I like you; and I want to be your friend! Can we be friends? Do you have Facebook? I have Facebook. Do you have What’s App? I have What’s app. Ok then, let’s be friends!
Friends, what are they for?
When I think of friends, it pops up in my mind that they are one of the two: friends are people who either inspire you to do good or bad, one of the two, and some friends manage to do both.
Love where is the love? And for whom do we love?
Love is good only if it’s for the sake of Allah, no love lasts if it is not for Allah. It fades away, this love, over time, when it is not for Allah.
Besides, what else is greater than loving for the sake of Allah after knowing the hadith Qudsi (23) when Allah says:
” يَقولُ اللّه تعالى يومَ القِيامةِ: أينَ المُتَحابّونَ بِجلالي… اليومَ أُظللُّهُم في ظلّي يومَ لا ظِلّ إلاّ ظلّي”
“Allah will say on the Day of Resurrection: ‘Where are those who love one another through My glory? Today I shall give them shade in My shade, it being a day when there is no shade but My shade.’” [It was related by al-Bukhari (also by Malik)]
To love one another for the sake of Allah is one of the greatest forms of earning pleasure. However, it is not the greatest of all. The greatest of all, is to love the Almighty Allaah with all your heart. You wake up in the morning full of hope, enjoying this life because you love Allah. A man almost runs you over with his car, you look at him and smile. Why? Because you’re really in love with Allah. You turn on the television, you see your brothers in Syria and Egypt getting murdered, the people kicked out of their homes, babies 6 months old lying crying, not knowing where to go. You see this all, you shed some tears, you make duaa, because you love them. You love them because you’re in love with Allaah.
You love Allah because He is the one who made the people who love you, love you.
و ألّف بين قلوبهم لو أنفقت ما في الأرض جميعا ما ألّفت بين قلوبهم و لكنّ الله ألّف بينهم
You love Allah so much that you wake up at night and pray Qiyam ul layl, and as soon as you say “Allaahu akbar”, Allaah looks down at you and loves you back, and he loves to see you pray so much that He even laughs.
ثلاثة يضحك اللّه إليهم: الرجل يقوم من الليل، والقوم إذا صفوا للصلاة، والقوم إذا صفوا للقتال)
A man named Abu Abdallah Annabaji bought a ‘jariyah’, a servant, a concubine. When the night came, he told her I am going to sleep, she replied:
أما تستحي من مولاك …أنه لا ينام وأنت تنام ؟!
“Don’t you feel ashamed that your creator doesn’t sleep while you do?!”
So the Annabaji said: she got up that night to pray, and he went to search for her, and he found her in the state of sujood, saying:
بحبك إياي لا تعذبني
“For your love of me, do not punish me.”
So when she finished her prayer, he asked her, he asked this servant, “how did you know that Allaah loves you?” What is the proof? She replied, “He wouldn’t have waken me up to pray at night while others are snoring and dreaming.”
Wallaah! There is nothing greater than getting Allaah to love you, if Allaah loves you, the Angels love you, if the Angels love you the people love you, if everybody loves you the dunya opens up for you, and if you don’t love the dunya back , the Akhira opens up for you.
Hadith Qudsi (24): On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
إذا أحب الله تعالى العبد، نادى جبريل،
“If Allah has loved a servant [of His], He calls Gabriel (on whom be peace) and says:
إنّـي أحبُّ فلانْ فأحببه
‘I love So-and-so, therefore love him.’“
فيحبه جبريل، فينادي في أهل السماء : إن الله يحب فلاناً فأحبوه،
“So Gabriel loves him. Then he (Gabriel) calls out in heaven, saying: ‘Allah loves So-and-so, therefore love him.’
فيحبه أهل السماء، ثم يوضع له القبول في الأرض
And the inhabitants of heaven love him.” Then acceptance is established for him on earth.”
[It was related by Muslim (also by al-Bukhari, Malik, and at-Tirmidhi)]
(إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ سَيَجْعَلُ لَهُمُ الرَّحْمَنُ وُدّاً)
“Verily, those who believe in Allah, and do good deeds, the most beneficent Allah will bestow love for them in the hearts of the believers”. Surah Maryam, (19:96)
Come on, my brothers are you working for Allah’s love? Do you want Allah to call Jibreel and tell him that He (Azza wa jal) loves you? Do you want Jibreel to call ahl assma (the inhabitants of the heavens), billions and trillions of Angels and tell them Allaah loves you so you have to love him? Do you want acceptance on Earth? And do you want to gain all the people’s hearts and make them love you?
Then impress Allah and get Him to love you today! Pray all five salaah in the masjid, pray qiyamul layl, seek knowledge and call others to the path of Allah, make istighfar day and night, and Wallaah Allah will love you more than you can imagine!
So, now let’s talk about you and I, can we be friends? But friends for Allah, and nothing else. But before you say yes, let me give you my condition, if you accept my friendship, then I must be more valuable than every single Riyal you own! Can you put up with this condition?
