Episode 1In us
The love of a parent, of a husband or wife: “He ordained between you love and mercy” (Qur'an 30:21). But our love can come with conditions. It can end. It hopes for something back.
The 99 Names · Name 47 of 99 · Act
The Loving, who is loved
al-Wadūd الْوَدُودُ
Recited as it sounds in the Qur'an, 85:14.
Heard together with: al-Ghafūr al-Wadūd (85:14)
Researchers at Harvard began following 268 students in 1938, and later hundreds of boys from some of Boston's poorest streets. They have tracked them, and now their children, ever since: one of the longest studies of adult life in the world. The finding that surprised everyone was not about money or fame. Its current director says that people with warm, close relationships were happier and healthier, and lived longer.
We are made for love. Al-Wadūd is the Name for love that is warm and shown, from the Arabic wudd. It means both the One who loves and the One who is loved. And in the Qur'an it comes straight after a Name for forgiveness, as if to say: He does not only forgive you. He loves you.
Start with what we know
Start with something we know. Then take away everything it needs. What is left is not a bigger version of us: it is the Name.
Episode 1
Episode 2In nature
An emperor penguin father keeps the egg on his feet through the Antarctic winter for about nine weeks, without eating (British Antarctic Survey).
Episode 3At our best
Doctors now prescribe love: “kangaroo care”, skin-to-skin contact that helps premature babies grow. The nearest thing we have to love as a medicine.
Episode 4The Break
Take away the condition, the return, the price. Al-Wadūd is not a greater love that demands a sacrifice, but love that asks nothing in exchange: the Loving, and the One who is loved (Qur'an 85:14).
From the tradition: Placed after al-Ghafūr: He forgives, then loves. Qur'an: He loves the doers of good (2:195), the steadfast (3:146), the repentant (2:222). 1 John 4:8 'God is love'; Jeremiah 31:3 'Eternal love I conceived for you'
Watch and listen
Films, documentaries and voices that reach towards this Name. Each links out to where you can watch it.
On screen
In the film, love is something you trade for power. Al-Wadūd's love is never the price of anything.
Where it shows up
- In scripture
- Q 85:14; 11:90; 19:96; 30:21; 5:54. Jeremiah 31:3; 1 John 4:8
- The same thread in Jewish and Christian scripture
- Jeremiah 31:3; 1 John 4:8. Real difference: 'God is love' (Christian identity claim) vs al-Wadūd (one Name among many)
- In nature
- Emperor penguins: Frozen Planet II
- In people
- Long marriages; carers
- In science
- Biology: oxytocin and pair-bonding (prairie voles)
When God loves someone
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace be upon him) described what happens when God loves a person. God calls the angel Gabriel and says: “I love so-and-so, so love him.” Gabriel loves him.
Then Gabriel calls out to everyone in heaven: “God loves so-and-so, so love him.” And all the inhabitants of heaven love him.
“Then,” said the Prophet, “acceptance is placed for him on the earth.” People find, without quite knowing why, that they warm to him.
The order matters. Love does not begin with being popular, or with being good at making friends. It begins with God, travels through heaven, and arrives on earth as the ordinary affection of neighbours and friends. The Qur'an says the same in one line: for those who believe and do good, the Entirely Merciful will create love (wudd). When someone is easy to love, Muslims see a trace of al-Wadūd.
What each faith says
Read:
Judaism
“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; Therefore with affection have I drawn thee.”
Jeremiah 31:3 · JPS 1917
In the Hebrew Bible, God's love for His people is everlasting and faithful, even after they have strayed. Every morning, just before the Shema, Jews pray Ahavah Rabbah, “With abundant love You have loved us”, and every evening Ahavat Olam, “With everlasting love”, words that echo Jeremiah.
Love runs both ways. The Shema itself goes on: “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
Christianity
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
1 John 4:10 · WEB
The First Letter of John says the simplest and boldest thing Christians say about God: “God is love” (1 John 4:8). For Christians this is not one quality among many but who God is, the eternal love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
John also says where that love starts. It is not that we loved God first; God loved us first and, Christians believe, showed it by sending His Son.
Christians sing it as well as say it. Charles Wesley's hymn “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”, a Methodist favourite, is sung at countless British weddings.
Islam
“Lo! those who believe and do good works, the Beneficent will appoint for them love.”
