LOVE 

in the 

HOLY QURAN 




GHAZI 

Kazi Publications 




H.R.H. Prince Ghazi of Jordan is a Professor of Islamic Philos- 
ophy, and is well known as an interfaith activist and author. He 
obtained his BA from Princeton University in 1988 Summa cum 
laude; his first PhD from Cambridge University, U.K., in 1993, 
and his second PhD from Al-Azhar University in Cairo. In 1997 
he founded the National Park of the Site of the Baptism of Jesus 
Christ-, in 2001 he established the Great Tafsir Project 
(www.Altafsir.com), the largest online project for exegesis of 
the Holy Qur’an, and in 2008 he founded the World Islamic Sci- 
ences and Education University. He was the author of the his- 
torical Open Letter A Common Word Between Us and You’ in 
2007, and the author of the World Interfaith Harmony Week 
United Nations General Assembly Resolution in October 2010. 

Love in the Holy Qur’an is a translation of his Al-Azhar University PhD. During the first year 
after its publication in Arabic it was downloaded over 48 5,000 times on the Internet. 



‘What the world should understand when it hears the Qur’an.’ 

— Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt 

‘A masterwork of scholarship and of inspiration.’ 

— H.E. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Distinguished Senior Scholar, the Library of Congress 

‘Prince Ghazi has produced a definitive study of love in the Qur’an.’ 

— Professor David F. Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge, U.K. 

‘Love in the Holy Qur’an is bound to become a classic.’ 

— Tamara Sonn, Kenan Professor of Humanities, College of William and Mary 



The author treats, in a simple and accessible style with reader-friendly and teaching-friendly 
features, not only of love of God and love of the neighbour, but also of family love; friendship; 
the stages of falling in love; sexual love; extra-marital love; beauty; taste and much more, all 
based entirely on the Holy Qur’an. At least one verse from every chapter — and over one fifth of 
the total text — of the Holy Qur’an is cited. It is written and structured both to be read in its to- 
tality or as individual ‘stand-alone’ chapters to be sampled at will. This work is thus essential 
reading not only for Muslims and those interested in Islam and the Holy Qur’an, but for all 
those interested in the secrets and mysteries of love as such. 



Published and Distributed by 
Kazi Publications 
3023 West Belmont Avenue 
Chicago IL 606 1 8 USA 






In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful 



LOVE IN THE HOLY QUR’AN 




H.R.H. Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal 



Foreword by 
Seyyed Hossein Nasr 



Kazi Publications, Inc. (USA) 



Love in the Holy Qur’an 



© 1431 AH, 2010 AD, Ghazi bin Muhammad 

© Ghazi bin Muhammad, English translation of 6 th Arabic Edition 

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored 
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without 
the prior permission in writing of the author, or as expressly permitted by 
law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organ- 
ization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above 
should be sent to the author through the Rights Department, Kazi Publica- 
tions, Inc. (USA) at the address below. 



Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 

Koran. English. Love in the Holy Qur’an by Ghazi bin Muhammad. 
Includes bibliographical references and indices. 

BP109.2006 

297.1’22521-dc22 2004041455 

ISBN 10: 1-56744-981-6 paperback 
ISBN 13: 978-1-56744-981-5 paperback 
ISBN 10: 1-56744-982-4 cloth 
ISBN 13: 978-1-56744-982-2 cloth 



Publisher and Distributor: 

Kazi Publications, Inc. (USA) 
3023 West Belmont Avenue 
Chicago IL 60618 

(T) 773-267-7001 (F) 773-267-7002 
www.kazi.org email: info@kazi.org 



li 



Epigraph 



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, 

Praise be to God; Lord of all Worlds. 

The Compassionate, the Merciful. 

Master of the Day of Judgement. 

You [alone] we worship, and You [alone] we ask for help. 

Guide us to the straight path, 

The path of those whom You have bestowed Your grace, not [the path] 
of those against whom there is wrath, nor of those who are astray. 

Amen 

( Al-Fatihah , 1:1-7) 



. . . But those who believe love God more ardently . . . 



{Al-Baqarah, 2:165) 



Dedication 



Dedicated, with love, to Areej, 
my wife and soulmate. 



About the Author 



H.R.H. Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal (bom in Amman on the 
15 th of October 1966) is the nephew of the late King Al-Hussein bin Talal 
of Jordan. He received his BA from Princeton University in 1988 Summa 
cum laude ; his first PhD from Cambridge University, U.K., in 1993, and 
his second PhD from Al-Azhar University in Cairo 2010. 

