Page 92 - The Worst Slander: Idolatry

90 THE WORST SLANDER: IDOLATRY

Love

Believers know that since Allah created them, only He is
worthy of their love, closeness, and devotion. After creating
them out of nothing, Allah has continued to meet all of their
physical and spiritual needs by creating countless blessings
for everyone. Furthermore, as long as people have faith in
and obey Him, Allah will reward them with a great and eter-
nal blessing in both worlds, along with love and approval in
His Sight. He bestows all of these things for no return, as a
mercy and blessing from His Presence. Given this, how can
any other member of Creation be worthy of a person's love
and devotion?
One cause of love is the interest and awe felt when con-
fronted with the Beloved's superior and beautiful features.
When this interest and awe is returned, the relationship
turns into a powerful bond of affection. The important point
here, however, is to determine to Whom this superiority and
beauty actually belong and then to turn these feelings of
interest and awe in the proper direction: Allah is the source
and true Lord of all beauty, superiority, and exalted titles.
The titles that may appear to be inherent in His Creations
are actually nothing more than very minor manifestations of
His infinite titles and, in fact, belong to Him alone. Thus,
given that Allah manifests Himself in His servants, any love
that one feels should be felt for Allah alone. If this is not the
case, the person has ascribed equals to Allah.
Of course it is not wrong to feel love. What is wrong,
however, is to forget Allah and bind oneself, with passion
and fanaticism, to that which is not Him or to abandon