For love necessarily entails jihad: the lover loves what his beloved loves and hates what his beloved hates. He is loyal to those to whom his beloved is loyal and hostile to those to whom his beloved is hostile. He is pleased with what pleases his beloved and angered by what angers him; he commands what his beloved commands and forbids what he forbids. In all this, he is in accord with him.

These are the people whose pleasure brings their Lord’s pleasure and whose anger brings His anger, for they are pleased only with what pleases Him and angered by what angers Him. Thus the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to Abū Bakr concerning a group that included Suhayb and Bilāl:

“Perhaps you have angered them. If you have angered them, you have indeed angered your Lord.”

Abū Bakr then said to them, “My brothers, have I angered you?” They replied, “No; may Allah forgive you, Abū Bakr.”

Abū Sufyān ibn Harb had passed by them, and they had said, “The swords have not exacted their due from Allah’s enemy.” Abū Bakr said to them, “Do you say this of the chief of Quraysh?” Abū Bakr mentioned this to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who gave him the response quoted above. Those men had spoken only out of anger for Allah’s sake, owing to their complete loyalty to Allah and His Messenger and their enmity toward the enemies of Allah and His Messenger.

Hence the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said in the authentic hadith he related from his Lord:

“My servant continues to draw near to Me through voluntary acts of worship until I love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. Through Me he hears, through Me he sees, through Me he strikes, and through Me he walks. If he asks Me, I will surely give him, and if he seeks My protection, I will surely protect him. I have never hesitated over anything I am to do as I hesitate over taking the soul of My believing servant: he dislikes death, and I dislike causing him distress, yet he must undergo it.”

He, glorified is He, thus explains that He hesitates, for hesitation is a conflict between two wills. He, glorified is He, loves what His servant loves