One day a man came to Abu Hurayrah, and he said:
إني أريد أن أواخيك في الله
I want to be your friend for the sake of Allah
Abu Hurayrah said:
فقال : أتدري ما حق الإخاء ؟
“Do you know what is the right of brotherhood for Allah?”
He said: tell me. Abu Hurayrah replied:
، قال أن لا تكون أحقّ بدينارك و درهمك مني ،
“That you don’t choose your money over me!”
قال : لم أبلغ هذه المنزلة بعد
The man said: “I didn’t reach this level yet.”
Abu Hurayrah said:
اذهب عني
“Then Go away from me.”
Haven’t you realized, that when you have a lot of money, you have a lot of friends, and the less money you have, the less friends you have?
A man one day asked Ali Ibn Abi Talib, how many friends do you have?
لا أدري الآن !
“I don’t know!”
لأن الدنيا مُقبلة عليّ ..
Because the gates of the dunya are opened for me
والناس كلهم أصدقائي ..
And all the people are my friends
وإنما أعرف ذلك إذا أدبرت عنيّ ..
However, I would only know how many friends I have when the gates of the dunya close on me
فخير الأصدقاء من أقبل إذا أدبر الزمان عنك !!
The best of friends are those who still want you, even when you have nothing.
That’s why the true believer knows inside that not all people who say ‘I’m your friend,’ is really your friend, and don’t worry about who is your friend and who is not, Allah will show you everything. Truth be told, I like to be cautious when I speak to whoever I speak to, because a friend can turn into your biggest enemy in just a second.
One of the wise people one day said to his son,
يابني كن حذرا من الكريم: إذا أهنته
O son, beware of the generous when you offend him
والعاقل: إذا أ جرحته
Beware of the intelligent when you hurt him
واللئيم: إذا أكرمته
Beware of the wicked when you honor him
والفاجر: إذا عاشرته
Beware of the evildoer when you live with him
والأحمق: إذا مازحته
And beware of the stupid when you joke with him
We can be friends but the hearts must be clean from Hasad, jealousy & envy, because the envious person is always below the people and can never achieve anything due to wasting his time being jealous from other people’s success. Look at the story of Habil and Qabeel. Qabeel wanted to get married to Habil’s woman, they go into competition. Qabeel loses and Habil wins, Qabeel becomes jealous, kills his brother, at the end he still doesn’t get what he wanted. Don’t be jealous, or envious. That’s the devil’s trick, be friendly, and don’t hold grudges.
Spread the love for better health!
At the center of how our bodies respond to love is a hormone called oxytocin. Most of our oxytocin is made in the area of the brain called the hypothalamus. Oxytocin makes us feel good when we’re close to family and other loved ones, including friends. Oxytocin lowers the levels of stress hormones in the body, reducing blood pressure, and puts you in a good mood.
إنّ لله عبادا ليسوا بأنبياء و لا شهداء ،
Some of Allah’s blessed servants are neither Prophets nor Martyrs,
يغبطهم النبيون و الشهداء بقربهم و مقعدهم من الله يوم القيامة
They are special People, who on the Day of Reckoning, the Prophets and the Martyrs will envy them for their ranks and nearness to their Lord.
Someone asked,
حدثنا يا رسول الله عنهم من هم ؟
“O Rasulullah , who are they, and what kind of deeds do they perform so that we may love Them as well?” Rasulullah said,
هم عباد من عباد الله من بلدان شتى ، و قبائل شتى من شعوب القبائل لم تكن بينهم أرحام يتواصلون بها ، و لا دنيا يتباذلون بها ، يتحابون بروح الله ،
“They are People who love one another in Allah, even though they have no consanguineous ties, money to exchange or worldly business to barter with.
يجعل الله وجوههم نورا و يجعل لهم منابر من لؤلؤ قدام الناس ،
On the Reckoning, their faces will be effulgent lights and they will be raised on Pulpits of Light above all people.
و لا يفزعون ، و يخاف الناس و لا يخافون
They will not be subject to fear when the creation is seized by the grief of the Day of Resurrection, nor will they be subjected with sorrow when the rest of creation will be seized by it.” (Authenticated by Sheikh Albani)
Final words:
(إذا أحب أحدكم أخاه في الله فليعلمه ، فإنه أبقى في الألفة ، وأثبت في المودة )
“if you love a person for the sake of Allah, it is better to tell him so that love and friendly feelings will last longer.”
Love for the sake of Allaah isn’t about hiding your feelings, it’s about sharing them by letting the people you love know you love them.
Spread the love, love Allaah more, love the messenger of Allaah more than you love yourself. And keep in mind that if you are one of those people who need more love in your life, then get Allaah to love you, because if He does, then everyone else will, and if everybody loves you, everybody will accept you.
Dr Rayan Arab,