The Love of God for His creation pt1

The Love of God for Humanity - Part 1
Jibreel Keresztes, University Graduate

Praise be to God, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earths and peace and blessings be upon His prophet Mohammed, his family and all the righteous followers till the day of judgment. I begin in the name of God the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

One of the most important emotions that have been at the foundation of humanity since the beginning of time is love. Love has been the driving force for wars and for peace. Love has been the emotion that has built up society and in many instances has caused it to fall apart.

If we check the dictionary definition of love, we will get a variety of mixed definitions under the umbrella of love. Love can be sensual. Love can be directed towards a material object, or a certain behavior. Love can cause happiness, and at the same time it can be the cause of jealousy and depression. When one asks most religious people, they will say that God is love. We will closely examine this claim in the light of the Quran, and God’s greatest names: Al-Rahman (The Most Gracious), and Al-Raheem (The Most Merciful).

If love is subject to such weaknesses as jealousy and worldly attachments, could we attribute such weaknesses to God? In the view of Islamic creed such things are unthinkable. God is not love in that love is sometimes a feeling of weakness and helplessness in front of another person or material. Love can be an uncontrollable feeling, and verily God is in control of everything. Yet God loves His creation without a doubt.
Part of the miraculous nature of the Quran is the fact that God chose the perfect words to describe His love for his creation. The word love is found in the Quran more than twenty times under different forms such as “hubb”, “muhabbah” and “wudda”.

“I cast over you (O Moses) the garment of love (mahabbah) from Me and (this) in order that you may be reared under My care “(20:39).

The love that God has for His people is a feeling and not the essence of God. God has the Most Perfect Attributes as described in the Quran under His 99 names. One of such is The Loving. This word alone if analyzed deeply would give us some of the most amazing insights into God’s love.

Two names are mentioned in the Quran 114 places which embody a special type of love that God has for His creations, both believers and non-believers. These names are Al-Rahman and Al-Raheem. Casting aside the one word English translation of such, we will ponder deeply over the meaning of these words and attributes, and over the wisdom of such words being mentioned in the Quran.
“(This is) a Book that We have revealed unto you (O Prophet), full of lasting Bliss that they may ponder upon its Messages and that those who have understood may (take them to heart and [always] be mindful”. [38:29] (To be continued)

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