Qur'an 19:96 · Pickthall (1930)
Al-Wadūd appears twice in the Qur'an. The prophet Shuʿayb (peace be upon him) tells his people: “Ask pardon of your Lord and then turn unto Him (repentant). Lo! my Lord is Merciful, Loving.” (11:90, Pickthall). And God describes Himself: “And He is the Forgiving, the Loving.” (85:14, Pickthall).
The Qur'an also says of a people God will bring: “O ye who believe! Whoso of you becometh a renegade from his religion, (know that in his stead) Allah will bring a people whom He loveth and who love Him, humble toward believers, stern toward disbelievers, striving in the way of Allah, and fearing not the blame of any blamer. Such is the grace of Allah which He giveth unto whom He will. Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing.” (5:54, Pickthall). It names those He loves: people who do good, the patient, the just, the ones who turn back to Him. For Muslims, al-Wadūd is one of the ninety-nine Names, held alongside the others. The way to live it is to love for the sake of God and to be easy to love.
Same and different
All three faiths teach that God loves first, that His love is faithful, and that people are called to love Him and one another in return. They differ in how far they take the word. For Christians, “God is love” describes God's very being, the love shared within the Trinity and shown on the cross. Jews speak of God's everlasting covenant love. Muslims call God al-Wadūd, the Loving, as one Name among many, and would not say that God simply is love.
A moment to reflect
- Who in your life loved you before you had done anything to earn it?
- Is it easier for you to love, or to let yourself be loved? Why?
- What makes a person easy to love?
Watch
Emperor penguins huddling through the Antarctic winter to keep their eggs warm: the father's long vigil from the ladder.
A family of mountain gorillas: affection, play and protection among our close cousins.
An elephant herd gathering round a newborn calf: love as a whole family's welcome.
Do it together
neighbours / faith groups / schoolsTea across the generations
Pair up younger and older people from different households for a cup of tea and one question each: who loved you well, and how did you know? Share a few answers (with permission) and read Jeremiah 31:3, 1 John 4:10 and Qur'an 85:14.
familiesThe love-note jar
Keep a jar and slips of paper by the kettle. Whenever someone notices a loving thing another family member did, they write it down. Read them out at the end of the month.
neighbours / faith groupsA Shabbat table
If a Jewish friend or synagogue invites you to a Friday-night Shabbat meal, go: the evening prayers sing of God's everlasting love, and the table is about family and guests. Bring something kosher-friendly, such as flowers, and ask your hosts what the blessings mean.
Go deeper
- Harvard Study of Adult Development · article
- Robert Waldinger, What makes a good life? (TED, 2015) · article
- Qur'an 85:14 with translations · scripture
- Jeremiah 31 (JPS 1917) on Sefaria · scripture
- 1 John 4 (WEB) on Bible Gateway · scripture
Sources (5)
- Harvard study began 1938; 268 students plus Boston inner-city cohort; close relationships predict health and happiness: Harvard Study of Adult Development; Waldinger, TED 2015
- God calls Gabriel: 'I love so-and-so': Sahih al-Bukhari 3209
- 'He loves them and they love Him': Qur'an 5:54
- Shuʿayb: 'my Lord is Especially Merciful, Loving': Qur'an 11:90
- Ahavah Rabbah and Ahavat Olam before the Shema: My Jewish Learning, Ahavah Rabbah
Up next · Name 48 of 99The All-Glorious, generous in gloryal-Majīd
Next →Watch more: The Loving, who is loved
7 films and talks, chosen for this page. They play here.
When you Need to Feel Loved | Allah's Names | Dr. Omar Suleiman | Ep. 10
Yaqeen Institute · 17 min
The Beautiful Names of Allah (Part 8): Al-Wadud
Yasir Qadhi · 17 min
You’re Looking For Love In the Wrong Places | The Names Class 5: Al Wadud | Shaykh Mikaeel Smith
Qalam Institute · 53 min
Beholding the Love of God – Timothy Keller [Sermon]
Gospel in Life · 32 min
Tim Keller: beholding the love of God (1 John 4:8, 'God is love').
You Don't Have to Earn God's Love
Ascension Presents · 6 min
A Penguin Chick's Brave First Steps | BBC Earth
BBC Earth · 4 min
Penguins Go MONTHS Without Feeding! | Wild Bites | BBC Earth Kids
BBC Earth Kids · 5 min
BBC Earth Kids: penguins go months without feeding while they keep their eggs.
- More films and talks on F-ILMWatch free