Imam Ali (as) has spoken about love, mahabba, which is worth reflecting upon in light of the rivalries and jealousies that can exist among the people of this umma. Love for one’s brother or sister on the path is again shown to be something sacred. He says that, ‘Love (mahabba) is purified through cultivating friendship for the sake of Allah.’ (Ghurar al-Hikam). A friendship based upon supporting each other in attaining knowledge and in assisting each other to be better human beings is therefore the zakat of love. Many friendships are cultivated through loving the same sport; the same movies; the same sense of humour, or sometimes, having the same enemies; the same hatred of certain people. Love may be cultivated because of the desire for social status or to be close to an influential family. Friendship for the sake of Allah is no easy task: a friendship that is built solely upon the love of Allah (swt); the love of Islam and the desire to elevate the soul; yet it is this which forms the fabric of the umma. The brotherhood of the umma is not one where individuals are punished by being boycotted, or not spoken to. I have come across families where even the parents refuse to speak to the children; or where relations have broken down so badly that the child has cut off from the parent and all but disappeared. The same can happen in friendship; where once two people were almost as close as blood brothers, and visited each other all the time, trusted each other and supported each other, and then gradually something arises in the heart of one of them, and the love turns to bitterness, and eventually two people who virtually shared their lives no longer speak, and one does not know whether the other one is even dead or alive. So part of cultivating love for the sake of Allah is to try to retain some kind of softness in the heart, in case there may come a day where relations can be repaired. Imam ‘Ali (as) says: ‘If you want to cut off relations with your brother make sure to leave a place for him in your heart, so he can return to it one day when he so wishes.’ (Nahj al-Balagha, Letter 31); but then, let us think about people who are close to each other and supposedly brothers or sisters sharing a love of Allah (swt) and Islam, but one deceives and betrays the other, even putting the fellow mu’min in danger, causing him stress and distress, upset, anxiety and illness. Brotherhood in the umma is not unconditional. The Imam warns that: ‘The one you need to safeguard yourself against is not your brother.’ (Ghurar al-Hikam)
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