There is an often overlooked detail in the sharia instruction. The Rasul of Allah (saw) states:

“To condemn for the sake of Allah is to condemn the action not the doer.”

Let’s say Ahmed did a bad deed. We have to condemn his deed not Ahmed.

For the being we’re referring to with the name Ahmed is the existence of Allah, in the form of a composition, at a particular location. 

So, when we condemn Ahmed we are condemning the meanings of the names, and hence Allah. This will veil us from the One.

This is why sharia tells us to condemn the action not the doer!

But why condemn the action? Because that action forms the composition, which forms the conditioned thought patterns, which create one’s hell. One should detest such actions and abstain from doing them.

As long as the doer continues to engage in these actions we may continue to condemn. As soon as he stops, we must feel love and immediately approach the doer with love. For it is the action that creates hell but the doer is the manifestation of the One.

So to hate and condemn for the sake of Allah is addressed to the action and not the doer - the doer is no other than the One.

If we confuse the two and direct our contempt to the doer, we will be directing animosity to the One which will cause us to become veiled, deprived and distant from Him. Resultantly this will form our hell.

So long as we are condemning the doer of such actions, we are in effect creating our own hellfire.

The due and correct response is to condemn the action alone!

Love is similar. Our love should be for the One. To love a person because of their humanly qualities is to create suffering for ourselves. To love someone because of the divine qualities we observe on them is doing justice to love.

Our hatred must be directed to the action, our love must be directed to the One! We must see the One who is present in the essence of the person. If we fail to see the One and claim to love a person as someone separate from the One we will be doing grave injustice and betrayal to love and to the One. This will take us to duality.

By saying “I love my wife, I love my daughter, my money, property, assets, etc.” you are effectively engaging in duality… for the One resides within all of the above! 

To love these things besides the One, as though they are independent of Him is nothing other than a state of duality. 

Then, you must observe and experience the One, and when you encounter an action that spawns composition, habit, and conditioning, condemn that action. And when you encounter someone who is engaging in actions to overcome his composition and habitual programming then love those actions.

These are the measures we must take when feeling love or hatred for the sake of Allah.