Love for the Sake of Allah and Hate for the Sake of Allah

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) has said, ‘Whoever loves for the sake of Allah, hates for the sake of Allah and gives for the sake of Allah, he is of those whose belief is complete.’”

“The strongest ring of belief to hold onto is to love for the sake of Allah and hate for the sake of Allah, to give for the sake of Allah and deny for the sake of Allah.”

“The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘Love of a believer for another believer only for the sake of Allah is of the greatest branches of belief. It is certain that whoever loves for the sake of Allah, hates for the sake of Allah, gives for the sake of Allah and denies for the sake of Allah is of the chosen people of Allah.’”

“Abu Basir has said, ‘I heard the Imam saying, “Those who love each other for the sake of Allah, on the Day of Judgment will be seen on the pulpits of light. The light of their faces, the light of their bodies and the light of their pulpits will light up all things so much so that they will become known for it, and they will be called people loving for the sake of Allah.””’’

“I asked Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) ‘Are love and hate part of belief?’ The Imam asked, ‘Is belief anything but love and hate?’ He then read the words of Allah, ‘. . . But Allah has endeared belief to you and has made it attractive to your hearts. He has made disbelief, evil deeds and disobedience hateful to you. Such people will have the right guidance.’” (49:7)

“The Messenger of Allah once asked his companions, ‘Which ring of belief is stronger to hold on to?’ They said, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’ Certain individuals among them said, ‘It is prayer,’ others said, ‘It is al-Zakat (charity)’, a few of them said, ‘It is fasting’, others said, ‘It is Hajj and ‘Umrah’ and still others said, ‘It is Jihad (hard work against the enemies).’ “The Messenger of Allah then said, ‘For everything you said there is a merit but is not such a ring. In fact the strongest ring of belief to hold on to is love for the sake of Allah, hate for the sake of Allah, support and love those who have received authority from Allah and to disassociate from the enemies of Allah.’”

"The people who love one another for the sake of Allah will be on a green carpet on the Day of Resurrection, in the shade of on the right side of His Throne, and both of His hands are right hands. Their faces will be whiter and brighter than the rising sun. Every close angel and every sent prophet will envy them for their status. People will ask, 'Who are these?' and it will be said, 'These are the ones who love one another for the sake of Allah.'"

“When Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, will gather together all the people of the past and the later generations, a caller whom everyone will hear will call, ‘Where are those whose love was just for the sake of Allah?’ Certain necks will rise from among the people and it will be said to them, ‘Go to paradise without any questions asked.’ The Imam said, ‘The angels will meet them asking, “Where are you going?” They will say, “We are going to paradise without any questions asked.” The Imam said, “The angels will ask, ‘What kind of people are you?’ They will say, ‘We are the people who loved just for the sake of Allah.’ The Imam said, ‘The angels will ask, “What were your deeds?” They will reply, “We loved for the sake of Allah and hated just for the sake of Allah.” The Imam said, ‘The angels will say, “How wonderful is the reward of the doers of good deeds!””’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) has said, ‘Three things are of the signs of a believer: His knowledge of Allah, who to love and who to hate.’”

“The man loves you (followers of Ahl al-Bayt) without knowing your belief and Allah admits him to paradise because he loves you. A man hates you without knowing what your belief is and Allah then admits him in the fire for hating you.”

“If you like to know whether there is anything good in you, look into your heart. If it loves people who obey Allah and hates those who disobey Him, then there is good in you and Allah loves you. If it hates the people who obey Allah and loves those who disobey Allah, then there is nothing good in you and Allah hates you. A man is with what he loves.”

“If a man loves another man just for the sake of Allah, Allah will give him good rewards for his loving him, even if that man is of the people of the fire, in the knowledge of Allah. If a man hates another man just for the sake of Allah, Allah will give him good reward for his hating him, even if that man is of the people of paradise, in the knowledge of Allah.”

“Sometimes love is for the sake of Allah and the Messenger of Allah and sometimes it is for the sake of worldly matters. For love, which is for the sake of Allah and the Messenger of Allah, the reward is with Allah. For love that is for the sake of worldly matters there is nothing.”

“Of the two Muslims who meet each other, the more meritorious is the one who loves his companion more intensely.”

“Of the two believers who meet each other, the more meritorious one is the one who loves his brethren more intensely.”

“Whoever does not love because of religion and does not hate because of religion has no religion.”