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Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Brothers and sisters, today we will discuss the second benefit from the benefits of the experience I went through. This experience placed me in front of the reality that I must love Allah, the Exalted, unconditionally.
Before I explain, I would like to ask you about your opinion on the following sect. It is a sect of the children of Muslims named "The Conditional Lovers Sect."
What does this sect say about Allah, the Exalted, in their dictionary? They say: Allah, the Exalted, is the One who imposed our existence in this worldly life, imposed duties upon us, and prohibited us from forbidden things. He has the power to make us happy or miserable. However, our souls find some duties burdensome and are inclined towards some forbidden things. Therefore, we must deal with Allah in a balanced way, so that we perform the duties in a quantity that ensures the continuation of Allah's blessings upon us with the least burden on our souls. And we also do some of the forbidden things in a quantity that fulfills our desires, but without exposing ourselves to the cutting off of Allah's blessings or His punishment.
Now, is the definition of the Conditional Lovers Sect for the relationship of man with his Lord a sound definition? Is this how a Muslim should submit himself and his emotions to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds?
Have you understood who the Conditional Lovers Sect is? In reality, they are many of the masses of the Islamic world. There are traits within us that become dangerous when we diagnose them and express them with words that are not flattering or conciliatory. We may denounce and be surprised by them, but the bitter truth is that they exist within us to varying degrees.
Therefore, before we associate conditional love with affliction and the title of this episode, let us delve into analyzing the psychology of conditional love to see if it is hidden within us and to what degree.
The conditional lover experiments and tests in his dealings with his Lord, the Exalted. He tries to reach a point of balance where he satisfies his desires without cutting off the worldly blessings. If he adds to his life and introduces a sin, something that Allah has forbidden, he waits. If Allah's blessings continue and punishment does not descend, he concludes that he is still within the point of balance and considers this forbidden thing as an acquisition, satisfying his desire without cutting off the blessing.
But if this sin leads to the cutting off of a blessing or the descent of punishment, he concludes that he has exceeded the point of balance and returns to rid himself of the forbidden thing. Allah, the Exalted, says: {But when We remove from him his affliction, he goes about as if he had never called upon Us to (remove) the affliction that touched him.} {And when We bless man, he turns away and distances himself, and when evil touches him, he is full of extensive supplication.}
The tragedy is that the psychology of the conditional lover becomes programmed over time with this balance, so that he settles in his mind that the blessings he is in are his right and that he deserves them. {And if We give him a taste of mercy from Us after some hardship that has afflicted him, he will surely say, "This is for me."} Meaning, I deserve this mercy, I deserve these blessings, I deserve the lifting of affliction because I have fulfilled what is upon me according to this balance.
The conditional lover loves Allah, the Exalted, as long as He can continue His blessings and ward off His wrath in his view with this balance and ebb and flow. Therefore, we named him the conditional lover, meaning he loves Allah, the Exalted, with a love that is conditional upon the continuation of blessings, conditional upon the continuation of worldly interests.
Especially what he hates, the conditional lover gets rid of this sin as usual and declares a state of extreme alertness: supplication, prayer, seeking forgiveness, acts of worship. But Allah, the Exalted, willed that the affliction continue and intensify. A question will brew in the psychology of the conditional lover: I have done what is upon me to do, so why did Allah, the Exalted, not do what was expected of Him according to the habit of balance that has been ingrained in the psychology of the conditional lover? It is his right, when he gets rid of the sin and strives in acts of worship, that the affliction be lifted and the daily expenditure that he used to take from Allah, the Exalted, be restored.
If the opposite of what was expected happens, then his conditional love for Allah, the Exalted, this conditional love, will collapse. And it is no wonder that it collapses, for it was built on the edge of a crumbling cliff and was founded on a distorted understanding of the relationship of man with his Lord, the Exalted.
Therefore, the conclusion of the episode: Do not be a conditional lover. Do not build your love for Allah upon worldly blessings. Then, upon what should we build our love for Allah, the Exalted, so that this love does not collapse at any moment of our lives? This is what we will know in the next episode, Allah willing. And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.