Loving our Lord is mandatory upon each of His slaves since the Prophet informed us that it is a characteristic of belief and a sign of enjoying the sweetness of faith. Anas ibn Malik narrated that the Prophet said: “One who attains the following three things will taste the sweetness of faith: To make Allah and His Messenger more beloved to himself than anything else; to love a person for no other reason except for the sake of Allah; and to hate to return to disbelief just as much as he would hate to be thrown into fire.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
The question arises: If the love of Allah The Almighty is obligatory and if it is one of the qualities of belief, where do we stand with respect to this love? Are we amongst those who truly love Allah The Almighty? Are we amongst those whom Allah The Almighty loves?
Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {"O you who believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion (Islam), Allah will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers, fighting in the way of Allah, and never fearing the blame of the blamers. That is the Grace of Allah which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All-Knower."} [Quran 3: 54].
This verse mentions four of their qualities:
First: Humble towards the believers; merciful and compassionate with them, just as the Prophet was in his leniency, mercy and compassion with the believers.
Second: Stern towards the disbelievers.
Third: Fighting in the way of Allah The Almighty with their souls, tongues and wealth, and therefore fulfilling this claim of love.
Fourth: Not fearing blame for the sake of Allah The Almighty, which is an indication of their sincere love.
Generally speaking, one can gain the love of Allah The Almighty through following His commands and refraining from disobeying Him, as well as favouring obedience to Him over anything else and seeking His pleasure.
If you wish to be amongst those whom Allah loves, you must have their qualities which are mentioned in the Quran:
To do good: {"And do good. Truly, Allah loves the good-doers."} [Quran, 2: 195]
To repent and purify themselves: {"Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves"} [Quran, 2: 222].
To be are pious: {"Yes, whoever fulfils his pledge and fears Allah much; verily, then Allah loves those who are the pious"} [Quran, 3: 76].
To be patient: {"But they never lost heart for that which did befall them in Allah's way, nor did they weaken nor degrade themselves. And Allah loves the patient"} [Quran, 3: 146]
To rely on Allah: {"Then when you have taken a decision, rely on Allah, certainly, Allah loves those who rely on Him."} [Quran 3: 159]
To be just: {"And if you judge, judge with justice between them. Verily, Allah loves those who act justly."} [Quran, 3: 42].
To be sincere in Jihad: {"Verily Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in rows (ranks) as if they were a solid structure."} [Quran, 61: 4].
Ibn Al-Qayyim mentioned some actions that inspire the love of Allah The Almighty:
Reciting the Quran with attentiveness and pondering over its meanings.
Performing optional acts of worship after fulfilling the obligatory ones.
Always remembering Allah The Almighty in the heart, by the tongue and deeds, because one will benefit proportional to the amount that he remembers Allah.
Favoring His love over any other love, particularly when your desires become strong.
Striving hard to reach that which He loves.
Learning and pondering over His qualities and attributes, because the one who learns and ponders over the qualities and attributes of Allah will certainly love Him due to this.
Thinking about His apparent and concealed favors and kindness.
Supplicating and appealing to Him during the last third of every night, reciting His Book, standing with full servitude before Him and begging for His forgiveness.
Being around righteous people who sincerely love Allah and learning the best of what they say.