Muhabbah — Rawzat

Allah Loves and Is Loved

The Quran’s opening declaration of divine mercy — al-Rahman al-Rahim — is itself a statement about love: the divine that pours itself out toward creation in mercy is a divine that is in relationship, not merely a cosmic architect or law-giver.

But the Quran goes further: it explicitly states that Allah loves specific qualities and specific people:

“Allah will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him — humble toward the believers, powerful against the disbelievers, striving in the way of Allah, not fearing the blame of any critic.” (5:54)

This is one of the Quran’s most remarkable verses: mutual love — yuhibbuhum wa yuhibbunahu — stated as the quality of the people Allah will bring. The divine loves particular human beings, and these human beings love the divine. This is not metaphorical; Islamic theology takes the divine love of human beings and the human love of Allah as real relationships.

Other qualities Allah loves, stated in the Quran:

Al-muhsineen (those who do good / those who have ihsan) — 2:195, 3:134, 5:13
Al-muttaqeen (those who have taqwa) — 3:76, 9:4
Al-tawwabeen (those who turn in repentance) — 2:222
Al-mutatahhireen (those who purify themselves) — 2:222
Al-sabreen (the patient) — 3:146
Al-mutawakkileen (those who trust in Allah) — 3:159
Al-muqsiteen (those who are just) — 5:42, 49:9

And what Allah does not love (therefore: what diminishes the relationship of love):

Corruption (fasad), transgression (zulm), arrogance (kibr), ingratitude (kufr al-ni’ma)

The divine love is not unconditional indifference to the soul’s choices — it responds to the soul’s orientation. The soul that cultivates the qualities Allah loves draws closer; the soul that cultivates the opposite qualities creates distance.

The Command to Love Allah

“But those who believe are stronger in love of Allah.” (2:165)

The Quran does not command love as a feeling to be manufactured but acknowledges that the believer’s love of Allah is stronger than any other love — as a description of the mumin’s actual inner state, not a requirement to produce it artificially.

The Prophet (SAW) was asked about the best of actions. He answered: “Hubb fill Allah wa bughd fill Allah” — to love for Allah’s sake and to hate for Allah’s sake. This is the concept of al-walaa’ wa al-baraa’ (love/alliance and disavowal) — but at its core, it is about ordering love: what one loves and hates should be aligned with the divine, not with the ego’s preferences or the world’s pressures.

“Say: ‘If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, wealth you have acquired, commerce whose decline you fear, and dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and striving in His way — then wait until Allah executes His command. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.’” (9:24)

The love hierarchy: Allah → His Messenger → striving in His way — and then everything else. This ordering of loves is the practical expression of the fitra’s primordial orientation: the soul that loves correctly has placed the divine at the center of its affections.

Hubb al-Nabi — Love of the Prophet (SAW)

“Say: ‘If you should love Allah, then follow me — Allah will love you and forgive you your sins.’” (3:31)

This verse is sometimes called Ayat al-Mahabbah (The Verse of Love): the path to divine love runs through following the Prophet. To love Allah is to follow the Prophet; and following the Prophet leads to being loved by Allah. The love-relationship is mediated through the prophetic channel.

The Prophet (SAW) said: “By the One in Whose hand is my soul, none of you believes until I am dearer to him than his own soul, his father, his children, and all people.” (Bukhari)

This is not a claim about the Prophet’s ego or a cult of personality — it is the theological statement that the Prophet as the medium of divine guidance must be more dear than any other thing, because losing the guidance he carries is a greater loss than losing any worldly relationship. The love of the Prophet is love of the divine way made flesh.

Muhabbat-e-Ahl al-Bayt — Love of the Prophet’s Family

In the Ismaili-Tayyibi tradition, the love of the Ahl al-Bayt is not merely a sentimental attachment but the specific form through which love of the Prophet and love of Allah takes shape in the post-prophetic era.

