Question: What should we do in order for Allah to be pleased with us?
ANSWER
The Sons of Israel asked a similar question to Mûsâ “alaihis-salâm.” Allahu ta’âlâ answered as follows, “If they are pleased with Me, I will be pleased with them in return.” That is, we should bear with patience when a misfortune befalls us and should not complain about it. We should be pleased and content with whatever comes from Allah.

Hadrat Mûsâ “alaihis-salâm” asked, “O my Rabb! Who is the one You dislike most?” Allahu ta’âlâ replied, “He initially wants from Me what is good for him. When I send the decree about him, he is not content with it.” We must be content with Allahu ta’âlâ’s decree. It is declared in a hadîth-i qudsî:
(If anyone is not content with My qadâ and qadar and disapproves of them and is not thankful for the blessings I have given, let him look for another Rabb besides Me.) [Tabarânî]

Is Allah pleased with me?
Question: Is it possible for me to know whether or not Allah is pleased with me?
ANSWER
It is possible. If performing acts of worship is sweet and easy and sinning is bitter and unpleasant to you, then it shows that Allahu ta’âlâ is pleased with you.

Two signs of being loved
Question: If Allah loves a person, what is the sign of it?
ANSWER
It has two signs:
1. To believe in Him completely, that is, to believe, without a shadow of a doubt, correctly as Ahl as-Sunnat scholars communicated.

2. To serve His servants in their worldly and otherworldly affairs. It brings much thawâb to serve them in their worldly affairs, such as relieving a person’s burden or donating money. The purport of a hadîth-i sharîf is as follows:
(Human beings are Allah’s servants. The person whom Allahu ta’âlâ loves most is the one who does goodness to His servants.) [Bazzar]

It is very valuable to save a person who is burning in a fire. But it is nothing compared with saving a person from the Hell-fire. Therefore, the most valuable serving is to try to secure their hereafter. In other words, if they are not Muslims, we must strive to be instrumental in their converting to Islam. If they are Muslims, then we must strive to be instrumental in their learning Islam correctly. Today, the easiest way to achieve this is to present a proper Islamic book to them.

In order to earn Allah’s love
Question: What should we do in order to earn Allah’s love?
ANSWER
First, it is necessary to have a solid foundation. If the foundation is not well-made, the building founded on it will be flimsy and will, therefore, collapse easily. Hence, we must have a correct belief first. In addition to having the correct belief, we must love whomever we love for the sake of Allah and dislike whomever we dislike for the sake of Allah. The five daily namâzes performed by observing their precepts are of the foundation, too. After these, it is necessary to hold fast to the Sunnat and avoid bida’, for these two are the essence of the way that makes one attain Allah’s love. We should adapt our deeds, words, and moral qualities to the books of Ahl as-Sunnat savants. We should be like the pious and love them. Our sleeping, our eating, our talking should be temperate rather than excessive. We should strive to get up by the time of sahar (at the end of each night before imsâk). We should know it as a great chance to say istighfâr, to weep, to beg Allahu ta’âlâ at such times. We should long to keep company with the pious. We should not forget the hadîth-i sharîf, “One’s faith is like one’s friend’s faith.” Be it known that those who want to enter Paradise should not be fond of the world and worldly things that are useless.

Who does Allah love?
Question: Who does Allah love?
ANSWER
He loves those Muslims who carry out His commandments and abstain from His prohibitions. He loves those who live up to hubb-i fillah and bughd-i fillah (that is, loving for the sake of Allah and disliking for the sake of Allah). He loves those Muslims who do everything with ikhlâs. The purport of a hadîth-i sharîf is as follows:
(Allahu ta’âlâ declares: “I have made it wâjib for Myself to love those Muslims who love one another for My sake, who sit and make suhba for My sake, who sacrifice their property and lives for one another for My sake, and who visit one another for My sake.”) [Tabarânî]