‘Then He will lift the veil, and they will gaze upon Him. Nothing He has given them will be dearer to them than gazing upon Him.’”

The more dearly something is loved, the greater the delight in attaining it. This is agreed upon by the early generations, the imams, and the masters of the spiritual path. Thus, al-Hasan al-Basrī is reported to have said, “If the worshippers knew that they would not see their Lord in the Hereafter, their souls would melt away in this world out of longing for Him.” Their statements on this subject are numerous.

Yet these same people who agreed with the early generations, the imams, and the masters about the delight of gazing upon Allah Most High disagreed over the question of love, which is the foundation of that delight. Groups of speculative theologians and jurists held that Allah is not loved for Himself, but that love means only loving obedience to Him and worship of Him. They also said that He does not love His believing servants; rather, His love is His will to show them kindness and reward them.

This view was also adopted by some who claimed to champion the Sunnah from among the practitioners of