Love Allah above all else
“Islam came to teach you the hierarchy of loves.”
Islam teaches that every action flows from love, so believers should make Allah their highest love, align all permissible loves with Him, and let that love produce worship and ethical communal action.
The khutbah in 6 steps
- Human actions begin with love, which generates will and action; the key difference is the hierarchy of loves.
- Islam centers Allah as the ultimate beloved and source of love without rejecting natural loves.
- Love is proven through sacrifice, repeated worship, and following Allah’s guidance; permissible loves can become acts of worship.
- Genuine love includes rejecting evil, while worship without love and love without knowledge are both dangerous extremes.
- Love of Allah is uniquely pure and liberating, and believers should seek it through worship and the Prophet’s supplication.
- Shared love forms communities, so love for Allah and the ummah should motivate lawful, ethical action for justice and social good.
In the khateeb's words
“The more you love Allah, the more you will sacrifice for Allah. And the more you love other than Allah, the more you will sacrifice to get other than Allah.”
“Real love, he says, generates irada, willpower. And willpower generates amal. You cannot have love without willpower and amal.”
“Islam did not come to tell you, don't love. Islam did not come to tell you, stop loving. Islam came to teach you the hierarchy of loves.”
“This is the ultimate liberation, the ultimate freedom when your heart is no longer subservient to any created and it is only subservient to the creator of the created.”
For the dinner table
Today’s khutbah taught that every human action starts with love, which creates intention and then action. Islam does not ask us to stop loving family, health, work, or other good things; it asks us to make Allah our highest love and place every permissible love under His guidance. We show love through sacrifice, regular worship, following the Prophet’s way, and rejecting what harms our relationship with Allah. The speaker warned against teaching religion as only fear and prohibitions, urging parents to nurture love of Allah alongside knowledge and sacred law. Finally, love for Allah should widen into love for the ummah and motivate lawful, ethical efforts for a better society.
- What is something good you love, and how could it help you get closer to Allah?
- What might you choose to give up this week to show what matters most to you?
- How could our family help someone in our community in a lawful and kind way?
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