Chapter 14. What A Person Loves And Hates Must Be In Accordance With The Order Of Allah And His Prophet

The obligation upon every slave of Allah, then, is to look very closely into his or her likes and dislikes, and the intensity of his love for that which he loves and his hate for that which he hates: is it in harmony with the order of Allah and His Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)? This, then is the guidance of Allah which He sent down upon His Prophet such that he was ordered to have these loves and hates. In this way, a slave of Allah will avoid putting himself ahead of Allah and His Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), because Allah said:

 

[O you who believe, do not put forth (anything) in front of Allah and His Prophet] Quran 49/1. i.e. Do not decide your position in any action or issue without first knowing the position of Allah and His Prophet therein.

 

Anyone who loves or hates before Allah and His Prophet have ordered him to do so, has entered the area of putting something forth in front of Allah and His Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). Simple loves and hates are hawaa, but the hawaa which is forbidden to the Muslim is the following of these inclinations without guidance from Allah. This is why Allah said to His Prophet:

 

[And do not follow your hawaa such that it leads you astray from the path of Allah. For those who go astray from the path of Allah there awaits a terrible punishment.] Quran 38/26.

 

Here Allah informs us that the following of one's hawaa will lead one astray from the path of Allah. The path of Allah is the guidance and the program with which He sent His Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), and it is the path to Allah.

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