“O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous,” (Qur’an, 2:183).

Allah (swt) tells us about fasting and who is exempt, and right in the middle of these verses, He reminds us that He is near:

“And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me – indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me,” (Qur’an, 2:186).

When we are fasting from food and drink, we are made to realize how in need we are of Him. We are distracted the entire year but Ramadan reminds us: Allah (swt) is near to us! Allah (swt) is near to YOU.

So ask Him.

In every sajda (prostration), just before you break your fast, and in the early hours. Ask Him in those moments when you feel your heart is broken, or when you have been let down or simply when you want someone to listen.

Be right there at Allah’s doors knocking every single day and night. If you were to stand at the door of a human being and knock multiple times a day every single day, they will open that door even if they do not like you.

Now imagine that you are at the door of al-Fattah (THE One who opens doors), al-Wadud (the Affectionate), ar-Rahman (the Most Merciful) and al-Mujeeb (the One who answers). You are at the door of the One who LOVES when you ask Him. You are at the door of the One who does not lose anything by giving to you. And you are at the door of the One who said, “Call upon Me; I will respond to you,” (Qur’an, 40:60).

We create mental blocks in our mind to prevent ourselves from asking because we are afraid of being rejected. We are afraid to lay bare our needs to our Creator because: what if He rejects us? Who else do we have?

But with Allah (swt), you can be vulnerable. Allah (swt) never, ever turns away those who seek Him. He knows everything you are going through without you saying a word.

In His wisdom, He teaches through the process of giving. Some things will come easy. Other things will take time. But remember that al-Mujeeb will respond with His mercy and wisdom. When you ask Allah (swt) knowing just these two attributes, your eyes and heart will always be open to the good, because you know what kind of Lord you have. You have everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose, so pray with all your heart.

Make this a Ramadan of du`a’ (supplications). Think of the things that you truly want for both dunya (this world) and akhira (the Hereafter), or try to visualize where you want to be this time next year. And focus on those things, knowing that He is there and that He heard everything—that even when your tongue was tied but your eyes brimmed with tears, and you could not find the words: He heard your heart.

Ramadan task: One way to keep hope alive is by keeping a journal of “answered du`a’“. Write down the du`a’ that Allah (swt) has answered, both the big things and the small, and you will see all the times Allah has been there for you.

In a previous article about God as as-Samad written by Jinan Yousef, we were reminded that the qualities of Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He) were often to be linked to other qualities, and that thinking that way unfolded new perspectives. If we praise Allah (swt) by calling him al-Ghafûr, for example, the Concealer of faults, it is implicit that we think of His other attributes, such as al-‘Alîm (The All-Knower) and al-Basîr (The All-Seeing). This notion of Allah as the Concealer of faults as well as the All-Knower and All-Seeing brings a dimension of real intimacy between the Creator and His creatures; Indeed, although He is al-’Alim and He knows everything about us, even the most despicable things, He is also al-Ghafûr and He conceals them, out of generosity, kindness, and mercy, for He is also at-Tawwab (the One who accepts repentance), al-Wadûd (the Loving), and al-Barr (the source of all goodness).

Thinking of Allah (swt) as al-Ghafûr can shed light on important dimensions of our nafs (inner self), pride and insecurity. What does it mean in our relationship with our own self to believe in a God who is at the same time al-Ghafûr and al-Wadûd? As it is often repeated, Islam is the religion of the golden mean (the middle between two extremes). Schematically, we could define pride as forgetting one’s flaws, and we could define insecurity as remembering those flaws too often and letting them haunt us. Thus, thinking of ourselves from the perspective of being seen in every detail by Allah (swt) helps us to stand in this golden mean of the nafs—between pride and low self-esteem—because we are aware that He knows our flaws, yet we also know that we are still always worthy of His love.

And what does it mean in our relationship with people to think of Allah (swt) as the Concealer of our faults? It means remembering the light of Allah even when we manage to keep our weaknesses from the sight of people. Remembering Him as the One who conceals our faults reminds us that those flaws are many and that God is so good to us that He chooses to hide them from other people’s eyes. Even if we manage to give a perfect image of ourselves and even if we feel the love of people for that image that we give, we know that there is always the One looking at us for what we really are, and no one is perfect. Our flaws are always under the light of al-‘Alim.

