What Does the Hadith about “Loving for Others What You Love for Yourself” Mean?
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
Does this Hadith mean that someone is a disbeliever if they do not love for others what they love for themselves?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
No. The negation in this narration is not of belief itself. It is of perfect belief. [Asqalani, Fath al-Bari]
For this reason, it is appropriately translated as follows:
“None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” or “None of you has reached complete belief until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”
This is an indication of the strength of one’s belief or lack thereof.
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.
He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.
In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
