Ch 12 — Love of God

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

Love of God p. 30

An all-embracing love of God arises in one who discover God as one’s Creator, Giver and Benefactor. Then God becomes one’s Supreme concern. Everything else becomes secondary. p. 32

Someone once asked me, “In your writing you lay more emphasis on the love of God than on anything else. Please tell us how to love God. What is the way to do this?” I asked him, “Have you got a son?” He said he had. Then I asked him, “Do you love your son?” He said, he did. Then I asked him, “When your son was born to you, did you go to people asking them how to love your child?” He said, “No”. Then I observed: “Without asking anyone how to love your son, you love your son but when it comes to loving God, you are asking me how to love God?” p. 32

I said, “This is no simple matter. It relates to your consciousness.” Every father loves his son, for he thinks that his son is an extension of himself. This is why every father starts loving his son automatically. In this matter, no father needs to ask anyone how to love his son. God’s place is far far greater for everyone than this. God is your Creator and you are His creature, yet you have not discovered God as your Creator. It is this lack of awareness that explains your lack of love for God. If you had discovered God as a Creator, as a Giver, as your Benefactor, then certainly, you would not have asked this question. An all-embracing love of God, your Creator, would have arisen on its own. God would have been Supreme in your life. All other things would have been secondary to Him. p. 33

There is nothing artificial about the love of God, it is the call of human nature. It is indeed the wrong conditioning of man’s environment which turns him away from God. If you could de-condition yourself by your own thought processes, you would on your own become attached to God. You would start loving God by the force of the voice of your very own nature, just as you love your son. p. 33