Beauty, wealth, and success can make us overlook our defects or forget them altogether, but by remembering Allah and remembering His quality of Concealer, we remember that He knows each and every one of our shortcomings, and it can help us keep our nafs under control. So it protects us from hubris and vanity, but also from insecurity because although we know that we have flaws and we know that God knows every one of them – from the greatest to the most invisible – we also know that those flaws can be forgiven by Him easily, and that they are always under the shade of His Mercy. Our flaws are seen by the only One who will always be ready to love us, no matter how bad our flaws are, as soon as we return to Him.

So finally, most importantly, what does it mean in our relationship with God? Understanding that Allah will always love us even though He is aware of every one of our defects creates an amazing bond between us and Him. What a comforting thought, what a relief, how soothing it is to understand that He will always be ready to love us, to accept our repentance and to understand our intention to be better, even though we slip and fall so many times throughout our lives! What a refuge we have here from the judgment of other people, as well as from their praise! Allah (swt) offers us this beautiful gift of being able to stand under His sight, under full light, being fully ourselves and knowing that we are loved for that.

Isn’t it once again the image of a mother, who knows what her child is proficient in and what he is not so good at, who will love and protect him no matter how nasty the child can be at times? It builds such a strong, sincere relationship to Allah (swt) because, very much like a mother, we feel confortable talking to Him, confiding in Him, knowing that He knows us so well and that He still loves us, no matter what, for truly He is al-Wadud.

When was the last time you felt truly loved? Close your eyes and think about it. You can probably think of certain people, as well as specific scenarios. And if someone were to ask you how you know that you are loved, you would list the things the person does to express their love for you. If we find it hard to interpret acts of love, we usually doubt our relationship. When you are able to point out behavior that shows love, this kind of love is not called hubb in Arabic, because hubb is simply having a feeling of love. This kind of love – one that is apparent and shown – is called wud.

Wud means love and an expression of love through the act of giving. And Allah has Named Himself al-Wadud: The Affectionate. This word was specifically chosen to show that Allah not only loves you, but that He shows you He loves you. And if we have been in the dark about this, it’s time to take notice how Allah manifests His love for us – for you, for me specifically – everyday. Your heart will melt.

When Allah loves a servant

The Prophet ﷺ ((peace be upon him)shows us some ways that Allah shows His love:

“When Allah loves someone he calls to Jibreel ‘alayhi salatu wassalam (pay Allah be pleased with him) saying, ‘O Jibreel, I love such and such a person, so love him.’ Then Jibreel will call to the angels of the heavens, ‘Allah loves such and such a person so love him.’ And the angels will love [that person]. And then Allah will place acceptance on earth for that believer.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

It would have been enough for Allah to say that He loves a person, for what more could someone want? But because Allah is Al-Wadud (the Affectionate) and Al-Kareem (the Most-Generous), He declares this love to the Angels, which does not stay in the heavens but descends to the earth because Allah puts acceptance of this person in the hearts of people. What else does Allah tell us about His love?

The Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah, the Exalted, has said: `I will declare war against him who treats with hostility a pious worshipper of Mine. And the most beloved thing with which My slave comes nearer to Me, is what I have enjoined upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (voluntary prayers or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) until I love him, (so much so that) I become his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he strikes, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks Me something, I will surely give him, and if he seeks My Protection (refuge), I will surely protect him”. [Bukhari]

Sometimes it is difficult to separate between Allah being affectionate, and Allah being merciful, and Allah being forgiving. Aren’t they all the same? Al-Ghazali states that “Its meaning [al-Wadud] is close to ‘the Merciful’, but mercy is linked with one who receives mercy, and the one who receives mercy is needy and poor. So the actions of the Merciful presuppose there being one who is weak to receive mercy, while the actions of the Loving-Kind [al-Wadud] do not require that. Rather, bestowing favors from the outset results from a loving-kindness.”

Look at Allah’s love for the Prophet ﷺ: in Makkah, after the revelation of a few surahs of the Qur’an, revelation stopped. The tribe of Qureish made fun of the Prophet, saying “The Lord of Muhammad has left him.” So Allah revealed the verses, “By the morning brightness, And [by] the night when it covers with darkness, Your Lord has not taken leave of you, [O Muhammad], nor has He detested [you].” [Qur’an, 93:1-3] Allah comforts the Prophet ﷺ with these words. And we too should take comfort – when you are on the right path, Allah will not leave you. He is with you, and He will comfort you.

