Page 198 - Matter: The Other Name for Illusion

understood that he is also an illusion. Whereas he accepts his friends and
family as illusions, he accepts himself as absolute. However, like those close to
him, he is also an illusion. The body he sees and touches, like those of those he
loves, is an image that forms inside his brain.
Furthermore, the fact that such peoples' friends and family are also

perceptions in their minds does not prevent them being loved. If someone
loves his family and friends because of their corporeal or material existences,
then that is in any case a false love. True love consists in loving someone
because of the features manifested in him by God. For instance, although we
have never seen the Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him
peace), we feel great love and affection for him because we know that many of
the attributes of God, such as The Supporter (Al-Wali), The Sovereign Lord (Al-

Malik), The Generous One (Al-Karim), The Trustee (Al-Wakil), The Guide (Al-
Hadi) are manifested in him. Yet the only source of this love we have for the
Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace) is the love and
affection we feel for his true Lord, God.
Muslims love people, and all other things too, because of their love of
God, and because all of these things are a manifestation of Him. For instance,
a Muslim who loves a young gazelle, does so because God's compassion and
love are manifested in it, because the lovable qualities God has created in the
animal please him, and its appearance inspires a feeling of compassion in him.

He does not love the animal itself, or any other creature, on its own as an
independent entity.
A Muslim feels no independent love or ties for any person or thing. The
origin of all love is the love of God. One Koranic verse says, "... besides God,
you have no protector and no helper," and stresses that man has no other
friend than God. (Surat al-Baqara: 107) Another verse asks, "Is God not
enough for His servant?". (Surat az-Zumar: 36) That being the case, those we

love cannot be our friends and parents independently of God. For that reason,
the fact that all our family and friends are perceptions in our mind just
reinforces that truth. When we love our mothers, what we actually love are the
qualities of God that He manifests in her, The Merciful (Ar-Rahim), the
Compassionate (al-Rauf) and the Protector (al-Asim). Alternatively, when we
love a brother believer, we really love the pleasing morality that God manifests
in him. Since we hope that his character and nature will be pleasing to God,
they are also pleasing to us. Since we see that he loves and fears God, we also

196 MATTER: THE OTHER NAME FOR ILLUSION