Love in the Holy Qur'an
Author: H.R.H. Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad
Publisher: Islamic Texts Society
Year of Publication: 2019
Print Length: 432 pages
Genre: Islamic Studies / Theology, Ethics and Philosophy; Quranic Studies; Hadith, Sunnah & Sirah, Science; Qur’anic Reflection; Non-Fiction / Religious Studies
Topic: Allah ﷻ, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, Islam, Qur’an, Love, Ethics, Human Nature & Character, Giving, Beauty, Care, Family, Friendship & Companionship, Happiness, Justice, Marriage, Gender, Sexual Etiquette, Sexuality, Community, Compassion, Forgiveness, Hope, Humanity, Marriage, Peace, Reconciliation, Resistance, Sanctuary, Security, Self-Reliance, Solidarity, Tolerance, Wellbeing
Examining at least one verse from every chapter of the Qur’an, and citing more than one-fifth of the entire text, this study analyzes what the Islamic holy book has to say about love. More than simply exploring the well-trodden subjects of love of God and love of neighbor, however, this book discusses familial love, friendship, the stages of falling in love, sexual love, extramarital love, beauty, taste, and many more. This work is essential reading not only for Muslims and scholars of Islam and Qur’an, but anyone interested in the secrets and mysteries of love.
Table of Contents
Epigraph
Dedication
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Executive Summary
Introductory Chapters
1. Prologue: The Goals and Methodology of this Work
The goals of this work / The methodology of this work / A note to the reader about the English translation / A note on the tenth edition
2. Introduction: The Secret of Love
3. The Definition of Love
Part One: DIVINE LOVE
4. God and Love
Love as a Divine Quality / Love and mercy are of the Divine Essence
5. Love is the Root of Creation
6. The Universe and Love
7. God’s Love for Humanity
God’s favour and love for all human beings in general / God’s particular love for the virtuous / The hierarchy of the virtuous / God’s bounty to all human beings
8. God’s Love for His Messengers and Prophets
The prophets / The messengers / The five ‘resolute’ messengers / God’s beloved
9. Those whom God does not Love
Part Two: The Messenger of God’s ﷺ Love
10. The Messenger of God’s ﷺ Love for God
11. The Messenger of God’s ﷺ Love for the Believers
Part Three: Human Love
12. Humanity’s Love for God
Why human beings should love God / How human beings should love God / What intentions and motives human beings must have in loving God / On love for what reminds one of God
13. The Believer’s Love for the Messenger of God ﷺ
14. Love for the Family and Kin of the Messenger of God ﷺ
15. The Effects of Love of God on Human Beings
16. Family Love
17. Love of Others (All Humanity; the ‘People of the Scripture’; Believers, and Friends)
All humanity / The people of the scripture / The believers / Friends
18. Conjugal and Sexual Love
The need spouses have for one another in order to procreate / Non-physical conjugal love and ‘soulmates’ / Sexual conjugal love / Spiritual conjugal love / The preservation of conjugal love
19. Love and Extra-marital Sex
20. Love and the Eyes
Part Four: LOVE
21. The Different Kinds of Love
22. The Stages of Love
The stages of love that occur in human beings’ love for God as well as human beings’ love for each other / The stages of human beings’ love for God / The stages of human beings’ love for each other
23. Falling in Love
The constituent parts and faculties of human being / The secret of falling in love
24. The Growth of Love
How love grows / How to control one’s love
25. The Two Circles of Love
26. The Triangle of Love
Why does love require prior ‘adornment’? / How do human beings come to know God?
27. The Hierarchies of Beauty and of Love
The levels and hierarchies of beauty / The hierarchy of love
28. The Opposites of Beauty and of Love
The opposite of beauty (ugliness and vileness) / The opposite of love (hatred and loathing)
29. The End of Love
God’s love for human beings / Human love for God / Human love for everything other than God
30. The Nature of Love
Human love is always changing / The need in love / The exclusion in love / The power of love
31. Love and Happiness
32. Love and Beauty in Paradise
Part Five: THE BELOVED (Beauty; the Meeting with God; Beatitude)
33. Beauty and Its Components
The meaning of ‘beauty’ (jamal and husn) / The components of beauty
34. Taste
35. The Nature of Beauty
The objectivity of beauty / The power of beauty / The way beauty works / The benefit of beauty (and love)
36. Love and Death
The death of the ‘soul which incites evil’ / The death of the ‘soul which incites evil’ by means of God’s love / The torment of the soul which loves but does not die in God / Life in God after the soul’s death
37. The Meeting with God and Beatitude
38. The True Intended Object behind All Love
Summary
39. Conclusion
40. Synopsis
Notes
Bibliography: (A) The Holy Qur’an; (B) Primary sources in Arabic; (C) Secondary sources in Arabic; (D) Primary sources on love in English and French; (E) Secondary sources on love in English and French
Index of Qur’anic Verses Cited by Chapter
Index of Qur’anic Verses Cited by Qur’anic Chapter
Index of Prophetic Hadiths Cited by Chapter
Alphabetical Index of Prophetic Hadiths Cited
General Index
Postscript
Reviews of the English Edition
Reviews of the Arabic Edition
H.R.H Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad is a professor of Islamic philosophy with PhDs from Al-Azhar University and the University of Cambridge. He has held numerous official and nongovernmental positions in Jordan, including chief advisor for religious and cultural affairs to HM King Abdullah II. His projects include QuranicThought.com, GreatTafsirs.com, and FreeIslamicCalligraphy.com, which seek to make the jewels of Islamic civilization available to all at no cost.
Source: https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/authors/ghazi-bin-muhammad-bin-talal
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