Prince Ghazi has held many official positions in Jordan including: Cul- 
tural Secretary to H.M. King Hussein; Advisor for Tribal Affairs to H.M. 
King Hussein; Personal Envoy of and Special Advisor to H.M. King Ab- 
dullah II, and Chief Advisor for Religious and Cultural Affairs to H.M. 
King Abdullah II. He has also served as Regent of the Hashemite Kingdom 
of Jordan. In 1996 Prince Ghazi founded the Al-Balqa Applied University, 
and in 2008 he founded the World Islamic Sciences and Education Univer- 
sity. In 1997 he founded the National Park of the Site of the Baptism of 
Jesus Christ AS?, and in 2001 he established the Great Tafsir Project 
(www.Altafsir.com), the largest online project for exegesis of the Holy 
Qur’an. Prince Ghazi is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The 
Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, he was the author of the 
historical Open Letter ‘A Common Word Between Us and You’ in 2007, 
and the author of the World Interfaith Harmony Week United Nations Gen- 
eral Assembly Resolution in October 2010. 

Prince Ghazi has received a number of decorations and awards from 
Jordan and other countries. He is also (part-time) a Professor in Islamic 
Philosophy and has authored a number of works, including True Islam and 
the Islamic Consensus on the Message of Amman, of which the late Sheikh 
al-Azhar, Professor Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi wrote: 

‘ [It is] the best resource for all those who wish to travel 
along the straight path in their words and in their actions, 
and in their spiritual and religious life’. 

Prince Ghazi is married to Princess Areej (nee Areej Omar bin Abdul- 
Munim al-Zawawi of Oman), and they have three children: Princess Tas- 
neem, Prince Abdullah and Princess Jennah. 

Love in the Holy Qur ’an is a translation of his Al-Azhar University 
PhD. In the first year after its publication in Arabic it was downloaded 
over 485,000 times on the internet and went through four different printed 
editions. 



vii 



Reviews of the Arabic Edition 



Leading Islamic Scholars said the following about Love in the Holy 
Qur’an (in its original Arabic): 

‘An outstanding work, worthy of praise and esteem for its method, its 
content and its language.’ 

H.E. Imam Prof. Dr. Ahmad Muhammad al-Tayyib, 
Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar and Supervisor of the thesis at 

al-Azhar University 

‘The word ‘ hubb ’ (‘love’) is composed of two letters: the pronunciation 
of the ‘/z’ evokes expansion, and the enunciation of the A’ evokes union. 
After the heart has become attached to the beloved and encompassed him 
(or her) according to its knowledge of him (or her), it grows like a sheaf of 
goodness which God multiplies for whom He wills. What a magnificent 
thing it is when love is constant and undying, and enduring without end. . . 
Love is the way in the Qur’an in which man is connected to his Creator, 
and none of the Pillars of Islam reach God save by way of the heart, as the 
Messenger of God it said: 

“Indeed, in the body is a morsel which, if it is sound the whole 
body is sound, and if it is corrupt the whole body is corrupt,” 

And if the heart is the locus of God Almighty’s manifestations, then 
love is the light which shines forth from this heart. 

[This] study of love in the Qur’an has gathered together all the many 
pearls of the meanings of love and strung them on the cord of [the author’s] 
own love, making them into a most precious necklace, resplendent with 
beauty, which takes deep root in the heart, inspires the mind, and moves 
the soul. We see in this study breadth and power of knowledge, the love 
and humility of the author, lofty insight, beautiful language, perfect style, 
and fine rhetoric. May these efforts be blessed and recompensed with abun- 
dant goodness, and may God benefit humanity by it; and may my Lord 
shower His favours upon [the author], manifestly and secretly.’ 

H.E. Sheikh Prof. Dr. Ahmad Badr al-Din Hassoun, 
Grand Mufti and Chief of the High Council for Ifta\ 

Syrian Arab Republic 

‘Love is the essential branch of the mercy with which God began His 
Book, and it is the connection between the Creator and His creation, and 
between parents and children in human relations and also in the animal 



IX 



Reviews of the Arabic Edition 



world, and in all beings. Love in the Holy Qur’an is the name of a beautiful 
and marvellous study by our beloved Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, may 
God reward him well, in which he has shown what the world should un- 
derstand when it hears the Qur’an. He has produced a fine and worthy 
work, and we ask God to benefit the world by its means — Amen!’ 

