Would you be able to sacrifice all of these things?
Would you be able to sacrifice all of these things?
What Is Love Of Allah In Islam?
“… the true believers love Allah even more…” (Al-Baqarah 2:165)
If you want to be the true lovers of Allah, be the true believers who embrace the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah. Devote your entire life to pursuing Allah’s divine love for you and believe in His promises of a better life in the hereafter.
“And the next life is certainly far better for you than this one.” (Ad-Duhaa 93:4)
If you only knew how much Allah loves you, you would remember that Allah’s promises in Jannah are far better than anything we could ever love in this dunya – wealth, children, spouse etc.
So let’s talk about some of the things you can sacrifice for the love of Allah.
First and foremost, let me ask you this – what do you love most? It can be different for each of us. I can tell you first hand that I have a soft spot for money. Yupp, front and center. Money and wealth is my biggest weakness. If I’m not focused on the akhirah and my love for Allah, I can get anxious and even worried when my account starts to dry up.
It’s a challenge that Allah embedded inside me and so I need to be self aware about it so that I don’t succumb to my natural desire for wealth. What is your biggest weakness? We all have them. Perhaps it is your children, spouse, looks or even knowledge.
Some people become boastful when Allah swt gives them more knowledge on a particular field than others. That can be a trial in and of itself.
How Do We Prove Our Love For Allah?
Do you think you will be admitted into Paradise without being tested like those before you? They were afflicted with suffering and adversity and were so violently shaken that even the Messenger and the believers with him cried out, “When will Allah’s help come?” Indeed, Allah’s help is always near. (Al-Baqarah 2:214)
If you truly love Allah and you believe in His promise to get you to Jannah, you’d have to be put into trials and challenges just like Prophet Muhammad SAW and all the previous Prophets AS before him SAW. It is one of the signs that Allah loves you.
Allah swt wants you to go to Jannah, so He gives you lots of opportunities in the form of trials in life for you to prove your love for Allah swt.
So, let’s get back to your story. Try to assess yourself. What do you love most? What is that thing or person that you feel you can’t live without?
Here is a list of things from the Quran that Allah swt reminds us not to love and be attached to in this dunya.
1. Sacrifice Your Love For Wealth For The Love Of Allah
“And you love wealth with immense love.” (Al-Fajr 89:20)
Is your love for Allah greater than your love for wealth and money? We need to ask ourselves this important question. If you truly love Allah more, do your actions actually prove on a daily basis that you’re choosing love of Allah over love for more wealth?
Let’s assess ourselves.
On a daily basis is your goal to please Allah swt or is it to find the best strategies to increase wealth? What occupies your mind every single day?
If you find that the former is true, you would naturally find the time to read more Quran, perfect your Salah and try to be the best Muslim you can be in all your daily affairs because you know Allah is watching you.
But if the latter is true, and everything you’re focusing on is how to increase your wealth and money. It will definitely show in all your actions and decisions.
Perhaps you wouldn’t mind venturing into that lucrative business opportunity even though you’re not sure if it’s halal or haram. Or perhaps it’s as small as you finishing that big project that you know is going to get you ahead in your career but you missed and compromised your Salah as a result.
What do your actions tell you? It never lies.
As a caveat, there’s nothing wrong with acknowledging the fact that we need money to survive, just don’t prioritize it above Allah swt because He is The One who gives you all that rizq to begin with.
If you value wealth above your love of Allah, it just shows that you don’t trust in Allah swt’s promises to provide for you.
“Your wealth and children are only a test, but Allah alone has a great reward.” (At-Taghabun 64:15)
Allah says in the Quran that your wealth and children (things you are most proud of) are only tests to see if you have Taqwa in Allah when handling them. If you fail the test, those things will mean nothing to you and will not benefit you in any way in the akhirah.
2. Sacrifice Your Blind Love In Relationships For The Love Of Allah
Before I got married to my husband, I couldn’t imagine being attached to a man. Sure, you would want to marry someone you love, but after marriage, I realize that the level of attachment got so much higher.
So high to the point that I can’t imagine living my life without him.
It’s funny because I was already living for 20+ years without him. But when he came along, life was so much better and fulfilling Alhamdulillah. So how do I remind myself that no matter how much I love my husband, he is never mine, he is Allah’s.
Allah loves him more than I could ever love him.
And so Allah can take him away from me any time. My husband always reminds me that if anything happens to him, I need to be ready to move on with my life. And each time he says that I would surely have tears in my eyes.
What about you? Who is that one person or loved ones who you have the potential to love more than you love Allah swt? (nauzubillah) It is dangerous and scary but we must be aware that these things happen all the time.
Our best strategy is to always be vigilant about it, keep reminding ourselves that everyone in our lives right now is a loan from Allah and they can be taken away from us whenever He pleases.
3. Sacrifice Your Nafs/Lower Ego For The Love Of Allah
There are 3 different types of nafs mentioned in the Quran – the lower Nafs (Nafs Ammara-bisu), the middle Nafs (Nafsul Lawwamah) and The higher Nafs (Nafsul Mutmainnah).
