What is the criterion of uttering one's love for Allah?

Dear Brother / Sister,

As loving Allah and knowing that He is content with us is an abstract issue, it is difficult to comprehend it. One can say, “I love Allah”. However, as that statement expresses a feeling inside us, we need to externalize it.

On the other hand, is Allah really content with us? What kind of slaves are we in His eyes? Those questions are equally difficult to comprehend. There must be a way to comprehend them.

As a matter of fact, Allah informs us of the way, with which we can make our love for Allah understood and find out whether Allah is content with us, in the following Quranic verse: “O Muhammad, say: If you love Allah, follow me, so that Allah will love you.”

The indication of our love for Allah is practicing Islam by complying with our Prophet. We can say without hesitation that Allah loves us, if we lead our lives in accordance with the Prophet. For instance, how is your love for parents manifested? If you meet their wishes and quit things which they do not approve of, your love for them is manifested. And we understand that they love us too, even though they do not tell us. Contrarily, if you do not do anything they wish and still say, “but look at my heart I love them so much”, nobody will believe you.
We can deduce that Allah created the Prophet as an example for us and He manifested the most beautiful exemplary characteristics in him. And He said to us: “If you love me, comply with the Prophet I sent for you. Then you can know that I love you too.” In summary, the criterion of how much we love Allah is how much we resemble Prophet Muhammad. We can come to a conclusion judging by that criterion.

They are Quran and Sunnah, which are route maps for you, us and all humanity. We cannot suggest you anything other than those. That is to say; it is making the Quran and sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) our guides, putting ourselves in line with them and contemplating by reading subjects and books about faith. It will be very beneficial for your afterlife if you can find books which tell about the Quran and faith or spend time with people who contemplate and evaluate those matters.

Performing prayers in time, avoiding major sins and performing tasbihat (glorifying Allah) after prayers will also lead you to maturity.

Questions on Islam