By A. Helwa
“Allah is the Lord of Grace abounding.” (Qur’an 2:105)
“The character of a friend of God is based on nothing more than graciousness and generosity.” (Sufi saying)
Allah is not an old man in the sky, He is not Zeus sitting in a cloud waiting to punish you. Allah is not Santa Claus, with a naughty list from which you cannot be redeemed. Allah is the Creator of the cosmos, the One whose mercy embraces all things, whose love embraces all hearts, whose hands heal all wounds, whose face is everywhere you turn – for He is with you wherever you are. “Take one step toward Me, and I will take ten steps toward you. Walk toward Me, I will run toward you.” ~Hadith Qudsi
We may be slow in repentance, but God is swift in His mercy, generosity, forgiveness, and grace. Like the sun draws the plants to turn their face in submission to its light, God calls us to turn to Him so that we may grow through Him. Allah is the One whose speech lifts the dead from their graves, the One who can part the seas with a staff, the One who uses your hopeless situations a platform to perform His next miracle. He is the One that transforms your mess into a message, the One that transforms your trials into a triumph, the One who takes the victim and makes them a victor (30:5). God is with you in the beginning, in the end, and in every moment in between.
God is limitless. It is our vision of God that is limited to the qualities we seek in the world and reflect within our own existence. Since we see the world through the filter of how we see ourselves, we come to know God through His qualities that we actualize through Him within our own being.
Allah says, “I am as My servant thinks I am” (Hadith) because we see Allah not as He is but through the lens of our finite mind. If we tune into God’s love, mercy, compassion, and kindness, then we draw those qualities out of existence and see God through those faces. The Creator meets us with the qualities we meet His creation with. Therefore, next time, instead of only praying for justice when others wrong you, consider praying for Allah’s mercy upon them as well. “Be merciful to those on the Earth and the One above the heavens will have mercy upon you.” ~Prophet Mohammad
Allah is the origin and cause of love. Allah never stops loving you, because His love is eternal and has no beginning or end. Love is not something Allah does, love is something Allah is.
This blog is an excerpt from A. Helwa’s recently published best-selling book, “Secrets of Divine Love: A Spiritual Journey into the Heart of Islam.” Her book is available on Amazon.com
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About A. Helwa
A. Helwa believes that every single person on Earth is deeply loved by the Divine. She is a writer who has inspired hundreds of thousands of readers through her passionate, poetic, and love-based approach to spirituality. Her popular blog @quranquotesdaily, was established while obtaining her Masters in Divinity, as a means of helping others overcome personal and spiritual struggles on their journey of experiencing divine love.
With over 15 years of experience writing and speaking on Islam and spiritual development, A. Helwa draws from her personal experiences and traditional sources to help her readers access ‘Divine love in everyday life.’