Here is another beautiful article mashaAllah by sheikh Salman al-Oadah, jazah Allah khair.
Cultivating the Love of Allah A heart filled with the love of Allah is a heart that finds peace and tranquility. Allah says:
“Indeed, by the remembrance of Allah do the hearts find contentment.” [Sûrah al-Ra`d: 28]
Allah promises those who believe and work righteousness that he will give them a life of goodness. He says:
“Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has faith, verily to him we will give him a life that is good and pure.” [Sûrah al-Nahl: 97]
This life which is good and pure is by way of the radiance of one’s spirit, the coolness of one’s eyes, and the happiness of one’s heart towards Allah. Religion faith provides solace to the soul’s pain. It is the physician that cures our tears and our emotional wounds.
From our love for Allah stems our love for His Messengers, His Prophets, and His angels, Our love for Allah makes us love His righteous servants among our fellows. We want to be with those who love Him, associate with them, and adopt their good ways and manners.
From our love for Allah stems a desire to exhibit goodness to all of Creation. This desire manifests itself in our good words, our good deeds, our supplications, and our help. This in itself is a reason for happiness and contentment. Those who go forth to help others and fulfill their needs are the people with the most happiness and fulfillment in their lives.
The love for Allah comes by way of keeping His Book as a dear companion – by reading it, contemplating its meanings, and acting upon its teachings. Such companionship of the Qur’ân means that the reader is always with it. Whenever he completes one chapter, he moves on to another. He never finishes reading the Qur’ân except with the intention of starting again.
A person’s love for Allah is expressed through his love for prayer, since this is the way the soul can travel to its Lord. It brings rest to the spirit. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Bilâl: “Call the prayer, so that we may find rest in it.” [Sunan Abî Dâwûd (4985)]
Prayer safeguards us from sin and wrongdoing. Allah says:
“Establish prayer, for prayer restrains from shameful and false deeds.” [Sûrah al-`Ankabût: 45]
We show our love to Allah by constantly seeking His forgiveness and by constantly striving to draw nearer to Him. A Muslim never despairs of Allah’s mercy and he never see his sins to be greater than Allah’s forgiveness. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.
Allah says: “No one despairs of Allah’s mercy except those who have no faith.” [Sûrah Yûsuf: 87]
Allah says: “And who despairs of the mercy of Allah except those who are astray?” [Sûrah al-Hijr: 56]
Our penitence includes our repeatedly seeking Allah’s forgiveness with the prescribed wording for doing so while keeping the meaning of what we are saying clear in our minds. We must recognize and acknowledge our shortcomings before Allah. We should feel acutely how much we need Him and how much we must rely on Him at every moment of our lives.
We show our love for Allah by being aware of the numerous blessings He has bestowed upon us, despite all our sins and shortcomings.
A worshipper of Allah should never forget supplication. It is a door that is always open and never closed. Allah says: “Call upon Me. I will answer you.” [Sûrah Ghâfir: 60]
Allah says: “If My servants asks you about Me, for indeed I am near. I answer the supplication of the supplicant when he calls upon Me.” [Surah al-Baqarah: 186]
We must beseech our Lord in humility at every possible occasion and express our need of Him. Our hearts should be tied to Allah. We should wake up and pray to Him during the last third of the night, which is a special and most precious time for our worship. We should beseech Allah during the last hour of the afternoon on Friday and between the two calls of every prayer.
We should be careful that all of our sustenance is lawful and good. We should uphold our ties of kinship and honor our parents. We should respect the honor and wealth of our fellow human beings and never transgress against them.
We should receive in our hearts the glad assurance of the good that is bestowed by the One who when He wills something, just says “Be!” and it is.
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