“The heart is inherently dependent
on Allāh in two ways: from the point of view of worship, which is the ultimate goal, and from the point of view of seeking
His help and relying upon Him, which are the means to that end. The heart cannot be sound, or succeed, or find joy, or be
happy, or feel pleasure, or be good, or be at peace, or find tranquility, except by worshipping its Lord, loving Him and returning
to Him. Even if it attains all that it can enjoy of created things, it will not feel at peace or find tranquility, because
it has an inherent need for its Lord, for He is the focus of its worship, love and seeking, and this is the only way to attain
joy, happiness, pleasure, peace and tranquility …
…For if a person is helped to attain
what he loves, seeks, desires and wants, but he does not worship Allāh, he will never achieve anything but sorrow, regret
and suffering. He can never be free of the pain and hardship of this life except through loving Allāh sincerely, so that Allāh
becomes his ultimate desire and he loves Him for what He is, and he loves anyone or anything else only for His sake, and he
does not love anything for its own except Allāh. If he does not achieve this (level of love), he has not properly understood
the true meaning of “La illaha ill Allāh” or of Tawheed or of Uboodiyyah or of loving Allāh. There
is something lacking in his eemaan and Tawheed, and he will suffer pain, regret and anguish accordingly.”
The highest degree of love is Tatayyum
(total enthrallment). The lowest degree is ‘alaqah (attachment), when the heart is attached to the beloved: then
comes sabahah (infatuation), when the heart is poured out: then gharam (passion), when love never leaves the
heart: then ashaq (ardent love), and finally tatayyum. When we say that a person is enthralled, as it were,
by Allāh, it means that he worships Allāh, because enthrallment is like enslavement to the beloved.
When a person submits to
another even though he dislikes him, this is not worship or enslavement: when he loves someone but is not subservient to him,
as a man might love his child or friend, this is not worship or enslavement either. Either of them alone is not enough when
it comes to worshipping Allāh. Allāh must be more important than all else. Nothing is deserving of complete love and submission
except Allāh. Love for anything other then Allāh is corrupt love, and veneration of anything except Allāh is false veneration.
Allāh says:
Say: If it be that your fathers,
your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred: the wealth that you have gained: the commerce in which you fear decline:
or the dwellings in which you delight- are dearer to you then Allāh, or his messenger, or the striving in His cause- the wait
until Allāh brings about His Decision … [Sūrah Al Tawbah: Ayah 24]
Love, like obedience, should only be for Allāh and His Messenger, and for the
sake of earning Allāh’s pleasure:
… But it is more fitting that they should please Allāh and His Messenger
… [Sūrah Al Tawbah: Ayah 62
It is also for Allāh and His Messenger
to give;
If only they had been content with
what Allāh and His Messenger gave them … [Sūrah Al Tawbah: Ayah 59]
Worship (‘ibadah ) and the things
that are connected to it, such as complete trust and fear, and so on, can only be for Allāh alone, as He says:
Say (O Muhammad): “O People of the Book (Jews and Christians): Come
to a word that is just between us and you, that we worship none but Allāh, and that we associate no partners with Him, and
that none of us shall take others as lords besides Allāh.” Then if they turn away, say: “Bear witness that we
are Muslims.” [Sūrah Al Imran: Ayah 64]
If only they had been content with what Allāh and His Messenger
gave them, and had said: “sufficient unto us is Allāh! Allāh and His Messenger will soon give us of His bounty: to Allāh
do we turn our hopes!” (That would have been the right course.) [Sūrah Al Tawbah: Ayah 59]
So it is it is for Allāh and His Messenger to give, as He said:
… So take what the Messenger assigns to you, and deny yourselves
that which he withholds from you. [Sūrah Al Hashr: Ayah 7]
It is only Allāh Who is sufficient for us, as He says
Those (the believers) un to whom the people (the hypocrites) said: “Verily,
the people (the pagans) have gathered against you (a great army), therefore fear them.” But it (only) increased them
in Faith, and they said: Allāh (alone) is sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us). [Sūrah
Al Imran : Ayah 173]
O Prophet! Allāh is sufficient for you and for the believers
who follow you. [Sūrah Al Anfal: Ayah 64] The last ayah means” Sufficient for you and those who follow you of the
believers, is Allāh.” Anyone who thinks that it means “Allāh and the believers with Him are sufficient for you”
is making a grave mistake. Allāh also saysIs
not Allāh Sufficient for His slave? … [Sūrah Al Zumar: Ayah 36]
In conclusion, therefore, we may say
that slave (‘abd) means the one who is enslaved by Allāh and who submits and humbles himself to Him.
