Tafsir of Surah Maryam - Verse 97

Allah places Love of the Righteous People in the Hearts

Allah, the Exalted, informs about His believing servants, who work righteous deeds -- deeds that He is pleased with because they are in accordance with the legislation of Muhammad -- that He plants love for them in the hearts of His righteous servants. This is something that is absolutely necessary and there is no avoiding it. This has been reported in authentic Hadiths of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in various different ways. Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Prophet said,

«إِنَّ اللهَ إِذَا أَحَبَّ عَبْدًا دَعَا جِبْرِيلَ، فَقَالَ: يَا جِبْرِيلُ، إِنِّي أُحِبُّ فُلَانًا فَأَحِبَّهُ قَالَ: فَيُحِبُّهُ جِبْرِيلُ، قَالَ: ثُمَّ يُنَادِي فِي أَهْلِ السَّمَاءِ: إِنَّ اللهَ يُحِبُّ فُلَانًا فَأَحِبُّوهُ، قَالَ: فَيُحِبُّهُ أَهْلُ السَّمَاءِ، ثُمَّ يُوضَعُ لَهُ الْقَبُولُ فِي الْأَرْضِ، وَإِنَّ اللهَ إِذَا أَبْغَضَ عَبْدًا دَعَا جِبْرِيلَ فَقَالَ: يَا جِبْرِيلُ إِنِّي أُبْغِضُ فُلَانًا فَأَبْغِضْهُ، قَالَ: فَيُبْغِضُهُ جِبْرِيلُ، ثُمَّ يُنَادِي فِي أَهْلِ السَّمَاءِ: إِنَّ اللهَ يُبْغِضُ فُلَانًا فَأَبْغِضُوهُ، قَالَ: فَيُبْغِضُهُ أَهْلُ السَّمَاءِ، ثُمَّ يُوضَعُ لَهُ الْبَغْضَاءُ فِي الْأَرْض»

(Verily, whenever Allah loves a servant of His, He calls Jibril and says, "O Jibril, verily I love so-and-so, so love him." Thus, Jibril will love him. Then, he (Jibril) will call out to the dwellers of the heavens, "Verily, Allah loves so-and-so, so you too must love him." Then the dwellers of the heavens love him and he will be given acceptance in the earth. Whenever Allah hates a servant of His, He calls Jibril and says, "O Jibril, verily I hate so-and-so, so hate him." Thus, Jibril will hate him. Then, he (Jibril) will call out amongst the dwellers of the heavens, "Verily, Allah hates so-and-so, so you too must hate him." Then the dwellers of the heavens hate him and hatred for him will be placed in the earth.) Al-Bukhari and Muslim reported narrations similar to this. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Prophet said,

«إِذَا أَحَبَّ اللهُ عَبْدًا نَادَى جِبْرِيلَ: إِنِّي قَدْ أَحْبَبْتُ فُلَانًا فَأَحِبَّهُ، فَيُنَادِي فِي السَّمَاءِ، ثُمَّ يُنْزِلُ لَهُ الْمَحَبَّةَ فِي أَهْلِ الْأَرْضِ، فَذَلِكَ قَوْلُ اللهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَاتِ سَيَجْعَلُ لَهُمُ الرَّحْمَـنُ وُدّاً

(Whenever Allah loves a servant of His, He calls Jibril (saying), "Verily, I love so-and-so, so love him." Then, Jibril calls out into the heavens and love for him descends among the people of the earth. That is the meaning of the statement of Allah, the Mighty and Sublime: (Verily, those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, the Most Gracious will bestow love for them.)) 19:96 This was also reported by Muslim and At-Tirmidhi and At-Tirmidhi said, "Hasan Sahih."

The Qur'an descended to give Glad Tidings and to warn

Allah said;

فَإِنَّمَا يَسَّرْنَـهُ

(So, We have made this easy) meaning the Qur'an.

بِلَسَانِكَ

(in your own tongue,) This is an address to Prophet Muhammad and it means that the Qur'an is in the pure, complete and eloquent Arabic language.

