In Islam, acknowledging others for the good they have done to you is considered very important. The Prophet went to the extent of noting: “One who does not acknowledge people, cannot even acknowledge God.” (Musnad Ahmad 7504) If you add a pinch of dye to a glass of water, all of the water becomes coloured. Likewise, is the case of love. When a believer has love in his heart for his Creator, at the same time he cannot resist showing his love to his neighbours. And in this electronic age, the whole world is one’s neighbour. Thus one who acknowledges God in prayer regularly, but is not grateful to the people who have benefitted him in life, cannot be regarded as paying sincere thanks to God. This acknowledgment of and gratitude towards others is at the root of developing love for them. Not only does this make us positive for those who are immediately around us and from whom we receive help and support directly, but this also fills our heart with love for humanity at large.
I believe in spirituality. My mission is based on spirituality. Our spirituality is mind-based, not heart-based. This means spirituality based on thinking and applying one's reason. I will tell you how thinking can help discover the ideology of love. Thinking does not result from meditation of the heart. How is that? You are living in this world, you build a home, you wear clothes, you use the camera and several other items. How did you get these? The entire history worked to let you have these items. For example, these clothes were not brought by Prophet Adam, rather they were discovered after 1000 years of humanity's effort. The Quran says: وَطَفِقَا يَخْصِفَانِ عَلَيْهِمَا مِنْ وَرَقِ الْجَنَّةِ (7:22) “They started covering themselves with the leaves of the garden.”
Leaves worked as clothes. Then skin and leather began to be used as cloth. After a long period, people made cloth mill and could prepare modern clothes. When you wear these clothes, you must remember the 1000 years of human efforts, research and sacrifices that brought clothes into existence. You must personalize these human discoveries. All of humanity struggled jointly to help you give this piece of cloth. This will generate great love in your heart for humanity. Love results when you are given something. When you receive something from someone, you develop love for him. The more the gifts, the more will be your emotion of love. You must discover this ideology of love.
This is a glass full of water. In my childhood days, people used to drink water by collecting it in their hands. Then they would make a vessel from leaves to hold water. I have witnessed all of this before my eyes. Then pots of mud began to be made, and later of tin and aluminium. Several days later, it became possible to make glass containers for people to drink. When I drink water, I remember this entire human history. For me to drink from this glass, humans have been toiling since past 1000s of years. This fills my heart with an ocean of love for humanity.
