Love of Allah
The sun disappeared after paying its tribute to all hard-working creatures. Naila was doing her Islamiyat’s homework when her eyes got glued to one sentence. It was “Allah loves his creature seventy times more than a mother’s love.” It wasn’t an unfamiliar line; she had been hearing this from her early childhood. But she was unable to understand its context. Naila was an adroit and productive girl, and she always topped in her class. Therefore, she was the priority of her family and classmates. But there was something missing in her life. She used to offer Salah five times without delay, but still, she found herself dealing with something invisible. What was that? Was that living with her since her birth? Or was it an urge of something? She didn’t know yet.
“Naila!!!” Shouted her mother from the ground floor. “I’m coming, Mama jaan. Just give me five more minutes.” Replied Naila, who was combing her hair. It was Friday — a blessed day. On Fridays, it was a ritual to cook Biryani in her family. Everyone was obliged to be present in the dining room for collecting Friday’s blessings as much as possible. Naila hurried to arrive before getting scolded by her father for being so late. She rushed to the stairs that connected the first floor with the ground floor and then placed herself on the carpet. Friday’s meal was about to be served. Before eating the meal, every person in the house had to recite Qur’an and Drood-Shareef. After that, they had to raise their hands high for muttering their wishes to Allah. Naila’s mother, Anila, had told her that Allah puts his wrath on those who don’t prostrate him. He doesn’t love those who commit sins. Therefore, Naila never missed her prayers. She was afraid that if she doesn’t pray, Allah will get angry.
One day Naila was sitting by the shore when she saw an elderly man at the same spot. He was looking at the sky smilingly, but there were tears at the end of his eyes. The man was cripple. His clothes were old and torn; he had so many wrinkles around his eyes. His hands were shivering, but he was still smiling. This scenario shocked Naila. She went toward him and began her query. “Uncle, why are you smiling by looking at the sky?” The man replied, “I talked to Allah. I asked for something, now I have got that. Naila was shocked. She knew that common people couldn’t talk to Allah, nor could they see Him. Only very pious people could have conversations with Allah. Prophet Musa A.S used to converse with His Creator by climbing a mountain, but then one day, Prophet Musa A.S asked Allah Almighty to show His Glance. The mountain came to ashes the very second Allah Almighty showed his glance. Prophet Musa A.S was Allah’s chosen Man — He was a prophet, but still he couldn’t deal with the glance’s radiance and fell unconscious. How can this man who isn’t even clean can chat with Allah? Naila thought. The man smiled again and said, “I may not be clean by clothes, I may not be perfect by my physical appearance, but I love Allah.” I love to pour out my heart before Him because I know He is the only One Who can ease my pain.
Naila said, “I know, Allah loves us so much that He can’t see us in pain.” Indeed, He loves us, but do you know what He wants? The man asked? Naila thought for a moment and said, “Yes, He loves us when we pray five times a day, when we don’t commit any sin, either a small one or a big one. And those who do will be punished. The elderly man looked at Naila, and then he said something that changed Naila’s life.
“Allah loves His creature equally. He is Al-Jalal, but he is Al-Rahim too. And the latter is heavier upon the
former.” He wants us to pray but not due to any fear, but because of the love we can give Him in return to His abundant love. When you love someone, you never do something that can hurt that person. Likewise, when you love Allah, you can’t miss a Salah, nor can you do something that will pull you away from Allah. This is what our Almighty loves. People who only worship Allah always feel fear when they miss a Salah, and therefore, their focus never goes to the fundamental reason for their existence. But people who love Him feel an indescribable pleasure and comfort when they pray because they find the reason for their existence.
Moral of the story:
As children, whenever we lied, our mothers scolded us and said, “Do not lie, otherwise Allah will burn your tongue.” These sorts of sentences never let us realize how much Allah loves us, and therefore, we never learnt how to love Him.
