HARUN YAHYA

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LOVING FOR GODS SAKE

destines the beauty of these beings to perish with death and ultimately with doomsday, which is a death in more general terms. In the hereafter, all beings will be recreated. Said Nursi, also known as Bediuzzaman (the Wonder of the Age), one of the greatest Islamic scholars of the 20th century, likens this form of love to that of a man who looks at the sun through a mirror held in his hand. Once the mirror is broken into pieces and light is no longer reflected from it, the man feels profound distress at having lost a source of light. However, he is not intelligent enough to conceive that the light in the mirror does not actually originate from it. The light comes from the sun; mirrors only reflect it. A believer shows all his love for God. Loving God is to love beings, aware that they reflect the attributes of God and that these attributes actually belong to Him, as in the case of the mirrors. Consequently, a believer shows his love for God by loving believers who make manifest the attributes of God in their manner and conduct, and who display the moral values foreseen to be good by God. This form of love is not based on kinship, race or any kind of interest. Due to the love felt for God, it is solely a matter of loving those who love God. In the Quran, the love between believers is alluded to as follows:
Those who were already settled in the abode, and in faith, before they came, love those who have emigrated to them and do not find in their hearts any need for what they have been given, but prefer them to themselves, even if they themselves are needy. It is the people who are safeguarded from the avarice of their own selves who are successful. (Surat al-Hashr: 9)

That is the good news (the promise of paradise) which God gives to His servants who believe and do right actions. Say: I do not ask you for any recompense for this [but] only good will through kinship. If anyone does a good action, he shall be repaid many times over. God is Ever-Forgiving, Ever-Thankful. (Surat ash-Shura: 23)

believer devotes his entire life to God. He lives for God, works for God and loves for Gods sake. Loving for Gods sake might be an incomprehensible concept for someone who is not well acquainted with true Islam. One who has remained distant from God throughout his life, and who has therefore not known Him, will be unaware of how to love God intuitively. However, a believer who knows God and witnesses His mercy to him, who recognises that everything he loves is His blessing and that he owes his existence and life to Him, loves God and attains the noble spirit of loving for the sake of God. In the Quran, the great difference between believers and other people in this sense is stated as follows:
Some people set up equals to God, loving them as they should love God. But those who have faith have greater love for God (Surat alBaqara: 165)

As is stated in the verse above, those who associate partners with God and who, in their minds, ascribe all attributes of God to other beings, love these beings as they should love God. This is the kind of love that is based on idolatry. Aware that everything belongs to God and every beings existence is consequential upon Gods creation, believers love God most. This great feature, which is a natural consequence of the believers recognition of God as the One and Only Supreme Being, makes him completely different from other people. This quality of believers is stated in one of the saying of the Prophet (saas) thus: Whoever has three things discovers the sweetness of faith: that God and His Messenger are more beloved to him than all else, that he love another only for the sake of God Most High, and that he hate to return to disbelief as he would hate to be thrown into fire." (Muslim and Bukhari) Those who associate partners with God, on the other hand, cannot stand the remembrance of God:
... When you mention your Lord alone in the Quran, they turn their backs and run away. (Surat al-Isra: 46)

The Quran makes it clear that the love felt for believers has been specially granted to them by God:
As for those who believe and do right actions, the AllMerciful will bestow His love on them. (Surah Maryam: 96)

Believers love only God and those who place faith in Him. This being the case, they have no love for anybody who rebels against God. This subject is emphasised in the following verses of the Quran:
You have an excellent example in Ibrahim and those with him, when they said to their people, We wash our hands of you and all that you worship apart from God, and we reject you. Between us and you there will be enmity and hatred for ever unless and until you have faith in God alone (Surat alMumtahana: 4)

However, it is worthy of mention that remembering God next to their idols does not disturb idolaters. The rationale thus expressed: We are Muslims, but we can enjoy our day as well is at the basis of their thinking. The believer, however, grasps the following facts: - Nothing (be it a human being, a thing or an event, etc.) has a beauty of its own. God creates all things and endows them with beauty. Since a person, for example, has not designed and created his or her face himself, that beauty is a beauty that belongs to God. - As in the case of a human being, all creatures that deserve love are created by God and made pretty. To remind people that the actual owner of this beauty is God, He

As the verses above make it clear, the love of a believer rests on no criterion other than the love felt for God. Setting aside all factors such as kinship or material wealth, this love is deeply rooted in faith and noble values. A believer has love for those whose faith is assured rather than for those possessing fame, money or social status, which are only seemingly important. Having purified his feelings of love of factors other than the love felt for God, a believer loves the one who fears God most and who is most attentive to seeking His pleasure. The more one has of the attributes peculiar to a believer, the more one is cherished by believers. In the Quran also, we witness believers holding most dear the Prophet (saas)the one who is nearest to God and the one who fears God most:
The Prophet has closer ties to the believers than they have to each other (Surat al-Ahzab: 6)