One of the most profound questions a believer can sit with — and one that Islamic theology answers with remarkable clarity — is whether Allah (God) truly loves. In this powerful Jummah Khutbah delivered by Sheikh Abu Mussab Wajdi Akkari, a scholar whose own journey from Buddhism to Islam gives his words the weight of lived experience, the question is not treated as abstract theology. It is treated as the most urgent and practical matter in a Muslim’s life. Unlike other faith traditions or philosophies that allow believers to customise their concept of God — adding and subtracting attributes as they see fit — Islam closes that door entirely. Everything we need to know about Allah has been explicitly revealed, and His attribute of Love (Al-Mawaddah) is among the most affirmed, most consequential, and most misunderstood of those attributes.
The Islamic Middle Path — Between Denying Allah’s Love and Claiming It Is Unconditional
Sheikh Wajdi identifies two dangerous extremes on this question. The first — found among certain Muslim theological sects — holds that attributing love to Allah implies weakness, and therefore must be denied. The second extreme, common in other religions, claims God loves everyone unconditionally, regardless of their deeds. Islam refutes both. The Quran is filled with verses affirming that Allah loves — but His love is directed toward specific qualities, actions, and the people who embody them. Iblis (Satan) is a creation of Allah, and yet Allah has made him His enemy; this alone dismantles the claim of unconditional love for all creation. The Islamic understanding is balanced: Love is a real attribute of Allah, and it is something a believer must actively work to earn. The khutbah draws our attention to three qualities from the Quran that Allah loves, each of which serves as a roadmap for the spiritual life of a sincere Muslim.
- Ihsan (Excellence in Worship and Conduct): To give the best of what you have — wealth, status, skills — in service of Islam and Muslims; to avoid causing harm through backbiting, gossip, or mischief; and to smile at your brothers in faith. At its deepest level, Ihsan means worshipping Allah as if you can see Him — with full awareness that He sees you, even behind closed doors.
- At-Tawwabeen (Those Who Constantly Repent): Not a one-time act but a consistent orientation of the heart. Tawbah (repentance) has five binding conditions: it must be sincerely for Allah’s sake, accompanied by genuine remorse, followed by ceasing the sin, made with the firm intention never to return, and performed before death or the Final Hour.
- Al-Mutatahhireen (Those Who Purify Themselves): This encompasses both physical purity — wudu, cleanliness, dressing appropriately for Jumu’ah — and inner purity of the heart through sincere repentance. Allah loves both dimensions equally.
- Following the Prophet ﷺ (Ittiba’): The Quran directly links following the Messenger to earning Allah’s love — and with it, divine forgiveness. This is not optional piety; it is the definitive proof of one’s claim to love Allah.
“There is nothing more valuable in this whole entire world than being loved by Allah. If everybody on Earth loved one of us and then we woke up in the Hellfire, this love will not be able to do anything. But if Allah loved the person, then even if the whole of mankind conspired against him, Allah has decreed that he will not enter the Hellfire — no one will be able to change that.” — Sheikh Abu Mussab Wajdi Akkari
The Proof of Love Is in the Following — What the Quran and the Sunnah Demand of Us
The most encompassing verse on this subject is one every Muslim should commit to memory. Allah instructs the Prophet ﷺ to say to both believers and non-believers across all generations: if you truly love Allah, follow me — and Allah will love you and forgive your sins. This verse inverts our assumptions. We often focus on our love for Allah as a destination; the Quran reminds us that what matters infinitely more is Allah’s love for us — and that it is conditional on following the Sunnah. Every scholar, philosopher, thinker, or cultural influencer that a Muslim prioritises over the Messenger ﷺ is, in effect, a substitution that costs them divine closeness. The struggles of the Ummah today — its humiliation, its fragmentation, its loss of honour — are traced back directly to this abandonment of the Prophetic way. Returning to the Sunnah is not nostalgia; it is the only formula that has ever produced success, as it did for the Sahabah (Companions). The spiritual urgency could not be greater: the hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari describes how when Allah loves a slave, He calls on Jibril (Gabriel) by name, who then spreads that love among the angels of the heavens, after which acceptance for that person is placed across the entire Earth. The reverse is equally true for the one whom Allah hates.
“Say: If you truly love Allah, then follow me — Allah will love you and will forgive you your sins. Verily, Allah is the Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.” — Surah Ali-Imran, 3:31
The question Sheikh Wajdi leaves every one of us with is not abstract — it is immediate, personal, and urgent: right now, as you sit where you sit, which category do you belong to? Has Allah already declared His love for you to Jibril, setting off a cascade of divine acceptance that reaches across the heavens and the Earth? Or is the opposite true? Wealth, status, qualifications, and the approval of people cannot alter that reality by a single degree. But Tawbah can. The beauty of Islam is that the door of return is open as long as life remains. Allah’s mercy, as the khutbah reminds us, is such that He is eager — genuinely, divinely eager — to accept the one who turns back. The path is clear: strive for Ihsan in every act of worship and interaction, repent sincerely and consistently, maintain purity of body and heart, and above all, follow the Prophet ﷺ in the way the Sahabah followed him. These are not lofty ideals reserved for scholars — they are the practical, daily choices that determine whether we are among those loved by the Lord of all creation.
