Love as a Condition of the Shahadah
9-4-2026 | IslamWeb
Question:
I've read about the 7 conditions of the Shahadah, with Love being amongst them. What is meant by love, as I've heard different explanations? The evidence for it from the Qur'an
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad (ﷺ) is His Slave and Messenger.
Love is a condition from the conditions of the statement “There is none worthy of worship except Allah.” What is intended by it, as explained by Hafiz Ahmad al-Hakami in Ma‘arij al-Qabul, is love for this statement, for what it necessitates and indicates, and for its people—those who act upon it and adhere to its conditions—along with hatred for whatever contradicts that.
Allah, the Most High, says (what means): {And among the people are those who take others besides Allah as equals. They love them as they should love Allah. But those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah.} [Quran 2:165]
And He, the Most High, says (what means): {O you who believe, whoever among you turns back from his religion—Allah will bring forth a people whom He loves and who love Him; humble toward the believers, firm against the disbelievers; fighting in the cause of Allah and not fearing the blame of any critic.} [Quran 5: 54]
Thus, Allah has informed us that His believing servants are stronger in their love for Him. That is because they do not associate anyone with Him in their love, unlike those who falsely claim to love Him from among the polytheists, who took rivals besides Him, loving them as they should love Him.
The sign of a servant’s love for his Lord is that he gives precedence to what Allah loves, even if it opposes his own desires; and that he hates what his Lord hates, even if his own desires incline toward it; and that he allies himself with those whom Allah and His Messenger love, and opposes those whom they oppose; and that he follows His Messenger (ﷺ), adheres to his path, and accepts his guidance.
All of these signs are conditions of love, and it is inconceivable for true love to exist in the absence of any one of them.
Allah Knows best.