Islam: A Religion of Love

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following was taken from Islam: A Religion of Love by Dr. William C. Chittick.  Dr. Chittick is Professor of Religious Studies, Department of Asian and Asian American Studies, State University of New York, Stony Brook. 

In the field of religious studies, the word “religion” is commonly understood to designate a worldview along with the various cultural phenomena that embody it, such as doctrine, ritual and art.  In this broad sense of the term, everyone has a “religion”, whether acknowledged or not.  By studying the religions of others we can hope to gain a bit of distance from the unquestioned worldviews that underlie our own thinking.  Such study is much like learning a new language - we gradually come to see the strengths and weaknesses of our own way of talking and writing.  So also, each religion, including the atheistic versions, has its own genius and its own limitations.  It seems fairly clear that most thoughtful people nowadays think that we live in interesting times.  Some look to other worldviews precisely to gain insight into their own lives.  This is a major factor in the great popularity of religious studies in North American universities.  The fact that Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi (q.s.) has become a household name points in the same direction. 

Part of Islam’s intellectual heritage is a vast literature exploring and elucidating the nature of love, that most precious of human experiences.  Now that I have been offered this forum and told to write about anything I feel like, well, I feel like talking about love.  My two previous posts and the responses to them have highlighted the fact that most people have already made up their minds as to the nature of “true Islam”.  So let me turn to something that most people, Muslim or not, typically leave out of their understanding of Islam, not least because of their obsession with the world of politics and catastrophes. 

Imam Shams ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (r.a.) was a famous theologian from Baghdad who died in 1350 CE.  Part of his fame lies in the fact that he was the leading disciple of one of the most cantankerous theologians of Islamic history, Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah (r.a.), a favourite of Sunni ideologues.  Surprisingly for those who think that people of this ilk were narrow-minded bigots, Imam ibn Qayyim (r.a.) dedicated a large part of his prolific output to love, compassion, forgiveness and other such mild-mannered themes.  In one of his many books, written late in life, Ighathat al-Lahfan, Aid for the Sorrowful, Imam ibn Qayyim (r.a.) says that the root of Islam is “love for God, intimacy with Him, and yearning to encounter Him.”  He also said, “The Revealed Books of God, from the first to the last, revolve around the commandment to love.” 

Remember that Muslim scholars traditionally spoke of 124,000 prophets, beginning with Adam (a.s.) and ending with Muhammad (s.a.w.).  What Imam ibn Qayyim (r.a.) was trying to say is that every true religion, that is, all the religions established by the 124,000 prophets, is founded on love.  It makes no difference who these prophets were or where they lived.  When Muslims settled down in China, for example, they soon recognised that Confucius had been a prophet.  Claiming that “love” is the heart of Islam or of religion generally is not unusual in the Islamic context.  Another example is provided by the major Sunni scholar Imam Rashid ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Abu Sa’d al-Maybudi (r.a.), who completed the longest pre-modern Persian commentary on the Qur’an in 1126 CE.  In explaining why the Qur’an calls itself “a book from God”, he said that the book deserves to be titled “The Eternal Love”, and that its content is “the story of love and lovers.” 

سُوۡرَةُ البَقَرَة

وَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمۡ كِتَـٰبٌ۬ مِّنۡ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٌ۬ لِّمَا مَعَهُمۡ وَكَانُواْ مِن قَبۡلُ يَسۡتَفۡتِحُونَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُم مَّا عَرَفُواْ ڪَفَرُواْ بِهِۦ‌ۚ فَلَعۡنَةُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَى ٱلۡكَـٰفِرِينَ (٨٩) 

And when there comes to them a Book from Allah, confirming what is with them. ― although from of old they had prayed for victory against those without faith ― when there comes to them that which they (should) have recognised, they refuse to believe in it; but the Curse of Allah is on those without faith. (Surah al-Baqarah:89) 

One hundred years after Imam Maybudi (r.a.) and as many years before Imam ibn Qayyim (r.a.), Mawlana ar-Rumi’s (q.s.) famous teacher, Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz (q.s.) who disappeared in the year 1247 CE, said that the Qur’an is “a book of love”, or “a Love Letter” from God.  He explained that if lawyers, philosophers and theologians fail to see it this way, that is because they are too preoccupied with their own specialties.  First, you need to love God rather than law or theology or philosophy or politics.  Then, you should read the book.  It is worth noting here that Shaykh Shams (q.s.), despite his reputation as an unlearned rascal of spirituality, was a professional Qur’an teacher.  No one is surprised to hear that Mawlana ar-Rumi (r.a.) saw the Qur’an as a book of love, but most seem to think that Mawlana ar-Rumi (r.a.) was out of kilter with the Islamic mainstream.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It is no accident that his six-volume epic poem in celebration of love, the Matsnawi, has often been called “the Qur’an in the Persian language.” 

Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad (q.s.), the greatest and most beloved of Persian poets, provides another example.  He is known by his chosen pen name, “Hafizh”, a word that designates someone who has memorised the Qur’an.  Anyone familiar with his poetry knows that it is permeated with love and beauty, so much so that native speakers can become intoxicated simply by listening to it.  Shaykh Hafizh (q.s.) holds that all religion and indeed, all human striving, is rooted in love.  One verse will have to suffice: 

“Everyone, sober or drunk, is seeking a beloved,

Everywhere, mosque or synagogue, is the house of love.” 

Muslim scholars who talk about love as the heart of Islam and of religion generally take the position that God’s Love and Compassion Motivated him to Create human beings so that they could love him in return.  The goal of Creation is to bring lovers into existence, and the goal of lovers - that is, you, I and everyone else - is to escape false loves and return to what we really love.  This, for them, is the key message of the Qur’an, “the story of love and lovers.”