Whom Does God Love?

Abstract

The hadith control the daily lives of Muslims. For Christians seeking to engage with Muslims, understanding the hadith is indispensable. This article investigates, “Whom does God love according to the Bible and the hadith?” Comparative studies exist for the Bible and the Qur’an but less for the hadith. This study scrutinizes what the Bible and hadith, respectively, mean by divine love. First, I describe divine love in the Bible and, second, in the main Sunni hadith collections. I study Allah’s love for himself, for named individuals, and requests for Allah’s love, and next, I investigate earning Allah’s love, deeds that earn Allah’s love, and Allah’s love for certain character qualities. Lastly, I examine the implications of divine love by addressing the following questions: How does the conception of divine love determine human love? What are the implications of this study for engagement with Muslims?