Does Allah Love Me?

I read something beautiful on an Islamic Q & A site last night, somebody asked how do we know when Allah (the God) loves us and is pleased with us, what are the signs? Obviously it caught my attention and i went on reading, it is great to know there are some signs that we can look for to know if Allah is pleased with us or not. I think i should put it here just as it is, it is already a brief answer.

Praise be to Allaah.

Among the signs that the Lord is pleased with His slave is that He guides him to do good deeds and avoid haraam things. This is confirmed by the words of Allaah:

“While as for those who accept guidance, He increases their guidance and bestows on them their piety” [Muhammad 47:17]

“As for those who strive hard in Us (Our Cause), We will surely guide them to Our paths (i.e. Allaah’s religion — Islamic Monotheism)” [al-‘Ankaboot 29:69]

But if a person is hindered from doing good deeds and avoiding haraam things – we seek refuge with Allaah – then that is a sign that Allaah is not pleased with him. Allaah has also explained in His Book that the sign of His being pleased with His slave and of His guidance is that He opens his heart to true guidance and true faith.

And the sign of misguidance and being far from the Straight Path is distress and constriction in the heart. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And whomsoever Allaah wills to guide, He opens his heart to Islam; and whomsoever He wills to send astray, He makes his heart closed and constricted, as if he is climbing up to the sky. Thus Allaah puts the wrath on those who believe not”
[al-An’aam 6:125]

Ibn 'Abbaas said, commenting on this verse: “And whomsoever Allaah wills to guide…”: He opens his heart to Tawheed and belief therein.
Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 2/175

Another sign of Allaah’s love for His slave and His being pleased with him is that He makes him beloved to His slaves. Al-Bukhaari (3209) and Muslim (2637) narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“When Allaah loves a person, He calls out to Jibreel: ‘Allaah loves So and so,’ so Jibreel loves him. Then Jibreel calls out to the people of heaven, ‘Allaah loves So and so, so love him.’ So the people of heaven love him and he finds acceptance on earth.”

Al-Nawawi said: “and he finds acceptance on earth” means that people love him and are pleased to see him, so their hearts incline towards him. It says in another report: “and he finds love on earth.”

And Allaah knows best.

Source: Islamqa

A small extract from the last sermon of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)

"Do not do injustice to yourselves. Remember, one day you will appear before Allah and answer about your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.

"O People! No prophet or apostle will come after me and no new faith will be born. O People! Reason and understand well the words that I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the Qur'an and my Sunnah (i.e. sayings, deeds and approvals), and if you follow these you will never go astray.

"All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly".

Time At Hand

Yesterday I revised Surah al Ghashiyah (88) from the Quraan, (made a few mistakes, which are corrected now alhamdulilah). Its a beautiful chapter, a small one with very short verses, but which you could ponder upon forever and learn so much from.

The begining part talks of two groups of people on the Last Day, according to their deeds, ones with humiliated, downcast faces and others with bright, joyful ones. But the thing that cast terror in my heart is the two lines in which Allah says how both the groups strove really hard in this life, but one of them only got tiredness out of it, while the other is seen so lively and their freshness is obvious from their countenances.

"Has there come to you the news of the overwhelming calamity ?

Some faces on that day will be downcast;

Labouring, weary.

They shall enter a blazing Fire,

And will be made to drink from a boiling spring.

They will have no food save that of dry, bitter and thorny herbage,

Which will neither nourish nor satisfy hunger.

And some faces on that day will be joyful;

Well-pleased with their past striving,

In a lofty Garden."

(Al-Ghashiyah 88:1-10)

Obviously there was a difference in the striving of the two, the striving of the first group got them nothing but regrets and weariness on the Day of Judgement, because their striving was in acts of disobedience to Allah.

Also at times we may not actually be disobeying Allah but doing good deeds with wrong intentions, and not to please Allah, those kind of deeds will also be of no value and would just come out to be as disappointments over time wasted.

Other times it could be none of these but doing things that bring no benefit either of this world or the hereafter, just 'killing' the precious time that we are given to invest in, so that at the end it is profitable. Just as the Prophet (peace be upon him) likened this world to tillage for the hereafter, and we are here to sow the seeds of good deeds, work by plowing so we can raise crops to be harvested later.

And seeing our rewards at the end will make our faces light up with joy, as we all know how pleasing it is to see something accomplished after we have taken great pains for it. On the other hand, we also know the pain of having regrets and hopelessness for not using the time and resources properly and being empty handed at the end, and having no time and chance for changing things to good.

Get Some in Your Heart, If Not All

Ibn `Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said,

"He who does not memorize any part from the Qur'an he is like the ruined house.''

[At-Tirmidhi]

Commentary: This Hadith means that the heart of that Muslim is devoid of grace of spiritualism and Grace of Allah who does not remember by heart any portion of the Qur'an, in the same way as a deserted house is deprived of inhabitants and Blessings of Allah. What we learn from this is that every Muslim must remember some portion of the Qur'an so that he is safe from the admonition mentioned in this Hadith.

Chapter: The Excellence of Reciting the Quraan

From the Book: Riyadus-Saliheen (The Garden of the Righteous)

Ya Allah Forgive Me

All praises are for you Allah, how I hope that you are there.

For sinful though I know I am, your displeasure I can not bear.

Never, till this moment, did I realize how much I've strayed.

Never, till now, was I more conscious

of all those times when I should have prayed.

For sins are like heavy baggage, that one carries through Life,

Why didn't I realize sooner, that Earth is but a place of sport?

Ya Allah ! Forgive me. Save me from the fire of Hell.

Ya Allah ! Protect me.

From myself for my soul is weak.

Let me not falter ever, for Jan'ah is the abode I seek.

Ya, Allah! Please help me.

For I don't understand and thus, I fear.

What happened to all those moments when

I never doubted that you were near ?

My actions once were guided, by my faith which, once, was strong.

Ya Allah! please guide me .

What happened, what went wrong ?

Each footstep that I used to take,

I took with you ever near my side.

The Quran was my faithful companion, Rasoolallah my beloved guide.

How I yearn for those bygone days Allah,

for I know that the day comes near

When we'll each receive our just rewards,

and Truth will stand sparkling clear.

Life is like a spider's web Allah.

We get caught in its tricky snare

So thoroughly are we disillusioned, time for saalat we can not spare.

I sit here and I wonder, Ya Allah!

Why did I fall so low ? What happened to my faith Allah?

Where did my Iman go?

In this earthly life of ours, so often does sin seem right.

Falsehood seems to be the truth,

as if days are confused with night.

Man is an imperfect creature.

And thus, Man shall always wrong.

For the road to Jan'ah is rocky, and the journey seems awfully long.

Ya Allah ! Our creator, we are all just peices of clay.

Please help us with our steps in life, and let us not lose our way.

All praises are for you Allah,

I know that you are near.

I know that you have read my heart, and my words I know you hear.

[Anonymous]

In the name of ALLAH, the Gracious, the Merciful

Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth glorifies ALLAH. HIS is the Kingdom and HIS is the praise, and HE has power over all things.

It is HE Who has created you, but some of you are disbelievers and some of you are believers. And ALLAH sees what you do.

HE created the heavens and the earth with an eternal purpose and HE gave you shape and made your shapes beautiful, and to HIM is the ultimate return.

[The Holy Quraan 64:1-3]