Glorification Of God Book

Ch 15 — Making God One's Supreme Concern

Glorification Of God Book — Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

Badges mark quoted or attributed material (Qur'an, hadith, another author, an opposing view). Unbadged passages are Maulana Wahiduddin Khan's own words.

Contents (44 chapters)
  1. Foreword
  2. Ch 1 — The Majesty of God in the Vast Universe
  3. Ch 2 — The Consciousness in Human Nature of God's Existence
  4. Ch 3 — The Omnipotent God and Helpless Man
  5. Ch 4 — Glorification of God
  6. Ch 5 — Consciousness in Nature
  7. Ch 6 — Limitless Majesty of God
  8. Ch 7 — Relationship with God
  9. Ch 8 — Two Aspects of God-Realization
  10. Ch 9 — The Importance of the Fear of God
  11. Ch 10 — Loving God the Most
  12. Ch 11 — Love, Obedience
  13. Ch 12 — Love of God
  14. Ch 13 — Closeness to God
  15. Ch 14 — Two Levels of Realization (Maarifah)
  16. Ch 15 — Making God One's Supreme Concern
  17. Ch 16 — Submission to God
  18. Ch 17 — Acknowledgement of God
  19. Ch 18 — Cause of the Failure to Love God
  20. Ch 19 — Praise Be to God (Alhamdulillah)
  21. Ch 20 — The Source of the Love of God
  22. Ch 21 — The Price of the Love of God
  23. Ch 22 — Strong, Emotional Attachment to God
  24. Ch 23 — Real Love, Relative Love
  25. Ch 24 — Two Categories of Paradise
  26. Ch 25 — Intense Love of God
  27. Ch 26 — Strong Believer, Weak Believer
  28. Ch 27 — People Worth Envying
  29. Ch 28 — Sacred Narration
  30. Ch 29 — A Case of Exceptional Mercy
  31. Ch 30 — God in Our Hearts
  32. Ch 31 — The Remembrance of God
  33. Ch 32 — Two Lifestyles
  34. Ch 33 — The Power of Helplessness
  35. Ch 34 — Crying in Remembrance of God
  36. Ch 35 — The Spirit of Religion
  37. Ch 36 — God's Pleasure, Man's Pleasure
  38. Ch 37 — Initial Hamd (Praise), Ultimate Hamd
  39. Ch 38 — Thankfulness and Acknowledgement
  40. Ch 39 — The High Degree of the Divine Experience
  41. Ch 40 — The Feelings of Worship
  42. Ch 41 — The Experience of God
  43. Ch 42 — Seeking God's Pleasure
  44. Ch 43 — In the Company of God

Making God One’s Supreme Concern p. 38

Faith in God is for man to discover God to the extent of loving Him more than anything else. Praise (hamd), thanksgiving (shukr) and remembrance (zikr) are expressions of our love for God. p. 38

The strongest human feeling or emotion is that of love. When man makes something his supreme concern, it naturally happens that a feeling of love becomes associated with that thing. In religious terminology, this is called “deification”. The thing one loves the most is one’s deity, (mabud) whether or not one utters this word. p. 38

Faith in God is for man to discover God to the extent of loving Him more than anything else. The Quran says that “those who believe love God most.”(2:165) One who loves God the most is one who has made God his object of worship. p. 38original + quote

Real love for God will find expression in many ways. Even uttering such words as praise (hamd), thanksgiving (shukr), and remembrance (zikr), as we find in the Quran, is also an expression of our love for God. It would be right to say that Alhum-do-lillah, praise be to God, signifies love for God (Alhub-bu-lillah). Praising God means loving God. Gratitude to God also means loving God. Remembering God also indicates a strong love and affection for God. p. 39original + quote

The Quran has this to say: “Remembrance of God gives one’s heart peace of mind”. (13:28) This means, moreover, that it is only love of God which can give man peace of mind in the real sense. p. 39original + quote

Belief in God begins with the discovery of God. In the Quran this discovery is called Maarifah. Maarifah, or realization of God, in the real sense, becomes a part and parcel of one’s existence. When this happens, all those high and noble manifestations expressed in such words as love, gratitude and remembrance of God come into evidence. p. 39