Question # 3: The Concept of Love for God and God's Love:

Question: What verses of the Quran deal especially with the love of man and God, and the love of God for man?

"If your fathers and your sons and your brethren and your wives and your kinsfolk and the wealth you have acquired, and trade whose dullness you fear, and dwellings you love, are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and striving in His way, then wait till Allah brings His command to pass." (9:24)

In another place God says:

"And they give food, out of love for Him, to the poor and the orphan and the captive: 'We feed you, for Allah's pleasure only -- We desire from you neither reward nor thanks'." (76:8,9)

There is, however, a second part to this question that inquires whether, according to the Quran, God loves man? The fact is that the Quran is replete with verses that state, Allah loves those who oft return to Him [God's love of man is not like the love of human beings, where separation from the beloved causes pain and sorrow. The real meaning of God's love is that He deals with those who do good in the manner of a lover towards the beloved.], Allah loves those who do good, and Allah loves those who are patient. But the Quran does not state anywhere that God also loves those who love disbelief, evil and cruelty. Instead, the Quran puts forward the concept of having conferred a favour on them. For instance, the Quran says: "And We have not sent thee but as a mercy to the whole world" (21:107), where the word 'alamin (whole world) includes disbelievers, transgressors and sinners. Mercy for them is the holding open of the doors to salvation if they follow the prescriptions of the Quran.

In short, the holy word of God has used the word mercy for describing the relationships between mankind. For instance, God says that believers are those who "exhort one another to truth" (103:3) and "exhort one another to mercy" (90:17). In another place, He says: "Surely Allah enjoins justice and the doing of good (to others) and the giving to the kindred." Thus it is the command of Allah that men be just to others; of still greater virtue is that they do good to others; and an even greater virtue is that they show kindness to men like they would to someone near and dear to them.

Can there be a better moral teaching in the whole world? The command to do good has not been confined to merely conferring favours on others, but has been taken to the next higher stage where the doing of good becomes an instinctive urge, described in the verse by the term 'giving to the kindred'. Although a person who does a good deed as a favour performs a virtuous act, there is some motivation of recompense and reward. Such a person may get annoyed if the favour is denied or not acknowledged, and sometimes, in the heat of emotions, he may remind others of favours conferred. However, doing goodness out of an instinctive urge, which the Quran has compared to goodness done to the kindred, is the highest stage of performing virtuous acts, and there is no stage of virtue after it. Examples of this stage are the acts of goodness performed by a mother in caring for her child for which she seeks no recompense and gratitude.

Since the Torah was revealed only for the Israelites, and Jesus was sent only for the sheep of Israel, it is understandable that the Torah and the Gospel did not deal with justice and goodness toward outsiders. Instead, their commands were limited in scope to the Israelites. If these teachings were not constrained only to the Israelites, then why was it that when a gentile woman pleaded with Jesus and made her humble and sincere submissions, Jesus did not act mercifully toward her, but said that he was sent only for the Israelites [Matthew, 15:24.]. When Jesus did not set an example of mercy and good treatment toward the gentiles, how can it be expected that his teachings would command acts of goodness toward non-Israelite nations. Jesus said very clearly that his ministry was not for other nations, and it would be futile to expect his teachings to contain instructions of merciful dealings toward other nations. Accordingly, the thrust of Jesus' teaching is toward the Israelites, as he did not consider himself authorised to give advise to any other. How could he then give a universal message of mercy? If the Gospels contain anything contrary to the teaching of Jesus that his preaching and sympathy were restricted to the Israelites, then such a statement has to be a later addition because of the obvious contradiction with the former statement.