The Meaning of Allah’s Name Al-Wadūd: Seeking The Love of Allah
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
Introduction
Most theistic religions, including Islam, affirm love as one of the divine attributes of God, our Creator. It is considered a virtue by many people to selflessly love others for God’s sake, or to love others as oneself. However, a common criticism we hear against Islam today is that Muslims allegedly worship an angry, vengeful, cold, distant, and unloving god who teaches them to hate all non-Muslims (we seek refuge in Allah from this misguided claim). In response to this accusation, we as Muslim believers must answer the following question: What is the proper understanding of Allah’s love in Islam? And how does Allah’s love inform the behavior of Muslim believers?
This article will elaborate on Allah’s name al-Wadūd (The Affectionate) as mentioned in the Qur’an. Allah’s love will be looked at from the following angles: Allah’s general love for His creation, Allah’s specific love for the believers, the believers’ love for Allah, and the believers’ love for His creation. Then, the meaning of ‘hatred for the sake of Allah’ will be explained in the context of Allah’s love.
Allah’s Beautiful Name al-Wadūd (The Affectionate)
Love is part of the essence of Allah as expressed in the Beautiful Name al-Wadūd, which is often translated as ‘The Most Loving.’ It can also be rendered as ‘The Affectionate,’ as it is related to the word wudd or widd, meaning affection or amity.
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This is a specific type of friendly love that is distinguished from the more general Arabic words for love, ḥubb or maḥabbah, although both root words are often used synonymously.
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Many early Muslims connected the name al-Wadūd to similar Beautiful Names denoting Allah’s mercy, such as al-Raḥīm (the Merciful) and al-Ghafūr (the Forgiving).
al-Wadūd appears in two verses of the Qur’an, both times in connection to the forgiving and merciful nature of Allah.
Allah said:
He is the Forgiving, the Loving.
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And Allah said, speaking through the Prophet Shuʿayb عليه السلام:
Ask forgiveness from your Lord and repent to Him. Verily, my Lord is Merciful and Loving.
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This name is mentioned in a long hadith enumerating the ninety-nine Beautiful Names of Allah, although the chain of authorities is weak according to al-Tirmidhī who recorded it.
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In another narration, also recorded and considered weak by al-Tirmidhī, the Prophet ﷺ reportedly supplicated in his prayer, “Verily, You are Merciful and Loving.”
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Although the name al-Wadūd is not widely used in the hadith corpus, its appearance in two verses of the Qur’an is sufficient to establish it as one of Allah’s names.
The early Muslims had two perspectives on the meaning of this name: from the perspective of Allah as the granter of love or Allah as the object of love. al-Bukharī cites Abū al-ʿĀliyah as saying al-Wadūd means al-Ḥabīb (the Beloved).
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That is, Allah is the One Who is beloved by His servants and creatures. According to al-Bayhaqī, al-Wadūd is “He Who intends the best for His allies.”
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al-Ghazālī elaborates this view, writing, “al-Wadūd is He Who loves good for all of creation, and treats them in the best manner, and commends them. It is close in meaning to al-Raḥmān (the Merciful).”
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Al-Bayhaqī also recorded the interpretation of Ibn ‘Abbas (ra) that al-Wadūd means both ‘the Merciful’ and ‘the Beloved,’ which seems to encapsulate both views.
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Ibn al-Qayyim summarizes these two different perspectives:
al-Wadūd is among the names of the Almighty Lord. In this regard there are two opinions: First, it means One Who receives affection. al-Bukharī, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his authentic work that al-Wadūd means the Beloved. Second, it means One Who is affectionate to His servants, that is, One Who loves them.
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These two interpretations are not mutually exclusive; rather, they are complementary. They are both true. Allah is the ultimate receiver of love through the worship and gratitude of His creatures and, at the same time, He is constantly bestowing His love and mercy upon His creation.
Ibn al-Qayyim also notes how the two verses of the Qur’an connect this name to Allah’s forgiveness, “It is linked with His name ‘the Forgiving’ to indicate that He forgives sins and He loves those who repent to Him.”
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Any person can embrace the love of Allah through sincere repentance, no matter how much they have sinned in the past. Everyone has the opportunity to turn to Allah and receive His love until they reach their deathbed or the world ends, as the Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, Allah accepts the repentance of his servants, as long as they are not on their deathbed.”
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No one denies themselves the love of Allah unless they choose to live and die as an unfaithful sinner. Even though a portion of Allah’s love and mercy reaches all people, even sinners, His love is a blessing we should not take for granted, lest we fail to give Allah the love that He deserves from us.
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