The most glorious name of our Lord is Allah. This is the primary name of Allah; and the name “Allah” comes from “Ilah” (the worshiped).
And this is why throughout the Quran, Allah uses the term “Allah” to remind you that the one that created you, the one that sustains you, the one that you call upon… is the only one that is worthy of your worship.
This Lord that we talk about is Allah because He possesses every beautiful name and every beautiful attribute.
Allah is Al-Wadud, the Loving and the Beloved. No matter how much love you have in this life from your friends, from your spouse, from your parents, from everyone else in this world… you will always have a void in your heart that can only be fulfilled by the love of Allah.
And this is what a Ibn al Qayyim goes on to mention that:
“Indeed in the heart is a void that can only be fulfilled with the love of Allah.”
And a lot of people don’t realize this. So, that void that they find in their hearts, they try to fulfill it with the desires of this world whether it be through wealth, whether it be through women… but they noticed that they become more empty as these desires are fulfilled.
They try to fulfill it with anything but it won’t be fulfilled because that portion of your heart was created to be loved by Allah alone.
Fill it with His Love
Ibn al Qayyim gives a beautiful example, he says:
“The love of Allah in the heart of the believer is like a tree, its roots are the fear of Allah, its trunk is humility for the sake of Allah, its leaves is modesty from Allah. And the fruit that it bears is obedience of Allah.”
So, you’ll see that our whole relationship with Allah revolves around love.
And this is why Ibn al Qayyim gives his other famous example and parable that:
“Our journey of worship towards Allah is like that of a bird whose head is love and its two wings are fear and hope.”
Now, what is a bird without a head? It is not going to survive, it’s not going to be able to fly. Similarly our journey to Allah, if it does not begin with love, then our journey will not progress.
The Most Loving and the Beloved
Allah, Al Wadud, loves us and He wants us to love Him as well. And this is one of the unique names of Allah where not is He the subject, but He is the object as well.
So when we talk about Ar-Rahman, He is the one who shows mercy, He’s not the one who has mercy shown to Him; when we talk about Allah is Al Ghafour, He is the forgiver, but He’s not the one who is forgiven…
But when it comes to Al Wadud, not only is He the loving, but He is the beloved as well.
Allah tells us in the Quran that there’s not a tree except that it glorifies Allah, not a bird except that it glorifies Allah, not any one of Allah’s creations except that it is glorifying Him except that we do not understand their glorification.
Listen to the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) where he says, “the skies shake.” There’s not a distance of four fingers except that an angel is prostrating and glorifying Him. And this would continue till the Day of Judgment. This is the love that Allah created for Him.
Now, our question arises: Where is our love for Allah?
