Love for the sake of Allah is one of the strongest bonds of faith

Praise
be to Allah

Firstly:

Love for the
sake of Allah is one of the strongest bonds of faith, and is one of the most
important foundations on which Muslim society is based. It is the basis by
means of which ties of friendship and harmony among people are attained, so
that they love one another, visit one another, are sincere towards one
another, intermarry, enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, thus
attaining true Islamic brotherhood. Through it people find the sweetness of
faith in their interactions, companionship and friendship.

Ahmad (18524)
narrated from al-Baraa’ ibn ‘Aazib, that the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: “Indeed the strongest bond of faith is to love for
the sake of Allah and hate for the sake of Allah.”

Classed as hasan
by the commentators on al-Musnad; also classed as hasan by al-Albaani
in Saheeh at-Targheeb (3030).

See the answers
to questions no. 173, 114926

Love for the
sake of Allah is one of the greatest acts of worship and one of the best of
righteous deeds.

Al-Bukhaari
(13), Muslim (45), and an-Nasaa’i (5017) narrated from Anas (may Allah be
pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) said: “By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, no one
of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for
himself of good.”

Al-Haafiz ibn
Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Al-Kirmaani
said: It is also part of faith to hate for his brother what he hates for
himself of evil.

End quote from
Fat-h al-Baari (1/58).

If faith, which
is obligatory, is not complete unless one loves good for one’s fellow Muslim
and hates evil for him, then loving the Muslim himself and being allied with
him is more important and is of a higher level.

Secondly:

Ibn Abi Dunya
narrated in Qadaa’ al-Hawaa’ij (103) and in Istinaa‘ al-Ma‘roof (163)
via al-Hakam ibn Sinaan: Maalik ibn Dinaar told us: al-Hasan sent Muhammad
ibn Nooh and Humayd at-Taweel on an errand for his brother, and said: Tell
Thaabit al-Bunaani to come to me with you. Thaabit said to them: I am in
seclusion worshipping my Lord (i‘tikaaf). Humayd went back to al-Hasan and
told him what Thaabit had said, and he (al-Hasan) said to him: Tell him: Do
you not know that your going and striving to help your brother is better for
you than performing Hajj after Hajj?

This is a da‘eef
(weak) isnad. Al-Hakam ibn Sinaan is da‘eef in hadith; he was classed as
da‘eef by Ibn Ma‘een, an-Nisaa’i, Ibn Sa‘d, Abu Dawood and others. Ibn
Hibbaan said: He is one of those who were sole narrators of mawdoo‘
(fabricated) hadiths from trustworthy narrators, so no attention should be
paid to him.

End quote from
Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb (2/367).

Even if we
assume that it is sound, it may be understood as being by way of emphasising
and encouraging people to go about helping Muslims with what they need.

More sound than
that is the hadith of Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “To
go about with a brother of mine, trying to help him, is dearer to me than
spending a month in seclusion (i‘tikaaf) in this mosque of mine. The one who
goes about with his Muslim brother, trying to help him, until he meets his
needs, Allah will make his feet steadfast on the Day when feet will slip.”

Narrated by at-Tabaraani
(13646), Ibn Bashraan in al-Amaali, and others, classed as hasan by
al-Albaani in as-Saheehah (906).

In az-Zuhd
(746), Ibn al-Mubaarak narrated that Abu Ja‘far said:

A man came to
Husayn ibn ‘Ali to seek his help, and he found him in seclusion for worship.
He said: Were it not for being in seclusion, I would have gone out with you
and helped you with what you need. Then the man left and went to al-Hasan
ibn ‘Ali, and told him what he needed, and he went out with him and helped
him. The man said: I did not like to bother you and ask for your help, but I
started with Husayn and he said, Were it not for being in seclusion, I would
have gone out with you. Al-Hasan said: To help a brother in faith of mine is
dearer to me than secluding myself in worship for a month.

Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Helping Muslims
with what they need is more important than secluding oneself for worship,
because helping them benefits others and yourself, and doing something that
benefits others and yourself is better than doing something that benefits
only yourself, except when the deed that only benefits oneself is one of the
obligatory and essential duties of Islam.

End quote from
Majmoo‘ Fataawa wa Rasaa’il al-‘Uthaymeen (20/180).

Thirdly:

Among the seven
whom Allah will shade with His shade on the Day when there will be no shade
but His are “two men who love one another for the sake of Allah, meeting and
parting on that basis”, as it says in the saheeh hadith on which the
scholars are agreed.

Ahmad (22002)
narrated from ‘Ubaadah ibn as-Saamit that the Messenger of Allah (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “[Allah says:] ‘My love is due for
those who love one another for My sake; My love is due for those who visit
one another for My sake; My love is due for those who help one another for
My sake; My love is due for those whose hearts are free of grudges and who
uphold ties with one another for My sake.’”

Classed as
saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami‘ (4321)

It is possible
to attain these high levels by means of sincere love for one’s brother,
intending it solely for the sake of Allah, cooperating in righteousness and
piety on a basis of love, sincerely advising one another to do good, getting
together to do acts of worship, and casting away evil and inappropriate
words and deeds; and by loving for your brother what you love for yourself,
hating for him what you hate for yourself, sharing his joys and sorrows,
helping him to obey Allah, helping him in matters of concern to him having
to do with this world or the hereafter, defending him in his absence, not
hesitating to help him or any of his family members, speaking well of him,
concealing his faults, not backbiting about him, and not telling lies about
him; and by treating him as well as you would treat your own brother, if not
better than that.

To sum up: you
should treat him in all good ways that you would like to be treated
yourself, in word and in deed, in his absence and in his presence.

For more
information, please see the answer to question no.
199047.

And Allah knows
best.