What you need to constantly fight and sacrifice is your lower Nafs (Nafs Ammara-bisu). It is the Nafs that calls you towards evil.
“… indeed the soul is ever inclined to evil…” (Yusuf 12:53)
When you find yourself trying to maintain your ego when someone corrects you, even when you think they’re right, that is your lower nafs dictating you.
Beware and let go of it. It is very dangerous because it can lead to arrogance, selfishness and as a result prevent you from receiving Allah’s hidayah (guidance).
“Without a doubt, Allah knows what they conceal and what they reveal. He certainly does not like those who are arrogant.” (An-Nahl 16:23)
4. Sacrifice Your Love For Food And Drinks For The Love Of Allah
“O believers! Fasting is prescribed for you—as it was for those before you—so perhaps you will become mindful of Allah.” (Al-Baqarah 2:183)
This is pretty straight forward. Can you sacrifice your love for food and drinks for the love of Allah? If you can then Allah would surely be pleased with you.
The most obvious thing Allah asks us to sacrifice during Ramadhan and other sunnah fasts is food and drink. Why is that? Because it is our basic need. The thing that we need most to survive on this earth.
If we can sincerely sacrifice it for the sake of Allah, insyaAllah sacrificing other significant things for the love of Allah would be a breeze.
5. Sacrifice Your Desires For The Love Of Allah
“Have you seen those who have taken their own desires as their god?…” (Al-Jathiyah 45:23)
Do you find yourself desiring for the haram or the things nearing to the haram? Perhaps it is a haram business opportunity, premarital relationship or whatever your heart desires but you know is against what Allah loves and is pulling you away from Him.
If you can sacrifice that desire that you love most for the love of Allah, you’d be successful.
“Those who desire worldly gain, We will let them have it, and those who desire heavenly reward, We will grant it to them. And We will reward those who are grateful.” (Ali Imran 3:145)
6. Sacrifice Your Bad Characters For The Love Of Allah
“Remember the Day when every soul will be presented with whatever good it has done. And it will wish that its evil deeds were far off.” (Ali Imran 3:30)
We’ve all done bad deeds and sins we’re not proud of. It’s not a matter of striving for perfection and being an ‘angel’. That will never happen because we are fallible creatures.
But if you know that there are some bad habits or flawed characters you keep repeating, that will be something you wish you’d have corrected on the day of judgment.
“You will see the wrongdoers, when they face the torment, pleading, ‘Is there any way back to the world?’” (Ash-Shuraa 42:44)
When Allah presents your scales on the day of judgment and you realize that that bad character of yours is making your scale tilt towards your bad deeds, you will wish that you can go back to dunya and fix your ways.
You would wish that you’d have chosen the love of Allah instead of your undesirable and ugly ways.
So why not be smart about it while you’re still ALIVE! Now when you still have the chance. I know it’s super hard because bad habits and character are much easier to stick to than good ones.
But if you can find a way to correct your bad characters and build your good character, that can be your ticket to Jannah so it’ll all be worth it in the end insyaAllah.
7. Sacrifice Your Love For This Dunya For The Love Of Allah
“… the life of this world is no more than the delusion of enjoyment.” (Ali Imran 3:185)
Dunya is nothing but enjoyment and deceivement. Nothing in it is PERMANENT! Can you imagine, one day all of this will be gone?
“…on the Day the earth and mountains will shake violently, and mountains will be reduced to dunes of shifting sand.” (Al-Muzzammil 73:14)
And we will all be brought back for judgment.
You will then be presented before Him for judgment, and none of your secrets will stay hidden. (Al-Haqqah 69:18)
Isn’t it scary?
I still can’t believe that a week ago I was crying my eyeballs out over some petty dunya thing that I couldn’t get. Amazing how remembering the day of judgment and the reality of this world can put us straight back into the right perspective.
“… continue to remind. For certainly reminders benefit the believers….” (Adh-Dhariyat 51:55)
So here’s my message to you. Treat this dunya as if it is a short pit stop while you’re on your journey to your ‘final destination’. I know, that word can trigger some gruesome images from that movie, but I’m serious here.
Our ultimate and final destination as a Muslim is Jannah. Forget about everything else and focus solely on your goal to get to Jannah. What does Allah swt say about Jannah? How do you work for it? Find out all about it and make your grand plan to get there. That’s the ONLY thing that matters.
InsyaAllah, if you can get to Jannah, it automatically means Allah is truly pleased with you.
Conclusion On Proving Our Love For Allah Through Sacrifices In Life
Be sure that you are prioritizing your love for Allah more than anything else in this Dunya.
This life is designed to be a test that is deceitful and full of lies. Don’t get caught up in it. Focus your way back to pleasing Allah swt and remember that your ultimate destination as a Muslim is Jannah, insyaAllah.
May Allah swt be pleased with all of us and may He grant us all Jannatul Firdaus insyaAllah. Ameen.
