Love (Islam)

Many kinds of love are enumerated within Islam. One (threefold) division is love to God, love in God and love with God. A further division is between beneficial and harmful. The beneficial are love to God and love in God plus love for whatever assists in obedience to God. The harmful are love which diminishes or cuts short love to God, love of what is hated by God and love with God which is idolatry. One of the main functions of faith is to enable the person to distinguish between loves which are harmful and those which are beneficial. Love for one's lawful wife or concubine is normally beneficial, protecting from sin, whereas passion for forbidden objects for their own sake, such as that for small boys, is harmful.

The stages by which both sacred and profane loves develop are also described by a number of teachers. Even the most profane have their mystical interpretations.