Full Lecture Transcript (Cleaned)
The Question: Should Muslims Say "God Loves Us"? — 8:42
Sister Hannah from New Jersey says that we often hear the phrase "God loves us" in this culture that we live in — that God loves all of us. As Muslims, should we use this phrase? Is this an Islamic phrase that we should always say — that God loves us?
Allah Is Al-Wadud — 9:02
The response is that indeed, Allah is the Ever-Loving. Of His names is Al-Wadud, which means the One who has a merciful love. And our Prophet (SAW) said that indeed, Allah is more merciful to His servant than a mother is to her child. Notice the example — a mother to her child — and our Prophet (SAW) said that Allah is more merciful than a mother is to her child.
So there are a lot of ayat and a lot of concepts affirming that Allah 'azza wa jall is the Loving, Allah is the Merciful, Allah loves to forgive, Allah loves to have mercy, and everything is encompassed in His mercy.
The Critical Distinction — 9:45
However — to say that God loves everybody unconditionally is not the same as saying that of the names of Allah is that He is the One who loves. There is a difference between the two.
Because you see, this actual point — of saying that we are God's beloved and God loves us and we are God's children — actually the Quran literally quotes the Ahl al-Kitab and challenges the Christians for saying this phrase.
Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:18 — 10:15
It is in Surah Al-Ma'idah, verse 18 — please look this up, it is very important. Allah says that they said: "We are the children of God, and we are the beloved to God. God loves all of us." This is in the Quran.
Then Allah says: "Say: then why are you being punished for your sins? Why is there pain in this world? Why are you not living in eternal bliss?"
You see, Allah's love, once it is bestowed unconditionally, then this means that you should be living in bliss — which is going to be in Jannah. The ultimate love will be manifested when we worship Allah. In this world, we shall attain internal blessings, and when we pass away, we will attain the blessings of Jannah.
However, we do not unconditionally state "God loves all of us." Rather, Allah is loving, but Allah 'azza wa jall only loves those who are worthy of that love. There is a difference between the two. We describe Allah as the Merciful and the Loving and the Forgiving — no problem. But then to extrapolate that and categorically assign it to yourself...
You Cannot Claim What You Do Not Know — 11:28
Imagine saying "Allah has forgiven me" — can anybody say this? You cannot say this. You do not know. You can say: "I wish Allah forgives me" — yes. "I hope Allah forgives me" — yes. "I hope Allah loves me. I am optimistic, insha'Allah, that Allah loves me. I want Allah to love me." But to categorically claim "Allah loves all of us" — the Quran itself says: how is that possible when you are being punished right now? How is that possible when you have painful lives? How is that possible when Allah 'azza wa jall is going to call you to task for the sins that you are doing?
Eight Categories Allah Loves — 12:05
The Quran clearly mentions that Allah loves categories of people. The Quran mentions eight categories:
Categories Allah Does Not Love — 12:43
In contrast, Allah 'azza wa jall explicitly says He does not love many categories of people:
- Allah does not love those who are arrogant
- Allah does not love al-mu'tadeen — those who go beyond the bounds
- Allah does not love al-khawwan — the treacherous
- Allah does not love al-atheem — the sinner
- Allah does not love al-mufsideen — those who cause evil and corruption in the earth
The Sign of Arrogance — 13:28
Therefore, dear Muslim, dear sister, and all of you — this is a very beautiful question and in fact a very theological and deep one. We say that Allah 'azza wa jall is Loving and Allah is Forgiving and Allah is Merciful — no problem. But then to extrapolate that and categorically assign it to yourself — it is a sign of arrogance. We do not say categorically "Allah has forgiven me" or "Allah has shown me His love." That is not acceptable — you do not know that.
Rather, you say: "I want Allah's love, and I want to be amongst those whom Allah loves." So our Prophet (SAW) taught us to ask: "We want You to love us, we want to be of the beloved to Allah."
The Danger of This Claim — 14:05
As for the claim of the Ahl al-Kitab — that "we are the children of God and we are the beloved of God" — Allah Himself says in the Quran: you should not say it categorically like that. That does not make sense, and it is a sign of arrogance, and it brings a level of complacency to one's faith that contradicts the humility that is the essence of Islam.
The essence of Islam is submission and lowering our head to Allah — not to go about boastfully claiming "we are God's people, we are God's chosen, God loves us." That type of statement justifies our evils. And that is why this phrase, this motto, this slogan has been adopted by people whose lifestyles are clearly against the ethical teachings of all divinely revealed religions — and they say "Oh, God loves us" — despite the fact that they openly flout the lifestyles and the commandments of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is clearly not something that should be done.
We rather say: we want Allah's love, we want to be of those whom Allah loves, and we will try our best by doing what Allah loves. So those eight categories — read them up and go over them one by one, and be amongst them. And avoid those whom Allah has said He does not love. And to say "God loves me" is itself a sign of arrogance. So may Allah make us amongst those whom He loves.