LOVE AND ISLAM

Normally, when love is mentioned in context of islam, it is about the love of Allah swt, or love of prophet Muhammad pbuh or love of parents, family or friends. In our society, these types of love are allowed and appreciated. But when it comes to the love between a man and woman, it is not seen as something which can have some meaning. Instead, you would find many scholars giving fatwas against those who so much as like each other. Does islam allow such a thing? Is there any place in islam for such a thing?

Well, love is normally taken as a forbidden act. Where in reality of islam, it is not forbidden at all. It should not be thought that islam allows any such relationship openly, but islam sights things in their original manner and sense. So, let us find the original sense of love first. You can do it yourself by asking people randomly about their definition of love. Some would call it wrong, some would call it right. But it actually is a feeling, a kind of attraction that exists between two people. Two people can like each other for many reasons ranging from beauty to religion. Love itself is not satanic because it is a feeling. What becomes satanic is the wrong way to have it. Unfortunately, our society is one of the biggest reason why satan finds it easy to play tricks on the people's minds.

When a boy and a girl like each other, their ultimate wish is to live with each other. Islamically, they can live with each other via nikah. Nikah has its own obligations which require details. But nikah makes the relationship of a man and woman legitimate. If the two people are willing to enter the folds of nikah, then their should be no reason they should not be joined together, except for some reasons where there is involved some kind of fraud.

Remember, our beloved prophet Muhammad pbuh got married to khadijah r.a because she liked his (pbuh) honesty. So she sent the proposal and he (pbuh) accepted it. Later on, the love between them grew. And khadija ra was the beloved wife of Muhammad pbuh. He pbuh loved her so much that when she passed away, He pbuh remained sad for long. And never married another women in her life. Such was the love between the two. Similarly, our beloved prophet pbuh loved Ayesha ra very much. So, love is a feeling. It grows stronger when intentions are pure, and it becomes week where lust and worldly needs are involved.

There is a famous sahih hadith regarding love. Prophet Muhammad pbuh said that there is nothing more liked than nikah for two people who are in love. Now this hadith tells us that islam recognizes the human feelings. Islam does not stop us from being humans. Islam simoly, does not want us to be angels. Because we are not angels but human beings. We, as men and women, coexist. Its inevitable for some of us to fall in love. So, islam simply puts us on the right path and tells us to legitimise the relationship. 

There is another sahih hadith in which prophet Muhammad pbuh said that it should be religion for which a women is liked. That is, now a days, men like women for their faces and beauty. Very few men and women would like some one for their religion. We forget that this world is a temporary place. It is not our permanent residence. We ought to move to the next level. And if we are good enough to reach jannah, then we will all be the best in jannah. So what should matter to us the most in this world should be the akhirah, not the world.

In short and plain words, islam does not stop us from feeling for some one as long as we want to legitimise it. If it is not possible, we should learn to let go. If we stick with a thought or feeling, then this is what islam does not allow.