You

In order to truly feel Allah’s love in your life, take a few minutes to reflect. Think about the care you were given as a child. You didn’t ask for it, it just came when you were born. Think of your family and of your friends. Think of the health God gave you in your body. Think of the opportunities you were given in your life. Then look at the world around you – the beauty of nature. It didn’t have to be this way. The world could have been bland and ugly. But there is so much beauty that only you can truly enjoy.

Allah has created us, and yet we worship other gods that we make up. They may not be physical statues, but things like money or status. God blessed us with bounties, yet we attribute those blessings solely to people. Allah’s Mercy descends to us while our bad deeds ascend to Him, and still He sends us gifts in order to bring us closer to Him, though He doesn’t need us. The Prophet ﷺ tells us that “Allah Almighty will stretch out His hand during the night, turning towards the one who did wrong during the day, and stretch out His hand during the day, turning towards the one who did wrong during the night, until the day the sun rises from the place it set.” [Muslim]

God loves those who return to Him, even though we are the ones in need of returning. In the hadith (narration), we are told, “Allah is happier about the repentance of one of His slaves than one of you would be about finding your camel which had strayed away from you in the middle of the desert.” [Agreed upon] Even though we are the ones who turned away from Him, Allah keeps the door open to us so that we return. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done; the Prophet ﷺ tells us that Allah says, “O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.” [Tirmidhi] And if we leave something for the sake of God – and we know that anything prohibited to us is bad for us anyway – Allah replaces it with something greater.

Allah makes it so easy to go to Him and be close to Him. The Prophet ﷺ  tells us:

“Whosoever intends to do a good deed but does not do it, Allah records it with Himself as a complete good deed; but if he intends it and does it, Allah records it with Himself as ten good deeds, up to seven hundred times, or more than that. But if he intends to do an evil deed and does not do it, Allah records it with Himself as a complete good deed; but if he intends it and does it, Allah records it down as one single evil deed.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

His Generosity is so great that not only does He give us, but if we thank for the blessings, He gives us more! ((“And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.’” Qur’an, 14:7)) And Allah uses the example of possibly the greatest love – that of a mother to her child – and then says that He has even more love and mercy towards us.

It is natural for us as servants to love Him considering that He is our Merciful Creator. But what is amazing is that Allah gives us so much so that we can seek to come closer to Him. Sometimes we despair and are unforgiving towards ourselves. But the Prophet ﷺ reminds us that, “Our Lord (glorified and exalted be He) descends each night to the earth’s sky when there remains the final third of the night, and He says: Who is saying a prayer to Me that I may answer it? Who is asking something of Me that I may give it him? Who is asking forgiveness of Me that I may forgive him?” (Bukhari)

This is an open invitation to EVERYONE. Some of us may feel so far – where do we even begin? Yet Allah says in a hadith qudsi, “If my servant comes closer to Me a hand span, I come closer to him or her an arms-length; and if he or she comes to Me walking, I come to him or her at speed.” (Bukhari)

So just take that first step. Make the intention to do one new thing or to fix something you weren’t doing so well.

How can we not fall in love with al-Wadud, who showers us with affection daily?

Being a Recipient of Allah’s love

1-     Do good

ان الذين آمنوا وعملوا الصالحات سيجعل لهم الرحمن ودا

“Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds – the Most Merciful will appoint for them affection.” (Qur’an, 19:96)

If you believe and do good, Allah will bestow upon you affection. When you do good, you are within the realm of Allah’s love, and He will show you how He loves you. He is ash-Shakoor and so will give you so much more than what you gave.

2-     Love for people what you love for yourself

Al-Ghazali states, “One is loving-kind among God’s servants who desires for God’s creatures what he desires for himself; and whoever prefers them to himself is even higher than that as the messenger of God – may God’s blessing and peace be upon him – said, when his tooth was broken and his face was struck and bloodied: ‘Lord, guide my people, for they do not know’. Not even their actions prevented him from intending their good. Or as he  (may God’s blessing and peace be upon him) – commanded Ali (may God be merciful to him) when he said: ‘If you want to take precedence over those who are close to God, then be reconciled with those who broke with you, give to the ones who excluded you, and forgive the ones who wronged you’.”

3-     Thank Him for His affection

When you thank Allah, He gives you more. So thank Him for showering you with love everyday, and watch as that increases, insha’Allah.