Ch 23 — Real Love, Relative Love

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

Real Love, Relative Love p. 54

God alone is the giver of all bounties. When man acknowledges these blessings wholeheartedly, that is another name for the love of God. p. 54

Chapter two of the Quran tells us that the believers love God most (2:165). What does it mean to love God? Religious scholars generally say that ‘love of God’ means submission to God. On the other hand, the Sufis hold that loving God means having an intense love (Ishq) for God. Neither of these explanations is a correct interpretation of this verse of the Quran. p. 54original + quote

Love, in actual fact, is another name for a strong heartfelt attachment. When you develop a strong attachment for anyone, that is love. In this respect, God alone deserves to be loved by His servants. p. 54

Love, in relation to God, is another name for a thorough-going acknowledgment of God’s blessings. Therefore, without doubt, God alone deserves this kind of love from man. p. 54

There are two kinds of love—real and relative. For various reasons, in the life of this world, an individual may develop love for another creature, even sometimes for an animal, or even any inanimate object, such as his home. But no love of this kind exists after death. All of a sudden, man is cut off from all such relationships. For all such feelings are relative, produced on the basis of temporary reasons. And the moment the reasons are no longer there, they vanish instantly. On the contrary, the love of God is real love—feelings produced for real reasons, and when these feelings are engendered in man they are everlasting. Death cannot put an end to them. God gave man existence, and an extremely favourable world to live in, with a sophisticated kind of life support system. Such being the case there are innumerable things in this world—all put there for man’s benefit. God alone is the giver of all these bounties. No other being has been instrumental in the granting of these blessings. When man acknowledges these blessings wholeheartedly, that is another name for the love of God. p. 55