Those Whom God Loves

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Question

According to the Qur'an, who are the individuals that God loves?


The Qur'an explicitly mentions individuals whom God loves. These include those who practice goodness (Muḥsinīn), the pious (Muttaqīn), the patient (Ṣābirīn), the pure (Muṭahharīn), the repentant (Tawwābīn), and the just (Muqsiṭīn).

The Good-Doers (Muḥsinīn)

Template:Main Article: Muḥsinīn in the Qur'an God declares in the Qur'an His love for those who act with excellence and kindness: ﴾وَأَحْسِنُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ یُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِینَ﴿. This love is emphasized in five verses, including:

Al-ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī defines iḥsān as performing any act in the best possible manner and solely for God's sake.[1] God's love for the Muḥsinīn has both worldly and otherworldly effects, such as guidance, divine assistance, mercy, exalted status, acceptance of deeds, and immunity from punishment.[2]

= The Repentant (Tawwābīn) and the Pure (Muṭahharīn)

According to Surah al-Baqarah (2:222), God loves those who constantly repent and purify themselves.[3] Repentance (tawbah) refers to returning to God, while the term Tawwābīn denotes those who engage in frequent repentance.[4] God accepts all sincere forms of repentance—whether expressed through prayer, action, or true belief.[5]

In another verse, God affirms His love for the pure (Muṭahharīn): ﴾﴿. Purity encompasses both spiritual cleanliness—freedom from sin and idolatry—and physical hygiene.[6]

The Pious (Muttaqīn)

Template:See Also: Attributes of the Pious in the Qur'an God's love for the pious is mentioned in Surah al-Tawbah (9:4, 9:7) and Surah Āl ʿImrān (3:76). In Qur'anic terminology, taqwā (piety) refers to avoiding forbidden actions and maintaining a God-conscious life.[7] Groups such as wrongdoers, deviators, rebels, oppressors, and criminals stand in opposition to the pious (Muttaqīn).[8]

The Qur'an outlines five qualities of the pious in Surah al-Baqarah:

  • Belief in the unseen,
  • Establishment of prayer,
  • Charity from their wealth,
  • Faith in the revelations to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and previous messengers,
  • Certainty in the Hereafter.[9]

In Surah al-Ṣaff[10] and Surah al-Mā'idah[11], God expresses His love for those who strive for His cause: ﴾إِنَّ اللَّهَ یُحِبُّ الَّذِینَ یُقَاتِلُونَ فِی سَبِیلِهِ﴿.

Those Who Rely Upon God (Mutawakkilīn)

Template:Main Article: Tawakkul (Reliance on God) God also loves those who place their trust in Him: ﴾إِنَّ اللَّهَ یُحِبُّ الْمُتَوَکِّلینَ﴿. Tawakkul refers to placing trust and reliance upon God.[12] It is considered one of the gateways to faith.[13] A person who practices tawakkul recognizes that God is the provider of sustenance and the caretaker of all affairs, relying solely on Him without hoping for assistance from others.[14] The Qur'an emphasizes that God loves those who trust in Him and do not depend on others.[15]

Exegetes define the essence of tawakkul as contentment and submission to God's decree and destiny.[16] Al-Ghazālī, one of Islam's greatest scholars, describes tawakkul as:

A station of the closest to God" and defines it as the heart's reliance on God.[17]

Ayatollah Ja'far Subhani explains that tawakkul means entrusting one's affairs to God. However, this does not imply disregarding the natural laws of cause and effect or passively waiting for miraculous interventions. Instead, it encourages active effort alongside a firm trust in God's ultimate will and power.[18]

The Patient (Ṣābirīn)

God praises the patient, those who endure trials and maintain their faith and efforts despite challenges: ﴾وَ اللَّهُ یُحِبُّ الصَّابِرینَ﴿.

It is narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) supplicated to God for a certainty (yaqīn) that would make the hardships of this world bearable for him.[19]

The Just (Muqsiṭīn)

The Qur'an highlights God's love for the just in three instances: ﴾إِنَّ اللَّهَ یُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِینَ﴿[20].

