The Source of
the Love of God

When man consciously discovers God’s blessings, a deep feeling of love is produced in him for the Benefactor. This love manifests itself in the form of thanksgiving and worship.

Chapter 16 of the Quran has this to say: “And be thankful for the blessing of God, if it is Him you worship.” (16:114) Thanking God for all His blessings is no simple matter, for in this love of God is automatically included. Awareness of God’s blessings produces love in the believers. Then, man spontaneously gives voice to such words as are an acknowledgement of the divine blessings. This is praise (Shukr) to God. The bestowal of blessings produces emotions or feelings of love for the Benefactor, and this love is expressed in words of acknowledgement. This is what is meant by gratitude.

This reality has been expressed in a tradition of the Prophet: “That is, love God for all His blessings that He has given you.” (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 3789)

In the original version of this tradition, the word provision is used in a symbolic sense to mean all the kinds of blessings which man has received from God, both material as well as spiritual.

On deeper thinking on this verse of the Quran and the tradition, we learn that the source of the feeling of our love for God, is the awareness of how blessed we are. In the present world whatever man has received, whether great or small, has been received from God as a unilateral reward without there having been any contribution from us. The more one thinks of the state of oneself as well as that of the external world, the more one will discover the blessings of God.

When man consciously discovers divine blessings, the natural result is that a deep feeling of love is produced in him for the Benefactor. It is this love which manifests itself in the form of thanksgiving and worship.