H.E. Sheikh Prof. Dr. Ali Gomaa, 
Grand Mufti of Egypt 

‘A book which plunges into the depths of the truth and retrieves its 
hidden pearl; for it presents to people what they did not understand about 
the sanctity of love and its place in the Qur’an .... [The author] has pro- 
duced in this work something which no one has ever done before; and why 
not, for it is not unusual to find a thing at its source, and fine pearls are 
only found in plentiful seas. It is enough that [this book] has raised love to 
the highest virtue, and sanctified it from being sullied with any kind of 
baseness; and this is a virtue which anyone who reads this book, and studies 
it well, will recognize in the author.’ 

H.E. Sheikh Ahmad bin Hamad al-Khalili, 
Grand Mufti of the Sultanate of Oman 

‘ Love in the Holy Qur ’an ... is a timely work given the circumstances 
in which the Islamic community currently finds itself. It is an unprece- 
dented work which promises to promote love among the members of indi- 
vidual communities on the one hand, and among different communities on 
the other. . . . This work is the result of a sound understanding of love in the 
Holy Qur’an and the presence of love in the heart of its author, who has 
been able to present Qur’anic verses and prophetic Hadiths which reveal 
the secret of God’s love for man and man’s love for God and his neighbour. 
All this has come from a sound heart which loves humanity. Everyone 
should read this book, in order to learn about love in the Qur’an, and to 
witness the love which pervades the work.’ 

H.E. Sheikh Mustafa Ceric, 
Chief Scholar and Grand Mufti, Bosnia-Herzegovina 

‘Thi s is a work of a mystical and philosophical bent, which I found to 
contain many beautiful concepts which the author — God keep him — de- 
rived by gathering [Qur’anic] verses in a way which has perhaps never 
been done before, but which does not contradict the principles of Islamic 
doctrine.’ 

H.E. Sheikh Prof. Dr. Nuh Ali Salman al-Qudah 
Grand Mufti of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 
x 



Reviews of the Arabic Edition 



This book, ‘ Love in the Holy Qur ’ an ’, is the fruit of blessed intellec- 
tual efforts, and the culmination of a spiritual journey, enlightened by the 
illuminations of God-given knowledge. It is a blessed and gratifying work 
which will be well rewarded, God willing, and which will inspire every 
well-intentioned and resolved believer to increase his love for God and His 
Messenger M- May God reward [the author] on behalf of all who read this 
blessed book, and revive their spirits and enrich their souls in doing so, be- 
cause of the treasures of knowledge and subtle wisdom it contains. ’ 

H.E. Prof. Dr. Bu Abdullah Ghulam Allah, 
Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments, Algeria 

‘[Love] is the key to happiness in both lives, and the Book of God is 
the way to this happiness and the guide for those who seek it. Whoever 
reads this book will find a generous presentation of the truth of this matter, 
and details of its every aspect, in a style which is agreeable and pleasing to 
the reader.’ 

H.E. Sheikh Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Abdullah al-Salimi 
Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs, Sultanate of Oman 

‘In the midst of my fruitless searching for someone who has treated 
the subject of love in the Book of God and wrote about it or spoke about 
it, I received glad tidings in the mail giving me exactly what I was looking 
for: ‘Love in the Qur ’ an ’ by H.R.H. Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal 
al-Hashemi. I set aside everything I was doing and began reading it at once. 
The value of this book, and this subject, is immense... . This book is won- 
derful... I congratulate [the author] for the love which inspired [him] to 
write it, and which [he] took as a guide leading to knowledge of God and 
the universe, and which then settled firmly in [his] heart. And I ask the 
Almighty to make our hearts vessels of His love, that we may be drawn 
from ourselves to Him, and use it to reach Him.’ 

Sheikh Prof. Dr. Muhammad Sa’id Ramadan al-Buti, 
Dean of the College of Shariah, Damascus University 

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful 
We cause to grow splendid gardens whose trees you could 
never cause to grow (Al-Naml, 27:60) 

And We send down from the heaven blessed water with 
which We cause to grow gardens and the grain that is har- 
vested, and the date-palms that stand tall with piled spathes 
(Qaf 50:9-10) 


MORE:    https://www.amazon.com/Love-Quran-H-R-H-Ghazi-Muhammad/dp/1567449824

MORE:    https://archive.org/stream/LoveInTheHolyQuran/Love%20in%20the%20Holy%20Quran_djvu.txt