Ch 22 — Strong, Emotional Attachment to God

Chapter 2 of the Quran tells us that “those who believe love God most.” (2:165) What is meant by love of God in this verse? Religious scholars generally hold that “loving God” means “obedience to God”. The Sufis take it in the sense of a strong love of God (ishq ilaahi). But neither of these interpretations conveys the real sense of love. Love, in actual fact, is another name for strong affection, deep emotional attachment.

This strong, deep, emotional attachment of the heart is produced within one who discovers God’s great, superior blessings at a conscious level. God created man when he had no existence (19:9). “God shaped you, formed you well” (40:64). God created man in His own image. God gave man the earth to live on where all his exceptional needs were available. God made a perfect world for man in the form of Paradise, where he can have total fulfilment. God gave man reason and intelligence which, according to a tradition, made him the most respected of all creatures. God created in man this exceptional affection because of which family and society have come into existence (30:21). Furthermore, as a matter of prime importance, God gave man consciousness, so that he might realize the divine blessings. He also gave man a sense of pleasure, so that he might fully enjoy the divine blessings. There are innumerable blessings which God has bestowed upon man. When man thinks about these countless blessings of God, he has the same experience as has been expressed in the Quran as, “strong love and affection for God” (2:165).