“I do not ask of you any payment for it [the Quran] except love for [my] near relatives.” (42:23)

This single verse — al-mawaddat fi’l-qurba — is one of the most pivotal in Shia/Ismaili theology. The Prophet asks for one thing as “payment” for the Quran: love of his near relatives (Ahl al-Bayt). This love is:

Theologically required: It is explicitly asked by the Prophet as a divine command transmitted through him
Not separate from love of Allah: It is the form of love of Allah/Prophet in this era
Lived, not merely professed: The tradition distinguishes between mahabbah (love as a feeling and orientation) and mawaddah (love expressed through relationship and action)

The famous Hadith of the Thaqalayn (Two Weighty Things): “I leave among you two weighty things: the Book of Allah and my Ahl al-Bayt. If you hold to both, you will never go astray.” — the Quran and the Ahl al-Bayt are paired as the two channels through which the prophetic guidance continues.

See also: Ahl Al Bayt, Understanding Walayah

Walayah as Love

In the Ismaili teaching, walayah — the covenant with the Imam — is not primarily a legal contract or an intellectual agreement. It is a relationship of love:

“The believers, men and women, are awliya’ (allies/loved ones) of one another.” (9:71) — The root of walayah is wala — nearness, love, alliance. The wali is the one who is near, the beloved, the one to whom one is intimately connected.

The Imam as wali al-mu’minin (the closest ally of the believers) is the source of divine love made accessible in each era. To take walayah with the Imam is to enter into the relationship of love that connects the mumin to Allah through the prophetic chain. The Quran: “Allah is the wali of those who believe — He brings them out of darkness into light.” (2:257)

Walayah and muhabbah are two names for the same relationship at different levels of description: muhabbah is the feeling; walayah is the structure. A mumin who has walayah without muhabbah has the form without the soul; a mumin who has muhabbah without walayah is like someone who loves the spring but has no channel through which the water reaches them.

The Expression of Divine Love — Dhikr, Du’a, and Waaz

Love expresses itself through attention, presence, and communication. The Islamic practices of dhikr, du’a, and attendance at waaz/majalis are the primary channels through which the mumin’s love of Allah and the Imam is expressed and deepened:

Dhikr (remembrance): The Quran’s instruction “Remember Allah abundantly” (33:41) is the practice of keeping the beloved in mind at all times. The lover thinks of the beloved; the mumin thinks of Allah. The dhikr is simultaneously remembrance and love-expression.

Du’a (supplication): The Quran: “Call upon Me — I will respond to you.” (40:60) The divine’s instruction to call is itself the statement that Allah wants to be called — that the relationship of du’a is desired from the divine side, not only the human. Du’a is love-speech directed toward the divine.

Waaz and Majalis: The Bohra tradition’s rich culture of majalis — gatherings for learning, du’a, and communal practice — is the embodied expression of collective muhabbah. Gathering for the sake of the Imam, weeping for Karbala, celebrating Eid al-Ghadeer, attending the Syedna’s waaz — these are love-acts, not mere obligations. See also: Bohra Waaz

Ta’wil of Muhabbah

The zahir of muhabbah is the command to love — Allah, the Prophet, the Ahl al-Bayt — expressed through specific practices and relationships.

The batin of muhabbah is the soul’s recognition of its origin. The soul loves Allah because it came from the divine source and carries the divine fitra within — the love is recognition, not creation. The mumin who loves the Imam loves the divine representative in whom the divine itself is most present in this era. The love of the Imam is the love of one’s own deepest nature meeting the divine that gave it that nature.

“Those who believe love Allah most intensely.” (2:165) — Not intensity of performance but intensity of connection. The mumin’s love is strongest because the mumin’s connection to the divine is most direct: through the walayah of the Imam, through the ‘ilm that reveals the nature of what is loved, through the practices that keep the beloved near.

The entire spiritual life is a deepening of muhabbah — from the muhabbah that begins as a feeling of attraction to the ‘ilm of the Dawat, through the muhabbah that becomes a disciplined relationship through walayah and practice, to the muhabbah that arrives at the state of “Truly, those who believe and do righteous deeds — the Most Merciful will appoint for them affection.” (19:96) — the divine appointing love itself.

Muhabbah — Love in the Ismaili Heart