Thursday 18 Ramadan 1445 - 28 March 2024
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We know the signs of Allah’s love for His slave; what are the signs of Allah’s hatred towards His slave?

Question

There are many questions on your website and on the Internet in general that speak of the signs of Allah’s love for His slave; what are the signs of Allah’s hatred towards His slave?

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

Allah, may He be exalted, loves those who believe, hence He makes faith dear to them. And He hates those who disbelieve and disobey Him, unless they repent. If Allah helps a person to believe and makes faith dear to his heart, and makes the believers dear to him and makes him dear to them, and he lives and dies following that, then he is one of those whom Allah loves. 

But if Allah makes faith and obedience hateful to a person, and He makes disobedience dear to his heart, and he makes those who are disobedient dear to him and makes him dear to them, and he lives and dies following that, then he is one of those whom Allah hates. 

But we cannot be certain that any particular individual is one of those whom Allah loves, just as we cannot be certain that any particular individual is one of those whom Allah hates. It is essential to understand that Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, may hate a person at one time and love him at another time, according to his actions. 

If a person commits some of the deeds that Allah hates, it cannot be ruled that he is one of those who Allah hates, for Allah may bestow His mercy upon him and he may repent before he dies and do good deeds, and Allah may forgive him; and he may have hidden righteous deeds that are unknown to people, so Allah may treat him kindly. 

What we can be certain about is that Allah hates his disobedient actions and his commission of that sin. 

We will highlight some signs and indications that may signal that Allah hates His slave, without stating definitively that everyone who has some of these characteristics is one of those whom Allah hates. These include the following: 

·When Allah causes him to be hated and to have a bad reputation and be spoken ill of in this world, because that is usually due to a person’s bad conduct and corruption.

Al-Bukhaari (3209) and Muslim (2637) narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “When Allah loves a person, He calls Jibreel and says: ‘I love So and so, so love him.’ So Jibreel loves him, then he calls out to the people of heaven, ‘Allah loves So and so, so love him.’ So the people of heaven love him and he finds acceptance on earth. If Allah hates a person, He calls Jibreel and says: ‘I hate So and so, so hate him.’ So Jibreel hates him, then he calls out to the people of heaven: ‘Allah hates So and so, so hate him.’ So they hate him and he is hated on earth.” 

Al-Bukhaari (1367) and Muslim (949) narrated that Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A funeral passed by and they spoke well of (the deceased). The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “It has become certain.” Another funeral passed by and they spoke badly of (the deceased). The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “It has become certain.” ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: What has become certain? He said: “For the one of whom you spoke well, Paradise has become certain, and for the one of whom you spoke badly, Hell has become certain. You are the witnesses of Allah on earth.” 

·He loves that which Allah, may He be exalted, hates, and he hates that which Allah loves

Allah, may He be exalted, said of the people of faith whom He loves (interpretation of the meaning):

“but Allah has endeared the Faith to you and has beautified it in your hearts, and has made disbelief, wickedness and disobedience (to Allah and His Messenger SAW) hateful to you. These! They are the rightly guided ones”

[al-Hujuraat 49:7]. 

·He gets carried away in sin, transgression and misguidance, moving from one sin to another, and he is not enabled to repent, and he dies in that state.

·He persists in keeping company with people of sin and avoids people of faith.

The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “A man will follow the way of his close friend, so let one of you look at who he takes as a close friend.” Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4833; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood etc. 

·He does not adhere to the duties enjoined by Allah and the pillars of Islam. So you only see him neglecting the prayer, too lazy to offer it, and ignoring the rights of Allah and the rights of His slaves, not caring about the consequences of that in this world and the Hereafter.

·He hates advice and resents the one who offers it; if he is instructed to do something good or is told not to do something bad, he takes pride in his sin. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “And when it is said to him, ‘Fear Allah’, he is led by arrogance to (more) crime. So enough for him is Hell, and worst indeed is that place to rest” [al-Baqarah 2:206].

·He is hostile towards the people of faith, and he takes the people of disobedience as friends; he loves and hates for something other than the sake of Allah, and is based on that which is not pleasing to Allah. If he loves it is not for the sake of Allah and if he hates it is not for the sake of Allah.

·He hates that which Allah loves and he loves that which Allah hates.

·He has the characteristics that Allah dislikes, such as lying, deceiving, betraying, backbiting, malicious gossip and so on, characteristics that Allah hates and He hates those who have those characteristics. If a person acquires any characteristic that Allah hates, to such an extent that it becomes second nature to him and part of his character, this is something that exposes him to the wrath and hatred of Allah, for Allah when Allah hates a characteristic, He hates for people to adopt it .

·He is one of those who show off and seek to enhance their reputation, one of those who boast, are proud and arrogant, and feel themselves to be above submitting humbly in servitude to Allah.

·His attachment to his religion is weak, and he is more attached to his whims and desires; he only strives to fulfill his desires and evil inclinations, until he becomes like one who has taken his whims and desires as his god.

·He strives hard for worldly gain, but he is heedless about matters of the Hereafter.

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Whoever wishes for the quick-passing (transitory enjoyment of this world), We readily grant him what We will for whom We like. Then, afterwards, We have appointed for him Hell, he will burn therein disgraced and rejected, (far away from Allah’s Mercy)”

[al-Isra’ 17:18]. 

al-Bukhaari (6435) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Wretched is the slave of the dinar and dirham and fine clothing, if he is given he is pleased and if he is not given he is displeased.” 

·He gives in to major sins that incur the wrath and anger of Allah, such as zina, consuming riba, slandering chaste women and the like, then he is not enabled to repent.

·He is foul mouthed, evil, a slanderer and evildoer; people avoid him because of his rudeness, bad ways, wrongdoing and transgression of the limits set by Allah.

The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The worst of people in status before Allaah on the Day of Resurrection will be those whom the people leave alone for fear of their evil.”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6032; Muslim, 2591. 

·He imitates the disbelievers and evildoers, and hates to resemble the people of faith.

·He commits shirk and falls into it, then he is not enabled to repent from it. Shirk is the worst characteristic a person may have and it exposes him to the wrath and anger of Allah.

To sum up, if a person has the characteristic of obedience to Allah and to His Messenger, then he may be one of those whom Allah loves; if a person persists in disobedience to Allah and His Messenger, then he deserves to incur the hatred and wrath of Allah. 

By the same token, it cannot be said of any particular individual that Allah loves this person or that Allah hates this person. 

Al-Bukhaari (3332) and Muslim (2643) narrated from Ibn Mas‘ood (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “A man may do the deeds of the people of Hell until there is nothing between him and it but a cubit, then the decree overtakes him and he does a deed of the people of Paradise, and thus enters Paradise. And a man may do the deeds of the people of Paradise until there is nothing between him and it but a cubit, then the decree overtakes him and he does a deed of the people of Hell and thus enters Hell.” 

For more information, please see the answer to question no. 23425 

And Allah knows best.

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Source: Islam Q&A