How Can a Person Know if Allah Loves Him and Is Pleased With Him?
Question: how can a person know that Allah the Exalted loves him and is pleased with him, and that he is walking on the path of Allah’s pleasure?
Summary:
Summary of the signs: • Love of Allah and His Messenger above every love. • Persistence in obedience and leaving sins. • Following the Sunnah outwardly and inwardly. • Love of the Qur’an and frequent recitation of it. • Contentment with Allah’s decree and patience upon trial. • Having acceptance among the believers. • Fear of shortcomings along with hope in Allah’s mercy.
Answer:
In the name of Allah, all praise is due to Allah, and may Peace and Blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)
Knowing that Allah the Exalted loves the servant and is pleased with him is not a matter of the unseen that can be known with certainty except through revelation, but there are signs and indications mentioned in the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and the sayings of the Salaf. If they are found in a person, they are glad tidings that he is on the path of Allah’s pleasure, and the opposite is also true.
First: The signs from the Qur’an and Sunnah
1. Following the Prophet ﷺ
- Allah the Exalted said:
From the Qur'an:
- Ali ‘Imran: 31
Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “If you ˹sincerely˺ love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you and forgive your sins. For Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Following the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ outwardly and inwardly is a sign of Allah’s love and a cause for His love.
2. Abundance of obedience and little sin: • Allah said:
From the Qur'an:
- At-Tawbah: 4
"...Surely Allah loves those who are mindful ˹of Him˺."
- Al-Baqarah: 195
"...And do good, for Allah certainly loves the good-doers."
- Al-Baqarah: 222
"...Surely Allah loves those who always turn to Him in repentance and those who purify themselves.”
Being characterized by these qualities is evidence of Allah’s love. 3. Being granted success in obedience and remaining steadfast upon it • The Prophet ﷺ said:
From the Sunnah:
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 7485, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 2637Narrated by Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him):
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "If Allah loves a person, He calls Gabriel, saying, 'Allah loves so and so, O Gabriel love him' So Gabriel would love him and then would make an announcement in the Heavens: 'Allah has loved so and-so therefore you should love him also.' So all the dwellers of the Heavens would love him, and then he is granted the pleasure of the people on the earth."
From the signs of love is that Allah makes obedience easy for you and places acceptance for you among the believers. 4. Being tested along with patience: • The Prophet ﷺ said:
From the Sunnah:
- Jami` at-Tirmidhi: 2396 and Graded Hasan by al-AlbānīNarrated by Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him):
"When Allah wants good for his slave, He hastens his punishment in the world. And when He wants bad for His slave, He withholds his sins from him until he appears before Him on the Day of Judgement."
Patience in trials is a sign of Allah’s pleasure with the servant.
From the Salaf:
- Az-Zuhd Al-Kabir by Al-Bayhaqi
Al-Hasan Al-Basri رحمه الله said: "The sign of Allah’s love is love of the Qur’an, and the sign of love of the Qur’an is love of the Prophet ﷺ, and the sign of love of the Prophet is love of his Sunnah, and the sign of love of the Sunnah is love of the Hereafter, and the sign of love of the Hereafter is hatred of the world, and the sign of hatred of the world is that one does not take from it except provision and necessity."
- Hilyat Al-Awliya
Sufyan Ath-Thawri رحمه الله said: "If a servant wishes to know his status with Allah, let him look at the status of Allah with him."
From the Scholars:
- Madarij As-Salikin
Ibn Al-Qayyim رحمه الله said: "Whoever wants to know his status with Allah, let him look into his heart. If Allah is more beloved to him than anything else, then he is likewise with Allah."
Here is a practical checklist of 10 questions. If you find most of them in yourself, it is a sign that you are on the path of Allah’s pleasure, by His permission, derived from the Qur’an, Sunnah, and sayings of the Salaf: 1. Do you give precedence to the love of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ over every love?
From the Qur'an:
- At-Tawbah: 24
"Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “If your parents and children and siblings and spouses...˹if all these˺ are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and struggling in His Way, then wait until Allah brings about His Will."
2. Are you keen to perform the obligatory acts on time with humility?
From the Sunnah:
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 6502Narrated by Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him):
"Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Allah said...And the most beloved things with which My slave comes nearer to Me, is what I have enjoined upon him...""
3. Do you perform many voluntary acts of worship after the obligatory ones? Evidence: the hadith above 4. Do you find yourself loving the Qur’an, reciting it often, and reflecting upon it? • Statement of Al-Hasan Al-Basri: "The sign of Allah’s love is love of the Qur’an." 5. Are you content with Allah’s decree and patient during trials? Evidence: Jami` at-Tirmidhi: 2396 6. Do you follow the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ in your words and actions even in small matters? Evidence: Ali ‘Imran: 31 7. Do you love the righteous and dislike the sinful, giving loyalty for Allah and enmity for Allah?
From the Sunnah:
- Sunan Abū Dāwūd: 4599Narrated by Abū Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him):
"The Prophet (ﷺ) said: The best of the actions is to love for the sake of Allah and to hate for the sake of Allah."
8. Do you have acceptance and affection in the hearts of the believers? Evidence: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 7485 9. Do you repent quickly when you commit a sin and not persist upon it? Evidence: Al-Baqarah: 222 10. Do you feel fear of shortcomings and at the same time hope in Allah’s mercy, without feeling secure nor despair? • Statement of Sufyan Ath-Thawri: "The believer performs acts of obedience while fearful and anxious, and the sinner commits sins while feeling safe."
And Allah knows best.
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