then know that they are only following their own whims. And who could be farther astray than the one who follows his desire without guidance from Allah?” ⦗1⦘

It is related from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “None of you truly believes until his desire is in harmony with what I have brought.”

Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him) commented: “The meaning of the hadith is that a person’s faith is not complete—at the obligatory level—until his loves and hatreds are subordinate to what the Messenger ﷺ has brought of commands and prohibitions and everything else: he loves whatever the Prophet commanded and hates whatever he forbade. The Qur’an conveys this same meaning in numerous places, and the Almighty censures anyone who detests what Allah loves or loves what Allah detests, as in His saying, ‘That is because they followed that which incurred Allah’s wrath and loathed what would earn His pleasure, so He rendered their deeds void.’ ⦗2⦘ …”

He then said: “Allah describes the idol-worshippers as followers of passion in several passages of His Book; He says, ‘If they do not respond to you, then know that they are merely following their own whims. And who is more misguided than one who follows his desire without guidance from Allah?’ ⦗3⦘

“In the same way, every innovation (bidʿah) arises from preferring passion to the Law, which is why its adherents are called ‘the people of desires.’ All acts of disobedience likewise spring from putting passion ahead of the Sharia; hence their perpetrators are also called ‘people of desires,’ for sin originates when passion is preferred over love for Allah and love for what He loves. Even our love for individuals must be governed by what the Messenger ﷺ has brought: the believer is obliged to love those whom Allah loves—the angels, the messengers, the prophets, the steadfastly truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous in general…” End of Ibn Rajab’s words.