لِتُبَشِّرَ بِهِ الْمُتَّقِينَ

(that you may give glad tidings to those who have Taqwa,) those who respond to Allah and believe in His Messenger ,

وَتُنْذِرَ بِهِ قَوْماً لُّدّاً

(and warn with it the people who are Ludda.) meaning, the people who have deviated away from the truth and are inclined towards falsehood. His saying,

وَكَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُمْ مِّن قَرْنٍ

(And how many a generation before them have We destroyed!) means from the nations that disbelieved in the signs of Allah and rejected His Messengers.

هَلْ تُحِسُّ مِنْهُمْ مِّنْ أَحَدٍ أَوْ تَسْمَعُ لَهُمْ رِكْزاً

(Can you find a single one of them or hear even a whisper of them) Meaning, `have you seen any of them or even heard a whisper from them.' Ibn `Abbas, Abu Al-`Aliyah, `Ikrimah, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Ad-Dahhak and Ibn Zayd all said, "This means any sound." Al-Hasan and Qatadah both said that this means, "Do you see with your eye, or hear any sound" This is the end of the Tafsir of Surah Maryam. All praises and thanks are due to Allah. Following this will be the Tafsir of Surah Ta Ha, Allah willing and all praise is due to Allah.

سَيَجْعَلُ لَهُمُ الرَّ‌حْمَـٰنُ وُدًّا

"For them the Rahman (All-Merciful) will create love." - 19:96.

It means that for those who are steadfast in their faith in Him, Allah creates an environment of friendship and love for each other, which consequently promotes mutual amity and goodwill among the true Muslims. Furthermore, by their conduct and behavior they command the admiration and respect of all those with whom they come into contact. Bukhari, Tirmidhi and others have related on the authority of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ once said that when Allah Ta’ ala is pleased with someone He says to Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) ، "I am pleased with so and so and I desire that you too should show favour to him." Jibra'l (علیہ السلام) makes an announcement to this effect in all the skies so that their residents begin to harbor a liking for that person. Then this love descends upon the earth and the people of the earth also begin to love him. The Holy Prophet ﷺ then quoted this verse. (Ruh ul-Ma’ ani).

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ سَيَجْعَلُ لَهُمُ الرَّ‌حْمَـٰنُ وُدًّا

"Surely those who believe and do the righteous deeds, for them the Rahman (All-Merciful) will create love." - 19:96.

Haram bin Hayyan has said that when a person devotes himself wholly towards Allah He fills the hearts of all believers with love for him. (Qurtubi)

When Sayyidna Ibrahim Khalilullah (علیہ السلام) ، planned to go back to Syria, after leaving behind his wife Hajira and his baby son Sayyidna Isma` i1 (علیہ السلام) in the desert enclosed by the barren hills of Makkah in accordance with the command of Allah, he also prayed for both of them with the following words

فَاجْعَلْ أَفْئِدَةً مِّنَ النَّاسِ تَهْوِي إِلَيْهِمْ

"So make hearts of a number of people yearn toward them." - 14:37.

The prayer was granted so that even after the lapse of many millennia people all over the world entertain great love for Makkah and its inhabitants. They visit the place in large numbers, and not only incur heavy expenditure but also endure great hardships while making the journey.

God’s book is in a language intelligible to human beings. Moreover, dealing with different topics, it takes into consideration all those aspects which make a book into a book of guidance. The Quran is nevertheless a source of guidance only to those who are serious minded, who are eager to know what is right and what is wrong, and who are ready to abstain from wrong deeds and build their lives in accordance with what is right. Those devoid of seriousness and the desire to learn will merely indulge in meaningless discussions on hearing the teachings of the Quran and will not be able to benefit from them. Those who oppose the call for Truth err in thinking that, in doing so, they will not come to any harm. All around them there is ample evidence of the opponents of the Truth having been wiped out, but they do not learn a lesson from this. Till the last moment they harbour the impression that God’s wrath may have descended on others, but that nothing is going to afflict them similarly. But the law of God admits of no exceptions. Here, what happens to one person will happen to everybody else too; the fate of good people will be good, and vice versa.