Advice for the Muslim

who loves a jamâ’a belongs to one of these three types:[1] he
who adopts all their good deeds and manners; [2] he who adopts
none of them; and [3] he who adopts a few of them and leaves
aside or does the opposite of the remaining. He who does all of
them [1] becomes one of them and is among them. His love for
them has made him completely like them. He has attained the
highest degree of love and is certainly one of them. He who does
not ever follow or look like those whom he loves [2] can never
be one of them. Al-Imâm al-Ghazâlî meant that Hasan al-Basrî
had referred to this type of persons. [Such love remains only in
words and does not reside in the heart, which is the place for
love. Love in mere words is not called love at all. His saying ‘I
love’ is not true.] As for the one who follows a few deeds of the
people he loves [3], he cannot be one of them if he does not have
the same faith. He is never sincere when he says he loves. There
is no love but hostility towards them in his heart. No enmity is
greater than the enmity against faith. An example for this case is
the Jews’ and Christians’ saying that they love their prophets. As
for him who claims that he believes like those whom he loves do,
but does not follow them fully in tâ’a and ’ibâdât, his claim to
love is of no avail if he does not follow them just because he
dislikes those deeds [3i]. He cannot be with those whom he says
he loves. But, if he cannot fully follow them because he is not
powerful enough or is unable to take control of his nafs [3ii],
there is nothing to prevent him from being with them. The
hadîths refer to this second group [3ii] and were said for the one
who loved a jamâ’a but who could not fully be like them. The
hadîth ash-sharîf addressed to Abu Dharr illustrates this openly
and makes [us, this type of] Muslims very happy [increases the
hope of salvation]. In his last breath, Muhammad ibn as-
Sammâk [(rahimah-Allâhu ta’âlâ), d. Kûfa, 183 A.H. (799)]
prayed saying, ‘Oh Allah! I have always disobeyed You. But, I
have loved those who obey You. Forgive me on account of this
love of mine!’ [1]
Najm ad-dîn al-Ghazzî [ash-Shafi’î (rahimah-
Allâhu ta’âlâ), d. 1061 A.H. (1651)] likened cruel people’s love
for the pious to the love of the first group of the third type [3i],
[1] Sayyid ’Abdulhakîm-i Arwasî used to pray saying, “Oh my Allah! I
have done nothing for You worthy of mentioning -I come to Your
Audience with my face in shame! But, I have borne hostility towards
those who want to destroy and annihilate Your Religion, Islam!
Forgive me on account of this hostility of mine on Your behalf!”
– 272 –