the end of their term. Indeed, Allah loves the righteous.”

“So long as they remain true to you, remain true to them. Indeed, Allah loves the righteous.”

“Indeed, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in ranks as though they were a solid structure.”

“Yes, whoever fulfils his pledge and fears Allah—indeed, Allah loves the righteous.”

The deeds Allah loves—obligatory and recommended, outward and inward—are many and well known. Likewise, His love for those who perform them is well known: they are the believers, the pious allies of Allah. This love is real, as declared by the Quran and Sunnah. The position of the early generations of this community and its imams, the people of the Sunnah and hadith, all the religious teachers whose example is followed, and the imams of Sufism is that Allah, glory be to Him, is loved for His own sake with genuine love. Indeed, this is the most perfect love, as He, exalted is He, says:

“But those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah.”

Likewise, He, glory be to Him, genuinely loves His believing servants. The Jahmiyyah denied the reality of love on both sides, claiming that love requires an affinity between the lover and the beloved, and that there is no affinity between the eternal and the created that would give rise to love. The first to introduce this innovation into Islam was al-Jaʿd ibn Dirham, early in the second century AH. Khālid ibn Abd Allāh al-Qasrī, the governor of Iraq and the East, slaughtered him as a sacrifice at Wāsit.

He addressed the people on the Day of Sacrifice, saying:

“O people, offer your sacrifices! May Allah accept your sacrifices. I shall sacrifice al-Jaʿd ibn Dirham, for he claimed that Allah did not take Abraham as a close friend, nor did He speak to