THE TRUE TASTE OF IMAAN

The one, who has three qualities in him, will acquire the (true) sweetness of Imaan:

1. That Allah Ta’ala and his Rasul (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) are more beloved to him than everything,

2. That he has such love for a person that he loves him solely for the pleasure of Allah Ta’ala,

3. That he detests returning to Kufr just as he detests the thought of falling into the fire.

Explanation:

حلاوة الايمان means the sweetness of Imaan. Nabi (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) compared Imaan to food that is consumed to show that Imaan also has a taste just like food has a taste. However, sometimes, a person does not get the real taste of what he is consuming when he is sick and his sense of taste is affected. Similarly, when a person is spiritually ill, he does not get the true taste of Imaan and Ibaadat in general.

In this Hadith, Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) has drawn our attention towards the qualities that we must instil / inculcate and develop in us in order to get the true taste of Imaan.

There are two ways of loving something:

We love something because it satisfies our desire and we can feel some pleasure in it. For example, we like delicious meals, a nice house, beautiful clothes, etc. We do not have to make an effort to love these things. It comes by itself / naturally. This way of loving something is called حب طبعى.

And sometimes, we like something just because we find it to our advantage although we may also be facing some types of difficulties. For example, a very bitter medicine. Normally, a person does not like such a medicine. But despite that, he takes the trouble to go to the pharmacy to buy it and he drinks it forcefully with a lot of difficulty. He chooses to do all this just for the sake of his health. This way of loving something is called حب عقلى.

حب عقلى doesn't come by itself / automatically. One has to make an effort and one has to undergo difficulty to develop it in oneself. In the Hadith, it is this type of love that has been advised to inculcate for Allah Ta’ala and his Rasul (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam).

What does it mean to love Allah Ta’ala and his Rasul (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) more than everything?

To love Allah Ta’ala more than everything means making maximum effort to remain in the obedience of Allah Ta’ala completely and sacrificing the desires and pleasures for the sake of Allah Ta’ala. Let’s say, a person receives great advantages in a certain job but he refuses to accept it just because it is not according to what Allah Ta’ala likes. Thus, that person has sacrificed his personal advantage for the pleasure of Allah Ta’ala. Similarly, a person loves a woman and he would like to have her as a partner in life but one forgoes the idea of going forward just because this union is not authorised according to the Shari’ah. Here also, you have sacrificed your desire for the pleasure of Allah Ta’ala. When you have sacrificed something for the pleasure of Allah Ta’ala, it means that you love Allah Ta’ala more than that thing. When a person gives priority to what Allah Ta’ala loves over what he loves, it means that he loves Allah Ta’ala the most.

At first, sacrificing one’s desires may seem quite difficult but after some time, one will have adapted so well that one will have a real disgust for sins, and living in the pleasure of Allah Ta’ala will become something extremely delicious. This is a stage where facing all kinds of difficulties in the path of Allah Ta’ala becomes easy.

Loving Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) the most means giving preference to the system of life of Nabi (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) over all other systems.

In short, it is permissible to love what we want on condition that it does not make us go against the commandments of Allah Ta’ala and it does not make us live against the principles of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam). The moment we do this, we have proved that we love Allah and his Rasul (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) the most. 

Loving a person solely for the pleasure of Allah Ta’ala

There are many ways for a person to love another person: He can love him because of his wealth, fame or beauty. This way of loving someone is called loving someone due to personal interest or for worldly gain. This way of loving someone is not called loving solely for the pleasure of Allah Ta’ala. To love solely for the pleasure of Allah Ta’ala means loving a person without any personal interest or worldly gain. For example, a person admires a Hafiz-ul-Qur’an or an Aa'lim due to his knowledge of Deen and his piety. Loving a person in such a way is called loving someone solely for the pleasure of Allah Ta’ala. Loving a person solely for the sake of Allah Ta’ala is an inevitable result of loving Allah Ta’ala and his Rasul (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) more than everything. When a person loves Allah Ta’ala and his Rasul (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) more than everything, he will love what Allah Ta’ala and his Rasul (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) love. He will dislike what Allah and his Rasul (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) dislike.

Allah Ta’ala loves the pious people. So, one will love the pious people. One will love the ways of the pious people. One will not show admiration for the actors and actresses or for their fashion.

DISGUST FOR KUFR

A believer or an Imaandaar cannot simultaneously have admiration for Kufr in his heart. He must have disgust for Kufr in order to become a good Muslim. And this disgust must be so intense that the idea of returning to Kufr or committing something of Kufr makes him feel that he is falling into the fire. Normally, a person is afraid of the fire. If there is fire somewhere, he will try his best to protect himself and his family from falling into it. Similarly, a person, who has got the true taste of Imaan, will try his best to keep away from Kufr just as he would do in order not to fall into the fire.

[English version of "Le vrai gout de Imaan" – Al Jamiat – Vol.3 No.12]