Page 38 - Devoted to Allah

DEVOTED TO ALLAH

to select the one that first occurs to him, which is generally
the one that pleases Allah most. Then, the self intervenes:
it foolishly tries to make other alternatives seem more al-
luring and finds pretexts to legitimize them. A believer
must disregard these pretexts and comply with the initial
and absolutely correct choice to which his conscience
leads him.

Loving for Allah’s Sake

That is the good news (the promise of Paradise) which
Allah gives to His servants who believe and do right
actions. Say: “I do not ask you for any recompense for
this [but] only good will through kinship. If anyone
does a good action, he shall be repaid many times
over. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Ever-Thankful.” (Surat
ash-Shura: 23)
A believer devotes his entire life to Allah. He lives for
Allah, works for Allah and loves for Allah’s sake.
“Loving for Allah’s sake” might be an incomprehensi-
ble theme to someone who is not well acquainted with the
true Islam. One who has remained distant from Allah
throughout his life, and who has therefore not known
Him, will be unaware of how to love Allah intuitively.
However, a believer who knows Allah and witnesses
His mercy to him, who recognizes that everything he
loves is His blessing and that he owes his existence and
life to His mercy, loves Allah and attains the noble spirit
of loving for the sake of Allah. In the Qur’an, the great dif-
ference between believers and other people in this sense is
set out as follows:

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