Too often we equate fame with the love of Allah (swt).
And it could be that a person traverses this Earth unknown to people but loved
by Allah and the angels.
But what then do you make of this hadith of the Prophet
(pbuh) where he said that "verily,
if Allah loves someone" - "inna Allaha
idha ahabba 'abdan" - when Allah loves someone,
"naada Jibreel." Allah calls Jibreel (pbuh) and says, "Ya Jibreel, inni uhibbu fulaan."
"Oh Jibreel, I want you to know that I love this person, so you should love this person
also." Jibril
(pbuh) does not need to know anything else about you except that Allah
(swt) loves you to love you as well. "Fayuhibuhu Jibreel" - "So Jibreel (pbuh)
loves you as well."
And then Jibreel (pbuh) calls all of the Malaa'ikah; and he is their
master, he is their chief. And he says, "inna Allaha
yuhibbu fulaan..." to the inhabitants of the heavens. "Allah loves this person,
so love this person."
So all of the inhabitants of the heavens love that person as well.
And then Allah mentions "Yuda'u lahul quboolu fil ard."
The Prophet (pbuh) says
that "acceptance is then placed in the hearts of the people for that person."
Love is placed in the hearts of the people for that person.
Now, there are a few things to keep in mind here.
Number one:
the love of Allah (swt) is the only love that a person should seek
unconditionally and do whatever it takes to gain that love.
And if you gain the love of Allah (swt), then anyone whose love is
worth having is going to be transferred to you as well.
So if you gain the love of Allah (swt), Jibreel
(pbuh) will love you,
the angels will love you, and the people whose love is worth having will love you
as well. So that's the first thing to establish.
The second thing is that the love that the people have
of you has to be of something that is actually of you.
And so sometimes as Ibn al-Jawzi (r) said that if people are impressed by-
you know that they're impressed by the hijab,
the cover that Allah (swt) has given you, the veil that Allah (swt)
has given to you because they don't really know you.
And the reality is that people have to love you for a righteousness that is
actually true of you.
And so you're loved by righteous people for your righteousness and that
righteousness is authentic, right?
So it's not talking about likes online or how many people follow you online,
but people who are beloved to Allah (swt)- "hubba man yuhibbuk" -
"the love of those that love you" is transferred to you as well.
And when Allah loves you, and Jibreel
(pbuh) loves you, and the angels love you, and Allah (swt) puts that
love in the hearts of the loved people to Him, the beloved people to Him
(swt),
then nothing else is worth pursuing. Because if Allah loves you,
then who else is worth pursuing after that?
And I really want to just hone in on this point.
When you're thinking about the angels and you're thinking about this extensive
creation around you,
the value of the creation to you is only to the extent that it brings you closer
to the Creator,
and that is true even of this mighty creation of the angels. May Allah
(swt) make us beloved to Him,
make us beloved to Jibreel, and make us beloved to the angels,
make us beloved to the prophets,
make us beloved to all of those righteous people who follow the Prophet
(pbuh) and gain the love of Allah and the angels as well. And may
Allah gather us in that station of love in the presence of the beloved
(pbuh)
in Jannat al-Firdaws, where those special angels will enter upon
us regularly and say, "Salaam,"
and we could look up and we could gaze at Him day and night,
(swt).