Tafsir of Al Imran 3:31

(Say, "If you love Allah, then follow me") The majority of the theologians held that love is a type of volition that, in reality, does not relate except to meanings and benefits; thus, its relation to His Essence—Exalted is He—and His Attributes is considered metaphorical. It is here in the sense of the servant’s desire for His proximity—Exalted is He—and this is either by way of stating the necessitated by the necessitated, or by way of consequential metaphor, in that the servant’s desire and longing for Him is likened to the inclination of the lover’s heart toward the beloved—an inclination with which he turns to nothing but Him. Or, it is by way of elliptical metaphor—meaning: If you love the obedience of Allah—Exalted is He—or His reward, then follow me in what I command you and what I forbid you. This is what has been said, and it is contrary to the school of the Gnostics among the People of Sunnah and the Community, for they stated that love relates in reality to the Essence of Allah—Exalted is He—and it behooves the perfect one to love Allah—Glorified is He—for His own sake, while the love of His reward is a lower station.

Al-Ghazali—may Allah have mercy upon him—said in Al-Ihya: "Love is an expression for the inclination of the nature toward that which is delightful. If that inclination is confirmed and strengthened, it is called ‘ishq (passionate love). Hatred is an expression for the aversion of the nature from that which is painful and burdensome, and if it strengthens, it is called maqt (detestation)." Let it not be thought that love is restricted to the perceptions of the five senses, such that it might be said: "He—Glorified is He—is not perceived by the senses nor represented by the imagination, therefore He is not loved," for the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—called the prayer the "coolness of his eye" and made it the most profound of beloveds, and it is known that the five senses have no share in it. Through a sixth sense—the seat of which is the heart and the inner insight—the perception is stronger than outward sight, the heart is more intense in perception than the eye, and the beauty of meanings perceived by the intellect is greater than the beauty of forms apparent to the eyes. Thus, the delight of hearts in what they perceive of the noble Divine matters—which are too majestic to be perceived by the senses—is necessarily more perfect and profound, and the inclination of the sound nature and the correct intellect toward it is stronger. Love signifies nothing but the inclination toward that in the perception of which is delight; thus, none denies the love of Allah—Exalted is He—except those who have been constrained by deficiency to the level of beasts, such that they did not allow for His perception by the senses at all. Indeed, this love necessitates obedience, as the poet said:

You disobey the Deity while displaying His love; This, by my life, in analogy is strange. If your love were sincere, you would have obeyed Him; For indeed, the lover is obedient to the one he loves.

The claim that love necessitates sameness of genus (jinsiyyah) between the lover and the beloved, and thus it is impossible for it to relate to Allah—Exalted is He—is a fallen argument, because it can relate to accidents (a’rad) without doubt, and there is no sameness of genus between an accident and a substance.

(He will love you): This is the response to the imperative. This is the view of Al-Khalil and most of the later scholars, who hold that such a structure is the response to a conditional particle that is implied, meaning: "If you follow me, He will love you," i.e., He will draw you near. This was narrated by Ibn Abi Hatim from Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah. It is also said: "He will be pleased with you," expressing this by "love" via majaz mursal (loose metaphor), metaphor, or mushakalah (homogeneity in wording). Some have made the attribution of love to Allah—Exalted is He—one of the ambiguous matters whose interpretation none knows save Allah—Exalted is He.

(And forgive you your sins): That is, He will overlook them for you. And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

(i.e., for whoever loves Him) through His obedience and draws near to Him by following His Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The sentence is a tail-piece (tadhyil) and confirmation for what preceded, with an increase in the promise of the Most Merciful. The placing of the Majestic Name [Allah] instead of the pronoun is for the reason previously mentioned, and to signal the implication of the attribute of Divinity for forgiveness and mercy. It has been recited as tuhibbuni (you love Me) and yuhibbukum (He will love you) and yuhibbakum (He will love you), from habba-yuhibbu. Of this is the saying:

I love Abu Tharwan because of his date, And I know that kindness to a neighbor is kinder. By Allah, were it not for his date, I would not have loved him, Nor would he have been closer than slaves and the rising sun.

The relevance of the verse to what precedes it is, as Al-Tibi stated: That when He—Glorified is He—magnified His Essence and clarified the majesty of His authority by His saying—Glorified and Exalted is He—(Say, "O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty") etc., the heart of the believing servant became attached to a Master of great station, possessing dominion, kingdom, majesty, and might. Then, when He subsequently warned the believers against taking His enemies as allies and cautioned against that with the utmost warning by His saying—narrating it—(Let not the believers take the disbelievers as allies) etc., and signaled the eradication of that allegiance by His saying—Mighty is His dignity—(Whether you conceal what is in your breasts or reveal it)—the verse—and confirmed that with severe threat, that attachment increased to its utmost limit. Thus, He commenced His saying—Glorified is His Majesty—(Say, "If you love Allah") to point to the way of reaching this Master—Glorified and Exalted is He. It is as if someone is saying: "By what thing is the perfection of love and allegiance to the Lord attained?" It was said: "After cutting off the allegiance to our enemies, that station is attained by turning toward following our Beloved, for every path other than His path is blocked, and every deed other than what He has permitted is rejected."

It has been differed upon regarding the reason for its revelation. Al-Hasan and Ibn Jurayj said: A group of people claimed in the time of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that they loved Allah—Exalted is He—and they said: "O Muhammad, we love our Lord." So Allah—Exalted is He—revealed this verse. Ad-Dahhak narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas—may Allah be pleased with him—that he said: "The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—stood before the Quraish in the Sacred Mosque while they had set up their idols, hung ostrich eggs upon them, and placed golden earrings in their ears, while they prostrated to them. He said: 'O assembly of Quraish, you have surely opposed the religion of your father Abraham and Ishmael, for they were upon Islam.' The Quraish said: 'O Muhammad, we only worship these out of love for Allah, that they may bring us closer to Allah—Glorified is He—in station.' So Allah—Exalted is He—revealed (Say, "If you love Allah") etc." In a narration of Abu Salih, the Jews said: "We are the children of Allah and His beloveds," so He revealed this verse. When it was revealed, the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—presented it to the Jews, but they refused to accept it. Muhammad ibn Ishaq narrated from Muhammad ibn Ja'far ibn al-Zubayr that he said: "It was revealed concerning the Christians of Najran, for they said: 'We only venerate the Messiah and worship him out of love for Allah and veneration for Him.' So Allah revealed this verse in rebuttal to them." It is narrated that when it was revealed, ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy said: "Muhammad makes his obedience like the obedience of Allah and commands us to love him as the Christians loved Jesus." So He revealed His saying—Exalted is He—...