Praise Be To Allaahthis is a beauti

Praise Be To Allaah
this is a beautiful and detailed article that covers love/romance in islam really well, but here are a few points i’ll paraphrase for you:
the arabic word for love, “muhabbah”, comes from the root letters “hubb”, which means seed. this seed has been planted in all of our hearts and it’s up to us to nourish and water that seed so it grows into the type of love that we were created for, i.e. love for Allah (swt).
in other words, the heart was made to love. and if it doesn’t love Allah and others for His sake, it will be filled with the false type of love for His creation. here’s how you can differentiate between true and false love:
false love lacks commitment and fulfillment of promises. true love is based on the need to fulfill commitments and promises, and most importantly, the tendency to fulfill the other’s rights.
false love is based on western/indian concepts of “love at first sight”. true love develops over time.
false love is temporary. true love is permanent and eternal.
false love is exaggerated and the person who’s supposed to be “madly in love” forgets his responsibilities. true love leads to a healthy, stable and balanced love/relationship.
false love leads to anxiety, problems, and disappointments. true love is where Allah’s pleasure is involved, and thus Allah showers His blessings and mercy on the relationship.
false love leads to haram in small steps. true love leads to halal, leads to sukoon and contentment and draws the two in love closer to Allah.false love brings death to the spiritual heart, while true love strengthens the spirituality in your heart.
love in islam is something sublime, all-encompassing, true, honest, and good. it’s not lust. it’s not temporary. it’s not lowly. it’s not materialistic. it’s the height of being a slave to Allah, to love Him extremely and to be devoted to Him alone.
you don’t “fall” in love in islam. you rise in love in islam. you have to give every form of love in your life direction, and that direction should always be towards Allah (swt). no person has two hearts with one to give to Allah and one to give to another person. so if your heart is occupied with anyone other than Allah, it can’t be occupied with Allah.
and lastly, my favorite ayah on love for Allah (swt):
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَتَّخِذُ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ أَندَادًا يُحِبُّونَهُمْ كَحُبِّ اللَّهِ ۖ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِّلَّهِ
And [yet], among the people are those who take other than Allah as equals [to Him]. They love them as they [should] love Allah. But those who believe are extremely intense in their love for Allah. [2:165]