God-Realization has two aspects—love and fear. Thinking of God’s unbounded mercy, one loves God. Being conscious of God’s justice, one fears God.

There are two aspects of God-realization—Love and Fear. On the one hand, God is very compassionate, and on the other hand, He is very just. When man thinks of the unbounded mercy of God, he develops the feeling which has been called in the Quran, “Loving God Most.” (2:165) Similarly when man thinks of God as being just, he has that feeling which has been alluded to when the Quran speaks of: “those who stand in awe of none but God.” (9:18)

The personality of a believer is made up of these two feelings. On the one hand, he loves God the most. And on the other hand he fears God the most. The love of God is such as is filled with agony. Similarly, the fear of God is such as is filled with the love of God. This is a relationship which man hopes to have with the Being he fears lest He deprives him of His blessings. This is the combination of love and fear which can be felt but cannot be expressed in words.

This is the sign of a high level of realization, in which there is peace as well as agony. A high level of realization implies hope as well as fear. A high level of realization brings conviction as well as uncertainty. A high level of realization embraces closeness as well as distance. A high level of realization is a place where sometimes the believer is sure that he has reached his destination, while sometimes he is in doubt as to whether or not he is on his way to the right destination. At times he has this feeling that he has reached a full stop, while at other times, he is in doubt as to whether he is still at the stage of the comma. This feeling of love and fear is true realization, another name for which is maarifah.

Real love for God will find expression in many ways. Even uttering such words as praise (hamd), thanksgiving (shukr), and remembrance (zikr), as we find in the Quran, is also an expression of our love for God. It would be right to say that Alhamdulillah, praise be to God, signifies love for God (Al-Hubbu-lillah). Praising God means loving God. Gratitude to God also means loving God. Remembering God also indicates a strong love and affection for God. Gratitude and acknowledgement is the key to entering Paradise.

There is a long tradition recorded in the books of Hadith, one part of which is: “The Prophet of Islam once observed that God would not cast anyone in the fire whom He loved.”  (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No 13467)

This Hadith has nothing mysterious about it. The love mentioned in this hadith is two-sided, not one-sided. This means that one who, upon reflection, realizes God, the Creator, who discovers God as the Benefactor, will become endeared to God. All his emotions and feelings will become attached to God.

When one reaches this state as a result of conscious realization, he will take God as the sole object of his love. Subsequently, when such a man becomes a beloved of God, this will be a guarantee that, on Doomsday, God will never cast him into the fire.

There is nothing mysterious about becoming a beloved of God. This is a natural happening. When someone so attaches himself to God that he comes to love God more than anyone else, he becomes deserving in the eyes of God, and God showers His mercy upon him and saves him from hellfire in the Hereafter.

God’s loving a person stems from his divine mercy, making man’s love of God its own reward. God’s love for a person is like a divine gift, and the love for God by God’s servant is a matter of gratitude and acknowledgement. It is this gratitude and acknowledgement which are without doubt, the key to entering Paradise.