The Messengers were sent to affirm and re-establish the natural disposition and to perfect it, not to alter it. So when the heart loves Allaah Alone, making the religion sincerely for Him, it will not be tried with this passionate love (directed to him) his love of Allaah Alone, making the religion sincerely for him, did not allow him to be overcome by this, rather Allaah said,

Thus it was, that We might turn away from him evil and illegal sexual intercourse. Surely he was one of Our chosen, guided slaves.[8]

As for the wife of al-`Azeez, it was because she was and her nation were polytheists that she was afflicted with passionate love. No one, and no one is afflicted with passionate love except that this diminishes his singling out Allaah Alone for worship and his faith. The heart that repents to Allaah, fearing Him, has two routes by which it can remove this passionate love:

1) Repenting to Allaah and loving Him, for indeed this is more satisfying and purer than anything else, and nothing will be left to love along side Allaah.

2) Fearing Allaah, for indeed fear is the opposite of passionate love and removes it.

So everyone who loves something, with passion or otherwise, then this love can be removed by loving that which is more beloved to compete with it.[9] This love can also be removed by fearing the occurrence of a harm that is more hateful to one than leaving this love. So when Allaah is more beloved to the srvant than anything else, and more feared by him than anything else, then he will not fall into passionate love or find any love that would compete with his love of Allaah, except in the case of negligence or at a time when this love and fear has become weak by his leaving some of the obligatory duties and by performing some of the prohibited actions. For indeed faith increases with obedience and decreases with disobedience, so each time a servant obeys Allaah out of love and fear, and leaves a prohibited action out of love and fear, his love and fear becomes stronger, and any love or fear of anything else besides Allaah will disappear from his heart.

The same is true for the sickness of the body: for the health of the body is preserved by the same, and the sickness is repressed by the opposite. The correctness of the faith in the heart is preserved by its like, meaning that which would breed faith in the heart from the beneficial knowledge and righteous action for these are its nourishment as occurs in the hadeeth of Ibn Mas'ood, reported as his saying and as a hadeeth of the Messenger (saw), "Indeed every host loves that people come to his table spread, and indeed the table spread of Allaah is the Qur'aan."

So the Qur'aan is the table spread of Allaah.

From those things that nourish the heart are supplication at the end of the night, the times of Adhaan and Iqaamah, in his prostration, at the ends of the prayers[10] add to this repentance. For indeed the one who repents to Allaah and then in turn Allaah forgives him, He will then give him enjoyment for an appointed time. That he takes to reciting the reported adhkaar for the day and at the time he sleeps. That he bears with patience what he is enticed with that would divert him from all of this, than Allaah will immediately aid him with a spirit from Him and write faith in his heart. That he be eager to complete the obligatory duties such as the five prayers inwardly and outwardly for they are the pillars of the religion. That his words of recourse be "laa hawla wa laa quwwata illaa billaahi" [11] for by them the heavy burdens can be born, horrors can be overcome, and the servant be gifted up the supplication and seeking help from Allaah, for the servant will be answered as long as he is not hasty, saying: "I have supplicated and supplicated but I have not been answered." [12] That he should know that help comes with patience, that relief comes after anxiety and distress, that after every period of difficulty there follows a period a period of ease.[13] That he knows that no prophet or one less than him was rewarded with a good end except as a result of his being patient.

And all praise and thanks are due to Allaah, the Lord of Creation. To Him belongs praise and grace for guiding us to Islaam and the Sunnah, a praise that would suffice His favours to us outwardly and inwardly, as in required for the nobility of His Face and might of His Magnificence. Abundant Peace and Blessings be upon our master, Muhammad (saw), and upon his family, Companions, his wives, the mothers of the believers, and all those that follow them in good until the Day of Judgement.

FOOTNOTES

[1] A similar hadeeth to this reported by al-Bayhaqee and it is a da`eef hadeeth. (Refer to Fayd al-Qadeer).

[2] Wahb ibn Munabbih is a noble taabi`ee, but this hadeeth is reported from him directly to the Prophet (saw) and is not authentic.

[3] Soorah al-Ahzaab (33):32.

[4] A da`eef hadeeth. Refer to the discussion concerning its inauthenticity in al-Jawaab al-Kaafee and Rawdah al-Muhibbeen of Ibn al-Qayyim and Silsilah ad-Da`eefah of al-Albaanee.

[5] Soorah Yoosuf (12):90.

[6] Soorah an-Naazi`aat (79):40-41.

[7] Soorah ar-Room (30):30.

[8] Soorah Yoosuf (12):24.

[9] Refer to Rawdah al-Muhibbeen of Ibn al-Qayyim for he has a beautiful discussion concerning this.

[10] These are the times in which Allaah answers the supplications, there are authentic ahaadeeth concerning these.

[11] The Prophet (saw) said, "indeed it is a treasure from the treasures of paradise." Reported by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim from the hadeeth of Aboo Moosa al-Ash`aree.

[12] Reported by Muslim

[13] A hasan hadeeth reported by Ahmad and at-Tirmidhee from the hadeeth of Ibn `Abbaas.