love for Him for His own sake, and love for Him because of His beneficence. Likewise, praise of Him is of two kinds: praise that He intrinsically deserves, and praise for His beneficence toward His servant. The two kinds of contentment thus correspond to the two kinds of love.

As for being content with Him, His religion, and His Messenger, this belongs to love. Hence, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, spoke of tasting faith, just as he spoke, in connection with love, of experiencing the sweetness of faith. These two authentic hadiths provide the foundation for discussions of spiritual experience and taste grounded in faith and sanctioned by revelation, as opposed to those rooted in misguidance and innovation.

In Sahīh Muslim, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is reported to have said:

“He has tasted faith who is content with Allah as his Lord, Islam as his religion, and Muhammad as his Prophet.”

In the two Sahīh collections, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is reported to have said:

“There are three qualities through which whoever possesses them will experience the sweetness of faith: that Allah and His Messenger are dearer to him than everything else; that he loves a person solely for Allah’s sake; and that he hates to return to disbelief, after Allah has saved him from it, as he hates to be thrown into the Fire.”

This will become clear through the discussion of love. We therefore say:

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Love for Allah—indeed, love for Allah and His Messenger—is among the greatest obligations of faith, its most important foundations, and its loftiest principles. Indeed, it is the basis of every deed of faith and religion, just as