All praise is for Allah, The Lord of The Worlds. May His Blessings and Peace be upon our Prophet Mohammad, his household and companions.
Servitude is the relationship between a servant and His Lord; it is based on hearing and obeying, following commands and avoiding prohibitions, as a servant can`t afford to disobey His Master.
A servant should improve his relationship with Allah The Almighty, so after believing in Him, His existence, His being the One and only God worthy of worship, and following His commands and avoiding His prohibitions, a servant is elevated to the rank of love; the love of Allah as well as the love for the sake of Allah.
Through love, a servant attains perfect faith. Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (Blessings and peace be upon him) said, "No one of you becomes a true believer until he likes for his brother what he likes for himself."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. The meaning of this Hadith is that none of you attains perfect faith, so if one desires good for others as he/she desires it for him/herself, he/she is elevated to the rank of perfect faith. This is for the servant to be pure of heart and soul towards others and be a force of good that illuminates the society and inspires its members to be good and loving.
Likewise, the fruit of loving Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is arriving at perfect faith. Anas reported God’s Messenger as saying: "None of you believes till I am dearer to him than his father, his child, and all mankind." [Agreed upon]. This is because the Prophet (PBUH) is our door to Allah the Almighty. Consequently, there is no faith without believing in him (Prophet Mohammad) nor perfection of faith without loving Him (Blessings and peace be upon him), as he (PBUH) is the criterion of the existence of faith and its perfection.
Through love, a servant gets to taste the sweetness of faith. Anas bin Malik (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
The Prophet (PBUH) said: "There are three qualities whoever has them, will taste the sweetness of Iman: To love Allah and His Messenger (Blessings and peace be upon him) more than anyone else; to love a slave (of Allah) only for (the sake of) Allah; and to abhor returning to infidelity after Allah has saved him from it as he would abhor to be thrown into the fire (of Hell)." [Agreed upon]. Through love, a believer harvests the sweetness of faith to transcend from the realm of intellectual proofs to the realm of the heart and feelings becoming an emotional state in which a person feels joy and never wants to exit.
The question, here, is how to get to the love of Allah The Almighty?
The love of Allah can be reached via reflecting, remembrance, following our master and teacher Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), offering voluntary acts of worship, quitting some qualities and embracing some. This can be summarized in the following:
First: Reflecting upon the blessings of Allah shows that He is Generous and, by natural inclination, man`s soul loves the generous. More reflecting would lead to realizing Allah`s greatness in His Creation and souls love the great. Equally, behind each attribute or name of Allah, there is a reason for loving Him.
Second: Remembrance of Allah. If you love something, you remember it constantly and Allah remembers those who remember Him. Abu Huraira reported God's Messenger as stating that God says, "I am with my servant when he remembers me and his lips move making mention of me." [Al-Bukhari]. Abu Huraira (May Allah Be Pleased with him): Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said: "Allah Said in the Qudsi Narration (What means): "I am to my slave as he thinks of Me, (i.e. I am able to do for him what he thinks I can do for him)." [Agreed upon].
Third: Following our master Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) for he is the door to Allah the Almighty. Allah Says (What means): "Say: "If ye do love God, Follow me: God will love you and forgive you your sins: For God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [Al-Imran/31]. Thus, following Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is amongst the key indications of loving Allah and attaining that.
Fourth: Performing as much Nawafil (Prayers or doing voluntary acts besides what is obligatory) as possible. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
Messenger of Allah (Blessings and peace be upon him) said: "Allah The Exalted Says (What means): "I will declare war against him who shows hostility to a pious worshipper of Mine. And the most beloved thing with which My slave comes nearer to Me is what I have enjoined upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (prayer or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) till I love him. When I love him I become his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks (something) from Me, I give him, and if he asks My Protection (refuge), I protect him". [Al-Bukhari]. Thus, performing more Nawafil is a means to attain the love of the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth.
Fifth: Abandoning some qualities that Allah dislikes or dislikes those who have them: Transgression. He The Almighty Says (What means): "for God loveth not transgressors." [Al-Baqarah/190]. On Mischief, He The Almighty Says (What means): "But God loveth not mischief." [Al-Baqarah/205]. As well as, on Disbelief, He The Almighty Says (What means): "God loveth not those who reject Faith." [Al-Imran/32]. On Doing wrong, He, The Almighty Says (What means): "but God loveth not those who do wrong." [Al-Imran/57]. He The Almighty Says in transgression (What means): "surely God loves not one who is treacherous and sinful." [An-Nisa`/107]. Besides, He Says on Excessiveness (What means): "He truly does not love those who are excessive." [Al-`Araf/31]. And on Arrogance, He The Almighty, Says (What means): "Indeed He does not love the arrogant." [An-Nahil/23].
Sixth: Enjoying some qualities that bring a servant closer to the love of Allah. For example, Repentance. He The Most Exalted Says in this regard (What means): "Truly, God loves those who repent." [Al-Baqarah/222]. As regards God-fearing. He The Almighty Says (What means): "Nay, but whoever fulfils his covenant, and has fear, for truly God loves the God-fearing." [Al-Imran/76]. On Virtuousness, He The Almighty Says (What means): "And spend in the way of God; and cast not your own hands into destruction; but be virtuous; God loves the virtuous." {Al-Baqarah, 195}. On Cleanliness, physically and morally, He The Almighty Says (What means): "and He loves those who cleanse themselves." [Al-Baqarah/222]. And on Fighting for Allah`s cause in ranks, He The Almighty Says (What means): "Indeed God loves those who fight for His cause in ranks, as if they were a solid structure." [Al-Saff/4].
In conclusion, drawing closer to Allah can be achieved through following His straight path prescribed in the Quran and the Sunnah. This is in addition to gaining benefits of Godly love and moving from the level of obedience to loving obedience. Consequently, worship becomes his/her delight, desire and destination and, then, we will understand the words of the Prophet: "Declare that the time for prayer has come, Bilal, and give us rest by it." [Abu Dawood].