Justice, a fundamental principle in Islam, is upheld as the goal of divine revelation and the mission of the Prophets.[21] The Qur'an emphasizes justice as the antithesis of oppression and an essential quality for human interactions.[22]

Sources

  1. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn, al-Mīzān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, trans. Muḥammad Bāqir Mūsavī Hamadānī, Qom: Dafter Intishārāt Islāmī, 5th edition, 1374 SH, vol. 4, p. 28.
  2. ↑ Abū Dharr Tashakkurī Ṣāliḥ, "Āthār Maḥabbat Khudāwand bih Muḥsinīn dar Qurʾān," Maʿrifat, Imām Khomeinī Educational and Research Institute, no. 180.
  3. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn, al-Mīzān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, trans. Muḥammad Bāqir Mūsavī Hamadānī, Qom: Dafter Intishārāt Islāmī, 5th edition, 1374 SH, vol. 2, p. 317.
  4. ↑ Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan, al-Tibyān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1st edition, n.d., vol. 6, p. 468.
  5. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn, al-Mīzān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, trans. Muḥammad Bāqir Mūsavī Hamadānī, Qom: Dafter Intishārāt Islāmī, 5th edition, 1374 SH, vol. 2, p. 318.
  6. ↑ Makāram Shīrāzī, Nāṣir, Tafsīr-i Namūneh, Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyyah, 10th edition, 1371 SH, vol. 8, p. 140.
  7. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn, al-Mīzān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, trans. Muḥammad Bāqir Mūsavī Hamadānī, Qom: Dafter Intishārāt Islāmī, 5th edition, 1374 SH, vol. 9, p. 202.
  8. ↑ ʿAbbāsī, Bābak, "Taqwā," Dāneshnāmeh-yi Buzurg-i Islāmī, Islamic Encyclopaedia Foundation, 1393 SH, vol. 7, under the entry.
  9. ↑ Sūrat al-Baqarah, verses 2–4.
  10. ↑ Al-Saff:4
  11. ↑ al-Mā'idah:54
  12. ↑ Makāram Shīrāzī, Nāṣir, Tafsīr-i Namūneh, Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyyah, 10th edition, 1371 SH, vol. 15, p. 541.
  13. ↑ Makāram Shīrāzī, Nāṣir, Akhlāq dar Qurʾān, Qom: Madrasa ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, 1st edition, 1377 SH, vol. 2, p. 266.
  14. ↑ Ḥusaynī, Mālik et al., "Tawakkul," Dāneshnāmeh-yi Jahān-i Islām, Islamic Encyclopaedia Foundation, 1393 SH, vol. 8, under the entry.
  15. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Faḍl, Majmaʿ al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, trans. by a group of translators, Tehran: Farāhānī, 1st edition, n.d., vol. 4, p. 315.
  16. ↑ Maybudī, Tafsīr Kashf al-Asrār wa ʿUddat al-Abrār, cited in Dāneshnāmeh-yi Jahān-i Islām, Islamic Encyclopaedia Foundation, vol. 1, p. 4062.
  17. ↑ Ghazālī, Kimiyāʾ-yi Saʿādat, cited in Shahīdī, Sayyid Jaʿfar, Sharḥ-i Masnavī, vol. 6, p. 353.
  18. ↑ Ṣubḥānī, Jaʿfar, Manṣūr-i Jāvīd, vol. 3, p. 419.
  19. ↑ Muḥammad Ṣādiq ʿĀrif, Rāh-i Rūshan (trans. al-Maḥajja al-Bayḍāʾ), al-Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, vol. 7, p. 160.
  20. ↑ Sūrat al-Māʾidah, verse 42; Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt, verse 9; Sūrat al-Mumtaḥanah, verse 8.
  21. ↑ Ṣubḥānī, Shaykh Jaʿfar, Manṣūr-i Jāvīd, vol. 13, p. 168.
  22. ↑ Sūrat al-Ḥadīd, verse 25.
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