for Allah, His Messenger, and striving in His cause to be dearer to the believer than family, wealth, homes, businesses, companions, and brothers. Otherwise, he is not truly a believer. A similar teaching appears in the two Sahih collections, where Anas reports that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“No one tastes the sweetness of faith until he loves another person solely for Allah’s sake, until being cast into the Fire is dearer to him than returning to unbelief, and until Allah and His Messenger are dearer to him than everything else.”
This is al-Bukhārī’s wording. He thus stated that no one tastes the sweetness of faith except through these three forms of love.
First, Allah and His Messenger must be dearer to him than everything else. This is among the obligatory foundations of faith without which a person cannot be a believer.
Second, he must love another person solely for Allah’s sake. This necessarily follows from the first.
Third, being cast into the Fire must be dearer to him than returning to unbelief. Likewise, for someone who repents of sins, these qualities are among the strongest signs of sincerity in repentance.
Love for Allah and His Messenger, and love for the believers for His sake, although directed toward those loved rather than toward our own actions—as the will is—necessarily entails such willing. For whoever holds Allah and His Messenger dearer than his own self, his family, and his wealth must necessarily