make friendship
with everybody. Such a person certainly will have
some enemies, whether he likes it or not. There are
always good people in the society and bad people.
Good and bad are two opposite poles. Attraction
towards the good is not possible without repulsion
from the bad.
When two human beings attract each other and their
hearts wish for them to be friends and companions
with one another, we should look for a reason for
that. The reason is nothing other than similarity
and resemblance. Unless there is a similarity between
these two persons, they cannot attract one another
and move towards friendship with each other, as
saying goes, Birds of same feather flock together.
Maulana Rumi in his Mathnavi mentions fine story
that illustrate this fact.
The story relates to a wise man that saw a Raven
who had formed affection for a Stork. They perched
together and flew together! The wise man could not
understand how two birds of two different species
that had no similarity either in shape or in colour
with each other could be friends. He went close and
discovered that both of them had only one leg.
The same idea is emphasized by Imams of the
Household (Ahlul Bayt) of Prophet Muhammad (saw).
For example, Fudayl ibn Yasar, a disciple, asked
Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (as) whether love and hatred
derive from faith (Iman). Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (as)
replied: "Is faith anything but love and hate?"
It is also narrated that Imam al-Baqir (as) , stated
that: Religion (Deen) is love and love is religion.
As these statements and traditions indicate, love
plays an important and significant role. Hence it
deserves our close attention in order that we may
discover the real meaning of the concept of love in
Islam.
First of all, some questions come to the mind. What
is the kind of love that has been emphasized by
Islam? Who is the object of this special kind of
love? Why should the believers have this kind of love
and what purpose does it serve?
Love in Islam can be broadly categorized into: Love
for God, love for Prophet Muhammad (saw) and his
Household (Ahlul Bayt), and love for the faithful.

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