There is difference of opinion among scholars and philosophers vis-à-vis the concept of love. According to psychologists, love exhibits a healthy behaviour. As per the evolutionists, love is a part and parcel of the phenomenon of natural selection. From the religious and spiritual point of view, love is a gift of God. Yet, others say that love is something that cannot be explained. However, Abraham Maslow considers love as being very necessary for the development of human personality because it is love, after the fulfillment of the basic needs of survival, by dint of which human beings can actualize their latent or hidden potential.
Nevertheless, more often than not, it is held that love makes a person completely oblivious of the solid realities of life because love, as per this view, greatly affects the sobriety (sahw) of the lover because s/he, in the Sufi terminology, is engulfed by intoxication (sukr)! Plato, however, says that a person cannot be a coordinated and disciplined human being unless s/he controls her/his lower faculties (of appetite, passion, etc.) by the agency of reason. Real love, as such, is a strong taste and deep liking for something on the part of a person without losing the balance, equilibrium and organization of her/his multiple faculties.
Now, when this special liking is devoted wholly and solely to the Absolute or God (in the religious terminology), this is simply termed as the Divine Love. When this love takes possession of a human being, the dynamism, vitality and activism of the person concerned for the Divine Cause touches the optimum level. This is because Divine Love is not mere sloganeering. Rather, it is a realization vis-à-vis doing and undoing things for the sake of God. So, any undertaking of an upholder of Love Divine is neither for fame nor for ostentation and show off. It is just for the sake of the pleasure of God.
Heart being the seat of love, all the Prophets of God were bestowed with the “sound heart” (qalbun salim) because it is this soundness of heart which keeps the human personality in a sound, balanced and harmonious state. However, for this soundness what is needed as a prerequisite is the sound belief in God as All-Powerful, All-Merciful and Almighty. From the life and mission of Prophet Ibrahim (‘AS), we know that he had been gifted with a “sound heart” as a special quality. This is what says the Qur’an in this regard: “Behold, he approached his Lord with a sound heart.” (37:84) However, he in no way lacked the soundness of belief in One God. The Qur’an, in a unique way elaborates that when Prophet Ibrahim (‘AS) made a request for “knowing the reality of the life after death,” he was asked by God whether he lacked belief in the Hereafter. He instantly said that “belief indeed he had, but what he needed was the satisfaction of heart.” (al-Baqarah: 260) No wonder then that believers, by and large, love their Lord intensely as has been elaborated by the Qur’an. (al-Baqarah: 165)
For the common man, however, it is the person of the Prophet of the time through whose agency Divine Love becomes a matter of one and all. This is because there is no other medium through which Divine Love can become manifest in the human plane. In this regard, the Qur’an says: “Say: If you love Allah, follow me: Allah will love you.” (03:31) So, himself as the “friend of God” (al-Nisa’:125), Prophet Ibrahim (‘AS) had made it his life mission to reconnect humankind with the Lord of the Worlds by dint of Divine Love.
Although as an idea Divine Love seems to be an abstract, it takes a concrete form through different human relationships. So far as these relations are concerned, human beings are vertically connected with the Lord and horizontally with one another. For his vertical relation with his God, Prophet Ibrahim (‘AS) declares: “Say: Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for Allah.” (al-An‘am: 162) That means, he lives his life as per the commandments of his Lord and is always ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of his Lord. It is very pertinent to note here that the sacrifice of his son, Isma‘il (‘AS) had been just a symbolic expression of the life mission of Prophet Ibrahim (‘AS).
Divine Love, however, doesn’t mean that the lover remains unconcerned with the fellow human beings. Being himself connected with his Lord through the bond of love, Prophet Ibrahim (‘AS) tries to connect all the human beings with his Lord. That is why he gives a heartfelt invitation to all especially his father because with respect to human love he was most close to his father. That is the reason Prophet Ibrahim (‘AS) not only sees him off with salutations when the latter expels him from his company but he also gives him the promise that he would pray before God for his forgiveness.
Nevertheless, the love of a God-oriented person for his relations whatsoever can’t supersede his love for his Lord. This is because the lover owes his very existence to his Lord and, as such, all other relations are subservient to this grand relationship. Now, so far as the case of Prophet Ibrahim (‘AS) is concerned, his love for God was determined by his monotheistic relationship with his Lord, therefore, this core Prophetic principle could not have been lost sight of. Therefore, he was directed to shun his ideological ties with all those who didn’t share his worldview of monotheism. This advice was meant for the status of his relationship with his father as well. The Qur’an, in this regard, says: “And, Abraham prayed for his father’s forgiveness only because of a promise he had made to him.” (09:114) The seriousness of the matter can be gauged from the fact that “every action of Prophet Ibrahim (‘AS) is declared as a model worth emulation, except his invocation of forgiveness for his father.” (al-Mamtahanah: 04)
This doesn’t, however, mean that as a lover of God Prophet Ibrahim (‘AS) had to cut all the worldly or mundane ties with his father. The Qur’anic principle, in this regard, is that the worldview of monotheism should never be compromised. All ties except the ideological one have to be kept intact as says the Qur’an: “We have enjoined on man kindness to parents: but if they (either of them) strive (to force) you to join with Me (in worship) anything of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them.” (29:08) However, when Prophet Ibrahim (‘AS) was compelled to shun monotheism, his love for his Lord demanded that he should create a unique and new world of monotheism with the House of God (Bayt Allah or Ka‘bah) as its pivot/centre which came to forth through his supreme sacrifices which culminated in and were symbolized by the “grand sacrifice of his son, Isma‘il (‘AS).” And, ‘Id al-Adha commemorates this Mission of Ibrahim (‘AS) based on Divine Love!
The author is Assistant Professor, Islamic Studies at GDC Kokernag. Email: [email protected]: [email protected])
