When love is rizq

Love is a rizq. Love is a provision.

Isn't it amazing that the feeling of love is a type of rizq?

Our Prophet (peace be upon him), in one occasion when mentioning about his wife, Khadija was reported to have said 'ruziqtu hubbiha' meaning 'Allah has provided me her love'.

'A'isha reported:
Never did I feel jealous of the wives of Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) except in case of Khadija, although I did not (have the privilege to) see her.

She further added that whenever Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) slaughtered a sheep, he said: 'Send it to the companions of Khadija.' I annoyed him one day and said: '(It is) Khadija only who always prevails upon your mind.' 

Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: 'Her love had been nurtured in my heart by Allah Himself.'

(Muslim)

I find this hadith to be really beautiful. In this profound hadith, our Prophet (peace be upon him) taught us that there is another kind of rizq. The rizq that is not visible for our eyes to see. The rizq, that can only be felt.

When our parents kissed our cheeks and told us that they love us, wouldn't we feel happy? When our friends, our dear sisters gave us a hug and told us that they love us for the sake of Allah, we would certainly feel grateful and we'll surely tell them we love them back. When a person came to us and told us that they love us, we without doubt would feel humbled and thankful, and if that person is of opposite gender, we would then manage this to the best of our abilty- to make it halal or to decline, after careful thoughts and performing our istikhaarah.

The fact that love is a type of rizq is indeed true. When we call it rizq, we realise that not all people can actually own it. Rizq, is a present from Allah, given to whoever He wants, whenever, wherever. There are so many people out there still seeking for love but have not found it. This is why the feeling of love, whether you love or being loved, should be cherished. And as a Muslim we cherish love in accordance to the shariah.

The only problem that we face today (or what I used to face) is that we don't know how to place this rizq in our lives. There are times when we are in denial that we try our best to deny this feeling from emerging in our heart. But then again, Islam never taught us to deny what our heart feels. The beauty of this religion is that it taught us to be cautious, that it shouldn't be handled so recklessly that we let it to dictate our lives. Because this is when love now becomes worship and obsession, while our worship should never be to the creation, but only to the Creator, the Owner of the love Himself.

That is why I find the story of Prophet Ibraheem (peace be upon him) who was tested to sacrifice his son, and the story of the mother of Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) who was ordered by Allah to allow her son to float downstream of the great Nile river are full of lessons. 

And when he reached with him [the age of] exertion, he said, "O my son, indeed I
have seen in a dream that I [must] sacrifice you, so see what you think." He said, "O my father, do as you are commanded. You will find me, if Allah wills, of the steadfast." (Quran 37:102)

And We inspired to the mother of Moses, "Suckle him; but when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear and do not grieve. Indeed, We will return him to you and will make him [one] of the messengers."(Quran 28:7)

In these two occasions, Allah has taught us that loving your child is never wrong, but you have to realize this one important thing; that He is the One that you should love first before loving anything else- even if it is halal for you. Even if it is your spouse, your family and children. And what is more amazing is that once you let Allah to be your main focus in life, love will come back to you. It will multiply. Prophet Ismail (peace be upon him)  grew up to be a fine young man, continuing his father's legacy, while Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) did come back to his mother and became a great prophet in history. So never ever think that the sacrifice you make for the sake of Allah is not worth it. Rather, it is far, beyond worth it.

Thus in answering where and how to place this love in our lives, maybe we should just treat it like our medication- we know it heals us with the correct dosage we take but once we have it too much, we know we will kill ourselves.

So to every single person who have come to my life and giving me your love, you know I can never thank you enough. The gift of love you have given me has made my life so colourful.. And I hope that I can, or have returned it the same way, so our lives will be just as vibrant :)

I pray that God will bless us with the provision of love that we all desire, to make sure that the love we have for humanbeings will be the cause for us to enter his Jannah and not to lead us away from it. 

That being said, I think it is high time we cherish this rizq now. Be thankful if you love someone. Be even more thankful if you are being loved by someone. Because if you really are a truthful servant of God, you will understand that this rizq will enrich your heart. By cherishing this, you know you will always come back to the One who blesses you with this rizq. You will always come back to al-Wadood, the Most-Loving.